Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:48

Excerpt #1, from Ulysses, by James Joyce

…thought she understood. She would try to understand him because men were so different. The old love was waiting, waiting with little white hands stretched out, with blue appealing eyes. Heart of mine! She would follow, her dream of love, the dictates of her heart that told her he was her all in all, the only man in all the world for her for love was the master guide. Nothing else mattered. Come what might she would be wild, untrammelled, free. Canon O’Hanlon put the Blessed Sacrament back into the tabernacle and genuflected and the choir sang Laudate Dominum omnes gentes and then he locked the tabernacle door because the benediction was over and Father Conroy handed him his hat to put on and crosscat Edy asked wasn’t she coming but Jacky Caffrey called out: —O, look, Cissy! And they all looked was it sheet lightning but Tommy saw it too over the trees beside the church, blue and then green and purple. —It’s fireworks, Cissy Caffrey said. And they all ran down the strand to see over the houses and the church, helterskelter, Edy with the pushcar with baby Boardman in it and Cissy holding Tommy and Jacky by the hand so they wouldn’t fall running. —Come on, Gerty, Cissy called. It’s the bazaar fireworks. But Gerty was adamant. She had no intention of being at their beck and…

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Excerpt #2, from Investigation of Communist Activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 1

…the Czechoslovakian Party on the preparation for the campaign for the 6th March 1930 there is information from all districts that when practical questions of the preparation for the demonstration for the 6th March were put before the meetings of factory cells, in many factory cells voices were raised to the effect that it was impossible to do any work in the factory, and at a place called Laza in Moravia, one responsible worker of a factory cell even put the question in this way: “If the Party will guarantee material help after I have been thrown out of the factory for taking part in the demonstration, but if the Party cannot guarantee my family and myself then I will not carry on Party work in the factory.” Such moods among Communists working in the factory are to be observed on all sides. There are Party members who agree to pay membership dues, agree to come to a meeting once every fortnight or once a month, in order to hear a report on the world proletarian revolution, and vote for the platform of the Comintern against the liquidators, the Trotskyists and all other renegades, but are not willing to carry on recruiting work among the workers of their enterprise, do not wish to prepare strikes in their own enterprises, do not wish to call out the workers of their enterprises to demonstrations, and so on. Every Party Committee…

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Excerpt #3, from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne

…“Well, sir,” I remarked, as I noticed my uncle hesitated to conclude. “To the genus Pterychtis–yes, I am certain of it. Still, though I am confident of the correctness of my surmise, this fish offers to our notice a remarkable peculiarity, never known to exist in any other fish but those which are the natives of subterranean waters, wells, lakes, in caverns, and suchlike hidden pools.” “And what may that be?” “It is blind.” “Blind!” I cried, much surprised. “Not only blind,” continued the Professor, “but absolutely without organs of sight.” I now examined our discovery for myself. It was singular, to be sure, but it was really a fact. This, however, might be a solitary instance, I suggested. The hook was baited again and once more thrown into the water. This subterranean ocean must have been tolerably well supplied with fish, for in two hours we took a large number of Pterychtis, as well as other fish belonging to another supposed extinct family–the Dipterides (a genus of fish, furnished with two fins only, whence the name), though my uncle could not class it exactly. All, without exception, however, were blind. This unexpected capture enabled us to renew our stock of provisions in a very satisfactory way….

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Excerpt #4, from Principles of Geology, by Sir Charles Lyell

…their surfaces marked with the most delicate lines and streaks. Long leaves, also, are attached in many instances to the trunks or branches;[162] and leaves, we know, in general, are soon destroyed when steeped in water, although ferns will retain their forms after an immersion of many months.[163] It seems fair to presume, that most of the coal-plants grew upon the same land which supplied materials for the sandstones and conglomerates of the strata in which they are imbedded. The coarseness of the particles of many of these rocks attests that they were not borne from very remote localities, and that there was land therefore in the vicinity wasting away by the action of moving waters. The progress also of modern discovery has led to the very general admission of the doctrine that beds of coal have for the most part been formed of the remains of trees and plants that grew on the spot where the coal now exists; the land having been successively submerged, so that a covering of mud and sand was deposited upon accumulations of vegetable mater. That such has been the origin of some coal-seams is proved by the upright position of fossil trees, both in Europe and America, in which the roots terminate downwards in beds of coal.[164] To return, therefore, from this digression,–the flora of the coal appears to indicate a uniform and mild temperature in the air, while the fossils of the contemporaneous mountain-limestone, comprising abundance…

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Excerpt #5, from The Boy’s Book of the Sea, by Eric Wood

…firepike, whose flaming torch lit up the place weirdly; they made unearthly noises on trumpets, and rent the air with war-cries which struck terror into the Spaniards. So much so that, hearing the advance of men from two quarters, the Dons, forgetting all about the treasure in their stores, took to their heels and ran for dear life. It was all so easy, thought the Englishmen; and then found they had counted their chickens before they were hatched, for when they reached the market-place they saw that the Spaniards had taken new courage and had massed themselves for a gallant fight. Moreover, they, too, had resorted to a stratagem; they had strung a line of lights across the dark street, and made it appear that there were many, many men with torches awaiting the foe! Nothing loath to accept a good fight, Drake’s men plunged in; and although the Dons met them boldly and fought well, nothing could stop the men out for treasure and revenge. Using their firepikes as weapons, they charged the Spaniards, and although Drake and others were wounded, and the trumpeter was killed, they put the Dons to flight, and found themselves in possession of Nombre de Dios, with the treasure of King Philip theirs for the taking! They hurried to the governor’s house, where they saw much treasure in the form of stacks of silver bars; they marched to the treasure-house,…

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Excerpt #6, from Guide to Fortune Telling, by Dreams, by Anonymous

…are going on well; if you are in trade, an increase of business; if you quarrel, and he overcomes you, it is a good sign, for you will conquer all obstacles to your promotion, happiness and fortune; but, if you conquer him, then you will never rise to any great preferment by the means you are at present adopting; many things will miscarry with you, but in general you will be fortunate. Acquaintance.–To dream you quarrel or fight with an acquaintance is unlucky; it forebodes a division amongst your own family, much to the injury and prejudice of the dreamer; if you are in love, your sweetheart will prove unfaithful, and marry some one else; if you are in business, heavy loss will befall you, and you will disagree with some of your best friends on the most trivial matters; if you have a law-suit, your attorney will neglect you, your witnesses will be tardy and backward, and finally you will lose your cause. Do not for some time undertake a journey by land, or a voyage by sea, or enter into new undertakings, for you will be unsuccessful; leave, if you can, your present place of residence, and, above all, avoid lending money, for you will surely lose it, together with the friendship of those to whom you lend it. Angels.–To dream you see angels in your sleep is a sure sign that one is near you, therefore be mindful of the rest of your dream, for it…

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Excerpt #7, from Trouble on Titan, by Henry Kuttner

…Quade was donning his spacesuit. He pulled the transparent helmet into place. “I am,” he said through the diaphragm. “Our javelins won’t keep the Zonals off long unless the neo-curare will do the trick—and I’m going to find out. At worst, even if our ship’s wrecked, there’s a gun or two in the cabin.” He turned to Sherman. “Take it easy. Luck.” “I’m going with you,” Kathleen decided. “There’s only one helmet,” Quade informed her. “I’ll be safe enough in this spacesuit. You stay here till I get back, understand?” “All right,” the girl said obediently and Quade departed. “First time in her life she ever did what I told her,” he thought, plodding toward the lake. This job was going to be dangerous, regardless of what he had told Kathleen. If the Zonals attacked— He went on. A number of the Zonals trailed him. One ran forward, and Quade spun quickly and threw his javelin. He didn’t want to kill. He was making an experiment. The sharp-ground point ripped into the amphibian’s leg and the Zonal fell instantly. Quade waited. After a minute or more the creature hoisted itself laboriously upright. It had fallen behind its fellows, who were still following Quade. It ran after them, limping. Its low snarling mingled with the menacing…

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Excerpt #8, from Shakespeare’s Sonnets, by William Shakespeare

…Which shall above that idle rank remain, Beyond all date; even to eternity: Or, at the least, so long as brain and heart Have faculty by nature to subsist; Till each to raz’d oblivion yield his part Of thee, thy record never can be miss’d. That poor retention could not so much hold, Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score; Therefore to give them from me was I bold, To trust those tables that receive thee more: To keep an adjunct to remember thee Were to import forgetfulness in me. CXXIII No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change: Thy pyramids built up with newer might To me are nothing novel, nothing strange; They are but dressings of a former sight. Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire What thou dost foist upon us that is old; And rather make them born to our desire Than think that we before have heard them told….

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Excerpt #9, from The Poetics of Aristotle, by Aristotle

…irrational parts. Everything irrational should, if possible, be excluded; or, at all events, it should lie outside the action of the play (as, in the Oedipus, the hero’s ignorance as to the manner of Laius’ death); not within the drama,–as in the Electra, the messenger’s account of the Pythian games; or, as in the Mysians, the man who has come from Tegea to Mysia and is still speechless. The plea that otherwise the plot would have been ruined, is ridiculous; such a plot should not in the first instance be constructed. But once the irrational has been introduced and an air of likelihood imparted to it, we must accept it in spite of the absurdity. Take even the irrational incidents in the Odyssey, where Odysseus is left upon the shore of Ithaca. How intolerable even these might have been would be apparent if an inferior poet were to treat the subject. As it is, the absurdity is veiled by the poetic charm with which the poet invests it. The diction should be elaborated in the pauses of the action, where there is no expression of character or thought. For, conversely, character and thought are merely obscured by a diction that is over brilliant. XXV With respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, the number and nature of the sources from which they may be drawn may be thus…

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Excerpt #10, from Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson

…in safety. With that I set off, undaunted, across the top of the isle, to fetch and carry it back. It was a weary tramp in all ways, and if hope had not buoyed me up, I must have cast myself down and given up. Whether with the sea salt, or because I was growing fevered, I was distressed with thirst, and had to stop, as I went, and drink the peaty water out of the hags. I came to the bay at last, more dead than alive; and at the first glance, I thought the yard was something farther out than when I left it. In I went, for the third time, into the sea. The sand was smooth and firm, and shelved gradually down, so that I could wade out till the water was almost to my neck and the little waves splashed into my face. But at that depth my feet began to leave me, and I durst venture in no farther. As for the yard, I saw it bobbing very quietly some twenty feet beyond. I had borne up well until this last disappointment; but at that I came ashore, and flung myself down upon the sands and wept. The time I spent upon the island is still so horrible a thought to me, that I must pass it lightly over. In all the books I have read of people cast away, they had either their pockets full of tools, or a chest of things would be thrown upon the beach along with them, as if on purpose. My case was very different. I had nothing in my pockets but money and…

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Excerpt #11, from The Open Boat and Other Stories, by Stephen Crane

…could balance himself under any conditions. The engineer shook his head dejectedly. “This old biscuit-box will never see port again. Why, she’ll fall to pieces.” Finally at night the captain said, “Launch the boats.” The Cubans hovered about him. “Is the ship going to sink?” The captain addressed them politely. “Gentlemen, we are in trouble, but all I ask of you is that you just do what I tell you, and no harm will come to anybody.” The mate directed the lowering of the first boat, and the men performed this task with all decency, like people at the side of a grave. A young oiler came to the captain. “The chief sends word, sir, that the water is almost up to the fires.” “Keep at it as long as you can.” “Keep at it as long as we can, sir?” Flanagan took the senior Cuban officer to the rail, and, as the steamer sheered high on a great sea, showed him a yellow dot on the horizon. It was smaller than a needle when its point is towards you. “There,” said the captain. The wind-driven spray was lashing his face. “That’s Jupiter Light on the Florida coast. Put your men in the boat we’ve just launched, and the mate will take you to that light.” Afterwards Flanagan turned to the chief engineer. “We can never beach,” said the old man. “The stokers have got to quit in a minute.” Tears…

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Excerpt #12, from Curiosities of Human Nature, by Samuel G. Goodrich

…time, he became the object of dread to the Indians, by his bravery and resources. Many of the colonists died of hunger and disease; many were dispirited; and at last, in despair, they turned to our adventurer as their only hope in this hour of need. Like all generous spirits, he forgot his injuries, and set himself to work to remedy the evils that beset them. By his ingenuity and daring, he obtained from the Indians liberal supplies of corn, venison, and wild fowl, and, under the influence of good cheer, the colonists became, comparatively, happy. But a new and unforeseen calamity awaited our hero. Having penetrated into the country, with but few followers, he was beset by a large party of Indians, and, after a brave resistance, was taken prisoner. But the spirit and presence of mind of this remarkable man did not forsake him in this alarming crisis. He did not ask for life, for this would, probably, have hastened his death; but requesting that he might see the Indian chief, he at the same time drew from his pocket a compass, and directed attention to it, partly by signs and partly by words which he had learned. The curious instrument amused and surprised his savage captors, and averted, for a time, the fate that awaited him. They soon, however, tied him to a tree, and prepared to shoot him with their arrows. Changing their plans suddenly, they led him in a procession to a village, where they confined him and fed him so…

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