Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:05

Excerpt #1, from The Sea

…being hoodwinked because they know I am crazy, and I sometimes tremble lest I should be grabbed from behind and whisked off to a lunatic asylum. The best years of my youth were made one continual agony for me by my writing. A young author, especially if at first he does not make a success, feels clumsy, ill-at-ease, and superfluous in the world. His nerves are all on edge and stretched to the point of breaking; he is irresistibly attracted to literary and artistic people, and hovers about them unknown and unnoticed, fearing to look them bravely in the eye, like a man with a passion for gambling, whose money is all gone. I did not know my readers, but for some reason I imagined they were distrustful and unfriendly; I was mortally afraid of the public, and when my first play appeared, it seemed to me as if all the dark eyes in the audience were looking at it with enmity, and all the blue ones with cold indifference. Oh, how terrible it was! What agony! NINA. But don’t your inspiration and the act of creation give you moments of lofty happiness? TRIGORIN. Yes. Writing is a pleasure to me, and so is reading the proofs, but no sooner does a book leave the press than it becomes odious to me; it is not what I meant it to be; I made a mistake to write it at all; I am provoked and discouraged. Then the public reads it and says: “Yes, it is clever and pretty, but not nearly as good as Tolstoi,” or…

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Excerpt #2, from Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

…money. He spent one whole winter without lighting his stove, and used to declare that he liked it better, because one slept more soundly in the cold. For the present he, too, had been obliged to give up the university, but it was only for a time, and he was working with all his might to save enough to return to his studies again. Raskolnikov had not been to see him for the last four months, and Razumihin did not even know his address. About two months before, they had met in the street, but Raskolnikov had turned away and even crossed to the other side that he might not be observed. And though Razumihin noticed him, he passed him by, as he did not want to annoy him. CHAPTER V “Of course, I’ve been meaning lately to go to Razumihin’s to ask for work, to ask him to get me lessons or something…” Raskolnikov thought, “but what help can he be to me now? Suppose he gets me lessons, suppose he shares his last farthing with me, if he has any farthings, so that I could get some boots and make myself tidy enough to give lessons… hm… Well and what then? What shall I do with the few coppers I earn? That’s not what I want now. It’s really absurd for me to go to Razumihin….” The question why he was now going to Razumihin agitated him even more than he was himself aware; he kept uneasily seeking for some sinister…

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Excerpt #3, from Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich, by Stephen Leacock

…reporters and compositors the news went seething forth in a flood that the Erie Auriferous Consolidated was going to shatter into fragments like the bursting of a dynamite bomb. It rushed with a thousand whispering tongues from street to street till it filled the corridors of the law courts and the lobbies of the offices, and till every honest man that held a share of the stock shivered in his tracks and reached out to give, sell, or destroy it. Only the unwinking Idiots, and the mild Orphans, and the calm Deaf mutes and the impassive Chinese held tight to what they had. So gathered the storm, till all the town, like the great rotunda of the Grand Palaver, was filled with a silent “call for Mr. Tomlinson,” voiceless and ominous. And while all this was happening, and while at Skinyer and Beatem’s they worked with frantic pens and clattering type there came a knock at the door, hesitant and uncertain, and before the eyes of the astounded office there stood in his wide-awake hat and long black coat the figure of “the man Tomlinson” himself. And Skinyer, the senior partner, no sooner heard what Tomlinson wanted than he dashed across the outer office to his partner’s room with his hyena face all excitement as he said: "Beatem, Beatem, come over to my room. This man is absolutely the biggest thing in America. For sheer calmness and nerve I never heard of…

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Excerpt #4, from Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

…her address in guiding, and composure in bearing with, her husband, and to acknowledge that it was all done very well. She had also to anticipate how her visit would pass, the quiet tenor of their usual employments, the vexatious interruptions of Mr. Collins, and the gaieties of their intercourse with Rosings. A lively imagination soon settled it all. About the middle of the next day, as she was in her room getting ready for a walk, a sudden noise below seemed to speak the whole house in confusion; and, after listening a moment, she heard somebody running up stairs in a violent hurry, and calling loudly after her. She opened the door and met Maria in the landing place, who, breathless with agitation, cried out— “Oh, my dear Eliza! pray make haste and come into the dining-room, for there is such a sight to be seen! I will not tell you what it is. Make haste, and come down this moment.” Elizabeth asked questions in vain; Maria would tell her nothing more, and down they ran into the dining-room, which fronted the lane, in quest of this wonder; It was two ladies stopping in a low phaeton at the garden gate. “And is this all?” cried Elizabeth. “I expected at least that the pigs were got into the garden, and here is nothing but Lady…

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Excerpt #5, from The Swedish Fairy Book, by Klara Stroebe, George Hood, and Frederick Herman Martens

…must rule the kingdom now in my stead, and I leave land and people in your care. But there is one thing you must promise me you will do: that you will guard the wild man securely so that he does not escape while I am away." The queen promised to do her best in all respects, and the king gave her the key to the cage. Thereupon he had his long galleys, his “sea-wolves,” push out from the shore, hoisted sail, and took his course far, far away to the other country. The king and queen had only one child, a prince who was still small; yet great in promise. Now when the king had gone, it chanced one day that the little fellow was wandering about the royal courtyard, and came to the wild man’s cage. And he began to play with an apple of gold he had. And while he was playing with it, it happened that suddenly the apple fell through the window in the wall of the cage. The wild man at once appeared and threw back the apple. This seemed a merry game to the little fellow: he threw the apple in again, and the wild man threw it out again, and thus they played for a long time. Yet for all the game had been so pleasant, it turned to sorrow in the end: for the wild man kept the apple of gold, and would not give it back again. And when all was of no avail, neither threats nor prayers, the little fellow at last began to weep. Then the wild man said: "Your father did ill to capture me, and you will never get your apple of…

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Excerpt #6, from The Submarine Hunters: A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War

…burning. The reflected rays were just sufficient to enable him to take stock of his surroundings. No, he was not back in the school dormitory. True, he had a headache, but that would not account for the actual motion. He fumbled, his fingers came in contact with a curved board that served to prevent the occupant of the bed–or, rather, bunk–from falling on the floor. Almost mechanically he rolled out, and stood supporting himself by grasping the ledge of the bunk. The swaying, due partly to dizziness and partly to an unaccountable see-saw motion, would have thrown him to the floor but for the assistance afforded by the side of the bunk. Gradually he became aware that there was a similar sleeping-place immediately beneath the one he had been occupying. Someone was lying there, breathing heavily. There was sufficient light for Ross to recognize him. It was his chum Vernon. Just then a bell clanged noisily. The sound of running water was outvoiced by the loud din of machinery in motion. A wave of hot air that reminded the lad of the atmosphere of a Tube station wafted past him. The whole fabric trembled under the powerful pulsations of the mechanism. With his legs trembling through sheer physical weakness, Ross hung on grimly. He wanted to shout, but no sound came from his parched tongue….

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Excerpt #7, from Appletons’ Popular Science Monthly, March 1899, by Various

…more or less related and mostly tropical groups. The whole subclass has certain pretty well-defined characteristics. They are almost without exception carnivorous (insectivorous). They are seldom subject to metamorphosis. The legs are usually eight in number. The eyes are always situated on the cephalo-thorax (head and breast plate), and not infrequently are the same in number as the legs. Not a few are fitted with poison sacs and fangs, and in the case of some of the larger true spiders and scorpions the venom is very virulent, and in some instances has proved fatal to human life. As this is hardly the place for a technical description of my Thelyphonus–a female–I shall content myself with a few facts and measurements. Those who are curious as to her personal appearance can consult the accompanying photograph. Most persons will conclude that her beauty is not even “skin deep.” [Illustration: Photograph of a Thelyphonus] The following post-mortem data will perhaps aid in giving a clearer idea of this curious little creature. The length of the body from the front of the cephalo-thorax to the end of the last post-abdominal segment was fifty-two millimetres–a little more than two inches; the length of the tail was fifty millimetres, thus making the total length about four inches. The width of the abdomen in its widest part, near…

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Excerpt #8, from Survival at Altitude for Heavy and Very Heavy Bomber Crews

…[Illustration: Fig. 14] EMERGENCY PRESSURE RELEASE. Since all emergency doors open in, cabin pressure must be released in all emergencies. This is done by a valve controlled by cable from: 1. Pilot’s seat 2. Behind R.H. side gunner WHEN DO YOU NEED OXYGEN IN A B-29? As long as the cabin altitude is below 10,000 ft you’re O.K. without oxygen. YOU MUST USE OXYGEN when the CABIN ALTITUDE goes ABOVE 10,000 feet. This may occur: 1. When you are flying unpressurized. 2. If you fly above 35,000 feet. 3. Following explosive decompression (Blown blister). 4. In all emergencies above 10,000 feet (Your Pressure must be released so emergency exits can be used). OXYGEN SYSTEM GENERAL: Your oxygen system is a low pressure demand system with 14 oxygen stations corresponding to the various crew positions. The system utilizes the same type of equipment described for the Heavy Bombers:…

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Excerpt #9, from A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

…is given off in froth as soon as the pressure of the cork is removed. Q. What gives the pleasant ACID taste to soda water, ginger beer, champagne, and cider? A. The presence of carbonic acid, generated by fermentation, and liberated by effervescence when the pressure of the cork is removed. Q. Why does fresh SPRING WATER SPARKLE, when poured from one vessel to another? A. Because fresh spring and pump water contain carbonic acid; and it is the presence of this gas which makes the water sparkle. Q. What is the FERMENTATION of BEER and WINE? A. The production of carbonic acid gas and al’cohol. Q. How is CARBONIC ACID GAS produced by FERMENTATION? A. Malt and fruit both contain sugar; and sugar consists of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. In fermentation, a part of the carbon and oxygen of the sugar escape, in the form of carbonic acid gas. Carbonic acid gas is a compound of carbon and oxygen, in the following proportions:–3 lbs. of carbon and 8 lbs. of oxygen will form 11 lbs. of carbonic acid gas. Now, 100 lbs. of white sugar contains 43 lbs. of carbon; 50 lbs. of oxygen; and 7 lbs. of hydrogen. Q. How is AL’COHOL produced by FERMENTATION?…

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Excerpt #10, from Gallipoli Diary, Volume 1, by Ian Hamilton

…that our great men keep all their tricks for their political friends and have none to spare for their natural enemies. There has been very little attempt to disguise our aims in England, and Maxwell and McMahon in Egypt have allowed their Press to report every arrival of French and British troops, and to announce openly that we are about to attack at Gallipoli. I have protested and reported the matter to K. but nothing in the strategic sphere can be done now although, in the tactical sphere, we have several deceptions ready for them. Colonel Napier, Military Attaché at Sofia, and Braithwaite came in after these pseudo-secrets had been discussed and joined in the conversation. I doubt whether either Fitzmaurice or Napier have solid information as to what is in front of us, and their yarns about Balkan politics are neither here nor there. John Bull is quite out of his depth in the defiles of the Balkans. With just so much pull over the bulk of my compatriots as has been given me by my having spent a little time with their Armies, I may say that the Balkan nations loathe and mistrust one another to so great a degree that it is sheer waste of time to think of roping them all in on our side, as Fitzmaurice and Napier seem to propose. We may get Greece to join us, and Russia may get Roumania to join her–if we win here–but then we make an enemy of Bulgaria, and vice versa. If they will unearth my 1909 report at the War Office they…

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Excerpt #11, from Vistas in Sicily, by Arthur Stanley Riggs

…wall. It is exactly the same as the door of a little carpenter shop alongside, with the single exception of an inscription in faded paint: Ristorante. [Illustration: “The red and tan ruin of the Greek Theater … But it is Ætna that makes Taormina.”] The greatest charm of the place is a garden, which rambles about partly on the level, partly down steep little banks, and then, in the rear, rolls up to a stone wall beyond which is one of the milky white roads of the country. It is crammed with the wildest sort of tangled climbing roses, tiny things the rich color of a Maréchal Niel but no bigger than a ten-cent piece; large red, yellow, pink and white roses; splendid geraniums, orange trees, lemons, medlars, almonds, stubby agaves, prickly pear, pink-flowered climbing cactus, and wonder of wonders, even a pair of apple trees! Ivy, numerous other vines and brilliant convolvulus riot about them all, while down the center runs a path under lemon-arches half smothered in rose bloom. Beside this walk is a trellis bower covered with thousands of the tiny yellow roses, and furnished with a marble-topped table and an iron chair–an ideal literary workshop. But alas! the village tinsmith evidently shared my prejudice in its favor. When I came out prepared to work he had already preëmpted it for his mechanical workshop, and was…

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Excerpt #12, from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil, by W. E. B. Du Bois

…must be educated, insanity prevented, and only those put under the guardianship of others who can in no way be trained to speak for themselves. The real argument for democracy is, then, that in the people we have the source of that endless life and unbounded wisdom which the rulers of men must have. A given people today may not be intelligent, but through a democratic government that recognizes, not only the worth of the individual to himself, but the worth of his feelings and experiences to all, they can educate, not only the individual unit, but generation after generation, until they accumulate vast stores of wisdom. Democracy alone is the method of showing the whole experience of the race for the benefit of the future and if democracy tries to exclude women or Negroes or the poor or any class because of innate characteristics which do not interfere with intelligence, then that democracy cripples itself and belies its name. From this point of view we can easily see the weakness and strength of current criticism of extension of the ballot. It is the business of a modern government to see to it, first, that the number of ignorant within its bounds is reduced to the very smallest number. Again, it is the duty of every such government to extend as quickly as possible the number of persons of mature age who can vote. Such possible voters must…

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