572 books
Under the Greenwood Tree is the story of the romantic entanglement between church musician, Dick Dewey, and the attractive new school mistress, Fancy Day. A pleasant romantic tale set in the Victorian era, Under the Greenwood Tree is one of Thomas Hardy's most gentle and pastoral novels.
Hardy's last work of fiction, Jude the Obscure is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are trapped by forces beyond their control. Jude Fawley, a poor villager, wants to enter the divinity school at Christminster. Sidetracked by Arabella Donn, an earthy country girl who pretends to be pregnant by him, Jude marries her and is then deserted. He earns a living as a stonemason at Christminster; there he falls in love with his independent-minded cousin, Sue Bridehead. Out of a sense of obligation, Sue marries the schoolmaster Phillotson, who has helped her. Unable to bear living with Phillotson, she returns to live with Jude and eventually bears his children out of wedlock. Their poverty and the weight of society's disapproval begin to take a toll on Sue and Jude; the climax occurs when Jude's son by Arabella hangs Sue and Jude's children and himself. In penance, Sue returns to Phillotson and the church. Jude returns to Arabella and eventually dies miserably. The novel's sexual frankness shocked the public, as did Hardy's criticisms of marriage, the university system, and the church. Hardy was so distressed by its reception that he wrote no more fiction, concentrating solely on his poetry.Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.
Fictional account based on the Icelandic saga Heimskringla of the Norse discovery and settlement of America in the years 986 and 1006.
Phileas Fogg, a very punctual man had broken into an argument while conversing about the recent bank robbery. To keep his word of proving that he would travel around the world in 80 days and win the bet, he sets on a long trip, where he is joined by a few other people on the way. A wonderful adventure is about to begin!
Vigorous, self-reliant, amazingly resourceful, and moral, Natty Bumppo is the prototype of the Western hero. A faultless arbiter of wilderness justice, he hates middle-class hypocrisy. But he finds his love divided between the woman he has pledged to protect on a treacherous journey and the untouched forest that sustains him in his beliefs. A fast-paced narrative full of adventure and majestic descriptions of early frontier life, Indian raiders, and defenseless outposts, The Pathfinder set the standard for epic action literature.
Mary Shelley, the author of [*Frankenstein*][1], wrote the apocalyptic novel The Last Man in 1826. Its first person narrative tells the story of our world standing at the end of the twenty-first century and - after the devastating effects of a plague - at the end of humanity. In the book Shelley writes of weaving this story from a discovery of prophetic writings uncovered in a cave near Naples. The Last Man was made into a 2008 film. [1]: http://openlibrary.org/works/OL450125W/Frankenstein
Arthur Machen's first book, THE GREAT GOD PAN, published in 1894, is still one of the greatest works of weird horror and decadence ever produced. Arthur Machen with his taste for the bizarre and macabre, unfurls the tale of a young girl cursed by her unnatural parentage to become a creature of shape-shifting, poly-sexual, demi-human evil.
Young American Isabel Archer charms European society, but falls prey to the machinations of a calculating older woman.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. The essays cover a range of topics from "On Being in Love" to "On Furnished Apartments" to "On Getting on in the World". Jerome established himself as one of England's favorite wits with his comic novel Three Men in a Boat.
The foundling Tom Jones is found on the property of a benevolent, wealthy landowner. Tom grows up to be a vigorous, kind-hearted young man, whose love of his neighbor's well-born daughter brings class friction to the fore. The presence of prostitution and promiscuity in Tom Jones caused a sensation at the time it was published, as such themes were uncommon. It is divided into 18 shorter books, and is considered one of the first English-language novels.
<p>Published in 1919, <i><abbr>Mr.</abbr> Standfast</i> is a thriller set in the latter half of the First World War, and the third of <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/john-buchan">John Buchan’s</a> books to feature Richard Hannay.</p> <p>Richard Hannay is called back from serving in France to take part in a secret mission: searching for a German agent. Hannay disguises himself as a pacifist and travels through England and Scotland to track down the spy at the center of a web of German agents who are leaking information about the war plans. He hopes to infiltrate and feed misinformation back to Germany. His journey takes him from Glasgow to Skye, onwards into the Swiss Alps, and on to the Western Front.</p> <p>During the course of his work he’s again reunited with Peter Pienaar and John Blenkiron, who both appear in <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/john-buchan/greenmantle"><i>Greenmantle</i></a>, as well as Sir Walter Bullivant, his Foreign Office contact from <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/john-buchan/the-thirty-nine-steps"><i>The Thirty Nine Steps</i></a>.</p> <p>The title of the novel comes from a character in <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/john-bunyan">John Bunyan’s</a> <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/john-bunyan/the-pilgrims-progress"><i>Pilgrim’s Progress</i></a> to which there are many references in the book, not least of all as a codebook which Hannay uses to decipher messages from his allies.</p> <p>The book finishes with a captivating description of some of the final battles of the First World War between Britain and Germany in Eastern France.</p>
Five British children discover in their new carpet an egg, which hatches into a phoenix that takes them on a series of fantastic adventures around the world.
A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang An Old Year Out and A New Year In.
Louisa May Alcott was twenty-one when she published this, her first book. A collection of fairy stories and poems she originally told to Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughter Ellen, Flower Fables is a charming and delightful achievement from the hand that would eventually craft the timeless classic Little Women. Flower Fables is presented here in large print for easier reading by children and adults of any age.
"Zenith is the finest example of American life and prosperity to be found anywhere." Zenith is the Midwestern city where George F. Babbitt lives and works. A successful real estate agent, his business provides all the material trappings and comfort he thinks he ought to have. He is a member of all the right clubs, and unquestioningly shares the same aspirations and ideas as his friends and fellow Boosters. Yet even complacent, conformist Babbitt dreams of romance and escape, and when his best friend does something to throw his world upside down, he rebels, and tries to find fulfilment in romantic adventures and liberal thinking. Hilarious and poignant, Babbitt turns the spotlight on middle America and strips bare the hypocrisy of business practice, social mores, politics, and religious institutions. A brilliant satire, it evokes an era and at the same time exposes a universal social malaise. In his introduction and notes Gordon Hutner explores the novel's historical and literary contexts, and its rich cultural and social references. - Back cover. With his portrait of George F. Babbit, the conniving, prosperous real-estate man from Zenith, Sinclair Lewis created one of the ugliest, but most convincing, figures in American fiction -- the total conformist. Babbitt's demons are power in his community and the self-esteem he can only receive from others. In his attempts to reconcile these aspirations, he is loyal to whoever serves his need of the moment: time and again he proves an opportunist in business practice and in domestic affairs. Outwardly he conforms with "zip and zowie," is a "big booster" before the public eye; inwardly he converges day by day upon the utter emptiness of his soul -- too filled with rationalizations and sentimentality to sense his own corruption. Babbit gives consummate expression to the glibness and irresponsibility of the hardened, professional social climber. H. G. Wells said of this novel: "I wish I could have written Babbitt."
Nero's insanity threatens the woman of one man's dreams and all of Roman Christianity. As princess of a now vanquished kingdom, the lovely Lygia lives a hostage in first-century Rome. As an arrogant nobleman accustomed to getting his way, Vinicius decides he will have this strikingly beautiful young woman. But the princess's deep Christian faith rattles the pagan Vinicius -- who first tries to take her by force, then determines to woo her to himself. As Vinicius pursues Lygia, her behavior and that of Rome's entire Christian community -- their love, compassion, and forgiveness -- begin to stir his cold, selfish heart. Soon, Emperor Nero steps up his persecution of the Christians, inventing hideous ways of eliminating these people who dare to reject his claims of deity. When the emperor's murderous plans ensnare Lygia, Vinicius must declare his allegiance -- to Nero, or to the one true God. Rich in historical detail, Quo Vadis is a deeply moving story of Christian faith amidst one of the darkest times in history. This classic novel, presented in unabridged form, will challenge you to live in the light of God's truth regardless of your circumstances. - Back cover.
A witty and surreal novel of the future. In a rather dull stuck-in-a-rut future, a prankster chosen randomly to be King of England revives the old ways and inadvertently arouses romantic patriotism and civil war between the boroughs of London.
The Sorceress and Wizard of Oz attempt to save Princess Ozma and Dorothy from the dangers which threaten them when they try to bring peace to two warring tribes.
Set in England during the late Victorian era, the play's humour derives in part from characters maintaining fictitious identities to escape unwelcome social obligations. It is replete with witty dialogue and satirises some of the foibles and hypocrisy of late Victorian society. It has proved Wilde's most enduringly popular play. - [*Wikipedia*][1] [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest
