Green Man Blog - Literature

Friday Lit: The Open Boat (Part 1)

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:15:00 -0700

During his short life, Stephen Crane (born November 1, 1871; died June 5, 1900), made himself famous as an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Modern critics still recognize him as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

He became internationally famous in 1895 for his Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage, which he wrote despite having never participated in war.

Traveling to Cuba while working as a war correspondent, Crane's ship sank off the coast of Florida. He was marooned in a small dinghy for several days. His famous short story reprinted here, "The Open Boat,” is based on that incident.

Despite his success as a writer, Crane was plagued by financial difficulties and ill health and he died of tuberculosis in a Black Forest sanatorium at the age of 28.

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Friday Lit: The Open Boat (Part 2)

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:10:00 -0700

Part 2 of "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane follows here. Part 1 can be found here.
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Friday Lit: Sherlock Holmes

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:00:00 -0700

Sherlock Holmes is the iconic detective of the modern age. Who hasn’t spent a comfortable evening in a large chair, curled up with a selection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories featuring the sharp-witted detective and his sidekick Dr. Watson?

A prolific writer, Doyle sometimes complained his Sherlock Holmes stories unfairly over-shadowed his other, more serious fiction. At one point, he “killed” Holmes off, but public outcry compelled him to bring the famous detective back.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived a long life, passing away at age 71 on July 7, 1930 (born May 22, 1859). Every modern mystery writer owes at least some amount of debt to the legacy Doyle left behind.

In the following story, a mysterious lodger troubles a landlady with his strict demands for privacy and secretive habits. She asks Sherlock Holmes for help in uncovering the mystery behind her lodger.

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Friday Lit: To Build a Fire, Jack London

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:29:05 -0700

Jack London, born January 12, 1876, lived an adventurous life most of us can only dream about. By age 17 he set out to sea and later he spent time adventuring through the wild Klondike during the famous gold rush days.

His adventures served as templates for his stories, and he became very successful as a writer. He is best known for his short novel, Call of the Wild, which has become an American classic.

London died on November 22, 1916, at age 40. Although healthy as a young man, his adventures and exploits took a terrible toll on his health. At the time of his death, he was battling dysentery and uremia, along with possible tropical infections. He relied heavily on morphine to kill pain, and it may have been an accidental morphine overdose that contributed to his death.

“To Build a Fire” is one of London’s most famous short stories. In this story, a man and his dog travel cross-country in the winter and encounter cold weather like no other they have ever experienced.

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Friday Lit: A Duel by Guy de Maupassant

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:14:00 -0700

Friday Literature Series: French writer Henri Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant was born August 5, 1850, and died a month short of his 43rd birthday on July 6, 1893. During his writing career he was very popular and wrote several best selling novels, travel books, and numerous short stories.

He traveled widely, often on his own private yacht, and enjoyed the finer things in life his ample writing income gave him. But the last years of his short life were plagued by depression and paranoia, and he was committed to an asylum after a suicide attempt at age 41. He remained there until his death.

Guy De Maupassant’s epitaph, written by him, reads: I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing.

In the following short story a man, seeking only to return home, is pushed to extremes after being humiliated by a German officer on a train.

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