Description Though James Joyce earned his literary fame mostly through his short stories and novels, he also published several short books of poetry. In fact Chamber Music, a collection of thirty-six short love poems, was his first major independent publication. The title of Chamber Music is said to have come from the sound of urine tinkling into a chamber pot—though this was actually a story made up by Joyce after the fact. As he grew older, he came to dislike the title, saying that it was too
Description Aleksandr Kuprin was one of the most celebrated Russian authors of the early twentieth century, writing both novels (including his most famous, The Duel ) and short fiction. Along with Chekhov and Bunin, he did much to draw attention away from the “great Russian novel” and to make short fiction popular. His work is famed for its descriptive qualities and sense of place, but it always centers on the souls of the stories’ subjects. The themes of his work are wide and varied, and
Description Writer Jack Derrick and his sister Edith move into a suspiciously inexpensive countryside manor. They quickly discover the reason for their luck—two years earlier an unsolved murder had taken place in the parlor. Jack is extremely sensitive and feels that both the house and the deceased former owner are communicating with him. But to what end? Alan Sullivan was the winner of Canada’s Governor General Award for English-language fiction in 1941 for his novel Three Came to Ville Marie.
Description In 1855 Pedro Carolino set out to write an English phrasebook for Portuguese travelers visiting England. The only problem was that he couldn’t speak English. Undeterred by this minor setback, Carolino decided to base his guide on a respected Portuguese–French phrasebook written by José da Fonseca. He took the French translations of Portuguese, and used a French–English dictionary to translate those to English. The result was an unintentional comedy of literal translation, as English
Description This sequel to From the Earth to the Moon narrates the eventful journey to the Moon of three passengers—Impey Barbicane, president of the Gun Club, Captain Nicholl, Barbicane’s rival and then collaborator, and Michel Ardan, a French scientist—aboard a hollow cannonball. They orbit the Moon and perform geographical observations, but the projectile fails to land, propelling them instead toward the Earth. They’re rescued at sea and widely celebrated as the first humans to leave Earth.
Description Robert Sheckley was one of science fiction’s most prolific short story writers. Though less known today than he was in his heyday, he was a giant of his time and was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards. Even though many of his stories deal with serious topics, they are most widely remembered for their comedic wit. His writing was compared to that of Douglas Adams, who held Sheckley in high regard: “He’s a very, very funny writer. He’s also a stylist. Very few science fiction
Description The Wealth of Nations is economist Adam Smith’s magnum opus and the foundational text of what today we call classical economics. Its publication ushered in a new era of thinking and discussion about how economies function, a sea change away from the older, increasingly-irrelevant mercantilist and physiocratic views of economics towards a new practical application of economics for the birth of the industrial era. Its scope is vast, touching on concepts like free markets, supply and
Description Desiring a more romantic crossing of the Atlantic, Englishman J. R. Kazallon decides to forgo a steamship and instead sets sail on the Chancellor, a large three-mast sailing ship. What follows is a classic nautical adventure, told in the form of a series of diary entries and filled with tragedy, suffering, and even horror. Despite the grim subject matter, Jules Verne still finds space to include ample descriptions of geology, biology, and meteorology.
Description The people of the obscure village Erl demand to be ruled by a magic lord, so their ruler sends his son Alveric to Elfland to wed the elfin princess Lirazel. He brings her back to Erl and the couple have a son, but Lirazel has trouble integrating with human society. When a scheme by her father spirits her away and Elfland vanishes, Alveric begins a mad quest to find where Elfland went. The King of Elfland’s Daughter is written in the pseudo-archaic prose style for which Dunsany is
Description Doctor Thorne is the third book in Trollope’s “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series, which is set in the fictional county of Barsetshire, somewhere in England’s West Country. Unlike the two earlier novels in the series, Doctor Thorne isn’t set in the cathedral city of Barchester, but in the small village of Greshamsbury and the estate of the local squire, Greshamsbury Park. Doctor Thorne is a middle-aged medical practitioner in Greshamsbury, a friend of the local squire Mr. Gresham,
Description Though James Joyce earned his literary fame mostly through his short stories and novels, he also published several short books of poetry. In fact Chamber Music, a collection of thirty-six short love poems, was his first major independent publication. The title of Chamber Music is said to have come from the sound of urine tinkling into a chamber pot—though this was actually a story made up by Joyce after the fact. As he grew older, he came to dislike the title, saying that it was too
Description Aleksandr Kuprin was one of the most celebrated Russian authors of the early twentieth century, writing both novels (including his most famous, The Duel ) and short fiction. Along with Chekhov and Bunin, he did much to draw attention away from the “great Russian novel” and to make short fiction popular. His work is famed for its descriptive qualities and sense of place, but it always centers on the souls of the stories’ subjects. The themes of his work are wide and varied, and
Description Writer Jack Derrick and his sister Edith move into a suspiciously inexpensive countryside manor. They quickly discover the reason for their luck—two years earlier an unsolved murder had taken place in the parlor. Jack is extremely sensitive and feels that both the house and the deceased former owner are communicating with him. But to what end? Alan Sullivan was the winner of Canada’s Governor General Award for English-language fiction in 1941 for his novel Three Came to Ville Marie.
Description In 1855 Pedro Carolino set out to write an English phrasebook for Portuguese travelers visiting England. The only problem was that he couldn’t speak English. Undeterred by this minor setback, Carolino decided to base his guide on a respected Portuguese–French phrasebook written by José da Fonseca. He took the French translations of Portuguese, and used a French–English dictionary to translate those to English. The result was an unintentional comedy of literal translation, as English
Description This sequel to From the Earth to the Moon narrates the eventful journey to the Moon of three passengers—Impey Barbicane, president of the Gun Club, Captain Nicholl, Barbicane’s rival and then collaborator, and Michel Ardan, a French scientist—aboard a hollow cannonball. They orbit the Moon and perform geographical observations, but the projectile fails to land, propelling them instead toward the Earth. They’re rescued at sea and widely celebrated as the first humans to leave Earth.
Description Robert Sheckley was one of science fiction’s most prolific short story writers. Though less known today than he was in his heyday, he was a giant of his time and was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards. Even though many of his stories deal with serious topics, they are most widely remembered for their comedic wit. His writing was compared to that of Douglas Adams, who held Sheckley in high regard: “He’s a very, very funny writer. He’s also a stylist. Very few science fiction
Description The Wealth of Nations is economist Adam Smith’s magnum opus and the foundational text of what today we call classical economics. Its publication ushered in a new era of thinking and discussion about how economies function, a sea change away from the older, increasingly-irrelevant mercantilist and physiocratic views of economics towards a new practical application of economics for the birth of the industrial era. Its scope is vast, touching on concepts like free markets, supply and
Description Desiring a more romantic crossing of the Atlantic, Englishman J. R. Kazallon decides to forgo a steamship and instead sets sail on the Chancellor, a large three-mast sailing ship. What follows is a classic nautical adventure, told in the form of a series of diary entries and filled with tragedy, suffering, and even horror. Despite the grim subject matter, Jules Verne still finds space to include ample descriptions of geology, biology, and meteorology.
Description The people of the obscure village Erl demand to be ruled by a magic lord, so their ruler sends his son Alveric to Elfland to wed the elfin princess Lirazel. He brings her back to Erl and the couple have a son, but Lirazel has trouble integrating with human society. When a scheme by her father spirits her away and Elfland vanishes, Alveric begins a mad quest to find where Elfland went. The King of Elfland’s Daughter is written in the pseudo-archaic prose style for which Dunsany is
Description Doctor Thorne is the third book in Trollope’s “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series, which is set in the fictional county of Barsetshire, somewhere in England’s West Country. Unlike the two earlier novels in the series, Doctor Thorne isn’t set in the cathedral city of Barchester, but in the small village of Greshamsbury and the estate of the local squire, Greshamsbury Park. Doctor Thorne is a middle-aged medical practitioner in Greshamsbury, a friend of the local squire Mr. Gresham,