Honorable Mentions

Charles Dickens is rightly remembered for such beloved classics as Great Expectations and Oliver Twist -- but his most famous work remains A Christmas Carol. First published on December 17, 1843, the story tells the tale of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, and the three Christmas ghosts who appear throughout Christmas Eve night to warm his heart -- and save his soul. It's been adapted dozens of time for stage and screen, and has become an undeniable staple of the holiday season.

But did you know that A Christmas Carol wasn't Dickens's only ghost story?  Dickens actually wrote a variety of stories featuring ghosts -- some of which, like The Signal-Man, could be considered outright horror thrillers. (The title character of The Signal-Man works on the railway, and is haunted by a specter who appears before him every time a terrible event is to occur.)

Dickens is not the only author whose own wild success actually overshadowed some of his lesser-known efforts. Here are five more authors whose littler-known works are still undeniably worthwhile:



~ Louisa May Alcott's Thrillers

She's best remembered for writing titles that might now be considered part of the "young adult" genre -- classics like Little Women and Eight Cousins. But Louisa May Alcott wrote several stories for older audiences, usually under the pen name "A. M. Barnard" -- and many of those works were not only thrillers, but stories that dealt with radical issues of nineteenth-century sexism and the constraints of society and culture.

Her most critically-acclaimed work is, arguably, the thriller novella Behind a Mask. The story details the life of Jean Muir, a character with a shady past (she was formerly an actress, a considerably more scandalous profession in the nineteenth century) who has reached her thirtieth birthday still a spinster. And then she finds one last chance to fulfill society's expectations of her: she takes the job of governess in a house with two unmarried sons and one unmarried uncle. She means to adopt the mask of a "little woman" herself -- appearing the perfect example of a polite, respectable young lady (she wins her place as governess with a feigned fainting spell in front of the family) until she ensnares a husband. But Jean's motives are far more clever, and downright manipulative, than what you'd see from the March sisters -- though this may not stop you from rooting for her!

Request Behind a Mask from the Catalog



~ Edgar Allan Poe's Detective Stories

Sherlock Holmes is the name we remember, but C. Ausguste Dupin got there first. While Conan Doyle drew on several inspirations for his Sherlock Holmes character (including his med-school professor Dr. Joseph Bell), he was always quick to praise Edgar Allan Poe for his detective stories that paved the way for Sherlock Holmes. ("Where was the detective story," Conan Doyle once asked, "until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?")

Poe is remembered as the master of horror, but he actually wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction and detective stories. In the latter category, he produced three short stories: Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, and my personal favorite, The Purloined Letter. The stories star Dupin, an amateur detective (although the word "detective" had not yet been invented) who assisted the police in a trio of bizarre investigations. He's accompanied in his adventures by our unnamed narrator, who serves as Dupin's closest friend and our window into Dupin's world.

Request the Dupin stories from the Catalog



~ Conan Doyle's Historical Fiction

Most Sherlock Holmes fans already know about Arthur Conan Doyle's love-hate relationship with his most famous fictional creation. While Conan Doyle ultimately seemed to be fond enough of his consulting detective (and also loved writing about the adventures of Professor Challenger in such tales as The Lost World), he always considered his best and most important works to be his historical fiction.

Such historical works include extensively-researched novels like The White Company and Sir Nigel, both set during the Hundred Years' War between the royal houses of England and France. There was also Micah Clarke, a coming-of-age story set in seventeenth-century England that details the religious and political tension of the time; and a series of comical short stories about Brigadier Gerard, a soldier in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars, who Conan Doyle used to comment on the stereotypes and prejudices that the British and French had for one another.

Request The White Company from the Catalog

Request Sir Nigel from the Catalog

Request Micah Clarke from the Catalog

Request the Brigadier Gerard stories from the Catalog



~ Agatha Christie's Love Stories

Agatha Christie remains the best-selling novelist of all time, beloved for her classic mysteries like And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, as well as such characters as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. But while she has come to be affectionately known as "the Queen of Crime" due to her incredible skills in the mystery genre, she also wrote half a dozen novels of a different sort entirely.

Using the pen name "Mary Westmacott," Christie wrote a series of romance and family stories, referring to them as "bitter-sweet stories about love." The books enjoyed modest success -- much to Christie's delight, as the novels succeeded under their own merits and not due to her name being on the cover (her identity as Westmacott would remain hidden for nearly two decades). She wrote the Westmacott books throughout her life, telling stories that focused not only on romance, but on family relationships between parents and children or between siblings. The results were among the works she was most proud of.

Read an essay about "Mary Westmacott" written by Rosalind Hicks, Christie's daughter

Request Westmacott books from the Catalog



~ Michael Crichton's Medical Thrillers

Before he was a best-selling author of such novels as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton was a med student. But while he was earning his MD from Harvard Medical School, Crichton had his first publishing success, writing under the pen names "Jeffery Hudson" and "John Lange."

He published ten mystery thrillers that sold well enough to help pay his way through med school -- no mean feat, as any pressed-for-time med student could tell you. While Crichton viewed them mostly as pulpy entertainment ("I write them fast and the reader reads them fast and I get things off my back," he explained in a 1969 interview), they showcased his skill at engaging characters and tightly-plotted storylines, not to mention a love of research and accuracy. Though Crichton successfully graduated with his MD, it's not surprising to know he turned to writing full-time -- always incorporating his love of science into his stories.

Read more about Michael Crichton's "med school" thrillers

Request A Case of Need from the Catalog



-- Post by Ms. B 

Birthday Biography: Charles Dickens

Confession time: this English major has never read any Charles Dickens.

I know -- shameful, right? We covered Trollope and Hardy in my 19th-century British Literature class, but somehow we never got around to Dickens.

But of course, the thing about Dickens is that his influence on literature was so great that you don't have to have read his stories to know something about them.

Charles Dickens was born two hundred years ago today, to parents Elizabeth and John Dickens. John was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office and, unfortunately, was somewhat terrible with matters of money. He eventually wound up imprisoned for debt. Incredibly, Elizabeth and the rest of their eight children would soon join John in Marshalsea Prison -- with the exception of Charles himself, who was put to work instead in Warren's Blacking Factory. His father was eventually released and was able to rescue 12-year-old Charles from the factory life, but the experience had already left its mark. Charles spent the next three years as a day pupil at a London school before getting another job at age 15 -- this time as an office boy at an attorney's. By age 17 he was a freelance reporter at Doctor's Commons Courts. He'd studied shorthand during his nights at the attorney's, and by 1832 he was a highly successful shorthand reporter for debates of Parliament in the House of Commons. Dickens's first published stories would begin to appear in 1833, although he'd continue on in his career as a reporter until the runaway success of the serialized novel The Pickwick Papers allowed him to become a full-time novelist. (He'd also publish short pieces under the unusual pen name of "Boz.")

Dickens would marry Catherine Hogarth in 1836 (they'd eventually have ten children), and followed up The Pickwick Papers with Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. The following two decdes would see the serialized publication of such other novels as David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. He'd also tour through Canada and America in 1852 (and create a bit of buzz upon publishing his American Notes, commenting a bit unfavorably on certain American habits such as tobacco chewing).

The work that is perhaps his most famous was first published in December 1844. The short novel A Christmas Carol was the first of several Christmas-themed books that Dickens would produce, but Christmas Carol would, by far, remain his most popular. The story stars Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly man visited by three Christmas ghosts (of Past, Present, and Future) intent on convincing Scrooge to change his ways. The simple but memorable tale was an instant hit that's been credited with bringing a sense of "Christmas cheer" back to England and America during the era. The novella has never been out of print since its original publication and remains a perennial Christmas classic. It's been brought to life in countless adaptations and variations on the stage and the screen, with the role of Scrooge being played by everyone from Reginald Owen and Basil Rathbone, to Albert Finney and Bill Murray, to Patrick Stewart and Michael Caine -- and, most recently, Jim Carrey, Kelsey Grammer, and even Batman himself.

Of course, Dickens is an author so classic that you don't have to have read any of his works to have felt his influence on literature. From such famous lines as "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and "Please sir, I want some more" to such characters as Scrooge, Marley, Pip, Miss Havisham, and Oliver Twist, Dickens's work has become an indelible part of popular culture. (The character of Pip has even made an appearance on the animated show South Park.)

So if, like me, you'd like to know more about Dickens -- but aren't quite ready to dive into Bleak House just yet (I've been trying to read that one for awhile) -- check out the links below for more about this literary giant.

(And, while we're making confessions: I've never read any Jane Austen either. Then again, she was born in December, so I've got some time yet!)


- Charles Dickens - the LA Times

- Dickens: A Brief Biography - VictorianWeb.org

- Five Myths About Charles Dickens - the Washington Post

- Charles Dickens Still Resonates - Christian Science Monitor

- World Celebrates 200th Anniversary of Dickens's Birth - BBC News


-- Post by Ms. B

About the Classics

This weekend saw the release of the movie The Three Musketeers -- the latest offering in over twenty film adaptations of the classic Dumas tale. Since the early days of motion pictures, Dumas's classic stories of the adventures of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan have graced the silver screen in a variety of interpretations and incarnations.

The interpretations are as varied as the filmmakers behind them. There's the silent Douglas Fairbanks version, the classic two-parter with Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch, the fluffy but fun modernized Disney take. (This newest version does appear to be the first adaptation in 3-D. To be fair.)

Dumas joins a cadre of fellow authors -- like Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and William Shakespeare -- whose classic works are often adapted for the big (and small) screen. But for every version of A Christmas Carol or Sherlock Holmes that appears -- as adaptations become farther and farther removed from their source material -- it's interesting to go back and look at the original stories ... and their authors.

Read on for a handful of little-known facts about the authors behind some of the biggest-known stories in history (with a particular look at Mr. Dumas himself):

-- Alexandre Dumas suffered from insomnia.

-- It's important to have a hobby: Charles Dickens was interested in hypnotism and conjuring. Lewis Carroll was an amateur photographer; Jane Austen did embroidery.

-- Number of books Dumas wrote in his lifetime: 272.

-- Master of Mystery Agatha Christie went missing for several days in December 1926, shortly after discovering her husband was having an affair. She was found at a health resort in Yorkshire ten days later. (There have been rumors of suicide attempts and amnesia, although the time-travelling science fiction show Doctor Who has the most unique explanation for her disappearance.)

-- Meanwhile, the Master of the Macabre -- Edgar Allan Poe -- is reported to have never started to write until he had completely mapped out his story, setting, and characters. He is also said to have paced back and forth across the room to get revved up before beginning to work.

-- Dumas wasn't just an author; during the 1830 French revolution, he operated as a secret agent, helping to place the Duc d'Orleans on the French throne.

-- It is rumored that Victor Hugo considered calling The Hunchback of Notre Dame "What there is in a bottle of ink" because he penned the last line of the novel with the last drop of ink in the bottle.

-- Dickens doubled as an actor. He is said to have gotten so excited performing his own work onstage that he'd sometimes pass out from overexcitement.

-- There are actually two authors by the name of Alexandre Dumas: Alexandre Dumas pere (father) and Alexandre Dumas fils (son). (The father was the one of Musketeer and Monte Cristo fame.)

-- Hugo wrote his first play when he was only 14.

-- Dumas was once asked to donate 25 francs towards the funeral expenses of a recently deceased bailiff. Not a fan of the office, Dumas apparently tossed over 50 francs and snapped, "There you are -- bury two of them!"

-- H.G. Wells always carried two pens with him, one large and one small. He claimed the big one was for the long words and the little one was for the small ones.

-- William Shakespeare had eleven different ways of spelling his name.

-- Dumas's supposed last words, referring to his unfinished book: "I shall never know how it all comes out now."


-- Post by Ms. B