The Book-bag

Some people read for instruction, and some for pleasure, but not a few read from habit. I belong to that company. Let us admit that reading with us is just a drug that we cannot get along without. Books are necessary to me and I never travel far without enough reading matter. But when I am starting on a long journey, the problem is really great. I have learnt my lesson. Once I fell ill in a small town in Java and had to stay in bed for three months. I came to the end of all the books I had brought with me and knowing no Dutch had to buy the schoolbooks from which intelligent Javanese, I suppose, got knowledge of French and German. So I read again after twenty-five years the plays of Goethe, the fables of La Fontaine and the tragedies of Racine. I have the greatest admiration for Racine, but I admit that to read his plays one after the other requires a certain effort in a person who is ill. Since then I have made a point of travelling with a large sack full of books for every possible occasion and every mood.

There are books of all kinds, Volumes of verse, novels, philosophical works, critical studies (they say books about books are useless, but they certainly make very pleasant reading), biographies, history; there are books to read when you are ill and books to read when your brain wants something to work at; there are books that you have always wanted to read but in the hurry of life at home have never found time to; there are books to read at sea; there are books for bad weather; there are books chosen solely for their length, which you take along when you have to travel light, and there are the books you can read when you can read nothing else.

British Literature

Great Britain gave the world a lot of talented people. Many famous writers and poets were born and lived in Great Britain. One of the best known English playwrights was William Shakespeare. He draw ideas for his tragedies and comedies from the history of England and ancient Rome. Many experts consider Shakespeare the greatest writer and the greatest playwright in English language. William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays which may be divided into: comedies (such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), tragedies (such as "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth") and historical plays (such as "Richard II", "Henry V", "Julius Caesar", "Antony and Cleopatra"). Robert Burns represents the generation of Romantic writers. In his poems he described with love and understanding the simple life he knew. Among his well-known poems are "Halloween", "The Jolly Beggars", "To a Mouse". Lord George Gordon Byron. His free-spirited life style combined with his rare poetic gift makes him one of the most famous figures of the Romantic Era. His famous works such as "Stanzas to Augusta", "The Prisoner of Chillon", "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage", "Manfred" draw readers into the passion, humors and conviction of a poet whose life and work truly embodied the Romantic spirit. Sir Walter Scott wrote the first examples of historical novel. Lewis Carroll became famous when he published "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".