Classic / British EnglishEdgar Allan Poe, ‘the father of the detective story’ and a master of horror, is one of the greatest American short story writers. In these stories we meet people struggling with fear, revenge, mental illness and death. Which of them will win – and which will lose – their battles?
Das Robinson Crusoe-Mädchen, dessen Geschichte hier erzählt wird, lebte tatsächlich von 1835 bis 1853 allein auf einer einsamen Insel im Pazifik und hat als "die Verschollene von San Nicolas" historische Berühmtheit erlangt. Die Erzählung versucht, diesem Schicksal dichterisch nachzuspüren. Der Autor lässt das Mädchen selbst vom Hergang der Ereignisse berichten. Einsam und ganz auf sich gestellt, hat sie jeden Tag neu die Aufgaben und Abenteuer, die ihr begegnen und denen sie in Einfalt und Herzenstapferkeit nicht ausweicht, zu bestehen. Ein außergewöhnliches Schicksal wird hier zum Bild und Gleichnis des menschlichen Lebens, das nur mit Mut, Vertrauen und Zuversicht gelebt werden kann.
In Hard Times, Dickens illustrates the condition of England through the fictional city of Coketown. Among its inhabitants are Thomas Gradgrind, the utilitarian headmaster who attempts to impose his rigid worldview on his family circle, and the uncaring businessman Mr Bounderby. Their materialist philosophies, as opposed to the world of fancy or imagination, are tested throughout the novel, which also explores workers’ conditions, trade unions and the spurious use of statistics. Perhaps the most polemical of his novels – in which hard-biting satire, moving drama and exuberant comedy find a very succinct and powerful expression – Hard Times is the ideal introduction to the world of Dickens.
It is the summer of 1900 and Leo is staying with his friend Marcus. Leo likes Marcus's beautiful older sister, Marian very much. He becomes a secret messenger for her and a local farmer. But when he realizes what the messages they send each other are about, he is shocked and confused.
This is a collection of 29 of Edgar Allan Poe's best-known stories, along with some of his more obscure tales. In these chilling stories, Poe's macabre imagination explores the darkest corners of the human mind and the furthest reaches of the paranormal.