-
Review: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
A series of unfortunate circumstances and unfaithful friends combine to cause the bright and promising young Edmund Dantes to be thrown into prison just as the best part of his life is about to begin. Confined to a dank dungeon cell, Dantes loses everything: his prospects, his family, his fiancée, and even his name — he becomes only prisoner 34. Despite his dire position, Dantes makes an unexpected and valuable friend: Abbé Faria, the prisoner in the cell beside his, a wise and knowledgeable old man from whom Dantes learns much — including the location of a secret treasure. Many years later, when he emerges from the prison, the positive…
-
Review: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Don Quixote of La Mancha has his head turned by reading far too many books on knight errantry, until he believes that he himself is a gallant knight. Together with his long-suffering horse Rocinante and his loyal but gullible squire Sancho Panza on his beloved donkey, he sets out on many ill-fated adventures. Deluded into making everything around him fit into his ideas of the world of romantic chivalry he constructed from his readings, Don Quixote blunders into a series of hilariously mistaken escapades — taking a set of windmills as giants to be battled and vanquished, a travelling party on the road for a group of villains and an…
-
Review: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
The outlaw Robin Hood and his band of merry men dwell in Sherwood Forest, stealing from those who have too much and helping those who have little. Their lives are filled with rollicking adventures, fights, fairs and feasts, all the while dodging the danger of getting caught by King Henry or the vengeful Sheriff of Nottingham. This book recounts some of those adventures, including how Robin met his right-hand man Little John, his minstrel Allan a Dale, and the jolly Friar Tuck, who all join his band; how he rescues some of his men from out of the clutches of the sheriff, and dodges all the agents sent to catch…
-
Review: King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Allan Quatermain has heard rumours and stories of King Solomon’s mines, and the indescribable richness of diamonds therein, for decades, but has always thought them to be tall tales. One day, he runs into Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good, who are looking for an acquaintance they think may have gone in search of the mines. Determined to find him, they soon draw Quatermain into their plans — and so begins the adventure of a lifetime, one not even the seasoned elephant-hunter Allan Quatermain has ever experienced or could ever foresee, and which he relates faithfully in this tale of danger, daring, and untold treasures. I read this book…
-
Review: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Professor Pierre Arronax is on his way home to France after a scientific expedition when he receives an invitation to be part of a mission to hunt down a mysterious beast plaguing ships and sailors the world over. Having no idea what awaits him, he accepts— and thus starts the nautical adventure of a lifetime, what Arronax himself describes as an “extraordinary, supernatural and highly implausible expedition”. Through an unfortunate series of events, the professor, his imperturbable manservant Conseil, and their Canadian harpooner friend Ned Land, become guests on board the Nautilis— an improbable vessel owned and sailed by the enigmatic and mysterious figure known only as Captain Nemo. The…
Everything to do with Pages and Ink
