Risultati di "Popular Culture and Religion." in Tutte le categorie

What is the Torah? Torah is a Hebrew word meaning “to instruct.” The Torah refers to the five books of Moses in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The Torah was written approximately 1400 BC. Traditionally, the Torah is handwritten on a scroll by a “sofer” (scribe). This type of document is called a “Sefer Torah.” A modern printing of the Torah in book form is called a “Chumash” (related to the Hebrew word for the number 5). Here is a brief description of the five books of the Torah: - Genesis: This first book of the ...

Dracula by Bram Stoker. Dracula as written by Bram Stoker in 1897 was not the first depiction of vampires and other such creatures, Gothic horror stories had been around since the early part of the century. The story related by Bram Stoker is told in an epistolary fashion utilising the journals and diaries of the main protagonists. The storyline is relatively simple; Dracula the longest living and most evil of vampires comes to England with a view to increasing the vampire population of the country. He is thwarted by five friends and driven back to his castle in Transylvania. It is not the...

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in The New England Magazine in January 1892. The narrative, presented as the private journal of an unnamed female protagonist suffering from what her physician husband diagnoses as temporary nervous depression following childbirth, details her enforced isolation and inactivity as part of the "rest cure"—a regimen of bed rest, limited intellectual stimulation, and prohibition from work or creative expression—in a rented colonial mansion's ...

At the Villa Rose by A. E. W. Mason. Harry Wethermill, the brilliant young scientist, a graduate of Oxford and Munich, has made a fortune from his inventions, and is taking a vacation at Aix-les-Bains. There he meets, and immediately falls in love with, the young and beautiful Celia Harland, who serves as companion to the aging but warm-hearted Madam Dauvray of Paris. All this is observed by Julius Ricardo, a retired financier from the City of London, who spends every August at Aix, expecting there to find a pleasant and peaceful life. Imagine his consternation when he learns that Mme. ...

The Mystery Of Golf by Arnold Haultain. Written in 1908 by a Canadian belletrist who fancied himself a golfer, this classic treatise explores man's age-old love affair with golf - and pronounces it incurable. Just as a careful player sizes up a putt from all possible angles, so does Haultain examine this curious game, from the physiology of the perfect swing, to the psychology of a sport in which the opponent is oneself, to the peculiar brand of spirituality that leads people around eighteen holes with the promise of nothing more than "almost." THE MYSTERY OF GOLF may not help shave strokes ...

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in 1922, The Beautiful and the Damned followed Fitzgerald's impeccable debut, This Side of Paradise, thus securing his place in the tradition of great American novelists. Embellished with the author's lyrical prose, here is the story of Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete Anthony Patch and his beautiful wife, Gloria. As they await the inheritance of his grandfather's fortune, their reckless marriage sways under the influence of alcohol and avarice. A devastating look at the nouveau riche, and the New York nightlife, as well as ...

The King of Schnorrers by Israel Zangwill. Manasseh da Costa, protagonist of this hilarious novel, is a schnorrer (beggar) who lives on the charitable contributions of the Jews of late 18th-century London. Manasseh is far from being a humble panhandler for, as every schnorrer knows, supporting the poor is a commandment from God (a mitzvah) not just a favour. And as the descendant of Portuguese Jews who had lived in England for many generations, Manasseh is the social superior of those newly arrived from Eastern Europe (Tedesco)—even his wealthy ‘patron’ Joseph Grobstock. The book ...

Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne's House of Dreams is a novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, first published in August 1917 by McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart in Canada and Frederick A. Stokes Company in the United States. It is the fifth book in the Anne of Green Gables series, following Anne Shirley's marriage to Gilbert Blythe and their relocation to a seaside cottage known as the "House of Dreams" in the community of Glen St. Mary near Four Winds Harbor, Prince Edward Island. The story centers on the couple's early married life, their friendships with ...

The Hand of Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer. "The Hand of Fu-Manchu" by Sax Rohmer is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story features the notorious villain Dr. Fu-Manchu, with the narrative unfolding through the perspectives of Nayland Smith and his companion Dr. Petrie as they confront the menacing machinations of a mysterious organization known as the Si-Fan. The book is steeped in elements of suspense, adventure, and intrigue as the protagonists seek to uncover the truth behind various threats posed by this shadowy group. The opening of the novel immerses readers in a tense ...

Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. Cranford is set in a small market town populated largely by a number of respectable ladies. It tells of their secrets and foibles, their gossip and their romances as they face the challenges of dealing with new inhabitants to their society and innovations to their settled existence. It was first published between 1851 and 1853 as episodes in Charles Dickens’ Journal Household Words. Appended to this recording is a short sequel, The Cage at Cranford, written ten years later and published in the journal All the Year Round. In a letter to Mrs. Gaskell, ...

The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a detective novel by British author Agatha Christie, first published in the spring of 1926 by William Collins, marking her initial book with the publisher. It is the third novel to feature her celebrated Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Set in the quiet English village of King's Abbot, the story is narrated by local physician Dr. James Sheppard and revolves around the stabbing murder of wealthy resident Roger Ackroyd in his locked study at Fernly Park, shortly after he receives a letter hinting at the identity of...

Penrod by Booth Tarkington. A timeless novel in the spirited tradition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn One of the most popular American authors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Pulitzer Prize winner Booth Tarkington was acclaimed for his novels set in small Midwestern towns. Penrod tells of a boy growing up in Indianapolis at the turn of the twentieth century. His friends and his dog accompany him on his many jaunts, from the stage as “the Child Sir Lancelot,” to the playground, to school. They make names for themselves as “bad boys” who ...

Penrod and Sam by Booth Tarkington. "Penrod and Sam" by Booth Tarkington is a novel published in 1916. This sequel to "Penrod" follows the misadventures of young Penrod Schofield and his best friend Sam Williams in pre-World War I America. From dangerous war games and loaded guns to secret societies and stray horses, the boys stumble through one scrape after another. Their schemes include starting a motion picture project, dealing with embarrassing letters, and surviving disastrous birthday parties, capturing the spirited chaos of boyhood friendship.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The Turn of the Screw is a gothic novella by Henry James, first serialized in Collier's Weekly from January to April 1898 and published in book form later that year as part of The Two Magics. Presented as a frame narrative, the story features an unnamed governess who accepts a position caring for two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at the isolated country estate of Bly, under strict instructions from their absentee guardian to handle all matters independently. She soon reports encounters with the apparitions of two deceased former servants, Peter ...

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it is among the most famous works of fiction. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time...

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The bright-eyed and sharp-tongued Elizabeth Bennet lives with her parents and her four sisters in an estate called Longbourn. The family isn’t rich, and there are no sons, so Mrs. Bennet is intent on getting her daughters married off to the best suitors possible as soon as possible. When Mr. Bingley moves into town with his friend, the wealthy Mr. Darcy, in tow, Mrs. Bennet exults. Unfortunately, things don’t go off quite as she hopes. Mr. Darcy is proud. Elizabeth dislikes him, preferring to associate with the charming young officer, Mr. Wickham. Jane...

Bladys of the Stewponey by Sabine Baring-Gould. Bladys of the Stewponey is a historical romance set at the close of the seventeenth century, a time when the country on the road to Chester is infested with highwaymen and the caves pockmarking the Red Sandstone country surrounding Shrewsbury are their refuge. Bladys Rea, daughter of the landlord of the Stewponey Inn near Stourton Castle, is powerless to do anything but endure the shame of being offered as the prize of a bowling match by her own father. But when Bladys is whisked away by the winner to wed a man she barely knows, she chooses ...

The Memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby by John S. Mosby. This is not a work of fiction! These are the actual memoirs of a legendary leader of partisans who bedeviled the Union army for years, almost within sight of the capitol. With only a few local men under command, John Singleton Mosby's ability to strike fast and then melt away before an effective pursuit could be organized kept the Yankee forces awake and often snarled in knots. With daring feats like capturing a Yankee general out of his bed within his defended headquarters, Mosby made his name a synonym for guerrilla warfare. Even today...

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen. This year marks the hundredth anniversary of J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism. It is one of the bestselling religious books ever published in America. Even now it sells more copies annually, is read more widely, and is cited more often than any book if not all the books by all the professors of any seminary if not all the seminaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There is no question about its significance. It set the terms but also the tone of many debates between American liberals, conservatives, fundamentalists, ...

The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim. Anna Estcourt, twenty-five and beautiful, is the penniless ward of her distant brother and his exasperating wife. Turning down all offers of marriage, scornful at the thought of leaning on a man for help and comfort, she thinks only of the independence which seems an impossible dream. But out of the blue Uncle Joachim, her mother's brother, leaves her a handsome property in Germany. Her longed for independence is within her grasp, and though it's a rocky beginning with the locals, she loves her new home. Keen to use her new-found wealth for the ...