Dr. Dorothy Scarborough (Columba U) has selected a truly horrifying, frightening and bloodcurdling selection of Ghost Stories. Including Ambrose Bierce, an American genius, who ranks with Poe and Lovecraft as one of the greatest writers of horror stories. His tales of ghosts and horror are like no other, and one story in particular, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, is considered to be one of the finest ever written. <p> This book is c ...
Although it is less often read than such Wells novels as THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, the basic story of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is very well known through several extremely loose film adaptations. Pendrick, a British scientist, is shipwrecked–and by chance finds himself on an isolated island where Dr. Moreau and his assistant Montgomery are engaged in a series of experiments. They are attempting to transform animals into manlike beings. <p> ...
T.S. Eliot called `The Moonstone the first and greatest English detective novel. The novel is worthy of such praise. <p> The story begins with a brief prologue describing how the famous yellow diamond was captured during a military campaign in India by a British officer in 1799. The action moves quickly to 1848 England, where, according to the British officers will, the diamond has been given to one of the soldiers young relatives, Rache ...
At the very beginning of the twentieth century, retired General Robert Baden-Powell, the hero of the siege of Mafeking, coalesced his ideas for an organization to train young British boys in scouting for the British Empire. Not a very organized thinker, Baden-Powell borrowed heavily from all sorts of unrelated resources – newspaper articles, military dispatches, fiction, and much more – and produced this, his first book on scouting. Originally p ...
You might wonder what prompted Mark Twain to sidle from straight fiction into the realm of outright fantasy. Twain transports a Connecticut shop foreman twelve centuries into the past [and 5 000 kilometres!] to Camelot and Arthurs court. Initially confused and dismayed, Hank Morgans Yankee practicality is quickly aroused and he becomes a major figure among the panopolied knights. With the title of The Boss, his rank equals The King or The Pope w ...
On the Nature of Things is the only surviving work of the Roman philosopher Lucretius, born in 99 BC. In On the Nature of Things, Lucretius sought to liberate his fellow Romans from their fear of the gods, and their fear of death. <p> Lucretius argued that the gods are not directly involved in life, and therefore there is no need to appease them; he also argued that death is the end of a human beings body and soul, and therefore there is ...
This book is a fascinating and in-depth look at Victorian lower class prostitutes and their upper class client base. <p> The anonymous author, a decidedly upper class gentleman apparently went through at least three fortunes which underwrote his obsessive need for paid sex, which lasted from his teenage until his death which seems to have occurred sometime in his 60s or perhaps a bit later. Internal clues are few, and some of what is tho ...
It is not very likely that George Bernard Shaw knew he was writing the play that would become one of the seminal romantic comedies of the 20th when he penned `Pygmalion. The play is delightful, with borrowed elements from many genres. There is comedy and romance, above all, but there is also a very clear social critic – and even a Marxist idea of class struggle. What only enhances the reading of this masterpiece. <p> Professor Henry Higg ...
Lysistrata is a favorite of the Greek plays-its never pompous or overbearing, and it never overwhelms itself with flowery prose. In addition, its one of the few Greek plays youll read that portrays women as genuine human beings rather than murderers, decorations, or idiots. Theyre smart, sexy, and socially aware, especially in a time when they were very seriously repressed. <p> Lysistrata is an intelligent Athenian woman who is sick and ...
