Mark Twain's "The Jumping Frog : In English, then in French, then clawed back into the civilized language once more by patient unremunerated toil" (1865), also known as "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog." Containing the original story (in english), a french translation which was published in la Revue des Deux Mondes and which Twain finds to be a travesty of the original text, and Twain's re-translation of the french back into english, word for word (this is where things degenerate). A masterpiece of babelfishien nonsense dating from well before babelfish was even a gleam in the binary code of its creator (1903). Best appreciated if you can read both French and English, but even if you skip the french version it's truly brilliant. If you have ever translated random text using babelfish just because it's funny, don't miss this book.As good old Samuel Clemens himself put it in his foreword "I cannot speak the French language, but I can translate very well, though not fast, I being self-educated."

Az ifjúsági regényirodalom egyik remekműve novellisztikus történetek sora, amelyek a gyermekvilág és az amerikai kisváros mindennapjaiból valók: kerítésmeszelés, vasárnapi iskola, gyászmise a Jackson-szigeti robinzonád után, Becky és Tom szerelme. A könyv főhőse, Tom Sawyer, aki a regény elején még csak haszontalan iskolakerülő, de végtelenül fantáziadús és találékony fiú, valóságos vezéregyéniséggé válik. Ötletei pajtásait teljesen megigézik: a kedvéért akár kalóznak vagy rablónak is beáll…

Roughing It follows the travels of young Mark Twain through the Wild West during the years 1861–1867. After a brief stint as a Confederate cavalry militiaman, he joined his brother Orion Clemens, who had been appointed Secretary of the Nevada Territory, on a stagecoach journey west. Twain consulted his brother's diary to refresh his memory and borrowed heavily from his active imagination for many stories in the novel.Roughing It illustrates many of Twain's early adventures, including a visit to Salt Lake City, gold and silver prospecting, real-estate speculation, and his beginnings as a writer.In this memoir, readers can see examples of Twain's rough-hewn humor, which would become a staple of his writing in his later books, such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.(Source: Wikipedia)

Sokan és sokféleképpen megelevenítették már a világirodalomban Jeanne D'Arc alakját. Volt, aki a szentet, isten kiválasztottját, más a francia nemzeti hőst, s volt, aki az álnokul tőrbe ejtett tiszta és erős fiatal lányt látta és ábrázolta benne. Mark Twain magyarul most először megjelenő művében az egyszerű kis parasztlányt idézi meg, akinek ereje népével való összeforrottságából fakad. Az író nem szól közvetlenül olvasóihoz, a történetet egy „megigézett” kortárs szájába adja, aki Jeanne D'Arc gyermekkori játszótársa, majd diadalmas útján írnoka, apródja volt. A szemtanú emlékiratában emberi közelségből, meghitten örökíti meg a nagyszerű francia lányt: kutatja, keresi egyénisége és cselekedetei titkait, s a kedves egyszerűség glóriáját fonja Jeanne D'Arc alakja és élete köré.

„Aki nem olvasta a Tom Sawyer kalandjai címû könyvet, mit se tudhat rólam, de az nem tesz semmit. A könyvet egy Mark Twain nevû úriember írta, és nagyjából az igazságot írta meg. Néha lódított egyet-mást, de azért a java igazság, amit írt." Huckleberry Finn szavai ezek, a regény izgalmas eseményeit ugyanis az õ elbeszélésébõl ismerjük meg. De ott van mellette hûséges barátja, Tom Sawyer is. Minden nagy vállalkozásuk közös: hajóznak a Mississippin, szélhámosok társaságába keverednek, nagy és izgalmas „rabszolga-szabadító"akciót folytatnak – úgy, ahogy az igazi nagy regényekben meg van írva – az öreg Jim megszöktetésére. A legnehezebb mégis: mindezt megírni. Huck Finn õszinte szavai szerint: „Ha tudtam volna, hogy milyen fene nehéz dolog egy ilyen könyvet megírni, bele se fogtam volna; nem is kezdek ilyenbe még egyszer."

The great transmigration novel inspired by the experiences of an ex-prisoner's acount of coping with "the Jacket," a form of torture at San Quentin. London was a lifelong supporter of humane prison practices.

The Plattner Story was written in the year 1897 by H. G. Wells. This book is one of the most popular novels of H. G. Wells, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.

Being the secret history of the Russo-Japanese War: In this story the author makes clear the sinking of the English fishing schooners by the Baltic fleet of Russia and brings in all kinds of events that seemed hallucinations when the story appeared serially, but which have since come true in startling manner.

The Odd Women is an 1893 novel by the English novelist George Gissing. Its themes are the role of women in society, marriage, morals and the early feminist movement.

The Law, original French title La Loi, is a 1849 book by Frédéric Bastiat. It was published one year after the third French Revolution of 1848 and one year before his death of tuberculosis at age 49. The essay was influenced by John Locke's Second Treatise on Government and in turn influenced Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. It is the work for which Bastiat is most famous along with The candlemaker's petition and the Parable of the broken window.In The Law, Bastiat states that "each of us has a natural right — from God — to defend his person, his liberty, and his property". The State is a "substitution of a common force for individual forces" to defend this right. The law becomes perverted when it punishes one's right to self-defense in favor of another's acquired right to plunder.

Personality Plus: Some Experiences of Emma McChesney And Her Son, Jack was written in the year 1914 by Edna Ferber. This book is one of the most popular novels of Edna Ferber, and has been translated into several other languages around the world.This book is published by Booklassic which brings young readers closer to classic literature globally.