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万本电子书0元读

The Tempest
The Tempest
William Shakespeare
¥8.09
Classic Shakespearean romance. According to Wikipedia: "The Tempest is a play written by William Shakespeare. Many scholars believe that it was written in 1610–11,[1] although some researchers have argued for an earlier dating.[2] While listed as a comedy when it was initially published in the First Folio of 1623, many modern editors have since re-labeled the play a romance. It did not attract a significant amount of attention before the closing of the theatres in 1642 and after the Restoration it attained popularity only in adapted versions.[3] Theatre productions began to reinstate the original Shakespearean text in the mid-19th century,[4] and in the 20th century, critics and scholars undertook a significant re-appraisal of the play's value, to the extent that it is now considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest works."
1601
1601
Mark Twain
¥8.09
Classic short humor. According to the introduction: "Mark Twain was just as irreverent as he dared be, and 1601 reveals his richest expression of sovereign contempt for overstuffed language, genteel literature, and conventional idiocies. Later, when a magazine editor apostrophized, "O that we had a Rabelais!" Mark impishly and anonymously--submitted 1601; and that same editor, a praiser of Rabelais, scathingly abused it and the sender. In this episode, as in many others, Mark Twain, the "bad boy" of American literature, revealed his huge delight in blasting the shams of contemporary hypocrisy. Too, there was always the spirit of Tom Sawyer deviltry in Mark's make-up that prompted him, as he himself boasted, to see how much holy indignation he could stir up in the world."
The Cricket on the Hearth, a short novel
The Cricket on the Hearth, a short novel
Charles Dickens
¥8.09
Classic short novel. According to Wikipedia: "Charles John Huffam Dickens, (1812 - 1870), pen-name "Boz", was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. Later critics, beginning with George Gissing and G. K. Chesterton, championed his mastery of prose, his endless invention of unique, clever personalities and his powerful social sensibilities, but fellow writers such as George Henry Lewes, Henry James and Virginia Woolf fault his work for sentimentality, implausible occurrence and grotesque characters. The popularity of Dickens' novels and short stories has meant that not one has ever gone out of print. Dickens wrote serialised novels, the usual format for fiction at the time, and each new part of his stories was eagerly anticipated by the reading public."
The Fitz-Boodle Papers
The Fitz-Boodle Papers
William Makepeace Thackeray
¥8.09
Classic short novel. According to Wikipedia: "Thackeray is most often compared to one other great novelist of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens. During the Victorian era, he was ranked second only to Dickens, but he is now much less read and is known almost exclusively for Vanity Fair. In that novel he was able to satirize whole swaths of humanity while retaining a light touch. It also features his most memorable character, the engagingly roguish Becky Sharp. As a result, unlike Thackeray's other novels, it remains popular with the general reading public; it is a standard fixture in university courses and has been repeatedly adapted for movies and television. In Thackeray's own day, some commentators, such as Anthony Trollope, ranked his History of Henry Esmond as his greatest work, perhaps because it expressed Victorian values of duty and earnestness, as did some of his other later novels. It is perhaps for this reason that they have not survived as well as Vanity Fair, which satirizes those values."
Texan Series
Texan Series
Joseph Altsheler
¥8.09
This book-collection file includes: The Texan Star (1912) and The Texan Scouts (1913). The original publisher described the series: "Three stories telling of the Texan struggle for independence and the events culminating in the capture of the erratic Santa Anna. The Texan Star: Ned Fulton, the hero, is a prisoner in the city of Mexico. He makes an exciting escape and sees the capture of San Antonio. The Texan Scouts: Ned Fulton and his friends are right in the midst of exciting events that keep the reader continually on edge. The battle of the Alamo is the climax of the story." According to Wikipedia, "Joseph Alexander Altsheler (April 29, 1862 - June 5, 1919), was an American author of popular juvenile historical fiction."
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Jacob Abbott
¥8.09
According to Wikipedia: "Jacob Abbott (November 14, 1803 – October 31, 1879) was an American writer of children's books. Abbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City. He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School."
Is Shakespeare Dead? from My Autobiography
Is Shakespeare Dead? from My Autobiography
Mark Twain
¥8.09
From Chapter 1: "A friend has sent me a new book, from England--The Shakespeare Problem Restated--well restated and closely reasoned; and my fifty years' interest in that matter--asleep for the last three years--is excited once more. It is an interest which was born of Delia Bacon's book--away back in that ancient day--1857, or maybe 1856. About a year later my pilot-master, Bixby, transferred me from his own steamboat to the Pennsylvania, and placed me under the orders and instructions of George Ealer--dead now, these many, many years. I steered for him a good many months--as was the humble duty of the pilot-apprentice: stood a daylight watch and spun the wheel under the severe superintendence and correction of the master. He was a prime chess player and an idolater of Shakespeare. He would play chess with anybody; even with me, and it cost his official dignity something to do that. "
Notes to Shakepeare's Tragedies
Notes to Shakepeare's Tragedies
Samuel Johnson
¥8.09
From the General Introduction: "Dr. Johnson's reaction to Shakespeare's tragedies is a curious one, compounded as it is of deep emotional involvement in a few scenes in some plays and a strange dispassionateness toward most of the others. I suspect that his emotional involvement took root when he read Shakespeare as a boy--one remembers the terror he experienced in reading of the Ghost in _Hamlet_, and it was probably also as a boy that he suffered that shock of horrified outrage and grief at the death of Cordelia that prevented him from rereading the scene until be came to edit the play. Johnson's deepest feelings and convictions, Professor Clifford has recently reminded us, can be traced back to his childhood and adolescence."
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots
Jacob Abbott
¥8.09
According to Wikipedia: "Jacob Abbott (November 14, 1803 – October 31, 1879) was an American writer of children's books. Abbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City. He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School."
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Agatha Christie
¥8.09
Classic mystery novel, first published in 1920. According to Wikipedia: "Dame Agatha Christie, DBE, (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), was a British crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 80 detective novels—especially those featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple—and her successful West End theatre plays. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Christie is the best-selling writer of books of all time and, with William Shakespeare, the best-selling author of any kind. Only the Bible has sold more than her roughly four billion copies of novels.According to UNESCO, Christie is the most translated individual author, with only the collective corporate works of Walt Disney Productions surpassing her. Her books have been translated into at least 103 languages."
The Secret Adversary
The Secret Adversary
Agatha Christie
¥8.09
Classic mystery novel. According to Wikipedia: "Dame Agatha Christie, DBE, (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), was a British crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 80 detective novels—especially those featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple—and her successful West End theatre plays. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Christie is the best-selling writer of books of all time and, with William Shakespeare, the best-selling author of any kind. Only the Bible has sold more than her roughly four billion copies of novels.According to UNESCO, Christie is the most translated individual author, with only the collective corporate works of Walt Disney Productions surpassing her. Her books have been translated into at least 103 languages."
Droll Stories
Droll Stories
Honore de Balzac
¥8.09
According to the Translator's Preface: "He claimed for his book the protection of all those to whom literature was dear, because it was a work of art--and a work of art, in the highest sense of the word, it undoubtedly is.Like Boccaccio, Rabelais, the Queen of Navarre, Ariosto, and Verville, the great author of The Human Comedy has painted an epoch. In the fresh and wonderful language of the Merry Vicar Of Meudon, he has given us a marvelous picture of French life and manners in the sixteenth century."
The Romance of a Mummy
The Romance of a Mummy
Theophile Gautier
¥8.09
Classic French story, first published in 1857. According to Wikipedia: "Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (August 30, 1811 – October 23, 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism, Decadence and Modernism. He was widely esteemed by writers as diverse as Balzac, Baudelaire, the Goncourt brothers, Flaubert and Oscar Wilde."
The Monastery
The Monastery
Sir Walter Scott
¥8.09
First published in 1820, historical novel, set in the 16th century, in the time of Mary Queen of Scots, one of Sir Walter Scott's "Tales from Benedictine Sources". According to Wikipedia: "Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (1771 – 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time. In some ways Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers all over Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of The Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor."
The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island
Jules Verne
¥8.09
According to Wikipedia, "The Mysterious Island is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1874. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Ferat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though thematically it is vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned With Uncle Robinson, seen as indicating the influence on the novel of Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson."
Prester John
Prester John
John Buchan
¥8.09
According to Wikipedia, "Prester John is a 1910 adventure novel by John Buchan. It tells the story of a young Scotsman named David Crawfurd and his adventures in South Africa, where a Zulu uprising is tied to the medieval legend of Prester John. Crawfurd is similar in many ways to Buchan's later character, Richard Hannay. It contains the notable line: 'Perfect love casteth out fear, the Bible says; but, to speak it reverently, so does perfect hate.' John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada. Buchan's 100 works include nearly thirty novels, seven collections of short stories and biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus, and Oliver Cromwell. Buchan's most famous of his books were the spy thrillers (including) The 39 Steps (which was converted to a play as well as an Alfred Hitchcock movie starring Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, though with Buchan's story much altered.) The "last Buchan" (as Graham Greene entitled his appreciative review) was the 1941 novel Sick Heart River (American title: Mountain Meadow), in which a dying protagonist confronts in the Canadian wilderness the questions of the meaning of life. The insightful quotation "It's a great life, if you don't weaken" is famously attributed to Buchan, as is "No great cause is ever lost or won, The battle must always be renewed, And the creed must always be restated."
Beasley's Christmas Party, Monsieur Beaucaire, and Other Novellas and Stories
Beasley's Christmas Party, Monsieur Beaucaire, and Other Novellas and Stories
Booth Tarkington
¥8.09
This file includes five novellas: Beasley's Christmas Party, The Beautiful Lady, Harlequin and Columbine, His Own People, and Monsieur Beaucaire; and 7 short stories: Gipsy and In the Arena: 6 Short Stories of Political Life. According to Wikipedia, "Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams.... Much of Tarkington's work consists of satirical and closely observed studies of the American class system and its foibles....his novel The Magnificent Ambersons, which Orson Welles filmed in 1942, the second volume in Tarkington's Growth trilogy, contrasted the decline of the "old money" Amberson dynasty against the rise of "new money" industrial tycoons in the years between the American Civil War and World War I."
The Master of Ballantrae
The Master of Ballantrae
Robert Louis Stevenson
¥8.09
Historical novel set in 1745, about the conflict between two brothers, Scottish noblemen. According to the author: "Here is a tale which extends over many years and travels into many countries. By a peculiar fitness of circumstance the writer began, continued it, and concluded it among distant and diverse scenes. Above all, he was much upon the sea. The character and fortune of the fraternal enemies, the hall and shrubbery of urrisdeer, the problem of Mackellar's homespun and how to shape it for superior flights; these were his company on deck in many star-reflecting harbours, ran often in his mind at sea to the tune of slatting canvas, and were dismissed (something of the suddenest) on the approach of squalls. It is my hope that these surroundings of its manufacture may to some degree find favour for my story with seafarers and sea-lovers like yourselves." According to Wikipedia: "Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850–3 December 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. He was the man who "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins", as G. K. Chesterton put it."
Works of Hebbel and Ludwig
Works of Hebbel and Ludwig
Friedrich Hebbel, Otto Ludwig
¥8.09
This collection includes works by Hebbel and Ludwig. The German Classics Of The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, Volume 9, edited by Kuno Francke.
The Chorus Girl and Other Stories
The Chorus Girl and Other Stories
Anton Chekhov
¥8.09
This collection includes: THE CHORUS GIRL, VEROTCHKA, MY LIFE, AT A COUNTRY HOUSE, A FATHER, ON THE ROAD, ROTHSCHILD'S FIDDLE, IVAN MATVEYITCH, ZINOTCHKA, BAD WEATHER, A GENTLEMAN FRIEND, and A TRIVIAL INCIDENT. According to Wikipedia: "Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860 – 1904) was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once said, "and literature is my mistress." Chekhov renounced the theatre after the disastrous reception of The Seagull in 1896; but the play was revived to acclaim in 1898 by Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which subsequently also produced Uncle Vanya and premiered Chekhov’s last two plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works present a special challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text." Chekhov had at first written stories only for the money, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, later adopted by James Joyce and other modernists, combined with a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them."
A London Life, The Patagonia, The Liar, Mrs. Temperly
A London Life, The Patagonia, The Liar, Mrs. Temperly
Henry James
¥8.09
Four classic short stories by Henry James. According to Wikipedia: "Henry James, O.M. (April 15, 1843(1843-04-15) – February 28, 1916) was an American author. He is one of the key figures of 19th century literary realism; the fine art of his writing has led many academics to consider him the greatest master of the novel and novella form. The son of theologian Henry James Sr., brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James, he spent much of his life in England and became a British subject shortly before his death. He is primarily known for a series of major novels in which he portrayed the encounter of America with Europe. His plots centered on personal relationships, the proper exercise of power in such relationships, and other moral questions. His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allowed him to explore the phenomena of consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting."