This strikingly original and distinctly off-beat exploration of the mindset and life experiences of a Cheap Jack (a gypsy-like hawker of odd goods at country fairs and public places throughout the land) is darker and more sombre than the tales in his much earlier collections Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Christmas Books (1843-48). It was written and published in 1865 when Dickens was at the height of his literary powers, just after having composed the magnificent Our Mutual Friend, his (…)
Articles les plus récents
-
"Doctor Marigold’s Prescriptions" (1865) - a great late story by Charles Dickens
20 décembre 2014, par Charles Dickens -
ALL THE STORIES AND NOVELS OF JACK LONDON : SYNOPSES, COMMENTS AND RATINGS
30 juin 2014, par RayJack London was an extremely prolific writer of short fiction, having published 205 short stories, novelettes and novellas as well as 15 novels and a considerable number of essays, plays, poems, and articles before his premature death at the age of 40.
The sheer volume of his output and the wide variety of his subjects, ranging from the Klondike (41% of his stories), the South Seas (33%), sailing, hobos, political fiction, crime fiction, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, (…) -
"The Hobo and the Fairy" (1911) - a memorable Hobo story by Jack London
7 mai 2014, par Jack LondonDuring the great depression year of 1893 (the worst in the history of the United States until then), when he was only seventeen, Jack London (1876-1916) joined the nation-wide protest movement known as Kelly’s Army to march from San Francisco to Washington with thousands of others.
He spent an entire year on the road, an experience which he summarized in his autobiographical memoir Jack London, by Himself as follows : “I tramped all through the United States, from California to Boston, and (…) -
Thoughts on reading "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", translated by Edward Fitzgerald
20 février 2014, par RayOne is first and foremost captivated by the sheer lyrical beauty of the poem, from the first of the seventy-five quatrains (or rubaiyats) :
- 1 - Awake ! for Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight : And Lo ! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light.
and the stirring early cry :
- 7 - Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring The Winter Garment of Repentance fling : The Bird of Time has but a little way To (…) -
INDEX OF THE 151 JACK LONDON STORIES ON THIS SITE, in alphabetical order
1er janvier 2014, par RayA DAUGHTER OF THE AURORA A DAY’S LODGING A DREAM IMAGE A FLUTTER IN EGGS A KLONDIKE CHRISTMAS A NORTHLAND MIRACLE A PIECE OF STEAK A RELIC OF THE PLIOCENE A THOUSAND DEATHS ALL GOLD CANYON ALOHA OE AN ODYSSEY OF THE NORTH AN OLD SOLDIER’S STORY AT THE RAINBOW’S END BALD-FACE BEFORE ADAM BROWN WOLF BUNCHES OF KNUCKLES BY THE TURTLES OF TASMAN CHARLEY’S COUP CHASED BY THE TRAIL CHRIS FARRINGTON, ABLE SEAMAN CHUN AH CHUN CREATED HE THEM DEMETRIOS CONTOS DIABLE – A DOG DUTCH COURAGE FLUSH OF (…)
-
The Lyrical Ballads (1798) version of Wordsworth’s "Tintern Abbey" - the original and most authentic text
20 novembre 2013, par William WordsworthThis poem is most arguably the greatest lyrical poem in the English language.
It was first published in 1798 in what is probably the most famous book of poetry in the language : Lyrical Ballads, which, in addition to ground-breaking works by Wordsworth exploring the speech and the social situation of the common man in the framework of a nature-centred vision, also contained works by by his close friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge, notably his great epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (…) -
"The Monster" (1948) - A. E. van Vogt’s best short story
3 octobre 2013This golden-age story, first published in the August 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, was considered by its author to be one of his – an opinion we heartily concur with.
It was later republished in some anthologies as Resurrection, but it appeared in van Vogt’s first anthology of his own short stories (Destination : Universe !, in 1952) with its original title, and it was referred to by that name by him in later interviews, so The Monster clearly is the proper "canonical" title of (…) -
"The Beast" - an early van Vogt novella now available for the first time since 1943
15 septembre 2013, par A. E. van VogtThis golden-age novella by the author of The Monster and Black Destroyer, that appeared in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, has never been included in any anthology of van Vogt’s works, possibly because of its length : 22,000 words, the equivalent of some 65 paper-back pages. An overview of this very imaginative war-time story, featuring rocket ships with atomic engines (!), a deadly world-wide Nazi conspiracy (the Nazis have lost the war but are actively preparing (…)
-
"The Shadow Men" (1950) — an outstanding golden-age novella by A. E. van Vogt never before republished
3 septembre 2013, par A. E. van VogtThis striking tale from the golden age of science-fiction was never republished in either magazine or book form after its initial appearance in the January 1950 issue of Startling Stories, where it was highlighted on the quite spectacular cover by Earle Bergey.
With its 36,400 words – the equivalent of some 110 pocket-book pages – it is technically a novella, according to the criteria developed by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America association, although it was announced as (…) -
ALL THE STORIES AND NOVELS OF A. E. VAN VOGT : SYNOPSES, COMMENTS AND RATINGS
6 juin 2013, par RayTABLE OF CONTENTS
1. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
2. THE 104 STORIES, in chronological order
3. THE 34 NOVELS, in chronological order
4. ANALYSES
5. REFERENCES
6. THE INDEX OF ALL OF VAN VOGT’S STORIES AND NOVELS, in alphabetical order
1. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
A. E. van Vogt was born on a farm in the vicinity of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) in a family of Dutch extraction. He spoke Frisian [1] (a Germanic language spoken in the north of Holland) at home until the age of four.
He was (…)