Showing results by author "Benjamin Fife" in All Categories

Uttered politely by a young malnourished boy who never had anything, and the ensuing consequences set us up for Dickens' classic tale of an orphan boy. Oliver's treatment and experience from every side of society from Mr. Bumble to Fagin, to benevolent Rose. How can a boy with no connections to anyone hope to survive in Victorian England?

All Quiet on the Western Front stands as one of the greatest condemnations of war of all time. Follow a firsthand account of German enlisted man, Paul Baumer as he recounts details mundane and profound. His account moves and tears at our hearts with the horrors of war and the stark realities of humanity. All while somehow skirting around the question: Why?

When John Harmon Returns to England to claim his inheritance - and his intended bride - only to be found murdered, the fortune passes to the most unlikely of people. A satirical romp in humanity by the master novelist, Charles Dickens. In classic Dickens style, he explores what truly makes one wealthy, and how we view our fellow creatures.

When David comes on the scene, The Holly family, and much of the town, have done things for so long they don't even realize they are in a rut. David's innocence and naivete bring with it his own set of assumptions, opinions, and expectations. Because of the care his father had taken to keep him from the 'bad' – or painful – things in life, there is so much he can't even begin to fathom at first. The collision of these two worlds is what drives this story onward. David had never experienced poverty or wealth as most would think of it.

Catherine Morland comes from a big family of modest means and has never had any aspirations to landing a Darcy or a Colonel Brandon as you might find in Austen's other novels. Catherine's family seems to be fairly unremarkable. She truly is the least likely of Austen's heroines to be in that role. She is naive as to what might actually happen when she's invited on a trip to Bath with a family friend. But others are more conniving. John and Isabella Thorpe have their own ideas and assumptions about Miss Morland and her expectations.

War looms in a small forgotten eastern European country. But war is nothing new to Samavia. The once idyllic land has been in continual struggle since the last young rightful leader was smuggled across borders to prevent his death in a violent coupe centuries before. This lost prince, or his heirs, are possibly the only thing that can restore order and peace to a once vibrant land and people. But where have they disappeared to? Two young boys are entrusted with a vital and dangerous task with the hopes of restoring the rightful ruler to the small country of Samavia.