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Actor Hosmer DeVere and his daughters Ruth and Alice struggle to make ends meet while Mr. DeVere is between theatrical engagements. Things look up when he wins a leading role in an upcoming play, but he is suddenly afflicted with hoarseness just before the play opens. When his voice does not improve, he loses his role in the play and must seek other work. Russ Dalwood, a friend to Ruth and Alice, suggests that Mr. DeVere join his film company as an actor in the moving pictures. Considering the moving pictures to be vulgar and cheap, he refuses until the situation has become critical and the family is served with an eviction notice. Mr. DeVere gives in and accepts the job at the film company. Over time, Alice and Ruth also gain positions with the film company where they experience many adventures and help Russ prevent thieves from stealing his newly invented film stabilizer from him.

Waterlow gives a brief, unpretentious account of the life and works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, who is regarded as one of the finest lyric poets of the English language. Not merely a biography of events, this is an analysis of the age in which Shelley lived his almost 30 years (1792-1822), the character of the young man, and the messages embodied in Shelley's poems. A few quotes:"In the case of most great writers our interest in them as persons is derived from our interest in them as writers; we are not very curious about them except for reasons that have something to do with their art. With Shelley it is different. During his life he aroused fears and hatreds, loves and adorations, that were quite irrelevant to literature; and even now, when he has become a classic, he still causes excitement as a man.""The object of these pages is not to idealise either his life, his character, or his works. The three are inseparably connected, and to understand one we must understand all.""... he happened to be steeped in philosophical ways of thinking. The forms in which he gave it expression are predominantly melancholy, because this kind of idealism, with its insistence on the unreality of evil, is the recoil from life of an unsatisfied and disappointed soul. His philosophy of love is but a special case of this all-embracing doctrine.""Of all his verse, it is these songs about nature and love that every one knows and likes best. And, in fact, many of them seem to satisfy what is perhaps the ultimate test of true poetry: they sometimes have the power, which makes poetry akin to music, of suggesting by means of words something which cannot possibly be expressed in words."Waterlow illustrates his analysis of Shelley with many excerpts from Shelley's poems. If the reader wants to understand Shelley, this book would be a good place to start, even before reading the poetry itself.(Since the original book was published prior to 1923, it is in the public domain in the United States. It may be in the public domain in other countries, based upon the date the author died.)

Die Geschichte folgt den Taten Pawel Iwanowitsch Tschitschikows, eines Herren mittleren Alters und mittlerer sozialer Schicht. Tschitschikow kommt in einem nicht namentlich genannten kleinen Städtchen an und versucht, sich schnell einen guten Namen zu machen, indem er die vielen unbedeutenden Beamten der Stadt beeindruckt. Trotz seiner begrenzten Mittel lebt er ein extravagantes Leben, um so Verbindungen zu schaffen, die ihm ein Leben mit Reichtum und Macht ermöglichen. Wenn er beispielsweise mit jedem in der Stadt gut Freund ist, kann er leichter seinen bizarren und mysteriösen Plan ausführen, in den Besitz „toter Seelen“ zu kommen.

This story was inspired by a remark of Mark Twain's to the effect that it was a pity that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst part at the end. By trying the experiment upon only one man in a perfectly normal world I have scarcely given his idea a fair trial. Several weeks after completing it, I discovered an almost identical plot in Samuel Butler's "Note-books."The story was published in "Collier's" last summer and provoked this startling letter from an anonymous admirer in Cincinnati:"Sir--I have read the story Benjamin Button in Colliers and I wish to say that as a short story writer you would make a good lunatic I have seen many peices of cheese in my life but of all the peices of cheese I have ever seen you are the biggest peice. I hate to waste a peice of stationary on you but I will."

Cymbeline is a play by William Shakespeare, based on an early Celtic British King. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify it as a romance. Like Othello, Measure for Measure, and The Winter's Tale, it deals with the themes of innocence and jealousy. While its date of composition is unknown, the play is known to have been produced as early as 1611. (From Wikipedia)

The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Islandby Louis Becke and Walter Jeffery: The tale of the mutiny of His Majesty's armed ship Bounty, which led to the founding of the Pitcairn community, is well known. All that needs to be told here is from Tahiti with a cargo of breadfruit trees for planting in the West Indies, the master's mate, Fletcher Christian, and others of the crew mutinied. Casting adrift the Commander, Lieutenant William Bligh, and eighteen loyal officers in the ship's boat, the mutineers sailed the Bounty back to Tahiti, then to Tubuai in the Austral Group. There, relations with the inhabitants soon deteriorated and, spurred by the fear of discovery and arrest, eight of the mutineers set sail with Christian in search of an uninhabited island, secure from the outside world. To help them the men took with them six Tahitian men and, to look after them and be their consorts, twelve Tahitian women.

Sylvie and Bruno was written in the year 1889 by Lewis Carroll. This book is one of the most popular novels of Lewis Carroll, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Das Buch zeichnet sich durch die persönliche Nähe aus, die der Leser durch die fein gewebte literarische Struktur zum Ich-Erzähler bekommt. Das Werk verbindet damit den objektiven Blick auf die Kultur des alten Europas mit teilweise persönlichen Innenansichten des Ich-Erzählers. Inwieweit Zweig sein persönliches Leben in diesem Buch dargestellt oder eben herausgehalten hat, ist umstritten.

The Custom of the Country was written in the year 1913 by Edith Wharton. This book is one of the most popular novels of Edith Wharton, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Passages from a Relinquished Work was written in the year 1834 by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This book is one of the most popular novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Here is one of those "forgotten" works. Ticket No. "9672" is a fascinating tale of two women who live in a Norway Inn. Dame Hansen is a foolish creature whose mistakes must be dealt with by her daughter Hulda. Coming to their aid is their brother Joel and the remarkable Sylvius Hogg, who helps them all after the young Hansens rescue him from the edge of the Rjukanfos Waterfall.

Set against the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome is the story of a poor farmer, lonely and downtrodden, his wife Zeena, and her cousin, the enchanting Mattie Silver. In the playing out of this short novel's powerful and engrossing drama, Edith Wharton constructed her least characteristic and most celebrated book.

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print.

His portrait of Catherine Howard, impulsive, warm-hearted, truth-speaking, yet daring admidst the most un-principled intrigue, is singularly attractive and life-like, making an admirable foil to the grimly-conceived Lady Mary.

Die Geschichte spielt in den frühen 1750 Jahren während des Franzosen- und Indianerkriegs am Ontariosee. Der britische Kapitän Charls Cap ist zusammen mit seiner Nichte Mabel Dunham auf dem Weg ins Fort Oswego wo Mabels Vater als Sergeant Dienst tut. Sie werden von dem indianischen Scout Arrowhead und seiner Frau June begleitet. Im Wald trifft die Gruppe auf den Waldläufer Natty Bumppo genannt Pfadfinder, den Mohikaner Chingachgook und den Binnenkapitän Jasper Western. Diese wurden von Sergeant Dunham geschickt um seine Tochter sicher durch das Gebiet der mit den Franzosen verbündeten Irokesen zu bringen.

Eugenia, a baroness divorced from a German prince, and her bohemian brother, Felix, are coming back to America. Raised and cultured in Europe, they are returning destitute to New England to seek out their rich and innocent cousins. Eugenia wins the attentions of Robert Acton, the most appropriate suitor in the area, while also seducing her younger cousin, Clifford. But her foreign gentility and audacity confuse the puritanical customs of the New World. On the other hand, Felix's luxurious romantic ways find acceptance with the American women. But misunderstandings of a different kind complicate his plans. In a bungle of culture clash and love triangles, the Europeans hang their fortunes upon their ability to adapt. Where their scheming leads them is the last place they expect.