What do you think?
Rate this book
7 Best Short Stories
Seven of the greatest authors of all time present their great works in the short story genre. In this book you can travel through the minds of geniuses like Bram Stoker, Herman Melville and Oscar Wilde.
The selection of August Nemo contains the following works for your appreciation:
Dracula's Guest
By Bram Stoker
Bartleby, the Scrivener
By Herman Melville
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving
The Happy Prince
by Oscar Wilde
A Scandal In Bohemia
By Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sandman
By E.T.A. Hoffman
The Man Who Would Be King
by Rudyard Kipling
The selection of August Nemo contains the following works for your appreciation:
Dracula's Guest
By Bram Stoker
Bartleby, the Scrivener
By Herman Melville
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving
The Happy Prince
by Oscar Wilde
A Scandal In Bohemia
By Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sandman
By E.T.A. Hoffman
The Man Who Would Be King
by Rudyard Kipling
199 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 9, 2019
143 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
August Nemo
1,014 books7 followersAugust Nemo is the main book editor of Tacet Books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 7, 2019
Editing problems and one story incomplete
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: January 9, 2019
Publisher: Tacet Books
Language: English
ASIN: B07MQBLL7T
198 pages
This collection has some editing problems including head instead of hat in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. An error which changes the entire complexion of the story. The Sherlock Holmes story, A Scandal in Bohemia is incomplete. The ending is completely missing.
I do not understand the title of this collection. Is the editor claiming that he has collected the seven best stories ever written? If so, he is wrong. Of the seven, only Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow would even be nominated for such a list.
This is one volume of a series of 7 Best anthologies. The other volumes appear to be organized by topic or author with the spurious claim that the volumes contain the 7 greatest works of the authors
Reviews of the individual stories:
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
This was originally a part of Stoker's novel, DRACULA. His publisher removed it to shorten the lengthy novel. Some two years after Stoker's death it was published as a short story. The novel does not suffer because of the removal of this section and it makes a very good stand alone short. It also gives readers something to try as a sample without having to start reading the novel.
Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville.
What a strange and interesting tale of an employee who once acquired proves most difficult and perplexing to unacquire. It would be even more interesting if Melville had not been such a wordy author. He could definitely write. The beginning of Moby Dick is a classic, maybe the classic, opening line in American literature. However as much as I admire his writing, he just didn't seem to know when to stop.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
This is of course one of the most famous stories in American literature. Continually available on its own and in multiple anthologies; parodied; the basis for other stories and books; the basis for multiple movies, radio and tv shows produced with considerable variance in their adherence to the original story; used in song and stage; used in advertising; referenced in other works of all types and every Halloween some variation of the story appears on tv, often more than one on multiple channels. This may be the most widely known story in America if not the most widely read. If you haven't read it you really should. Washington Irving was not only one of the earliest literary Americans well known outside his native country, he was and is one of the best. Note that in this edition, Crane's head is found in the aftermath - that should read hat not head. That error is a major alteration. I also noticed other small, not so important errors.
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde
This is a bitter-sweet fairytale sort of story featuring a swallow and a sentient statue of the Happy Prince. He may have been happy in life but is much less so as a statue who sees unhappiness and pain all over his city. A well done fairytale but it lacks the sharp wit for which Oscar Wilde was known.
A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle
THIS STORY IS INCOMPLETE. IT JUST STOPS WITHOUT WARNING. RHYME OR REASON.
In this story Sherlock Holmes meets 'The Woman', otherwise known as Irene Adler. The third work in the Holmes canon and the first short story, Arthur Conan Doyle rated it number five on the list of his twelve favorite Holmes stories. It is also one of my favorites. Irene Adler is a worthy opponent for Holmes.
Adler possesses a compromising photograph of the King of Bohemia. She does not want money but instead threatens to send it to the King's betrothed on the day the betrothal is made public. The King attributes jealousy as her motive. Not just the king's marriage but the European political situation is at stake. Too bad this anthology does not include the ending of the story.
I did not read the last two stories, The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman and The Man Who Would be King by Rudyard Kipling. I did not want to chance the Sandman being incomplete and I have long since read the Kipling story which is an outstanding tale. It was also the basis for a very good movie of the same title starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
I would not pay for this collection but at present it is free on Amazon. All of the stories can be found elsewhere, most very easily.
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: January 9, 2019
Publisher: Tacet Books
Language: English
ASIN: B07MQBLL7T
198 pages
This collection has some editing problems including head instead of hat in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. An error which changes the entire complexion of the story. The Sherlock Holmes story, A Scandal in Bohemia is incomplete. The ending is completely missing.
I do not understand the title of this collection. Is the editor claiming that he has collected the seven best stories ever written? If so, he is wrong. Of the seven, only Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow would even be nominated for such a list.
This is one volume of a series of 7 Best anthologies. The other volumes appear to be organized by topic or author with the spurious claim that the volumes contain the 7 greatest works of the authors
Reviews of the individual stories:
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
This was originally a part of Stoker's novel, DRACULA. His publisher removed it to shorten the lengthy novel. Some two years after Stoker's death it was published as a short story. The novel does not suffer because of the removal of this section and it makes a very good stand alone short. It also gives readers something to try as a sample without having to start reading the novel.
Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville.
What a strange and interesting tale of an employee who once acquired proves most difficult and perplexing to unacquire. It would be even more interesting if Melville had not been such a wordy author. He could definitely write. The beginning of Moby Dick is a classic, maybe the classic, opening line in American literature. However as much as I admire his writing, he just didn't seem to know when to stop.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
This is of course one of the most famous stories in American literature. Continually available on its own and in multiple anthologies; parodied; the basis for other stories and books; the basis for multiple movies, radio and tv shows produced with considerable variance in their adherence to the original story; used in song and stage; used in advertising; referenced in other works of all types and every Halloween some variation of the story appears on tv, often more than one on multiple channels. This may be the most widely known story in America if not the most widely read. If you haven't read it you really should. Washington Irving was not only one of the earliest literary Americans well known outside his native country, he was and is one of the best. Note that in this edition, Crane's head is found in the aftermath - that should read hat not head. That error is a major alteration. I also noticed other small, not so important errors.
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde
This is a bitter-sweet fairytale sort of story featuring a swallow and a sentient statue of the Happy Prince. He may have been happy in life but is much less so as a statue who sees unhappiness and pain all over his city. A well done fairytale but it lacks the sharp wit for which Oscar Wilde was known.
A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle
THIS STORY IS INCOMPLETE. IT JUST STOPS WITHOUT WARNING. RHYME OR REASON.
In this story Sherlock Holmes meets 'The Woman', otherwise known as Irene Adler. The third work in the Holmes canon and the first short story, Arthur Conan Doyle rated it number five on the list of his twelve favorite Holmes stories. It is also one of my favorites. Irene Adler is a worthy opponent for Holmes.
Adler possesses a compromising photograph of the King of Bohemia. She does not want money but instead threatens to send it to the King's betrothed on the day the betrothal is made public. The King attributes jealousy as her motive. Not just the king's marriage but the European political situation is at stake. Too bad this anthology does not include the ending of the story.
I did not read the last two stories, The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman and The Man Who Would be King by Rudyard Kipling. I did not want to chance the Sandman being incomplete and I have long since read the Kipling story which is an outstanding tale. It was also the basis for a very good movie of the same title starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
I would not pay for this collection but at present it is free on Amazon. All of the stories can be found elsewhere, most very easily.
May 5, 2022
Sooooo ..... after being locked out of my Kindle app I've decided to have a bit of a clean up in my various "Books Read" lists. First cabs off the rank are my DNF pile. If I DNF'd it and have absolutely NO intention of reading it again, I'm changing my rating to 1 🌟 and deleting it off my Kindle. Life is too short at my age for crappy books!!
Original Review:
This is a 2.5 star read. (2 🌠 for Holmes & ½🌠 for the rest)
This was the Google Play Books Version.
I downloaded this book thinking it would be a collection of short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes ...... but no, it was a collection of tales found under collective commons. I really only enjoyed reading the Holmes story. The other two I read were too flowery in prose and difficult to follow. (As well as boring) DNF at 27%.
Original Review:
This is a 2.5 star read. (2 🌠 for Holmes & ½🌠 for the rest)
This was the Google Play Books Version.
I downloaded this book thinking it would be a collection of short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes ...... but no, it was a collection of tales found under collective commons. I really only enjoyed reading the Holmes story. The other two I read were too flowery in prose and difficult to follow. (As well as boring) DNF at 27%.
March 27, 2019
.
Other than Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, which I have always disliked, this was an excellent selection of must-read classic short stories.
Other than Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, which I have always disliked, this was an excellent selection of must-read classic short stories.
February 10, 2019
An excellent collection of short stories by the masters.
January 29, 2020
I must admit to having read 4 of these prior but it was great to revisit them.
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
It is widely believed that "Dracula's Guest" is actually the deleted first chapter from the original Dracula manuscript, which the publisher felt was superfluous to the story. Still, this works on its own with a hapless Brit barely escaping the Count.
Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville
This one is ahead of its time. The story explores the theme of isolation in American life and the workplace through physical and mental loneliness.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
What more can be said about this American gothic that Irving actually wrote in England? The headless horseman is as scary as they come.
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde
Let me be a tad enigmatic. This is a must-read in the time of Trump.
A Scandal In Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle
I have read the complete Holmes canon three times. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle. The story is notable for introducing Irene Adler, one of the most notable female characters in the Sherlock Holmes series, despite appearing in this one story.
The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman
Be patient with this dense and tense nightmare and it will pay off.
The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
I may rankle a few people but I am not a Kipling fan and find this too lauded work a mess.
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
It is widely believed that "Dracula's Guest" is actually the deleted first chapter from the original Dracula manuscript, which the publisher felt was superfluous to the story. Still, this works on its own with a hapless Brit barely escaping the Count.
Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville
This one is ahead of its time. The story explores the theme of isolation in American life and the workplace through physical and mental loneliness.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
What more can be said about this American gothic that Irving actually wrote in England? The headless horseman is as scary as they come.
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde
Let me be a tad enigmatic. This is a must-read in the time of Trump.
A Scandal In Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle
I have read the complete Holmes canon three times. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle. The story is notable for introducing Irene Adler, one of the most notable female characters in the Sherlock Holmes series, despite appearing in this one story.
The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffman
Be patient with this dense and tense nightmare and it will pay off.
The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
I may rankle a few people but I am not a Kipling fan and find this too lauded work a mess.
September 18, 2019
I was a little disappointed when I realised this collection was CHOSEN by Sir Conan Doyle and not all WRITTEN by him (one is). The stories received a range of ratings from me with a five star rating going to my favourite story ("The Happy Prince") and two stories getting one stars. You can see my rating and review of each story in my progress updates.
I guess I should always caveat my review of short stories with the fact that, as a rule, I'm not that fond of the format in general.
I guess I should always caveat my review of short stories with the fact that, as a rule, I'm not that fond of the format in general.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews