Showing results by author "Popular Culture and Religion." in All Categories

Emily Fox-Seton by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Have you ever wondered what happened to Cinderella after she married the prince? Have you ever asked yourself if it was really "happy ever after?" Actually, in this Victorian melodrama, it's not. 35-years-old Emily Fox-Seton, quite penniless and a little lonely, saves herself from becoming an old maid by agreeing to a marriage proposal from the marquess of Walderhurst, thus becoming "one of the richest Marchionesses in England". She is naïve, kind and good. She doesn't believe that people are really willing to hurt her, but why are all these ...

What I Believe by Bertrand Russell. Provides a brief indication of the beliefs of philosopher Bertrand Russell, focusing on his hopes for the future. The topics included are: nature and man, the good life, moral rules, individual and social salvation, and science and happiness.

White Fang by Jack London. When White Fang is birthed in a cave to a wolf sire and a wolf/dog halfbreed dam, he is heir to two traditions. At first he is content to explore and learn laws of the Wild. But then his mother is caught and held by old memories of a past relationship with Man, and White Fang follows her into service with the Indians. Life among sled dogs is hardly less cruel and dangerous than living in the Wild, but brutality notches upward when his drunken master sells him to a nasty, twisted hanger-on at a riverside town of white men. He is stripped of everything soft and ...

The Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, is a highly structured, secret criminal organization originating in 19th-century Sicily and expanding to the U.S. in the early 1900s. Characterized by strict codes of silence (omerta) and loyalty, these groups engage in extortion, drug trafficking, gambling, and labor racketeering.

The Broad Highway by John Jeffery Farnol. Peter Vibart is expected to inherit the fortune and title of his uncle but will only inherit if he marries Lady Sophia, the toast of the town. His cousin, Maurice Vibart (whom Peter has never met) has the same option but he has been in London and with Sophia for a whole season. Peter has never been ambitious so packs a knapsack and travels as far from London as he can. On his journey, he meets a huge range of people, all of who try to see what they can get out of him. This includes his cousin. Luckily, he is resourceful and sensible and manages to ...

The Girl on the Boat by P. G. Wodehouse. Also published as "Three Men and a Maid". The maid of the title is red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennet, and the three men are Bream Mortimer, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, Eustace Hignett, a lily-livered poet who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and Sam Marlowe, Eustace's dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together, along with a capable young woman called Jane Hubbard who is smitten with Eustace, and typically Wodehousian romantic ...

Slavery. Slavery is a socioeconomic institution in which individuals are treated as property, deprived of personal liberty, and compelled to provide unpaid labor or services to owners under coercion, often involving violence or the threat thereof, with the legal right to buy, sell, inherit, or punish the enslaved. This practice, rooted in the exercise of power over war captives, debtors, or conquered peoples, has manifested across diverse forms—from chattel systems denying all autonomy to debt bondage retaining nominal freedoms—but consistently entails the owner's absolute control over ...

Taoism. Taoism, also romanized as Daoism, is an indigenous Chinese tradition encompassing philosophy and organized religion, both oriented toward aligning human life with the Dao, the ineffable cosmic process and underlying reality of the universe. Originating in the 6th century BCE, it traces its foundational ideas to Laozi (Lao Tzu), a semi-legendary figure credited with authoring the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), a concise text of aphorisms emphasizing simplicity, spontaneity, and the principle of wu wei—effortless action in accordance with natural rhythms rather than coercive ...

The Spiritual Life by Andrew Murray. In this book, Andrew Murray explores the dynamics of the Christian life as Jesus means it to be lived. He explains how the Holy Spirit is essential to living effectively as a believer. Christians are often all too well aware of the feebleness of their life and testimony. This most encouraging book, consisting of a series of lectures given to students at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1895, shows how the working of the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s life makes all the difference. It shows how God’s power is made perfect in weakness, and how ...

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens. The novel was left unfinished at the time of Dickens' death, and readers have often speculated what the ending might have been. The novel is named after Edwin Drood, but it mostly tells the story of his uncle, a Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque choirmaster named John Jasper, who is in love with his pupil, Rosa Bud. Miss Bud is Drood's fiancée, and has caught the eye of the high-spirited and hot-tempered Neville Landless, who comes from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) with his twin sister, Helena, ...

What I Believe by Leo Tolstoy. "The inner working of my soul, which I wish to speak of here, was not the result of a methodical investigation of doctrinal theology, or of the actual texts of the gospel; it was a sudden removal of all that hid the true meaning of the Christian doctrine – a momentary flash of light, which made everything clear to me. It was something like that which might happen to a man who, after vainly attempting, by a false plan, to build up a statue out of a confused heap of small pieces of marble, suddenly guesses at the figure they are intended to form by the shape of...

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of the best-known non-fiction books written by an American. Published in 1854, it details Thoreau’s life for two years, two months, and two days around the shores of Walden Pond. Walden is neither a novel nor a true autobiography, but a social critique of the Western World, with each chapter heralding some aspect of humanity that needed to be either renounced or praised. Along with his critique of the civilized world, Thoreau examines other issues afflicting man in society, ranging from economy and reading to solitude and ...

Your Invisible Power by Genevieve Behrend. Genevieve Behrend was a teacher of Mental Science, a New Thought discipline created by Thomas Troward (1847- 1916). Your Invisible Power, published in 1921, is her first and most famous book. It is a guide to the use of visualization and other mental processes in life enhancement and the achievement of personal goals.

Paradise Lost by John Milton. Paradise Lost is an epic poem by John Milton that retells the biblical story of the Fall of Man, focusing on Satan's rebellion against God, his temptation of Adam and Eve, and their subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Written in blank verse, it is considered one of the greatest works in English literature, exploring themes of free will, obedience, temptation, and the nature of good and evil through its complex characters, particularly the charismatic Satan, who is often seen as a tragic hero.

Emma by Jane Austen. Jane Austen famously described Emma Woodhouse, the title character of her 1815 novel, as "a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." Yet generations of readers have loved Emma, as much for her blunders as for her wit and vivacity. Emma, "handsome, clever, and rich," has nothing else to do but try to pair off her friends, and she consistently mis-reads the relationships and situations around her as much as she mis-reads her own heart. The novel features a wonderful cast of characters, including Emma's hypochondriac father, the odiously prideful Mrs. Elton, the ...

My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse. Bertram Wooster is an English gentleman living in New York, who seems to get himself into all sorts of jams. It’s up to his manservant Jeeves to come up with the plan to save the day from unpleasant houseguests, stingy uncles, broken hearts, and hard-partying aunts.

The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. Richard Hannay’s boredom is soon relieved when the resourceful engineer is caught up in a web of secret codes, spies, and murder on the eve of WWI. This exciting action-adventure story was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 classic film of the same name. John Buchan (1875-1940) was Governor General of Canada and a popular novelist. Although condemned by some for anti-Semitic dialog in The Thirty-Nine Steps, his character’s sentiments do not represent the view of the author who was identified in Hitler’s Sonderfahndungsliste (special ...

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland. Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749) was the first widely-read English novel in the genre “Erotica.” It was written by John Cleland as he was serving hard time at a debtor’s prison in London. Over the centuries, the novel has been repeatedly banned by authorities, assuring its preeminent role in the history of the ongoing struggle against censorship of free expression. Until Fanny Hill, previous heroines had conducted their amorous liaisons “off-stage.” Any erotic misadventures were described euphemistically...

The Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra ("Our Thing"), is a powerful, secretive criminal organization originating in 19th-century Sicily. Rooted in local extortion and "protection" rackets, it evolved into an international syndicate involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, and political corruption. Despite major anti-mafia efforts in Italy, it remains active today. Key Aspects of the Sicilian Mafia: Origins: Began in the 1800s as a form of local, often violent, territorial control and land protection. Structure: Composed of independent "families" or cosche. A commission, or Cupola,...

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. H. G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds in 1898, when there was much speculation about life on the planet Mars. The book is considered to be one of the first science fiction novels. In the story, an English gentleman narrates the events of a violent and fast paced Martian invasion. The frightening images of people fleeing from gigantic tripod machines and the prospect of life under Martial rule have served as a bottomless well of inspiration for popular culture. The novel has served as a template for many derivative or inspired works, including comics,...