Novels and stories

A sailor named Ishmael joins a whaling ship whose captain is hunting the white whale that took his leg. Captain Ahab nails a gold coin to the mast for the first man to spot it.

15h 2m reading time

A short, comic novel follows a young man thrown out of a castle into war, shipwreck, and disaster. His teacher Pangloss insists, even after an earthquake, that this is the best of all possible worlds.

2h 23m reading time

A traveler describes a faraway island where people share everything and no one owns private property. On this island, gold is so little valued that it is used to make chamber pots and prisoners' chains.

2h 41m reading time

This short ghost story follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser visited by spirits on Christmas Eve. The Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to a joyful party hosted by his former employer, Fezziwig.

2h 4m reading time

This unfinished tale follows sailors who discover an island society devoted to scientific research. At its heart is Salomon's House, where researchers study nature through experiments and inventions.

1h 6m reading time

A spaceship engineer's journal reveals growing doubt in a future state that controls every part of life. D-503 lives among glass buildings, where even private moments follow an official timetable.

4h 33m reading time

This coming-of-age novel follows Emil Sinclair as his friendship with Max Demian unsettles his childhood beliefs. Demian's unexpected reading of the biblical story of Cain gives Sinclair a troubling new view of good and evil.

3h 41m reading time

Letters follow a young man's growing love for Charlotte, who is promised to another man. He first sees her cutting bread for her younger brothers and sisters.

3h 1m reading time

This short novel follows Marlow up the Congo River in search of an ivory trader named Kurtz. Marlow tells his unsettling story aboard a boat on the Thames, far from the African jungle.

2h 49m reading time

This short science fiction novel follows a Victorian inventor who travels into the distant future. In the year 802701, he meets the gentle Eloi and discovers the underground world of the Morlocks.

2h 22m reading time

A lawyer narrates this short story about a Wall Street copyist who begins refusing his assigned work. Bartleby's quiet reply, "I would prefer not to," leaves his employer unsure how to respond.

1h 3m reading time

This short story follows a villager who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes twenty years later. He returns to find that the American Revolution has changed his village while he slept.

33 min reading time

A young German soldier narrates this novel about life on the Western Front during World War I. During leave, Paul Bäumer finds that home has become a place where he no longer belongs.

4h 32m reading time

This novel follows a young man's search for spiritual understanding in ancient India. His journey brings him to a ferryman who listens closely to the river.

2h 40m reading time