English Literature Club: books, essays,reviews.

2021-02-16 18:00:33 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
by Agatha Christie
The heiress of Styles has been murdered, dying in agony from strychnine slipped into her coffee. And there are plenty who would gain from her death: the financially strapped stepson, the gold digging younger husband, and an embittered daughter-in-law. Agatha Christie’s eccentric and hugely popular detective, Hercule Poirot, was introduced to the world in this book, which launched her career as the most famous and best loved of all mystery writers. Open / Comment

2021-02-08 15:54:43 The Captive by Marcel Proust
In The Captive, Proust’s narrator describes living in his mother’s Paris apartment with his lover, Albertine, and subsequently falling out of love with her. The Prisoner (also translated as The Captive) is the first volume of the section within In Search of Lost Time known as the Albertine novel. The name Albertine first appears in Proust’s notebooks. The material in volume 5 and 6 were developed during the hiatus between the publication of volumes 1 and 2 and they are a departure of the original three-volume series originally planned by Proust. This is the first of Proust’s books published posthumously. Open / Comment

2021-02-01 23:12:33 The Teeth of the Tiger — by Maurice Leblanc
This is one of three novels about Lupin written in World War I. Lupin is a sincere hero who has failings, which ender him to the reader. This romance and adventure/thriller is by far the best of the Lupin series. Contents: D’artagnan, Porthos…And Monte Cristo; A Man Dead; A Man Doomed; The Clouded Turquoise; The Iron Curtain; The Man With The Ebony Walking-stick; Shakespeare’s Works, Volume Viii; The Devil’s Post-office; Lupin’s Anger; Gaston Sauverand Explains; Routed; “Help!”; The Explosion; The “hater”; The Heir To The Hundred Millions; Weber Takes His Revenge; Open Sesame!; Arsène I Emperor Of Mauretania; “The Snare Is Laid. Beware, Lupin!”; Florence’s Secret; Lupin’s Lupins. Open / Comment

2021-01-27 01:08:54 The Woman Who Rode Away And Other Stories by D. H. Lawrence
A dispirited, unnamed woman decides to leave her ordinary and unfulfilling life to ride out into the lands of the Chilchui Indians and get in touch with their spiritual and ancient ways. While her quest brings physical danger, it also becomes a journey of deep self-discovery and self-acceptance. D.H. Lawrence’s writing often reflects upon the degradation of humanity in a modern, industrialized society. This short story and its main character—who is presented to the reader without any true identity—provide another powerful commentary by Lawrence on the dehumanizing effects of modern culture. Open / Comment

2021-01-18 11:36:11 The Schoolmaster And Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

This book contains the following stories: The Schoolmaster, Enemies, The Examining Magistrate, Betrothed, From the Diary of a Violent-Tempered Man, In the Dark, A Play, A Mystery, Strong Impressions, Drunk, The Marshal’s Widow, A Bad Business, In the Court, Boots, Joy, Ladies, A Peculiar Man, At the Barber’s, An Inadvertence, The Album, Oh The Public, A Tripping Tongue, Overdoing It, The Orator, Malingerers, In the Graveyard, Hush , In an Hotel, and In a Strange Land. Open / Comment

2020-12-29 23:48:44 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
In this biting satire by Twain, a 19th c. Yankee mechanic is knocked out during a brawl, and wakes to find himself in Camelot, A.D. 528, in King Arthur’s Court. When the modern mechanic tries to cure society’s ills (oppressed peasantry, evil church, etc.) with 19th c. industrial inventions like electricity and gunfire - all hell breaks loose! Open / Comment

2020-12-28 11:36:12 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

He stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and in so doing became an undying symbol of virtue. But most important, Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men offer young readers more than enough adventure and thrills to keep them turning the pages. Who could resist the arrows flying, danger lurking, and medieval intrigue? Open / Comment