Eminent Victorians - by Lytton Strachey

Free US/UK Kindle Classic

"Eminent Victorians" by Lytton Strachey is a 1918 book that remains one of the best examples of biography ever written.  (US Edition)  (UK Edition)  The beginning is ironic to us today, "The history of the Victorian Age will never be written; we know too much about it."  Not anymore!  But Strachey knew his subjects very well.  He writes about four eminent Victorians,  Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold, and    General Gordon.

Everyone knows the popular conception of Florence Nightingale. The saintly, self-sacrificing woman, the delicate maiden of high degree who threw aside the pleasures of a life of ease to succour the afflicted; the Lady with the Lamp, gliding through the horrors of the hospital at Scutari, and consecrating with the radiance of her goodness the dying soldier's couch. The vision is familiar to all— but the truth was different.

Do tell!

A Demon possessed her. Now demons, whatever else they may be, are full of interest. And so it happens that in the real Miss Nightingale there was more that was interesting than in the legendary one; there was also less that was agreeable.

Written in a breezy, enjoyable and factual style, this book is as appealing to us (I read it in college) as it was to the Edwardians.  

This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions, please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try. 

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For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. (It is one of the top 100 blogs on Amazon.)This gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.

UK readers may go to this Amazon link to subscribe.  (Slightly more than half my readers are from the UK)

US readers may go to this Amazon link

Here is a video of my mother, at 97, a new convert to the Kindle!

Thank to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it online.  I love to get good reviews!  Who wouldn't?  Should you care to leave a review, follow these links for UK readers or US readers. You may e-mail me at marilyn@marilynlitt.com

On the Decay of the Art of Lying - by Mark Twain

Free US/UK Kindle Classic

I would guess the American write Mark Twain needs no introduction.  I have blogged before on a few of his more popular works.  This is a bit of a departure for the blog, it is an 1885 essay, "On the Decay of the Art of Lying." (US Edition)  (UK Edition)  Kindle has created a platform for novellas and short stories just as they were close to extinction!  I don't know if even Kindle can save the essay, but let's see . . .

This essay was first delivered as a speech.  Twain is not saying that lying is dead, but rather that the art of lying is a . . . well . . . dying art.

Now let us see what the philosophers say. Note that venerable proverb: Children and fools _always_ speak the truth. The deduction is plain --adults and wise persons _never_ speak it.

A little bit of eccentric formatting with that underlining, but it is easy to overlook.  It may be because these passages have been underlined as favorites by readers.  

Of course there are people who _think_ they never lie, but it is not so--and this ignorance is one of the very things that shame our so-called civilization. Everybody lies--every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his mourning; if he keeps his tongue still, his hands, his feet, his eyes, his attitude, will convey deception--and purposely. Even in sermons--but that is a platitude.

Twain is sardonic. One of the reader reviews says:  

"Once again, Mark Twin is the master of essays, this time about lying. It's done in an over the top fashion, making you realize that we're all liars on a daily basis, and we do it reflexively but that it's a dying art. Twain argues that we don't lie for the right reasons, and we need to address that. The essay is a bit short but still poignant even today..."

This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions, please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try. 

Join me on Twitter, FaceBook, or Pinterest.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. (It is one of the top 100 blogs on Amazon.)This gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.

UK readers may go to this Amazon link to subscribe.  (Slightly more than half my readers are from the UK)

US readers may go to this Amazon link

Here is a video of my mother, at 97, a new convert to the Kindle!

Thank to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it online.  I love to get good reviews!  Who wouldn't?  Should you care to leave a review, follow these links for UK readers or US readers. You may e-mail me at marilyn@marilynlitt.com