The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.
London spent almost a year in the Yukon, and his observations form much of the material for the book. The story was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903 and was published later that year in book form. The book's great popularity and success made a reputation for London. As early as 1923, the story was adapted to film, and it has since seen several more cinematic adaptations.
Daniel Defoe has woven a fantastic tale of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a young lad form the City of York in England who yearns for the life of the sea. His father wants Robinson to attend law school and get a good education, but Robinson decides otherwise. Follow Robinson as he survives pirates, shipwrecks and cannibals. this story is a classic you will enjoy and treasure.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on the way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story.
Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. The story follows the idealistic, insane knight and the devoted, down to earth squire to portray many complex themes through a plethora of unforgettable incidents, tragic and comic, in a blend of great variety and colour. The book is unsurpassed as a masterpiece of droll humour, a scintillating portrait of 16th century Spanish society made all the more beautiful by the fantastic prose style.
Anyone who has ever been on a package tour with a group of strangers who soon become friends, and passed time swapping stories with them, would instantly identify with this timeless classic of English literature. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer recounts twenty different stories recounted by a diverse group of pilgrims who gather at The Tabard Inn in Southwark, near London, before setting out for the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The Host of the inn proposes that they entertain themselves by telling stories along the route and the one who tells the best tale would win a prize – a meal at Bailey's tavern, sponsored by the losers. Lots are drawn and the stories and the journey begin...
Gulliver's Travels (1726, amended 1735), officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships, is a novel by Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the 'travellers' tales' literary sub-genre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature.
Henry Fielding (April 22, 1707 - October 8, 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.
The most renowned travel story of the Middle Ages has never lost its allure. A story of true wonder, Marco Polo's experiences as well as the reported myths, transport us to the heart of Central Asia, China, Indochina, and the Indian Ocean.
Hans Christian Andersen is one of the immortals of world literature. The fairy tales he wrote, such as
'The Snow Queen,' 'The Ugly Duckling,' 'The Red Shoes,' and 'The Nightingale,' are remarkable for
their sense of fantasy, power of description, and acute sensitivity, and they are like no others written
before or since. Unlike the Brothers Grimm, who collected and retold folklore, Andersen adopted the
most ancient literary forms of the fairy tale and the folktale and distilled them into a genre that was
uniquely his own.
In preparing this first English translation of the complete fairy tales and stories as collected and told by
Andersen, Erik Haugaard has scrupulously followed the text and the order of the stories in the or original
Danish edition of 1874. Recognizing the literary merit of Andersen's own simple colloquial language,
which Victorian translators and their imitators very often altered to sentimentalize or vulgarize,
Haugaard has remained faithful to the original text. This edition includes Andersen's own notes to his
stories.
As Virginia Haviland comments in her Foreword, 'This new work, in its fresh and authentic transmission,
and with Andersen's notes accompanying the translation, is offered as a contribution to the history of a
literature that belongs to every age.'
This set of 100 classic masterpieces of classical music contains the famous classical repertoire from 1685 to 1928, covering a wide range of music genres. Chronological arrangement, can also have a systematic appreciation, for the composer's age will also have a general understanding.
This series is the first choice for the introduction of classical music. This collection of 100 classic masterpieces of classical music contains many famous repertoires from 1685 to 1928, including the well-known repertoire of opera masterpieces in the world, as well as the classic music handed down by many composers from generation to generation. The two complement each other, making this set of CDs condensed the brilliant classical chapter.
When these world-class masters have passed away for many years, we still listen with admiration and admiration, so that we can keep the charm of music forever.
