Showing results by author "Beauty_23" in All Categories

The first chapter of a book is often the hook to draw a reader in. It could make you eager for more or realize it isn't for you. Here we offer the sixth First Chapter Collection" in which readers share the first chapters of a variety of fiction and non-fiction works.

"Balder Dead" is a beautiful epic poem by Matthew Arnold. It draws from Norse mythology to retell the story of the the death of Odin's son, Balder, instigated by the treacherous jealousy of Loki. (Summary by Nathan)

The poem begins with the beloved god Balder, thought to be invulnerable, dead at the hands of the inoffensive blind god Hoder, in a game. Loki, whose deceit brought about this catastrophe, is promptly punished with exile, and Odin, Balder's father, sponsors a heroic quest to rescue his son from the land of the dead. This desperate venture unexpectedly meets with partial success, a conditional agreement to release Balder if everyone in the land of the living mourns his death. And even though over every hope hangs the threat of the ultimate end of the reign of the Norse gods, the mother of the ...

Heart of Darkness tells the story of an English seaman, Charles Marlow, who embarks on a voyage up the Congo River and into the African wilderness. He soon becomes obsessed with the success of an ivory trading commander, Kurtz. Little does he know, Kurtz has been consumed with darkness and has begun his descent into madness... Summary by cadastra.

Set in a time of oppressive colonisation, when large areas of the world were still unknown to Europe, and Africa was literally on maps and minds as a mysterious shadow, Heart of Darkness famously explores the rituals of civilisation and barbarism, and the frighteningly fine line between them. We get the tale through a classic unreliable narrator, relating as Marlow, a ship’s captain, tells how he was sent by the Company to retrieve the wayward Kurtz, and was shaken to discover the true depths of darkness in that creature’s, and in his own, soul. Conrad based the work closely on his own ...

Crime and Punishment is the second of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his return from 5 years of exile in Siberia, and is considered the first great novel of his "mature" period of writing. The novel focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov, in an attempt to defend his actions, argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime while ridding the world of a vermin, ...

This is a tale based on Melville's experiences aboard the USS United States from 1843 to 1844. It comments on the harsh and brutal realities of service in the US Navy at that time, but beyond this the narrator has created for the reader graphic symbols for class distinction, segregation and slavery aboard this microcosm of the world, the USS Neversink. (Introduction by James K. White)

In Walden beschreibt Thoreau sein Leben in einer Blockhütte, die er sich 1845 in den Wäldern von Concord (Massachusetts) am See Walden Pond auf einem Grundstück seines Freundes Ralph Waldo Emerson baute, um dort für mehr als zwei Jahre der industrialisierten Massengesellschaft der jungen USA den Rücken zu kehren. Nach eigener Aussage ging es ihm dabei jedoch nicht um eine naive Weltflucht, sondern um den Versuch, einen alternativen und ausgewogenen Lebensstil zu verwirklichen.Das 1854 veröffentlichte Buch kann nicht als Roman im eigentlichen Sinne angesehen werden, vielmehr ist es eine ...

LibriVox’s Short Mystery Story Collection 002: a collection of 10 short works of mysterious fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.

There's nothing better than curling up with a good mystery and suspense story on a cold, dark night. Here we give you fifteen in the 10th Short Mystery and Suspense collection! Whether you are looking for an intricate and perplexing tale, such as After Midnight or The Sussex Vampire, or a short, head-scratching mystery, like No Way Out, we have it all!

LibriVox’s Short Mystery Story Collection 001: a collection of 10 short works of mysterious fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.

LibriVox readers present a collection of their favorite chapters and short stories, with the original author’s words all brought to life with different reader voices for each character in our popular Dramatic Reading style. This volume includes Anne's Confession from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Coming Home from Mates of Billabong by Mary Grant Bruce [not PD in Australia or Europe], Scandal in Bohemia from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Tunnel Under the World by Frederik Pohl [only PD in the US], The Valley of the Shadow of Death from For ...

"Are you wishing sometimes that you had a good book which you don't know, that you might just read and enjoy? The goal of this collection is to introduce you to as many books as possible. Some are well known, some are not." Summary by Stav Nisser.

Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished St. Petersburg student who formulates and executes a plan to kill a hated, unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money, thereby solving his financial problems and at the same time, he argues, ridding the world of evil. Crime and Punishment is considered by many as the first of Dostoevsky's cycle of great novels, which would culminate with his last completed work, The Brothers Karamazov, shortly before his death. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Sherry reads Jane Austen’s sparkling comedy of manners with wit and vivacity, and brings the characters to life. Mr. Woodhouse worries and frets, Miss Bates chatters on, and Emma blithely manipulates and misunderstands her friends and family until she finally learns her lesson! (Summary by Kara)

Treasure Island is an adventure novel, a thrilling tale of "buccaneers and buried gold." Traditionally considered a coming of age story, it is an adventure tale of superb atmosphere, character and action, and also a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality—as seen in Long John Silver—unusual for children's literature then and now. (Summary from wikipedia.org)

"Well, Robin, on what folly do you employ yourself? Do you cut sticks for our fire o' mornings?" Thus spoke Master Hugh Fitzooth, King's Ranger of the Forest at Locksley, as he entered his house.Robin flushed a little. "These are arrows, sir," he announced, holding one up for inspection.Dame Fitzooth smiled upon the boy as she rose to meet her lord. "What fortune do you bring us to-day, father?" asked she, cheerily.Fitzooth's face was a mask of discontent. "I bring myself, dame," answered he, "neither more nor less.""Surely that is enough for Robin and me!" laughed his wife. "Come, cast off ...

Cranford is the best-known novel of the 19th century English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. It was first published in 1851 as a serial in the magazine Household Words, which was edited by Charles Dickens.The fictional town of Cranford is closely modelled on Knutsford in Cheshire, which Mrs Gaskell knew well. The book has little in the way of plot and is more a series of episodes in the lives of Mary Smith and her friends, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two spinster sisters. The "major" event in the story is the return to Cranford of their long-lost brother, Peter, which in itself is only a minor ...

King Henry IV, Part 1 is the second of Shakespeare’s eight Wars of the Roses history plays, with events following those of King Richard II. As the play opens, King Henry IV (formerly Henry Bolingbroke) and Henry Percy (Hotspur) argue over the disposition of prisoners from the Battle of Holmedon. The King’s attitude toward Mortimer and the Percy family prompts them to plot rebellion. In the meantime, his son Prince Hal is living the low life in the company of Sir John Falstaff. As the time of battle nears, Prince Hal joins his father and is given a high command. The play’s climax is the ...

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes was a British TV series from the early 70s that dramatized stories written contemporaneously with the Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This anthology contains twelve of the thirteen stories adapted as episodes for the first season. Sadly, one story, "The Missing Witness Sensation" by Ernest Bramah, is not public domain in the U.S., but can be read in the anthology Max Carrados Mysteries. (Summary by Nullifidian)