LITMIR.BIZ

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"The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. The book is named after a play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories. The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and the book has been described by critics such as E. F. Bleiler, S. T. Joshi and T. E. D. Klein as a classic in the field of the supernatural. There are ten stories, the first four of which («„The Repairer of Reputations“», «„The Mask“», «„In the Court of the Dragon“», and «„The Yellow Sign“») mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it. The first and fourth stories, «„The Repairer of Reputations“» and «„The Yellow Sign“», are set in an imagined future 1920s America, whereas the second and third stories, «„The Mask“» and «„In the Court of the Dragon“», are set in Paris. These stories are haunted by the theme: «„Have you found the Yellow Sign?“» The weird and macabre character gradually fades away during the remaining stories, and the last three are written in the romantic fiction style common to Chambers' later work. They are all linked to the preceding stories by their Parisian setting and their artistic protagonists. Robert W. Chambers is also famous for such works as: ""The Repairer of Reputations"«, „„In the Court of the Dragon““, „„The Demoiselle d'Ys““, „„The Prophets' Paradise““, „„The Maker of Moons““.»

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"The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or «„man-cub“» Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. The stories are set in a forest in India; one place mentioned repeatedly is «„Seonee“» (Seoni), in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. A major theme in the book is abandonment followed by fostering, as in the life of Mowgli, echoing Kipling's own childhood. The theme is echoed in the triumph of protagonists including Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The White Seal over their enemies, as well as Mowgli's. Another important theme is of law and freedom; the stories are not about animal behaviour, still less about the Darwinian struggle for survival, but about human archetypes in animal form. They teach respect for authority, obedience, and knowing one's place in society with «„the law of the jungle“», but the stories also illustrate the freedom to move between different worlds, such as when Mowgli moves between the jungle and the village. Critics have also noted the essential wildness and lawless energies in the stories, reflecting the irresponsible side of human nature. The Jungle Book has remained popular, partly through its many adaptations for film and other media. Famous stories of The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling: Mowgli's Brothers, Kaa's Hunting, Tiger! Tiger!, The White Seal, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Toomai of the Elephants, Her Majesty’s Servants."

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"Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story, and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, he himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse. Besides his short stories, he wrote a full-length play, The Watched Pot, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire (the only book published under his own name); a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington; the episodic The Westminster Alice (a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland); and When William Came, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain. This collection includes the works of Saki: The Unrest-Cure The Music on the Hill"

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"A Changed Man is a collection of twelve tales written by Thomas Hardy. The collection was originally published in book form in 1913, although all of the tales had been previously published in newspapers or magazines from 1881 to 1900. There are eleven short stories and a novella The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid. At the end of the book there is a map of the imaginary Wessex of Hardy's novels and poems. Six of the stories were published before 1891 and therefore lacked international copyright protection when the collection began to be sold in October 1913. This is the final book (other than some poetry) published by Thomas Hardy in his long career. It is a collection of minor novels (as Hardy calls them in the prefatory note). A collection of twelve tales written by Thomas Hardy: «„A Changed Man“», «„A Waiting Supper“», «„Alicia's Diary“», «„The Grave by the Handpost“», «„Enter a Dragoon“», «„A Tryst at an Ancient Earthwork“», ""What the Shepherd Saw"«, „„A Committee-Man of 'The Terror'““, „„Master John Horseleigh, Knight““, „„The Duke's Reappearance““, „„A Mere Interlude““, „„The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid““.»

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""«The Monkey's Paw»" is a supernatural short story by author W. W. Jacobs, first published in England in the collection The Lady of the Barge in 1902. In the story, three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey's Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate. It has been adapted many times in other media, including plays, films, TV series, operas, stories and comics, as early as 1903 and as recently as 2017. It was first adapted to film in 1915 as a British silent film directed by Sidney Northcote. The film (now lost) starred John Lawson who also played the main character in Louis N. Parker's 1907 stage play as well. The short story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son, Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend who served with the British Army in India, introduces them to a mummified monkey's paw. An old fakir placed a spell on the paw, so that it would grant three wishes. These three wishes are granted to the owner with hellish consequences as punishment for tampering with fate. Morris, having had a horrible experience using the paw, throws it into the fire. Mr. White not believing Morris, retrieves it. Before leaving, Morris warns Mr. White that should he use the paw, then he might as well be digging his own grave."

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""«Rip Van Winkle»" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up 20 years later, having missed the American Revolution. Irving wrote it while living in Birmingham, England, as part of the collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The story is set in New York's Catskill Mountains, but Irving later admitted, «„When I wrote the story, I had never been on the Catskills.“» ""Rip Van Winkle"" is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War in a village at the foot of New York's Catskill Mountains where Rip Van Winkle, a Dutch-American villager, lives. One autumn day, Van Winkle wanders into the mountains with his dog Wolf to escape his wife's nagging. He hears his name called out and sees a man wearing antiquated Dutch clothing; he is carrying a keg up the mountain and requires help. Together, the men and Wolf proceed to a hollow in which Rip discovers the source of thunderous noises: a group of ornately dressed, silent, bearded men who are playing nine-pins. Among the most significant works Washington Irving: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow‎, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Tales of a Traveller, Bracebridge Hall, The Devil and Tom Walker, Kidd the Pirate, The Alhambra, Woolfert's Roost & The Crayon Papers."

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For a while, the famous writer Irving Washington was an employee of the American diplomatic mission in Spain. He spent three months in the famous Alhambra Palace. This acquaintance with the historical relic inspired him to write this book. In addition to historical descriptions and essays the book contains many magnificent legends that have become loved by millions of readers. By the way, Irving's work is still called the Alhambra guidebook.

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"Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories «„Rip Van Winkle“» (1819) and «„The Legend of Sleepy Hollow“» (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. The collection includes the following works Washington Irving are The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, Tales of the Alhambra."

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The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works. Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a «monstrous vermin». He initially considers the transformation to be temporary and slowly ponders the consequences of this metamorphosis. Unable to get up and leave the bed, Gregor reflects on his job as a traveling salesman and cloth merchant, which he characterizes as an exhausting and never-ending traffic. He sees his employer as a despot and would quickly quit his job were he not his family's sole breadwinner and working off his bankrupt father's debts… Famous works of the author Franz Kafka: «Die Verwandlung» («The Metamorphosis»), Der Process (The Trial), «Das Urteil» («The Judgment»), Das Schloss (The Castle), Betrachtung (Contemplation), Ein Hungerkünstler (A Hunger Artist), Briefe an Felice (Letters to Felice).

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