Showing results by author "Stephen Crane" in All Categories

This is a story from the Classic American Short Stories collection.

Eighteen-year-old Henry Fleming is a private in the Union Army's 304th New York Regiment. Having enlisted despite his mother's protest, Henry internally questions if his bravery will hold true in the face of battle. Determining that all hope is lost during his regiment's first skirmish, Henry flees in the midst of a bleak and bloody situation. However, as he reaches the rear of the army, he learns that the Union has actually won the battle.

This is a story from the More Classic American Short Stories collection.

An army lieutenant concentrates on rationing out his company's supply of coffee, meticulously dividing the brown squares before him, when a shot rings out. The enlisted men, startled by the noise, suddenly see blood saturating their lieutenant's sleeve.

Stephen Crane is best known as the author of The Red Badge of Courage, but he also wrote a number of powerful short stories. Crane's writing style is noted for his use of a method that has come to be known as "naturalism", in which characters face very realistic and often bleak circumstances. This excellent and very humorous story is an exception to his usual rather somber stories.

Bored with farm life, and anxious for some excitement, Henry Fleming sets off to join the Union troops fighting the Civil War. An inexperienced fighter, he is anxious to get into battle to prove his patriotism and courage. He swaggers to keep up his spirits waiting for battle, but when suddenly thrust into the slaughter he is overcome with blind fear and runs from the field of battle.

Durch einen Schneesturm wird "Das blaue Hotel" in Nebraska von der Außenwelt abgeschnitten. Der Wirt, sein Sohn und drei weitere anwesende Gäste sind fortan auf sich allein gestellt und müssen sich, so weit es geht, arrangieren. Doch das ist leichter gesagt als getan. Denn in dem Hotel prallen unterschiedliche Religionen und Gesellschaftsschichten aufeinander, sodass es immer wieder zu Konflikten kommt. Vor allem der schwedische Gast aus New York macht den anderen mit seiner absurd-paranoiden Art das Leben schwer.

A searing tale of fear and courage, set during the Civil War, but more powerful today than ever. A young man enlists in the Union Army but nervously wonders how he will react to the blood, violence, and death of a real battle. When that terrible day arrives, he flees the fighting in terror. But his cowardly behavior gnaws at his conscience, and he searches for redemption for what he has done.

The Open Boat and Other Stories features four prized selections by Stephen Crane, recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. "The Open Boat" is based on a harrowing incident in the author's life: the 1897 sinking of a ship on which he was a passenger; "The Blue Hotel" and "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" reflect Crane's early travels in Mexico and the American Southwest; and the novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is a galvanizing portrait of life in the slums of New York City.

First published in 1895, Crane's novel of the Civil War was written entirely from newspaper accounts and research, as Crane himself never went to war. Nevertheless, this powerful psychological study of a young soldier's struggle with the internal and external horrors that war unleashes will strike listeners with its undeniable realism and with its masterful description of the moment-by-moment eruption of emotions felt by men under fire.

In the spring of 1863, as he faces battle for the first time at Chancellorsville, Virginia, a young Union soldier matures to manhood and finds peace of mind as he comes to grips with his conflicting emotions about war.

The third in a series of American Western short stories compiled by Jon Tuska, and preformed by celebrity readers.

"The Open Boat" is considered Stephen Crane's finest work and one of the great short stories of all time. The story begins with four men in an open boat, subject to the vagaries of the sea after their ship went down. The Captain, though injured, retains control over the boat and its occupants by force of habit and uncanny skills. In this trial, he proves his worth, putting his men first, guiding them at every step of the way.

The Civil War was among the bloodiest conflicts in American History. For Henry Fleming, a teenaged romantic filled with idealistic notions, the reality of the battlefield shakes him to his core. Over the course of a four-day battle, Henry comes to see himself, and the world at large, in a completely new light.

"The Men in the Storm" is a warm story by Stephen Crane relating to the struggles of homeless men against the cold, the elements, and hunger, while trying to keep a certain level of human dignity and optimism.

The Red Badge of Courage remains America's greatest novel of the Civil War. It is a powerful portrayal of a youth's impressions of the reality and horrors of war, as well as the responsibilities and requirements of being a soldier. The text comes alive in this special recording.

"The Knife" is a story about temptation, a near betrayal, and then a recovery. A cycle of danger and redemption, told with Crane's ironic touch. A black man with a penchant for fun jokes with the White owner of a watermelon patch. They both enjoy the racial stereotyping image of the black man being entranced by watermelons. Well, Peter Washington has a moment of such entrancement. He tells his friend Alek Williams and they work themselves into a fit of envy about those watermelons....

How far would a father go to keep his daughter from marrying the wrong man? Rufus Coleman, the respected editor of the New York Eclipse, plans to marry Marjory Wainwright. Yet to her father, Professor Wainwright, Rufus is still the wastrel that he thought him to be as a student in college.

"Flanagan" is a story not dissimilar from "The Open Boat", except that the captain dies in "Flanagan" but not in the "Open Boat". Flanagan is hired to take a ship, aptly named the Foundling, down to Cuba to run guns and people into that country. He does so in a rickety old boat and does a good job. A gun boat finds them and barrels at them at top speed. Rather than just running, the natural instinct, Flanagan turns his ship towards the small gun boat, an unexpected chess move....

"A Great Mistake", which is quite short, is an unexpected Stephen Crane jewel. Crane is best known for three short stories, "The Open Boat", thought by many to be the best short story ever written, "The Blue Hotel", and "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky". Simply has recorded over ten more stories that deserve to be right up there with the top three. As Simply says, this is not an NFL Power ranking, or a compare and contrast assignment.