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The Man in the Iron Mask - The Original Classic Edition

The Man in the Iron Mask tells a story based on historic facts. In 1661, King Louis XIV of France had his minister of finances – Nicolas Fouquet – arrested for embezzlement. Also in that year, Louis successfully wooed a young handmaiden named Louise, which caused some stir. In this novel, Dumas gives us the secret history behind these facts, and it is no surprise that the story involves his famous Four Musketeers. More specifically, Aramis becomes privy to the fact that Louis has a twin brother languishing in the Bastille, and he attempts to switch the two. The novel details his fascinating and rather intricate plot to pull this off, as well as how the other Musketeers fit into the plan. The first couple of pages concern mainly the aforementioned historic events, and its a bit of reading before you get to the meat of the action. This book is highly recommended – it will become part of your life, the way some good books can. If you love literature, if you love stories of complex intrigue, and especially if you love the Four Musketeers, you HAVE to read this book at least once in your life!

Ivanhoe - The Original Classic Edition

Scott Sir

This the first,the classic, novelized medieval Romance. Written the same year as Queen Victorias birth, it gave us much of our modern conception of medieval tournaments, King John, Robin Hood, Richard Coeur de Lion, etc. If youve ever thought ok, that was cool as Robin Hood split an arrow with another arrow at the Great Archery Tournament, or wondered where the idea of Robin Hood as the defender of Saxon yeomanry against the Villainous John of Anjou, Regent for the absent Richard, got its start – it started here. The book isnt all about Robin Hood, though; mostly, its about Knights and Tournaments and foul Norman oppressors. Theres a tournament, a trial by combat, a castle seige, a little bit of anti-racist message (in the person of a beautiful and noble-in-spirit Jewish beauty unjustly maligned and accused of witchcraft), multiple anonymous knights (including a Black Knight!), and in short all the important highlights of medieval ballads, conveniently arranged in the format of a historical novel. Scotts historiography is a little off (for example, at one point a character pretends to be a Franciscan monk, when the order wasnt founded until about twenty years after the novels action takes place), but Scott does make a real effort to avoid most anachronisms (moreso than many writers of historical novels). This edition also includes Scotts introduction and notes, which show that he put real effort into basing many of the events in his book on excerpts from period ballads and tales (rearranging them, of course, as per his authorial prerogative). This ones a classic for a reason. Entertaining, archetypal, and with massive influence on everything since, from Howard Pyle to Errol Flynn to video games like Defender of the Crown. The prose style might be a little offputting to more sensitive modern readers – it was, after all, written the same year that Queen Victoria was born, and is a little dry in some places and a little overblown in others – but if you can get past that, youll find a classic. Enjoy.

Warlord of Mars - The Original Classic Edition

Burroughs Edgar

Edgar Rice Burroughs did not intended to write a trilogy, but his 1914 pulp novel The Warlord of Mars completes the story begun in A Princess of Mars and continued in The Gods of Mars and finally brings John Carter and his beloved Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium (i.e., no cliffhanger this time around, boys and girls). The characters are all extremely likable. John Carter is the perfect southern gentleman. Honorable, loyal, incredibly brave, respectful to women, extremely handsome; a perfect hero who is never boorish or conceited. The story picks up six months after the conclusion of The Gods of Mars, with our hero not knowing whether she is dead or alive in the Temple of the Sun of the Holy Therns where he last saw here with the blade of Phaidor was descending towards her heart as the evil Issus, queen of the First Born, had locked his mate in a cell that would not open for another year. However, it turns out that the exiled leader of the Therns has reached the trapped women to rescue his daughter and to seek revenge on Carter for exposing his evil cult. The focus of The Warlord of Mars is on Carters relentless pursuit of the villainous Thurid who have taken his beloved princess from the south pole of Barsoom across rivers, desert, jungles, and ice to the forbidden lands of the north in the city of Kadabra where the combined armies of the green, red and black races attack the yellow tribes of the north, thereby justifying the books title. It is interesting to note that Carters heroics in this novel have the same sort of over the top implausibility we find in contemporary Hollywood blockbusters as ERB pours on the action sequences one on top of another. Whether he is scaling towers in the dark of night or surviving in a pit for over a week without food and water, John Carter is a manly hero in the great pulp fiction tradition of which Edgar Rice Burroughs was an admitted master. Overall, the Martian series is Burroughs best work, avoiding the repetition that overwhelmed his Tarzan series and providing a lot more creativity (ever play Martian chess?).

North and South - The Original Classic Edition

GASKELL ELIZABETH

In so many ways this novel is a treasure. Its not easy to write a political novel with a strong love story and good characterizations. Gaskell takes on quite a bit and mostly succeeds in her task of describing the changes industrialization brought to England. She balances her sympathy for the workers in the factories with the dilemmas posed to the mill owners by new machinery, competition from abroad, and the threats of potential workers strikes. She contrasts very effectively the excitement of this new way of life against the nostalgia for the agrarian past. These were new concepts in Victorian England, but they are not so foreign today that we cannot readily understand their significance. She gives us a sympathetic and spirited heroine in Margaret Hale, who is wise beyond her years. Another colorful character is Nicholas Higgins. You will find yourself looking forward to his scenes because he provides the humor in an almost-humorless book. Mr. Thornton is a character we can readily identify with–someone who triumphs over adversity and seeks to constantly better himself. Someone with high standards, yet none higher than he holds himself to. Margaret is his match in every way. There are many plot similarities with Pride and Prejudice in the love story. We have characters of different class backgrounds who are initially repelled but who come to appreciate each other and are kept apart by misunderstandings and circumstances. The proposal scenes are strikingly familiar, and the first proposal includes almost the same language (re gentlemanlike behavior) that Elizabeth speaks to Darcy. And we have a Lady Catherine DeBourgh character in Mrs. Thornton, who does her best to drive the lovers apart. But you cant fault Mrs. Gaskell for borrowing plotlines from the master. Although Gaskell is a strong writer, she does not quite have Jane Austens gift for revealing the humanity in her characters with humor and affection. There is not much fun and no banter (until the very last lines of the book) in the North and South love story. North and South takes on a lot and mainly succeeds. Youll love its ambition and its great heart. Youll love that you learn a lot about English history at that particular time. Youll love that it rewards youe for getting through those first pages with a rich, compelling story. Youll love that Mrs. Gaskell holds your interest to the end. As Victorian novels go, this is surprisingly modern and a worthwhile read.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - The Original Classic Edition

HARDY THOMAS

This is certainly one of the greatest novels ever written. TESS OF THE DURBERVILLES must be as close to a perfect novel as anyone has written in English. It is a genuine tragedy with a girl/woman as tragic hero. It is about life on earth in a way that transcends mere sociology. It has the grandeur of Milton but concerns itself with the lives of mortal beings on earth, as much with sex as with dirt, blood, milk, dung, animal and vegetative energies. It concerns itself with only essential things the way the Bible does. It is almost a dark rendering of the Beatitudes. The story is built with such care and such genius that every incident, every paragraph, reverberates throughout the whole structure. Surely Hardy had an angel on his shoulder when he conceived and composed this work. Yet it was considered so immoral in its time that he had to bowdlerize his own creation in order to get it published, at first. Victorian readers were not prepared for the truth of the lives of ordinary women, or for a great many truths about themselves that Hardy presents. The use of British history as a hall of mirrors and the jawdropping detail of the landscape of Wessex make it the Great English Novel in the way we sometimes refer to MOBY DICK as the Great American Novel, though the works dont otherwise bear comparison. Melvilles great white whale is a far punier creation. Hardys style is like no one elses. It is not snappy, as Dickens can be. It is not fluid and elegant, like George Eliots. It can feel labored and awkward and more archaic than either. It has no journalistic flavor, but is painfully pure and deliberate and dense, echoing Homer or the language of the Old Testament rather than anything we think of as modern. Dont start with TESS but with FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, another very beautiful book, where Hardy is at his loosest and wittiest. Once you have the key to his style, then pick up a good edition of TESS with notes, e.g. Penguin, so you get the full richness of all the literary allusions. Hardys lowly shepherds and farmhands move and breathe in a very ancient literary atmosphere. The effect is not pretentious but timeless. There is wisdom, poetry and majesty here. Tess stumbling through the dark and taking her last rest at Stonehenge will send chills up your spine like no other reading experience. This book makes you wonder if anyone can know why there are novels, why we care about them, or what they are capable of, without reading this one.

The Thirty-Nine Steps - The Original Classic Edition

Buchan John

An effortless adventure classic that spans the void between dime shocker and quality literature. The rapid elaboration of the plot, that is so well known that it has passed many images into popular conciousness, is still satisfying after many reads. Richard Hannay returned to England, after making his fortune in South Africa, he is unwillingly ensnared in a tortured plot to assassinate Karolides the Greek premier and so plunge Europe into war. Scudder, an American journalist turned spy has coded information relating to the plot but is murdered in Hannays luxurious flat before he can pass on the code. Hannay, with all fingers pointing to him as the murderer escapes by Scottish express and with Scudders coded notebook. Decamping from the train in the Sottish lowlands ( the Forth Bridge escape from the train was created with the 1935 Hitchcock film adaptation ) he is pursued across hill and dale by the police and the enemy agents intent on seizeing the notebook. In his flight he holes up in a remote wayside inn with a literary inn keeper, who can quote Kipling. It is here that he masters the code and learns Scudders secrets. From then on its a race to get to London and notify the authorities. One of the brilliant scenes on the way, concerns Hannay posing as road mender to evade his pursuers. To do this, Hannay explains how you must become one with the environment youre using as a cover; one of Buchanss favourite ploys and one employed in many of his novels. Hannay exchanges pursued for pursuer and tracks the agents to their escape channel and ultimately the title of the book is explained. Every reading of this splendid and timeless novel reveals further delights that may have been missed before and even well remembered scenes take on a fresh vividness and charm. All this praise may seem fulsome but after experiencing The Thirty Nine Steps you too will be won over.

Divine Comedy - The Original Classic Edition

Alighieri Dante

As many may know, Dante Alighieri was a man of great literary prowess, but was given drive by his single obsession to a small girl by the name of Beatrice. She rings true in this work, as the guiding angel, bringing Dante through the depths of hell, the wasteland of Purgatory, and finally, the glory of heaven. His has been one of the most enduring works on the human spirit, and the concept of god as seen through Christianity. Full of pun and metaphor, this is rich in language, and ready to please. Some people start their studies of Epic Poetry with Miltons Paradise lost, but Dante is far superior to Milton, but Milton is in good company as his second. If you have read the original in Italian, you will find that this is about as close of a translation as you can get. Please enjoy this.

The Great English Short-Story Writers - The Original Classic Edition

Brown John

This is the best collection of the best stories ever written in America. It covers 200 years of fiction including undeniable classics. Everyone, no matter his or her taste, will find these stories to be among the best they have ever read. Finally, the reader may discover within this volume the doorway to a writer, new to him or her, whose work becomes a lifelong passion. Contents: The Evolution Of The Short-Story The Apparition Of Mrs. Veal. By Daniel Defoe The Mysterious Bride. By James Hogg The Devil And Tom Walker. By Washington Irving Dr. Heidegger?s Experiment. By Nathaniel Hawthorne The Purloined Letter. By Edgar Allan Poe Rab And His Friends. By Dr. John Brown The Boots At The Holly-Tree Inn. By Charles Dickens A Story Of Seven Devils. By Frank R. Stockton A Dog?s Tale. By Mark Twain The Outcasts Of Poker Flat. By Bret Harte The Three Strangers. By Thomas Hardy Julia Bride. By Henry James A Lodging For The Night. By Robert Louis Stevenson This book shows us that the art of the short story is very much alive. Old and New writers of great talent abound and, for the short story lover, they are as close as your fingertips. Whether you love that piece of paper in your hands or you love your Kindles, podcasts, and web anthologies, these are beautiful short stories to be read everywhere.

Household Tales - The Original Classic Edition

Grimm Brothers

The Confessions of St. Augustine - The Original Classic Edition

Augustine Saint

The famed quote of Give me chastity and continence but not yet is one that is much used. It is great to read these lines within the intended framework of Augustines writing. This is a beautiful book. Augustines gradual turn toward God is glorious. This book beautifully illustrates the human ability for transformation and transcendence. Along with Meister Eckhart and Thomas Aquinas it gives one a good grasp of the early Christian and Catholic theory. As a cynic you could question what went wrong but any sarcasm should not detract from the sheer beauty and power of St Augustine. It will bring you closer to God if not back to your original faith. Like the Bible itself, this is a book that many Christians in general and Catholics in specific really ought to read. This one is a very good translation, especially for the modern reader. It conveys the immediacy and vividness of a text written more than 1500 years ago. One feels almost as a voyeur peeping into the private confession of a man to his God. The honesty and unembarrassed disclosure of his sins, and fruitless search for worldly wisdom, is something we can personally identify with, even today. It is amazing how vivid the description of life in late 4th century is in this Confessions. What a wonderful way to approach History, places like Carthage, Rome or Milan, thru the eyes of a skilled and intelligent man who pours his heart on these pages for us to benefit from. St. Augustines life, however distant in time, is filled with events, desires, and troubles, as common today as in the year 400. We can identify fully with him, and in his longing and weakness we can see our own soul portrayed. He talks about his childhood, his family, his studies and his lifelong pursuit of wisdom and truth, specially since the age of 19. We get immersed in the daily life of people in the 4th Century under the Roman Empire, their daily worries, their intellectual debates, their religious confrontations. We see the social conditions of all classes of people, from the wealthy and idle to the slaves who fight in the Circus. We see people living, talking, traveling, dreaming, and going about their business as if we were present with them. No wonder this book is an authentic classic. There are many reasons to read this book. Those interested in History are certainly going to find plenty of information from eye-witness perspective; those who like to read personal memories and autobiographies wont have it easy to find a better one. For those interested in the history of religion and Catholicism, this is a must, a landmark in Christian literature. Whatever you are looking for, this book is certainly one that will satisfy your intellectual curiosity as well as fill you spiritually.