In der Strafkolonie

Franz Kafka

Kafkas berühmte Erzählung über einen eigentümlichen Apparat. Ein Reisender kommt in eine Strafkolonie, um mehr über die dortigen Zustände zu erfahren. Man zeigt ihm eine grausame Bestrafungsmaschine, die den Angeklagten ihr Urteil mit einer Nadel in den Körper ritzt immer tiefer, zwölf Stunden lang, bis der verurteilte die Bedeutung des Schriftzugs erkennt und schließlich getötet wird. Die Wesensbeschreibung des ausführenden Technokraten wirkt dabei wie eine hellsischtige Vorausschau auf die dreißiger und vierziger Jahre des vorigen Jahrhunderts in Deutschland. Kafkas Erzählung thematisiert das problematische Verhältnis von Macht und Gerechtigkeit.

The Dust of Conflict

Harold Bindloss

Appleby has a steady look and the ability to quickly make the right decisions as well as composure in action. These qualities are useful in more serious cases than shooting from the game, and for Appleby, who was poor, lucky that he possessed them. Appleby had something uncertain in his head. He had fearlessness in his eyes. And no one knew what was on his mind. Whether to be afraid, or to admire.

The Lookout Man

B.M. Bower

The Lookout Man is a 1917 novel by American author B. M. Bower. Fans of B. M. Bowers fast-paced Western novels will love The Lookout Man. One man discovers how the Law in the Wild West can be bent, broken, and even beaten. Set in Northern California when the region was still teetering between civilization and Old West devilry, the novel tells the tale of a young protagonist who has a good heart but a seemingly insatiable taste for danger. A Northern California story full of action, excitement and love. A fantastic example of classic Western fiction, The Lookout Man is a must-read for all fans of the genre.

Une fantaisie du docteur Ox

Jules Verne

Le scientifique-physiologiste Ox arrive Kikandon, en Flandre occidentale, avec son assistant. Comme il la dit, son objectif est dilluminer completement la ville avec du gaz oxhydrique émis par lair. Seulement, personne ne savait si cétait vrai. Bientôt, dans une ville paisible et non pressée, des choses étranges ont commencé se produire, se transformant en une épidémie.

Sketches of Young Gentlemen

Charles Dickens

Following the phenomenal popularity of Sketches by Boz, Dickens produced two short volumes of Sketches of Young Gentlemen and Sketches Young Couples". Dedicated to The Young Ladies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain as well as to other young ladies, Sketches of Young Gentlemen scrutinizes in a very witty and humorous fashion certain familiar characteristics of Victorian men and women. Indeed, the sketches center around certain social stereotypes developed by the author. Whimsical, satirical, witty and exuberant, the sketches ridicule the behavior of their subjects with perfect comic effect, offering fascinating evidence of a writer learning his craft and refining his style. To modern readers, these sketches reveal a hidden facet of the great Victorian novelist as they give a glimpse of his little-known beginnings. Highly recommended!

A Modern Utopia

Herbert George Wells

H.G Wells wrote many tales of adventure and exploration, which were fascinating to early twentieth century readers as transportation to faraway lands was so difficult back then. Wells Modern Utopia was first published in 1905. It set the scene for many modern, scientific utopias and dystopias. The story is set on a planet very like earth. The Utopian Planet differs from earth in that the inhabitants have created a perfect society. Two men, the narrator and his colleague (a botanist), visit this parallel planet and argue over its merits and defects. Utopia is a world in which the problems of humanity have been solved. People live healthy, happy lives in cities where all human needs are met. The novel is best known for its idea that the Samurai, a group of nobility, could effectively rule a world. This would redress the sociological issue of progress and political stability

Smithy, Nobby & Co

Edgar Wallace

Between 1904 and 1918 Edgar Wallace wrote a large number of mostly humorous sketches about life in the British Army relating the escapades and adventures of privates Smith (Smithy), Nobby Clark, Spud Murphy and their comrades-in-arms. Set at a later-and, when first published, contemporary time, and on a different stage, this substantial collection of the Smithy stories finds our incorrigible hero and his scurrilous band of confederates malingering, scheming and conniving their way through life in the British Army during the First World War. Edgar Wallace published three more collections about Smithy and Nobby and many, many more uncollected stories about them in magazines and newspapers.

The Island of Shadows

Fred M. White

Tom Armstrong, commonly known by the common name of Captain Armstrong, could boast the amount of knowledge that he had or the discoveries he made. However, he is already 5 years retired. Armstrongs companion, named Harold Coventry, was a young man of about six-and-twenty years. Like his companion, the sea was his passion, and although he was not a very wealthy man, he managed to explore every sea. Old friends decided to get together again and go on adventures, but this time they are waiting for a very mysterious island.