Classics
21 stories
The Masque of the Red Death (Completed) by EdgarAllanPoe
EdgarAllanPoe
  • WpView
    Reads 2,981
  • WpVote
    Votes 173
  • WpPart
    Parts 1
"The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy" (1842), is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball within seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn. Cover by the lovely @CaffeinatedKiwi
The Raven (1845) by EdgarAllanPoe
EdgarAllanPoe
  • WpView
    Reads 21,108
  • WpVote
    Votes 908
  • WpPart
    Parts 1
"The Raven" tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". Cover by @Lujayna
Great Expectations (1861) by CharlesDickens
CharlesDickens
  • WpView
    Reads 1,401,421
  • WpVote
    Votes 12,095
  • WpPart
    Parts 60
On Christmas Eve, around 1812, Pip, an orphan who is about six years old, encounters an escaped convict in the village churchyard while visiting the graves of his mother, father, and siblings. The convict scares Pip into stealing food and a file to grind away his shackles, from the home he shares with his abusive older sister and her kind, passive husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith. The next day, soldiers recapture the convict while he is engaged in a fight with another convict; the two are returned to the prison ships from which they escaped...
A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by CharlesDickens
CharlesDickens
  • WpView
    Reads 361,915
  • WpVote
    Votes 4,770
  • WpPart
    Parts 46
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 period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a former French aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated English barrister who endeavors to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife. Cover art done by @orangedusk
David Copperfield (1850) by CharlesDickens
CharlesDickens
  • WpView
    Reads 74,694
  • WpVote
    Votes 2,226
  • WpPart
    Parts 66
The story traces the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. David was born in Blunderstone, Suffolk, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, in 1820, six months after the death of his father. David spends his early years with his mother and their housekeeper, Peggotty. When he is seven years old, his mother re-marries Edward Murdstone. David is given good reason to dislike his stepfather and has similar feelings for Murdstone's sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards. Murdstone thrashes David for falling behind in his studies. Following one of these thrashings, David bites him and soon afterwards is sent away to a boarding school, Salem House, with a ruthless headmaster, Mr. Creakle. There he befriends James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles.
A Christmas Carol (1843) by CharlesDickens
CharlesDickens
  • WpView
    Reads 170,663
  • WpVote
    Votes 2,720
  • WpPart
    Parts 6
A Christmas Carol tells the story of bitter and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation resulting from supernatural visits by Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
Gulliver's Travels (Completed) by BannedBooks
BannedBooks
  • WpView
    Reads 15,987
  • WpVote
    Votes 29
  • WpPart
    Parts 40
Gulliver's Travels is a famous satirical novel by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. It was originally banned because of the politically sensitive references the author makes in the novel, but the work has also been censured for displays of madness and for being "wicked and obscene, blasphemous, filthy in word and thought". The story recounts the dystopian experiences of Lemuel Gulliver, as he sees giants, talking horses, cities in the sky, and much more.
Black Beauty (Completed) by BannedBooks
BannedBooks
  • WpView
    Reads 59,315
  • WpVote
    Votes 221
  • WpPart
    Parts 50
Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by Anna Sewell, and reportedly banned by South Africa's apartheid regime. The story is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by a horse named Black Beauty.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Completed) by BannedBooks
BannedBooks
  • WpView
    Reads 40,390
  • WpVote
    Votes 294
  • WpPart
    Parts 37
This book has a very controversial past, due to offensive wording. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River."
The Call of the Wild (Completed) by BannedBooks
BannedBooks
  • WpView
    Reads 51,623
  • WpVote
    Votes 399
  • WpPart
    Parts 9
This novel was removed from dictatorships in Europe during the the 1920s and 1930s. From Wikipedia: "The Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London. The plot concerns a previously domesticated dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events leads to his serving as a sled dog in the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, in which sled dogs were bought at generous prices."