The Adventures of Akbar

Charles Lamb, an English essayist was best known for his essays of Elia and children's book Tales from Shakespeare, shares with us the legendary Greek hero, Ulysses and his men, who encounter the dreaded Cyclops, a tribe of giant cannibals, and the treacherous Sirens.

Christmas classics short stories are a collection of renowned Christmas tales which are admired throughout the world. Start reading to unlock the Christmas magic.

The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) by Carlo Collodi (Pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini) (1826-1890) is a world classic childrens novel based on a wooden boy who is brought to life.

Mermaids Classics, an imprint of Mermaids Publishing brings the very best of old classic literature to a modern era of digital reading by producing high quality books in ebook format. All of the Mermaids Classics epublications are reproductions of classic antique books that were originally published in print format, mostly over a century ago and are now republished in digital format as ebooks. Begin to build your collection of digital books by looking for more literary gems from Mermaids Classics.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is a collection of twelve short stories about a detective which was first published in 1892.

Mermaids Classics, an imprint of Mermaids Publishing brings the very best of old classic literature to a modern era of digital reading by producing high quality books in ebook format. All of the Mermaids Classics epublications are reproductions of classic antique books that were originally published in print format, mostly over a century ago and are now republished in digital format as ebooks. Begin to build your collection of digital books by looking for more literary gems from Mermaids Classics.

Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha.
The book, Hesse's ninth novel (1922), was written in German, in a simple, lyrical style. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to his wife Meiner Frau Ninon gewidmet  and supposedly afterwards to Romain Rolland and Wilhelm Gundert.
The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (meaning or wealth), which together means "he who has found meaning (of existence)" or "he who has attained his goals". In fact, the Buddha's own name, before his renunciation, was Siddhartha Gautama, Prince of Kapilvastu. In this book, the Buddha is referred to as "Gotama".

The story takes place in ancient India around the time of Gotama Buddha (likely between the fourth and seventh centuries BCE). Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, decides to leave behind his home in the hopes of gaining spiritual illumination by becoming an ascetic wandering beggar of the Samanas. Joined by his best friend Govinda, Siddhartha fasts, becomes homeless, renounces all personal possessions, and intensely meditates, eventually seeking and personally speaking with Gotama, the famous Buddha, or Enlightened One. Afterward, both Siddhartha and Govinda acknowledge the elegance of the Buddha's teachings. Although Govinda hastily joins the Buddha's order, Siddhartha does not follow, claiming that the Buddha's philosophy, however supremely wise, does not account for the necessarily distinct experiences of each person. He argues that the individual seeks an absolutely unique and personal meaning that cannot be presented to him by a teacher; he thus resolves to carry on his quest alone.
Siddhartha crosses a river and the generous ferryman, who Siddhartha is unable to pay, merrily predicts that Siddhartha will return to the river later to compensate him in some way. Venturing onward toward city life, Siddhartha discovers Kamala, the most beautiful woman he has yet seen. Kamala, a courtesan of affluent men, notes Siddhartha's handsome appearance and fast wit, telling him that he must become wealthy to win her affections so that she may teach him the art of love. Although Siddhartha despised materialistic pursuits as a Samana, he agrees now to Kamala's suggestions. She directs him to the employ of Kamaswami, a local businessman, and insists that he have Kamaswami treat him as an equal rather than an underling. Siddhartha easily succeeds, providing a voice of patience and tranquility against Kamaswami's fits of passion, which Siddhartha learned from his days as an ascetic. Thus, Siddhartha becomes a rich man and Kamala's lover, though in his middle years realizes that the luxurious lifestyle he has chosen is merely a game, empty of spiritual fulfillment. Leaving the fast-paced bustle of the city, Siddhartha returns to the river and thinks of killing himself. He is saved only by an internal experience of the holy word, Om. The very next morning Siddhartha briefly reconnects with Govinda, who is passing through the area and remains a wandering Buddhist.
Siddhartha decides to live out the rest of his life in the presence of the spiritually inspirational river. Siddhartha thus reunites with the ferryman, named Vasudeva, with whom he begins a humbler way of life. Although Vasudeva is a simple man, he understands and relates that the river has many voices and significant messages to divulge to any who might listen.
Some years later, Kamala, now a Buddhist convert, is travelling to see the Buddha at his deathbed, escorted reluctantly by her young son, when she is bitten by a venomous snake near Siddhartha's river. Siddhartha recognizes her and realizes that the boy is his own child. After Kamala's death, Siddhartha attempts to console and raise the furiously resistant boy, until one day the child flees altogether. Although Siddhartha is desperate to find his runaway son, Vasudeva urges him to let the boy find his own path, much like Siddhartha did himself in his youth. Listening to the river with Vasudeva, Siddhartha realizes that time is an illusion and that all of his feelings and experiences, even those of suffering, are part of a great and ultimately jubilant fellowship of all things connected in the cyclical unity of nature. With Siddhartha's moment of illumination, Vasudeva claims that his work is done and he must depart into the woods, leaving Siddhartha peacefully fulfilled and alone once more.
Toward the end of his life, Govinda hears about an enlightened ferryman and travels to Siddhartha, not initially recognizing him as his old childhood friend. Govinda asks the now-elderly Siddhartha to relate his wisdom and Siddhartha replies that for every true statement there is an opposite one that is also true; that language and the confines of time lead people to adhere to one fixed belief that does not account for the fullness of the truth. Because nature works in a self-sustaining cycle, every entity carries in it the potential for its opposite and so the world must always be considered complete. Siddhartha simply urges people to identify and love the world in its completeness. Siddhartha then oddly requests that Govinda kiss his forehead and, when he does, Govinda experiences the visions of timelessness that Siddhartha himself saw with Vasudeva by the river. Govinda bows to his wise friend and Siddhartha smiles radiantly, having found enlightenment.

Characters

Siddhartha: The protagonist
Govinda: A friend and follower of Siddhartha
Vasudeva: An enlightened ferryman and spiritual guide
Kamala: A courtesan and Siddhartha's sensual mentor, mother of his child, Young Siddhartha
Gotama: A spiritual leader Buddha, whose Teachings are rejected, rather whose power of self-experience and self-wisdom is completely praised and followed by Siddhartha.
Kamaswami: A merchant who instructs Siddhartha on business.
Siddhartha’s Father: A Brahmin who was unable to satisfy Siddhartha's quest for enlightenment.
The Samanas: Traveling ascetics who tell Siddhartha that deprivation leads to enlightenment.

In Hesse’s novel, experience, the totality of conscious events of a human life, is shown as the best way to approach understanding of reality and attain enlightenment – Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the completeness of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding.
Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves—Siddhartha’s stay with the Samanas and his immersion in the worlds of love and business do not lead to nirvana, yet they cannot be considered distractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.
A major preoccupation of Hesse in writing Siddhartha was to cure his 'sickness with life' (Lebenskrankheit) by immersing himself in Indian philosophy such as that expounded in the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. The reason the second half of the book took so long to write was that Hesse "had not experienced that transcendental state of unity to which Siddhartha aspires. In an attempt to do so, Hesse lived as a virtual semi-recluse and became totally immersed in the sacred teachings of both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures. His intention was to attain to that 'completeness' which, in the novel, is the Buddha's badge of distinction." The novel is structured on three of the traditional stages of life for Hindu males (student (brahmacarin), householder (grihastha) and recluse/renunciate (vanaprastha)) as well as the Buddha's four noble truths (Part One) and eight-fold path (Part Two) which form twelve chapters, the number in the novel. Ralph Freedman mentions how Hesse commented in a letter "[my] Siddhartha does not, in the end, learn true wisdom from any teacher, but from a river that roars in a funny way and from a kindly old fool who always smiles and is secretly a saint." In a lecture about Siddhartha, Hesse claimed "Buddha's way to salvation has often been criticized and doubted, because it is thought to be wholly grounded in cognition. True, but it's not just intellectual cognition, not just learning and knowing, but spiritual experience that can be earned only through strict discipline in a selfless life". Freedman also points out how Siddhartha described Hesse's interior dialectic: "All of the contrasting poles of his life were sharply etched: the restless departures and the search for stillness at home; the diversity of experience and the harmony of a unifying spirit; the security of religious dogma and the anxiety of freedom."

A film version entitled Siddhartha was released in 1972. It starred Shashi Kapoor and was directed by Conrad Rooks.
In 1971, a surrealistic adaptation as a musical Western was released as Zachariah. John Rubinstein starred in the title role and George Englund was the director. Don Johnson played Matthew, the equivalent of Govinda.

You can almost feel the Great Depression looming ominously beyond the horizon, as the Sallys tale begins with dreamy plans for financial gains and burdens of familial financial loss. Almost immediately, Sally is whisked away to a less widely known vacation spot in Roville, France, where she meets love interests Mr. Two and Mr. Three (already engaged to Mr. One). Sallys sparked interest in Mr. Two, lets call him Ginger, begins the basic premise for the plot. The rest of the book involves rejection from Mr. One in favor of Miss Two, and offering scorn to Mr. Three in reponse to his offers of love, predictably because he was immediately and always disliked. This is all sandwiched between the financial adventures of Sallys brother Fillmore as he competes for financial independance by taking up multiple ludicrous failing schemes.

Now, while unpredictable, the plot offers little in intrigue directly itself, but it does offer us something that few plots do: a feeling of reality. The repeated financial failures of friends and family members do happen, and seeing it portrayed here does a lot for the emotional involvment in the story. A nagging depression is the offshoot of this approach; always knowing that things are not going well, cannot go well, and will not go well does that to you.

During these traumatic events, we see Sally, as she is portrayed as a real flesh and blood human being. Still trapped in the mannerisms of the day, the etiquette that covers up much of her true feelings, but also alone and dismal. One scene stands out to me more than anything. Sally receiving that Dear Jane letter from Mr. One, knowing what it must contain, sitting on the floor in the bathroom and burning it. But not just burning it, but throwing a lit match at it and letting it burn on top of it, and repeating that process until it was nothing more than a dirty spot on the floor. Very memorable.

While the basic plot, as Ive outlined it seems simple, it is actually more complicated. There are reasons why each of the three love interests are considered and of interest, at least for a short time, and this is an example of the plots creativity. Also, spicing up the plot, is the basic itinerary, which includes London, NYC, Chicago, Detroit, and the already mentioned Roville, France and these diverse locations add much to the flavor. Combine that with including three main characters of British descent, and you have a recipe for intrigue.

Other story elements of interest include thetrical productions, boxers, and dance instructors (think Tina Turners Private Dancer and you get the picture better). These so fit the persona of urban America at the time, and if you like any of these bits of Americana, this book would be considered a must read. As with most of the classics there are bits of historical flavor which make them real gems.

Overall, a very good book from a very good author who has a very unique style of writing you are sure to find refreshing.

The Jungle Book is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling, an English Nobel laureate . The stories were first published in 1893–94. This version contains both color and b/w illustrations. 

The contents of this book included

Mowgli's Brothers
Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack
Kaa's Hunting
Road-Song of the Bandar-Log
"Tiger! Tiger!"
Mowgli's Song
The White Seal
Lukannon
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"
Darzee's Chant
Toomai of the Elephants
Shiv and the Grasshopper
Her Majesty's Servants
Parade Song of the Camp Animals

Enjoy reading!

The Lost World is a novel released in 1912 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survive. It was originally published serially in the popular Strand Magazine and illustrated by New-Zealand-born artist Harry Rountree during the months of April–November 1912. The character of Professor Challenger was introduced in this book. The novel also describes a war between Native Americans and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures. To mark the novel's 100th anniversary, a special collector's centenary edition was released in New Zealand in October 2012 in the format of an illustrated expedition report that also includes analytical chapters by several leading authorities.

(Wikipedia.org)

Indian Tales ; A collection of tales inspired by Kipling's days living and working in India.

36 tales, including "The Finest Story in the World" and 'L'Envoi'

from the 'defender of British imperialism' and author of 'Jungle Book'.

FEATURES:
* Author Biography
* Interactive Table of Contents