Steven desJardins (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} stevendj) wrote,@ 2007-10-06 13:47:00 |
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E-books of the Fortnight
I've uploaded three books to Project Gutenberg since my last update.
The first is Debts of Honor, by Maurus Jókai, a 19th century Hungarian novelist. At his best, he reminds me of Dumas, with characters so perfect they become larger than life. Of the characters in this novel, my favorite is the wealthy eccentric, who delights in tweaking the noses of the civil authorities with his flagrant atheism and irreverence.
The second is Perils and Captivity, an 1827 book containing three narratives from the French: The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816; Narrative of the captivity of M. de Brisson, in the year 1785; and Voyage of Madame Godin along the river of the Amazons, in the year 1770. The wreck of the Medusa was a major scandal, as scores of passengers were abandoned on a raft without food or water, and most were murdered or died of exposure before the few survivors were finally rescued. Pierre Raymond de Brisson was shipwrecked off the coast of Senegal and enslaved. Madame Godin was the only survivor of a party travelling down the Amazon River. I'm especially pleased to have finished this one, because the stories are both interesting and historically valuable.
The third is Frank Merriwell's Pursuit, in which the hero encounters a most persistent villain. Porfias del Norte is shot through the head, buried beneath tons of rock by a landslide, and trapped on the top story of a burning building moments before it collapses. He finally dies from self-inflicted poison after being arrested; even then, Frank won't believe it until a doctor examines the corpse.
The quote of the day comes from an 1854 fictionalized biography of Humphry Davy, which I haven't finished post-processing yet:
I also scanned three books: Frank Merriwell's Son, Ben's Nugget by Horatio Alger Jr., and "Young Glory and the Spanish Cruiser", a dime novel published during the Spanish-American War (although, actually, it cost only a nickel).
I've uploaded three books to Project Gutenberg since my last update.
The first is Debts of Honor, by Maurus Jókai, a 19th century Hungarian novelist. At his best, he reminds me of Dumas, with characters so perfect they become larger than life. Of the characters in this novel, my favorite is the wealthy eccentric, who delights in tweaking the noses of the civil authorities with his flagrant atheism and irreverence.
The second is Perils and Captivity, an 1827 book containing three narratives from the French: The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816; Narrative of the captivity of M. de Brisson, in the year 1785; and Voyage of Madame Godin along the river of the Amazons, in the year 1770. The wreck of the Medusa was a major scandal, as scores of passengers were abandoned on a raft without food or water, and most were murdered or died of exposure before the few survivors were finally rescued. Pierre Raymond de Brisson was shipwrecked off the coast of Senegal and enslaved. Madame Godin was the only survivor of a party travelling down the Amazon River. I'm especially pleased to have finished this one, because the stories are both interesting and historically valuable.
The third is Frank Merriwell's Pursuit, in which the hero encounters a most persistent villain. Porfias del Norte is shot through the head, buried beneath tons of rock by a landslide, and trapped on the top story of a burning building moments before it collapses. He finally dies from self-inflicted poison after being arrested; even then, Frank won't believe it until a doctor examines the corpse.
The quote of the day comes from an 1854 fictionalized biography of Humphry Davy, which I haven't finished post-processing yet:
"Not many years back the floors of our nobles' houses were strewn with rushes, but at present even our gentry are beginning to find a sanded room unpleasant to their feet, and so they must needs have soft carpets to tread upon—as if they had all at once grown as tender-footed as negroes. There's Squire Austell has already carpetted his best sitting-room; and mark my words! there's sufficient of the monkey in our natures to make his great and little neighbours ape the Squire's manners. Ugh! We shall be as unmanly as fiddlers before many years have passed over our heads. Haven't we got to drink slops for breakfast instead of a horn or two of good strong ale, as they did in our fathers' time? and do you think, sir, strength, and courage, and energy are to be got out of teacups?"
I also scanned three books: Frank Merriwell's Son, Ben's Nugget by Horatio Alger Jr., and "Young Glory and the Spanish Cruiser", a dime novel published during the Spanish-American War (although, actually, it cost only a nickel).
