June 8, 2009
TREASURE ISLAND
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson
“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest—
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!”
—Chapter 1, Page 7
Fun Facts
- Robert Louis Stevenson got a law degree to please his father but never practiced any law.
- A common theme in Stevenson's work is the tension between upstanding duties and reckless abandon, which is exemplified in Treasure Island by the conflict between the respectful gentleman and carefree pirates.
- Stevenson came up with the idea for Treasure Island when drawing a map with his stepson.
June 11, 2009
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
“‘We don’t own your laws; we don’t own your country; we stand here as
free, under God’s sky, as you are; and, by the great God that made us,
we’ll fight for our liberty till we die.’”
—Chapter 17, page 224
Fun Facts
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin has always been controversial. At first it was because it stirred up sympathy for slaves in the South, and in more recent years because people are unhappy with the characters’ stereotypes.
- The book first appeared in 40 installments of the National Era, an anti-slavery publication. In 1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in book form and was immediately a big success.
- Langston Hughes called Uncle Tom’s Cabin America’s “first protest novel” because it served as an outcry against slavery after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850.
June 17, 2009
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Written by Oscar Wilde
“For there would be a real pleasure in watching it. He would be able to follow his mind into its secret places. This portrait would be to him the most magical of mirrors. As it had revealed to him his own body, so it would reveal to him his own soul.”
—Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 8, page 102
Fun Facts
- The Picture of Dorian Gray was the only novel that Oscar Wilde published and it first appeared in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine.
- It is considered one of the last works of gothic horror fiction.
- When the book was published it caused a sensation due to its themes of homoeroticism.
June 25, 2009
DUBLINERS
Written by James Joyce
“One by one, they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.”
—The Dead, Page 191
Fun Facts
- The Dubliners is a collection of fifteen stories about Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early 20th century.
- Many of the characters in Dubliners reappear in minor roles in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
- Although all of his fiction is based in London, James Joyce spent most of his life outside Ireland.
