Showing results by author "Stephen Crane" in All Categories

"An Experiment in Misery" in a story similar to "The Men in the Storm" except that it focuses on one character, and a new fellow traveler called the Assassin, who struggle for warmth and a place for the night. The main character stops first at a saloon for free soup with a beer, where he meets the Assassin. The Assassin accosts the man seeking a few cents for a room.

"The Veteran" features Henry Fleming as a grandfather, many years after he appeared as the 18-year-old Yankee first-time soldier in The Red Badge of Courage. He retells the story succinctly and honestly about how he ran from his first battle as so many did. His grandchild is alarmed, as children are when they learn that adults are not perfect in what they do.

When George hears his mother is sick, he comes home immediately despite looking uncool to his rowdy friends, and soothes his mother. He shows his deep caring for her which moves her as well. Critics have spoken about George's being a drunk, an alcoholic, and the like. But that is not core to the story because George keeps his job for a long time; when he loses it, much of that is because he has been led into thinking work is not cool, to use the modern term.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane tells the story of the American Civil War through the eyes of a Union Army soldier, Henry Fleming. After running away from a battle, Fleming realizes that he must overcome his fear and earn his place next to his comrades by becoming brave and courageous. And so he rejoins his regiment, and, to his delight, none of his fellow soldiers has realized that he ran away, and they mistakenly think that his accidental wound is actually a bullet wound.

These are Stephen Crane's three most famous short stories. He also wrote others of great value, but these are the ones that stand out the most. Each one has themes relating to life, death, random acts, danger, and delight. This audiobook is the place to start for newcomers to Crane. This recording contains forwards and afterwords that can be listened to or skipped over per listener preference.

The Red Badge of Courage was Stephen Crane's best known novel. It was one of his two great ones, the other being the underrated Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, which was also a ground-breaking work, taking up the subject of women's plights in industrial society as Red Badge takes up men's plight in wartime.

These are the 13 best known and respected short works of Stephen Crane. George's "Mother and The Monster" are particularly highly regarded but rarely read and almost never listened to. In addition, this audiobook includes "A Dark Brown Dog", "A Great Mistake", "An Experiment in Luxury", "An Experiment in Misery", "An Ominous Baby", "Flanagan", "His New Mittens", "The Five White Mice", "The Knife", "The Men in the Storm", and "The Veteran".

"An Episode of War", which is quite short, is an unexpected Stephen Crane jewel. Crane is best known for three short stories, "The Open Boa"t, thought by many to be the best short story ever written, "The Blue Hotel", and "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky". "An Episode of War" is perhaps the best known of the other ten Crane stories.

This is the third of the best Stephen Crane short stories, with "The Open Boat" and "The Blue Hotel" being the other two. The story starts in an interesting way as the older sheriff has gone to another town to marry a not so young and not so beautiful woman who he is obviously devoted to.

"The Five White Mice" should be counted as one of Stephen Crane's great short stories. It has many parallels to "The Bride Comes to the Yellow Sky", with a stand off moment that was the turning point in many people's lives. In this case as in "The Bride Comes to the Yellow Sky", the Scratchy Wilson figure takes a step back, as Scratch did, and the dangerous moment passed by.

The story starts with the hotel owner trolling for guests at the train station and finding three: the Swede, the Cowboy, and the Easterner. As with many stories the personalities are known by their titles not their names; the two known by their names are the hotel keeper, Scully, and his son Johnny. The first major event is in a play for fun (no money) card game in which the Swede accuses Johnny of cheating. Johnny skillfully defends himself by saying he won't put up with the accusation, while side stepping the truth of the matter.

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is a ground breaking novel relating to the precarious state of women in the new industrial world at the end of the 19th century. One blemish on a reputation and a woman would often be banned from her house, subject to earning her living on the streets, and often dying young as Maggie does.

An interesting story about how a boy goes to school with new mittens his mother wants him to protect. To do so he cannot join in a snowball fight with his friends with parents less scrupulous about clothing and the like. The boy ultimately gives in, gets in trouble with his mother, is made to eat alone, attempts to run away much but only makes it to their cold shed.He then gathers his forces to leave for California - wherever that might be.

"The Monster" is considered one of Crane's top four stories, but is left out of many collections. Don't miss it. It's a wonderful telling about the town of Whilomville, in which Henry Johnson lives and other Crane stories are set as well, including "The Knife".

First published in 1893, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the first published fiction work of American author Stephen Crane. A harrowing depiction of a pretty young girl's life in the slums of turn-of-the-century New York City and her eventual decline into prostitution, Crane's novel is a starkly realistic examination of poverty and the challenges brought about by the rapid industrialization the United States underwent in the late 1800s.

An Experiment in Luxury is the book end of all this as a young man visits his rich friend and his millionaire family. It is a conventional scene where the young man's friend, son of the household, encourages him to speak only conventionally to his mother or he will get on her bad side. We see her preoccupied with her worries and the husband/millionaire taking his mind off of it all by playing with a kitten.

The Red Badge of Courage is a masterpiece about a young private in the Union Army whose youthful enthusiasm about the glory of Civil War battle gives way to increasing doubt and worry. He fears that when he comes to be tested in his first encounter on the battlefield, he will be found deficient of courage.

"An Ominous Baby", 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". "An Ominous Baby" is perhaps the most unusual of the other ten Crane stories Simply recorded. It deserves to be right up there with the top three.

Represented here are 16 short stories by seven great American writers, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. Different in atmosphere and writing style, they nevertheless caught the mood and concerns of the day in a way that was distinctly American.

Henry, or the youth as Crane refers to him leaves his home a naïve boy with visions of grandeur and glory; yet he runs from his first battle only to later join the walking wounded as an imposter. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage. He falls in with men who will shortly die from their wounds. One, a spectral soldier with a terrible wound, turns out to be his friend Jim Conklin.