‘Literature’ Category
» posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 2:12 am by Jacek Prague
Martin Johnson Adventures
It would have been a very pleasant journey except for the fact that in fair weather or foul the boat lunged, dipped, tipped, and surged, shifting and twisting with never an instant of quiet. Many times during a heavy blow the rails and deck would be buried in the sea. Sometimes the ship would be lifted high on the crest of a billow and the next moment plunged into a trough to be surrounded by towering waves.
The size of the galley was negligible. It would have been considered small for a clothes closet. Martin said that here the old saw about having to go outside to turn around was literally true-if he had a dish in his hand.
It is difficult for anyone who has never experienced a shortage of water to realize just how inadequate a quart a day is for comfort, especially in the tropics, where one perspires copiously. As the days went by, the thirst became maddening. Martin dreamed of the Saline River and of the old mill. He dreamed of carrying precious water to fill his mother’s washtubs. And always as he was about to bury his face in it he would awaken with a gasp.
The situation became more and more acute as the small supply of that life-sustaining fluid dwindled. Twelve hundred miles from land, and no fresh drinking water!
They had bad weather from the start, mounting to the proportions of heavy storms. The light boat pitched like a cork. It leaked like the proverbial sieve. The sides leaked, the bottom leaked; water poured in, ruining the tools in the engine room and spoiling a good part of three months’ provisions. The coal had been delivered in rotten potato sacks and was washing through the scuppers into the sea. The floors of the galley and cabins were ankle-deep in water.
Everyone was tossed about violently. Martin was covered with burns and bruises trying to cook in the tiny kitchen. More often than not, he was on the stove and the food was on the floor. Never for a moment was it possible to let go of one hold unless assured of another. Mrs. London would have been the envy of all acrobats had they witnessed a double handspring she turned one day after missing her hold on the railing. She soared down the companionway and landed on top of a dinner being served by Tochigi.
For two idyllic weeks the London party basked in the hospitality of the Marquesans. They visited the Typee Valley, made famous by Herman Melville, and Martin took pictures by the score. Everyone felt a deep pang of regret when Jack decided they had better be getting on.
Martin was advanced to engineer and was beside himself with pride. He had learned all the idiosyncrasies of the seventy-horse-power engine and was undoubtedly worthy of the promotion, but I suspect that Jack did it to get a new cook. Martin wrote to Jess Utz, his cooking teacher, “I guess, Jess, my cooking wasn’t so much of a success-they’ve hired someone else.”
Wada, who was Japanese, was a very good cook and could speak fluent English. Nakata, also Japanese, was signed as cabin boy and could speak no English. A Dutchman who gave only the name of Herman was a good natured deep-sea sailor whom they secured to round out the crew. He worked with great goodwill in storm or calm, always singing in one or another of a half-dozen languages.
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post a comment | filed under Literature | tags: Adventure, Literature
» posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 1:26 am by Roger Calfsman
There Are Some Audio Books Online That Actually Limit Play Capability
The skyrocketing popularity of audio books can prove to be a major boon for online audio book stores because today, plenty more folk will come to an on line audio book store looking to order audio books on line because they may want to present an audio book to someone, or simply get it to fill in the hours in a more nice manner.
In any case, there are certainly many good reasons why you would need to order audio books on line such as that audio books being readily available for such a big amount of different subjects, and additionally, you may find many of the most recent bestsellers as too self-help audio books as also some great westerns.
If you’re trying to find traditional books, you would often go to a bookstore, but when searching for audio books online outlets appear to offer a wider selection. There are a few online resources that offer a wide range of subjects while many others are aimed towards a particular genre.
The major advantage of buying audio books online of course is not having to wait for the mailman to bring them. While the books are available in cassette and compact disk format, one of the more favored systems of delivery is through a file download.
While the chance of purchasing audio books on line is appealing, there may be some websites and books that prohibit how they can be treated once they are downloaded. It might not seem fair, but some outlets restrict the download to being played back only on the device to that the file was transferred, meaning it can only be listened to from the PC to which it was downloaded. This is most often the case with some of the free downloads with plenty of the bought audio books online capable of being transferred to a compact disk.
One of the disadvantages of purchasing audio books on line is not having them prominently shown on a bookcase. Those moved to a compact disk can be placed in the jewel case and put on a shelf, but they just do not have the same appeal as a bookcase full of books in the room.
No Charge Offerings Are Plenty For Public Domain Books
There are several online libraries devoting their time and effort to make the books listed in the general public domain available free as digital downloads. Having a huge number of audio books on line is the target of many of these sources, giving folks an opportunity to have plenty of the so-called classics available for their listening pleasure.
Travelers actually enjoy the possibility of buying audio books on line as they can be stored on a small cartable memory device and played back on many cartable devices letting them carry their favourite works for listened while on planes, trains or in motel rooms when on the road.
Additionally, there are instruction and educational resources available as audio books online that may be downloaded and listened while traveling to be used at a business meeting or instructional seminar.
Finding the info required in the format of audio books online can be as simple as conducting an online search of the favourite outlets.
We offer and provide many books, notably Audio Books On Line. Are you searching for Harry Potter Audio Books? Go to our website for a big collection of books and titles to satisfy any bookworm.
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post a comment | filed under Literature | tags: Audio Books, audio streaming, Books, E Books, ebooks, Literature, Reading
» posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 1:17 am by Jon Hunter
Second Hand Books Shops Feel The Pinch from Oxfam
Second hand book dealers have surprised many people by taking a pop at Oxfam. It is rare that anyone is bold enough to take a pop at such an established charity as Oxfam. However things have got so bad for the second hand book industry they are willing to speak out and claim that Oxfam is putting them out of business.
Booksellers claim that Oxfam is the “Tesco of the second hand book market” and that unfair competition from Oxfam is responsible for the closure of many seconds hand book shops recently.
Since opening its first second hand book shop in 1987 Oxfam now has 121 second hand bookshops in different parts of the country, selling over 19 million pounds worth of books lat year, and is considered the largest retailer of second hand books in Europe.
Book Dealers are arguing that Oxfam is able to compete unfairly in the marketplace due to there charitable status, they get free staffing from volunteers , they do not have to pay for stock and they get an 80% reduction on business rates.
Oxfam have responded by stating that there are many other factors currently affecting the viability of second hand book sellers, such as the fall in new book prices due to big retailers, and the ability to buy second hand books online.
Bookdealers seem unclear about what measures should be taken. Do they want Oxfam stopped from selling books? Do they reject the idea that an obvious charity should receive charitable status? Do they believe they should receive free product and staffing to be donated to themselves by general populace so they can make personal profit?
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post a comment | filed under Literature | tags: Books, Business, Charities, commerce, Literature, news, Oxfam, Politics, Reading, retail. charity
