In collecting «The Cossacks», «Sevastopol Sketches», and «Hadji Murad» together in «The Cossacks and Other Stories» we find several episodes in which Tolstoy draws upon his own experiences and attempts to portray a contemporary Russian society. Tolstoy, who had served as a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment during the Crimean War, recounts his experiences there during the Siege of Sevastopol in the three episodes of «Sevastopol Sketches. ...
"Jane Eyre" is the story of its title character, a poor orphaned girl who comes to live with her aunt where she endures poor treatment from her aunt and cousins. Jane subsequently ships off to Lowood, a Christian boarding school where she endures more horrible conditions. After some time, life becomes more bearable at Lowood for Jane and she eventually finishes her coursework and spends a period of time as a teacher at the school. After lea ...
The first novel in the popular adventure series, «Tarzan of the Apes» is the coming of age story of John Clayton, the son of an English couple, Lord and Lady Greystoke, who are marooned in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa. When his parents are killed by the savage king ape Kerchak, Clayton is adopted, as an infant, by the she-ape Kala and renamed Tarzan, or «white skin» in the ape language. This classic tale of adventure by Edgar ...
"The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution" is Mariano Azuela's fictional account of the Mexican Revolution. It is the story of Demetrio Macias, a peasant who joins forces with the revolutionaries to help overthrow the corrupt dictator, Porfirio Diaz. In Azuela's depiction of Demetrio Macias, he captures the spirit of the Mexican people and his telling of this conflict between the rebels and the federales helped to establis ...
Originally published in 1848, «The Tenant of Wildfell Hall» is the second of only two novels written by Anne Bronte. Considered one of the first feminist novels because it challenged the social norms of the Victorian era, «The Tenant of Wildfell Hall» is essentially a romantic novel which is chiefly concerned with the relationship between Gilbert Markham, a prosperous farmer, and the mysterious widow Mrs. Helen Graham, who takes up residence in ...
"Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens" and «Peter and Wendy» combines the two main works from which we find J. M. Barrie’s most popular character, Peter Pan. In Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens we are first introduced to 'the boy who wouldn't grow up'. Following the success of this work Barrie wrote a stage play entitled «Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up». It is upon that work which «Peter and Wendy», essentially a n ...
"Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life" was Herman Melville's first novel. Originally published in 1846, «Typee» was partially based on Melville's own experiences as a beachcomber in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands. A romanticized travelogue of the Pacific island paradise Nuku Hiva, «Typee» is the story of Tommo, a Yankee sailor and his four month stay on the island. One of Melville's most popular works during his lifetime, «T ...
"John Barleycorn", which draws its name from an old English folksong, is as close to an autobiography that Jack London ever wrote. London's love of alcohol is professed quite profusely in this work, however that love is tempered by the recognition of the toll that alcohol bears. As he writes, «This strength John Barleycorn gives is not fictitious strength. It is real strength.... But it is manufactured out of the sources of strength, a ...
"Roderick Hudson" is the coming-of-age story of its title character, a young sculptor who falls under the patronage of Rowland Mallet. Rowland, who is about to depart for Europe, offers to pay for Roderick to come along so that he may study in Italy and improve his art. Originally published serially in «The Atlantic Monthly» during 1875, «Roderick Hudson» is Henry James' story of the development of an artist and the development of a ma ...
