Mr. Midshipman Easy - by Frederick Marryat

Free US/UK Kindle Classic

You can’t get Horatio Hornblower for free on Amazon, but you may enjoy Mr. Midshipman Easy by Frederick Marryat (US Edition)  (UK Edition) who joined the British Royal Navy himself in 1806. He wrote a number of novels of which this is one. It is said to be semi-autobiographical, but I think exaggeration rules the day and the book is a delight!

One Amazon review says:

Captain Marryat's books have been difficult to find until now, and I'm overjoyed to find so many on kindle. I thought this book was great, very funny and understated, even if it's a couple hundred years old it seems perfectly relevant today.

Here is a sample:

"As Mr Sawbridge, the first lieutenant, happened to be going on shore on the same evening for the last time previous to the ship's sailing, he looked into the Blue Posts, George, and Fountain Inns, to inquire if there was such a person arrived as Mr Easy. 

"O yes," replied the waiter at the Fountain,—"Mr Easy has been here these three weeks." 

"The devil he has," roared Mr Sawbridge, with all the indignation of a first lieutenant defrauded three weeks of a midshipman; "where is he; in the coffee-room?"

"Oh dear no, sir," replied the waiter, "Mr Easy has the front apartments on the first floor."

"Well, then, show me up to the first floor."

"May I request the pleasure of your name, sir?" said the waiter.

"First lieutenants don't send up their names to midshipmen," replied Mr Sawbridge; "he shall soon know who I am."

At this reply, the waiter walked upstairs, followed by Mr Sawbridge, and threw open the door.

"A gentleman wishes to see you, sir," said the waiter.

"Desire him to walk in," said Jack: "and, waiter, mind that the punch is a little better than it was yesterday; I have asked two more gentlemen to dine here."

In the meantime, Mr Sawbridge, who was not in his uniform, had entered, and perceived Jack alone, with the dinner table laid out in the best style for eight, a considerable show of plate for even the Fountain Inn, and everything, as well as the apartment itself, according to Mr Sawbridge's opinion, much more fit for a commander-in-chief than a midshipman of a sloop of war."

Shiver me timbers!

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.

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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 late mother, at 97, a new convert to the Kindle! She appreciated how the large print helped her read despite macular degeneration and the Kindle is not as heavy as a book.  Mother passed away peacefully at 99.  She packed her Kindle and had it with her during her final hospital stay.

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

Pride and Prejudice

No, I am not going to quote the famous first line.  You will just have to download a free Kindle edition and read it yourself.  But of course I expect you will be re-reading this wonderful novel by Jane Austen (US Edition)  (UK Edition)

I do not know how many times I have read this favorite of mine, first published in 1813.  It is always wonderful to realize how much we have in common with those who lived 200 years ago.  If we can laugh at the same things, how different can we be?  

There are few characters in literature as funny as Mr. Collins who fancies himself a skilled flatterer - adept at correcting any misstep. 

"The dinner too in its turn was highly admired; and [Mr. Collins] begged to know to which of his fair cousins the excellence of its cookery was owing. But here he was set right by Mrs. Bennet, who assured him with some asperity that they were very well able to keep a good cook, and that her daughters had nothing to do in the kitchen. He begged pardon for having displeased her. In a softened tone she declared herself not at all offended; but he continued to apologise for about a quarter of an hour."

Mr. Collins brings me as much pleasure as he does Mr. Bennet!

So immerse yourself once again in the society of the Bennet girls with their interest in balls and the activities of the regiment.  And if you are reading this book for the first time, I envy you the pleasure of discovering one of the world's great novels.  Great because it is funny, surprising, romantic and up-to-date, all at the same time.

A reader in 1813 said:

I have finished the novel called Pride and Prejudice, which I think a very superior work. It depends not on any of the common resources of novel writers, no drownings, no conflagrations, nor runaway horses, nor lap-dogs and parrots, nor chambermaids and milliners, nor rencontres and disguises. I really think it is the most probable I have ever read.

Still probable after all these years . . . 

It is increasingly difficult to do this blog.  It is very hard to find a free classic book and when I do, it is usually not available in the UK, so I have to start over.  Take a look at this listmania list of free classic books.  I don't know when the list was created, but every one of these 27 books is no longer available.  

It is my belief that people who have created inexpensive versions of the classics are tagging the free versions for copyright violations.  The tag is bogus, but it serves to remove a free edition and creates a market for the cheapest edition.  Amazon does not have time to review all of these tagged books and we are paying for that.

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! (She is now 99 and appreciates how the large print helps her read despite macular degeneration.)

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