The Invisible Mentor » Book Review/Summary

10 Great Ideas from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Avil Beckford — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:45:15 +0000

10 Great Ideas from Little Women

Money and possessions do not equate to happiness.
Count your blessings and be grateful for what you have in life.
Conceit spoils the finest genius.
Don’t let the sun go down upon your anger; forgive each other, help each other, and begin again tomorrow.
When you’re feeling down, do something good for another.
Pursue your own path in life, not merely what society and others expect from you.
Teamwork allows you to get more done in less time.
Have a purpose in life because it will keep you moving forward. So dream big dreams and have a sense of where you are going in life.
Family is important – a family that plays together stays together.
Death is a fact of life.

Why Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Still Matters Today

Little Women is a story about a traditional family – father, mother and four daughters. All families, traditional and non-traditional, form a community, which teaches its members how to function in the broader community. Life is very busy today, and family members often do not have enough time to sit down together. Little Womenreminds us how important it is for family members to communicate with each other. The March family had dinner together, at which time they would talk about how their day went.

Cover of Little Women

Why Louisa May Alcott is qualified to write Little Women

Little Women is semi-autobiographical, and the character, Jo March is based on Louisa May Alcott’s life. Louisa May Alcott was the second daughter of the educator and transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott and Abba May Alcott. Jo March’s life was more idyllic than Alcott’s. Alcott was dominated by her father and she had to bear the financial burden of her sisters and mother.

Louisa May Alcott is best known for Little Women (1868) and the seven novels that followed in the “Little Women” series. Like in the novel, Alcott is the second of four girls, and all children were homeschooled by their father. He encouraged them to keep a journal, together they wrote a family newspaper and plays in which they performed. The four girls also learned how to sew and take care of the home. Alcott drew on her experiences, as well as those of her sisters Anna and Elizabeth, to write Little Women, which she wrote in two months. The book was so very well received that fans asked the publisher for more stories about the March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Alcott never married, took care of her aged parents, as well as adopted her sister Anna’s son and was also legal guardian of her sister May’s daughter.

Alcott was exposed to great writers such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller – all were her mentors. As a child, she went on nature walks with Thoreau. And she borrowed books from Emerson, and wrote short stories for his children.

To get the most from this Little Woman SummaReview, after you have read it, answer the following questions:

Is this a book you’d like to read for yourself? Why? Why not?
What has made an impression on you while reading?
Which character is most like you?
Were there any kernels of wisdom in this reading?
What are five takeaways from the SummaReview?
What is one action that you can take as a result of reading this SummaReview?

The Novel, Little Women

While reading Little Women there were many times I felt like the book glorified poverty too much. However, the flawed characters balanced the story, and made them endearing because readers will find traits in one of the sisters that they can see in themselves. There is a lot of reference to The Pilgrim’s Progress, which I have never read, but research uncovered this, “In writing Little Women, Alcott alluded overtly in numerous instances to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (published in two parts in 1678 and 1684), a Christian allegory that was among her father Bronson Alcott’s favorite stories and one of the most well-known texts of the nineteenth century.”

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is divided into two parts. In Part I the “little women” are growing up and in Part II they are adults. The story is set during the American Civil War and when it starts, Mr March is away at the war and funds are limited. It’s just before Christmas and the girls are lamenting about not having a lot of money to spend on Christmas presents. From the outset the reader gets insights into the personalities of Margaret (Meg) aged 16, Josephine (Jo) aged 15, Elizabeth (Beth) aged 13, and Amy aged 12.

On Christmas Day each of the four girls receives a book, different colours as a gift from Marmee (Mrs March). It’s not quite clear if the books are journals or copies of The Pilgrim’s Progress. The girls are taught to be selfless by their parents, and on Christmas Day their mother asks them to sacrifice their breakfast so that it be given to a family in need. Later, they perform The Witch’s Curse, an Operatic Tragedy. The girls get a welcome surprise when their wealthy neighbour, Mr Laurence gives them ice cream, cake and fruit, and French bonbons.

A neighbour, Mrs. Gardiner, invites Meg and Jo to her house for a New Year’s Eve party. The girls do not have new clothes so they have to make do with what they have. While curling Meg’s hair, Jo accidentally burns the ends. At the party, they meet Laurie, Mr Laurence’s grandson. Jo and Laurie hang out at the party and it’s the beginning of a long friendship. Laurie is an orphan who now lives with his grandfather.

We learn that Mr March lost his property while trying to help an unfortunate friend resulting in his two eldest daughters having to work. Meg works as a governess teaching small children and Jo acts as a companion to her elderly Aunt March. Meg takes Amy under her wings while Jo does the same for Beth, and both pairs of sisters develop a strong bond. The March family is a closely knit one and they take time each evening to check in with each other to see how their day went.

Because of this kind of relationship, Jo feels sorry for Laurie who is always by himself and leads a very sheltered life. She marches over to his home and at the time, he was ill, so she reads to him and visits for hours. Laurie is welcome into the March family and they do a lot of things together. It’s not always smooth sailing and the girls are not angels. Amy burns a book that Jo is working on because her sister refuses to let her attend The Seven Castles of the Diamond Lake. A rift develops between the sisters and Jo refuses to forgive Amy. It takes a near tragic event for Jo to forgive her sister. Marmee talks to them about their hot tempers and Jo promises to work on taming hers.

The “little women” in Alcott’s book choose their destinies. When they are young Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy describe what they dream for themselves as adults when they describe their castles in the air. Meg chooses marriage, children and a lovely home; Beth describes a life at home with her parents, taking care of the family; Amy chooses to be “go to Rome, do fine pictures be the best artist in the whole world” (151 -152); and Jo exclaims, “I’d have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled with books, and I’d write out of a magic inkstand, so that my works should be as famous as Laurie’s music” (152). Laurie describes a life of travel, “After I’d seen as much of the world as I want to, I’d like to settle in Germany and have just as much music as I choose. I’m to be a famous musician myself, and all creation is to rush to hear me; and I’m never to be bothered about money or business, but just enjoy myself and live for what I like.”

Meg is invited by the Moffats, a wealthy family, to spend a fortnight with them. For a short time, Meg forgets about who she is and what her values are when she allows the Moffat to dress her up for a ball and be on display. But this is very human because most of us want to have beautiful things, and we want to be admired.

At one point, the March girls decide they want to be lazy so they take a week off and the house is in disarray. They quickly learn that for things to go smoothly they have to be consistent. The girls are very inventive and know how to keep themselves occupied. They have the Pickwick Club, a literary club, and the Busy Bee Society, which they allow Laurie to join.

When the family receives news that their father is seriously ill, Jo cuts off her hair for $25 to help offset the cost for her mother to travel to nurse her husband back to health. While the mother is away the girls are not as selfless as they are taught to be, except for Beth who is the only one who visits the Hummels a family in need. She discovers that the baby is quite ill, and babysits to give an older sister respite from the task. The baby dies and the doctor diagnoses that it’s from scarlet fever. Beth contracts the disease, which almost kills her. Though she recovers, the illness weakens her system and a few years later she would succumb to it.

When the girls grow up, Meg marries Laurie’s tutor, Mr Brooke, and has twins. She quickly learns that married life is not as idyllic and peaceful as she imagined – it’s filled with many ups and downs and couples have to work hard at the relationship. Jo is published and uses her $100 to send her mom and Beth to the seaside. They hope that Beth will regain her strength.

Laurie is in love with Jo who rejects him. Laurie is shattered and travels to Europe with his grandfather. He becomes lazy and forgets his dreams, living a life of an idle rich man. Amy gets the opportunity to travel across Europe and she learns that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a successful artist. Laurie visits Amy in Europe and she observes his laziness and calls him on it. She is very critical of him, and friends are supposed to say something when you are not behaving appropriately. You see a friendship blossoming into love and Laurie transfers the kind of love he has for Jo to Amy and vice versa.

It’s heartrending for the reader when they learn that Beth is dying, though she is at peace with it. Her father prepares her for death and Beth asks Jo to always take care of the family. Jo is devastated by Beth’s death and her parents try to comfort her. Her mother suggests that she starts writing again. Jo eventually finds love and still takes care of the family. Aunt March dies and leaves Plumfield, her home, to Jo who transforms it into a home where she and her husband, the Professor Bhaer teach boys – both rich and poor – so they grow up in a loving and caring environment. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a coming of age story, and although it was written close to 150 years ago, many of its lessons are timeless. Little Women changed me, and made me question some of the choices I have made in life.

I recommend Little Women by Louisa May Alcott because it’s a book that will touch your heart. In addition, it was a groundbreaking book at the time because the girls grew up and pursued their own paths in life, not merely what society expected of them. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

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Further Reading

Henry David Thoreau

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Poet and Lecturer

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review – The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Amos Bronson Alcott

Little Women

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – Radio Show

Little Women (1933) – Trailer, Click here to view video. Uploaded by TheMovieSceneUK on Nov 22, 2010

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The Invisible Mentor Week in Review

Avil Beckford — Sat, 19 May 2012 09:30:44 +0000

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, and Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Founder of Gestalt Therapy.

Adventures in Learning

Have you ever read an intriguing article and wondered how the writer came up with the idea? Have you ever read a book that connects two very different subject matters in a unique way? Have you ever transported one idea from one industry to another to resolve a pesky challenge? Have you ever read something that was so incredulous or even whimsical that it gave you the courage to try to do something that once seemed impossible? Reading broadly introduces diverse types of information into your life. It helps you to become bolder in your work and life.

Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 4

Sepia photograph of James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937), author of "Peter Pan" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Booked for Mentoring

Book Review – Peter Pan by JM Barrie

Recently, I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the very first time, and I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I related so well to the character Jo March that it was uncanny. And I started to question some of the life choices I have made. A friend suggested that I read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is actually the prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. At the end of the book, my heart was heavy, and I felt this big hole inside of me. I remember thinking, “Such wasted lives.” Because of my response to Wide Sargasso Sea I have included it on my list of 10 books.

10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012

Wisdom of Life Profile

Born in Berlin in the late nineteenth century into a middle class family, Frederick Salomon Perls was interested in theatre. Affectionately known to friends and colleagues as Fritz, Perls decided to study medicine when he enrolled into college in 1913. The First World War interrupted his study and he enlisted to serve until the war ended in 1918. Perls continued his studies immediately after the war, received his MD in 1921, and decided to focus on psychiatry.

Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Founder of Gestalt Therapy

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

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10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012

Avil Beckford — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:12:53 +0000

10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012 – My Book Reviews Included

I’m having better luck this time reading the literary classics, and I’m really enjoying the ones I have read. The funny thing is they are transforming me in a way that I never expected. When I wrote my book Tales of People Who Get It, I indicated that Key to Yourself by Venice Bloodworth, New Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz and The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz profoundly impacted me. Five years later, my response would be very different. This shows me that I growing and evolving as a person, and I’m delighted that I’m not standing still.

Magic of Thinking Big Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the very first time, and I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I related so well to the character Jo March that it was uncanny. And I started to question some of the life choices I have made. A friend suggested that I read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is actually the prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. At the end of the book, my heart was heavy, and I felt this big hole inside of me. I remember thinking, “Such wasted lives.” Because of my response to Wide Sargasso Sea I have included it on my list of 10 books.

While reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, I felt it was a demonstration of true leadership and team building. When we respond that way to books, the authors have done their job. Here are a few of the books I have enjoyed in 2012, some of which have transformed my life.

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Watership Down: A Novel, Richard Adams
The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Emmuska Orczy (Review)
The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Review)
The Whip, Karen Kondazian (Review)
The Railway Children, E. Nesbit (Review)
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach (Review)
Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series), George Bernard Shaw (Review)
The War of the Worlds (Dover Thrift Editions), H G Wells (Review)
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

I have not written the reviews for Little Women, Wide Sargasso Sea, or Watership Down: A Novel as yet. Which books have you read in 2012 that have impacted you?

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Book Review – Peter Pan by JM Barrie

Avil Beckford — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:24:14 +0000

Why Peter Pan by JM Barrie Matters Today

Peter Pan and similar stories matter today, more than ever, because we do not take enough time to dream, and step into the world of make believe because we are too busy. Peter Pan allows us to think that we can make the impossible possible. Michael, John and Wendy Darling tried to fly and they kept at it until they became good at it. We can conceive and believe something, but until we take action, nothing will become of our idea. The book also highlights the fundamental differences between adults and children.

Cover via Amazon

The children’s drama Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) was first presented on the London stage in 1904, and then in the form of a novel in 1911. Sir James Matthew Barrie got his inspiration to write Peter Pan from five little boys – Nico, Jack, Peter, George, and Michael – of the Llewelyn Davies family. According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, “Barrie never wanted to face the pain and unhappiness of the adult world. Thus much of his writing is emotionally sentimental as well as thematically autobiographical.” (Vol. 2. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2004. p21-22).

Peter Pan by Sir James Matthew Barrie is a whimsical, magical story where children can fly, dogs can be nannies, and parents have the ability to scan their children’s mind while they are sleeping to learn what they are up to. “It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for the next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If you could keep awake (but of course you can’t) you would see your own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers.”

Peter Pan is a story of making the impossible possible by believing and taking action. The story of Peter Pan is so ridiculous that you cannot help but enjoy it.

Mrs Darling loves to tell her three children, Wendy, John and Michael bedtime stories before they go to sleep. Without her knowledge, Peter Pan listens to the stories and returns to Neverland where he tells the stories to the lost boys – boys taken away from their parents. One night while Peter Pan is leaving the children’s nursery, Nana, the dog who is the children’s nanny, catches Peter Pan’s shadow in its mouth. Mrs Darling examines the shadow and decides to roll it up and place in a drawer. At nights the children often dream of the magical island, Neverland, so they know about it.

After one incident, Mr Darling banishes Nana to stay outside in the kennel because he wants to let everyone know that he is master of his own home, but that decision comes to haunt him for a while. One night, Peter Pan returns for his shadow while the three children are sleeping in the nursery, and unfortunately Nana is locked outside the home. Peter Pan is with the fairy Tinkerbell. They find Peter’s shadow, but he cannot stick it back on and starts to cry.

The crying awakes Wendy, and of course she wants to know why he is crying. She sews back on Peter’s shadow. There is a lot of exchange going on between Wendy and Peter, and Tinkerbell is quite jealous. Peter uses chicanery to get Wendy to leave with him. Which child wouldn’t want to see mermaids, learn to fly and all the things that fairy tales are made of. Meanwhile Nana is very suspicious and starts to bark. She ultimately breaks free and goes to the house where Mr and Mrs Darling are at a party. They sense danger and go with Nana, but alas they are too late and the kids are gone.

Mr and Mrs Darling are devastated and cannot be consoled. The children are flying to Neverland which is far away. It’s very tiring and they are sleepy, but how can you sleep while flying. When they fall asleep, they start to fall, and Peter often waits until the absolute last moment to save them. To him it’s quite funny to watch. They are hungry and he teaches them to steal food out of the beaks of birds. Quite often it is a futile attempt.

Because of her jealousy, Tinkerbell wants to get rid of Wendy. When the three Darling children arrive at Neverland, Wendy’s role is changed to that of mother. Very soon Michael and John start to forget about their parents, but Wendy constantly reminds them by telling stories and sets examinations papers on it. Wendy is confident that their parents will welcome them back with open arms and she takes comfort in knowing that.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Execution Dock, Captain Henry Hook and his crew. There is a rivalry between Peter Pan and Captain Hook who lost his hand because of Peter Pan. Peter cut off Captain Hook’s right arm and fed it to a crocodile who now thirsts for the villain’s blood. Captain Cook is a bully, and like most bullies, he is a coward.

Peter Pan is childlike and wants to remain that way forever – he doesn’t ever want to grow up. Peter is also a “show-off” who makes the children and the lost boys dependent of him. It’s quite funny when they have pretend meals. They are hungry, however at meal times, they do not always have actual food, so they pretend that they are eating a meal.

Captain hook captures everyone except Peter Pan and intends to kill them. You see team work in action when they help Peter to finally vanquish his archenemy Captain Hook. The Darling children say they want to go home, and the lost boys return with them. Peter Pan doesn’t want to live with the Darlings or any other family because that means that he has to grow up, which he doesn’t want to do.

Back home, Mr and Mrs Darling are saddened by the disappearance of their children. Mr Darling pays penance by living in Nana’s kennel because he didn’t listen to the dog’s pleas. When the children return, the parents make room for the extra boys because they are so glad to see their children. The following year Peter Pan returns and wants to take Wendy once again, but Mrs Darling is having none of it. They come to an agreement that for one week each spring, Wendy can return to Neverland and do some spring cleaning for Peter.

Time is very different for Peter and he returns infrequently, until he shows up when Wendy is grown and married. By that time Peter Pan is no longer important to her. Wendy tells the Neverland story to her daughter Jane. One spring when Peter Pan returns, because his concept of time is so different, he doesn’t realize that Wendy is a grown woman and he asks for Michael and John. Wendy tells Peter Pan that the child sleeping is a new one and she tells him that she is a grown woman. Peter Pan is distraught because he didn’t want Wendy to grow up.

Peter Pan teaches Jane to fly, and the same deal is made that each spring, Jane will go to Neverland for a week to spring clean. This was the first time I read Peter Pan and what I liked most about the story is the magic of believing that you can do the impossible. Peter Pan convinced Michael, John and Wendy that they could fly. They believed they could fly and tried to fly until they mastered it. A big part was taking action. I recommend Peter Pan by J M Barrie because every now and again we need to step into the land of make believe.

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The Invisible Mentor Week in Review

Avil Beckford — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:30:41 +0000

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children, Seneca the Younger, Stoic Philosopher, Playwright and Tutor to Nero, and Shannon Moroney, Author, Advocate and Speaker.

Seneca (Photo credit: tonynetone)

Adventures in Learning

What you read is more important that how much you read. Ensure that your reading material is diverse, and vary in the level of difficultly to read. The “menu” of books should include a selection of not just bestsellers, but also books that are off the beaten tracks. In fact, the great thinkers who have transformed the world did not read bestsellers.

Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 3

Booked for Mentoring

Though The Railway Children is a children’s book, it’s a perfect demonstration of why a safety net is so important. In the story, you have a father who is taken away, and we learn he is arrested for being a spy, which is a false accusation. The loss of income of the primary breadwinner forces the family into poverty.

Mentor Yourself : Book Review – The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

Wisdom of Life Profile

Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger was born into a distinguished family of Italian origin in Cordova, Spain around 4 BC. Seneca’s father, known as Seneca Rhetor was an excellent orator and wrote about history and rhetoric. Seneca’s older brother was a proconsul of Achaea in AD 51 – 52, and was the Gallio before whose tribunal the Apostle Paul in the Bible was brought.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, Stoic Philosopher, Playwright and Tutor to Nero

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we featured Shannon Moroney, Author, Advocate and Speaker. Moroney’s husband committed a sexual offence. She had make some tough decisions and rebuild her life after the trauma. Here are Part I and Part II of Shannon Moroney’s interview.

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Mentor Yourself : Book Review – The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

Avil Beckford — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:30:31 +0000

Why The Railway Children by E. Nesbit Matters Today

Though The Railway Children is a children’s book, it’s a perfect demonstration of why a safety net is so important. In the story, you have a father who is taken away, and we learn he is arrested for being a spy, which is a false accusation. The loss of income of the primary breadwinner forces the family into poverty. Today, with the economy still in a downturn, many people are only a pay cheque away from financial devastation. This tells us, that in the good times, no matter how little we earn, we should put away some of the money for ourselves, for the rainy days that will inevitably come.

The Railway Children (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In The Railway Children by E. Nesbit, Roberta, Phyllis and Peter are living idyllic lives with their parents in what is described as an “ordinary red-brick fronted villa, coloured glass in the front door, a tiled passage that was called a hall, a bathroom with and cold water, electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white paint, and ‘every modern convenience,’ as the house agents say.”

The children are well-loved, and their parents make time to play with them. While they are at school, their mother writes stories and reads them to the children during tea time. And as a special treat, for their birthdays, she writes special poems for them. One day, two men come to visit their father and he leaves with them. The mother is quite upset, and tells the children not to ask questions. Shortly after the father leaves, the mother and children have to move out from suburbia into the country because their social and financial status has radically changed. And they take only the things that will be useful to them in their new life.

The mother is forced to work to take care of her family, and she does what she knows to do, which is to write children’s stories, and she has some success. Like any writer, there are times when her work is rejected and there are other times when a magazine publisher accepts the stories. In those times, the children get a special treat of buns.

The children are very aware that their situation has changed, but it doesn’t bother them that much – children are very resilient, and they are more intelligent and understanding that most adults give them credit for. The mother often emphasizes to the children that they are now poor. In The Railway Children, even among the poor, a class structure exists because there are different levels of poverty. For instance, their housekeeper, Mrs Viney, is much poorer than they are.

The three children no longer go to school, and to while the time away, they spend a lot of time exploring their new surroundings. Roberta, Peter and Phyllis love to visit the railway. While exploring they see a coal mine. At their new home, they no longer have ‘every modern convenience.’ Their home is no longer as warm as they are accustomed to, and mother doesn’t earn enough to buy the amount of coal needed. While the children explore the railway yard, Peter notices a lot of coal, and he makes up these rules as to what constitutes stealing. He comes up with idea of taking some of the coal, but he doesn’t want to get his sisters involved in taking it. They help him to transport the coal with the aid of a wheelbarrow up the hill to their home.

One day, Peter sneaks out, not knowing that Roberta and Phyllis are following him. When he gets to the coal mine, the station manager grabs him with the intention of reporting him. The children plead for mercy, and when the station manager learns why they are stealing, he lets him go free and tells him not to steal anymore coal. Even though Peter had tried to convince himself that taking the coal wasn’t stealing, deep down he knows the difference between right and wrong.

Because of the encounter with the station master, they want to stay away, but they cannot help themselves – they cannot keep away. In no time they learn the schedule for the arrival of the trains to the station which is close by, and they give the trains names like Green Dragon, Worm of Wantley and Fearsome Fly-by-Night. They make sure that they are close by when, Green Dragon, the 9:15 am train is passing by and they wave to the passengers, and out of first class, the hand of an older man waves back. This becomes a routine for the children.

As the story unfolds, you learn a lot about the characters. The three children are wise beyond their years, especially Roberta. And they are more resilient and stronger than their mother. The children go out into their new community and make friends, and learn about others, while the mother is wrapped up into their new circumstance. She is focused on earning money and doesn’t play with them as much as she used to. Because the children reach out to others with friendship, people in the community are kind to them.

One day the mother contracts influenza and the doctor prescribes a variety of things to help her recover. The mother decides which ones to buy because of her restricted budget. She is also very concerned about how she is going to pay for the doctor’s services. Roberta had heard Mrs Viney talking about a club that the doctor has, which enables the poorest people to afford his services. Roberta pays him a visit and asks that they be a part of the club, and he complies, even if he has to make a brand new club for them. The doctor is also poor, and he was excited that he had found a new patient. However, he is a man of compassion, and opens up the club to them. Roberta does this without her mother’s knowledge.

The children decide to take matters into their own hands to get the medicine needed for their mother to recover so they write a note to the old gentleman who always waves back to them. They write the letter and make their request, but they make it very clear that it’s an IOU and they ask him to give the package to the station manager and tell him it’s for Peter since they do not know which return train he will be on. When the 9:15 am train pulls into the station, Phyllis hands the note to the old gentleman.

At six pm in the evening there is a knock on their door, and it’s the friendly porter from the station with a package from the older gentleman. The children know that at some point they have to tell their mother what they have done, but decide to do so after she has recovered. Mother is angry because she does not want handouts, and she doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her and her family.

One day when the children go to the railway station there is a commotion, so they have to investigate. There is a distressed man there who doesn’t speak English and no one can figure out what language he is speaking. The station master suggests that the man is speaking French, but Peter knows it isn’t French because they used to study it at their school. In very bad French, “Parlay voo Frongsay” (Parlez-vous Francais), Peter asks the stranger if he speaks French, and he responds in French. Peter lets the station manager know that his mother speaks French. It so happens that on that day the mother had taken a trip, more than likely to visit her husband. In her limited French, Roberta tells the stranger that her mother speaks French.

When mother arrives, they take her to the stranger and in conversation they find out that he is Russian, has lost his train ticket and is ill. The stranger is a writer, and has written beautiful books, many of which mother has read. They take him home with them, and Roberta goes to fetch the doctor. Mother gives the stranger one of her husband’s outfit, and Roberta asks her mother if her father is dead and is told no.

As the stranger grows stronger, they learn more about his life. He was imprisoned because of his beliefs and what he writes about. He was enlisted into the army and deserted when it was safe and came to England. He knows his family is somewhere in England but doesn’t where. Mother writes many letters to Members of Parliament, editors of newspapers but cannot get any word on the stranger’s family.

One day while out exploring there is a bit of what appears to be a minor earthquake. Stones and trees and you name it, fall across the tracks shortly before the 3:15 train is to arrive. The children know the dangers and acted quickly. Using the girl’s red petticoats they make a flag to signal the train to stop, and they end up preventing a train crash. The children are honored for what they did, but that’s not why they did it. They have learned to be of service, to think of others, despite their changed circumstances. This plays out many times in The Railway Children.

The old gentleman is at the ceremony for their valour, and after the presentation, he and Roberta have a conversation. She tells him about the Russian stranger, Mr. Szezcpansk. The old gentleman knows people within the Russian community in London and promises Roberta that he will make some inquiries. A short while later, the old gentleman, finds out where Mr Szezcpansk’s family is, and the stranger reunites with them.

There are many tales in the book about the goodness of the children, the way that they make the lives of others much brighter. They teach the people in the community how to be a true community through their selfless actions. The old gentleman has also experienced their goodness when they rescue his grandson.

Roberta discovers from an old newspaper article that her father was arrested and he is in prison. She goes to her mother and they have an honest conversation. It’s difficult to believe that she is only 12 years old. Once again she goes to her friend, the older gentleman, to talk to him. He knows of the case and had the intention of helping, now he has a reason to, because he knows the three children, and the impact the arrest has had on their lives. He also believes in the father’s innocence.

The family is reunited. The Railway Children is a story of hope, and some of the big lessons it teaches us are:

The good you do for others come back to you.
The world is bigger than you. Life is more than about us.
When going through a rough patch, do something good for another.
Community is important. By lifting up others we lift up everyone.
Build a safety net.

I recommend The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Additional Information

The Railway Children Part 1 HD

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The Railway Children
Theatre Review: The Railway Children

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The Invisible Mentor Week in Review

Avil Beckford — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:30:53 +0000

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish Explorer & Businessman, and Drew Dudley, Founder and Chief Catalyst.

Adventures in Learning

In computer programming, they have a concept called Garbage In, Garbage Out. The concept is appropriate for reading as well. What you read (your input), will impact the quality of your ideas and solutions (output). And when you read, never do it in a vacuum. Connect the new information with what you already know. Innovation occurs when an old idea intersects with a new one.

George Bernard Shaw, Nobel laureate in Literature 1925 Deutsch: George Bernard Shaw, Nobelpreisträger für Literatur 1925 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 2

Booked for Mentoring

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) is a play which was published in 1912. In Greek Mythology, Pygmalion is the name of a gifted sculptor who falls in love with one of his masterpieces, which he names Galatea. The interesting thing about this myth, is that for some reason, Pygmalion despised women, and vowed that he would never marry. He placed all his time and effort into his craft.

Mentor Yourself – Book Review – Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaws

Wisdom of Life Profile

Alexander Mackenzie was born near Stornoway on Lewis Island to a prominent military family. Upon the death of his mother, his father took him to New York in 1774 when he was 12 years old. During the American Revolution, his father, a loyalist, joined forces loyal to the King of England and died during the revolution. As the Americans gained strength and the war turned against England, the Mackenzie family moved to Montreal, Canada in 1776.

Mentor Yourself: Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish Explorer, Fur Trader, and Businessman

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we featured Drew Dudley, Founder & Chief Catalyst, Nuance Leadership Development Services, Inc. Dudley is a thought leader and has much wisdom to share. He candidly speaks about his bipolar disorder. Here are Part I and Part II of Joann Lim’s interview.

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Mentor Yourself – Book Review – Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Avil Beckford — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:30:03 +0000

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) is a play which was published in 1912. In Greek Mythology, Pygmalion is the name of a gifted sculptor who falls in love with one of his masterpieces, which he names Galatea. The interesting thing about this myth, is that for some reason, Pygmalion despised women, and vowed that he would never marry. He placed all his time and effort into his craft.

Now back to his sculpture Galatea that he falls in love with, he has outdone himself this time. Galatea is the most beautiful sculpture he has ever created. I guess in his mind, Galatea possesses the qualities that he never saw in real women. Pygmalion is so enamoured with his creation that he wants her to become his wife. The sculptor prays to the Goddess Aphrodite, imploring her to transform his masterpiece into a real woman, and guess what? she grants him his wish. Galatea and Pygmalion marry with Aphrodite’s blessing. Nothing like a good love story!

Later, the word Pygmalion evolved to mean, “A man who “shapes” an uncultivated woman into an educated creature.” In Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, Professor of Phonetics, Henry Higgins is Pygmalion and Cockney Eliza Doolittle is Galatea.

Many authors of literary classics wrote as a response to the social injustices they observed in society. According to Wikipedia, “Nearly all his [Shaw] writings address prevailing social problems, but have a vein of comedy which makes their stark themes more palatable. Shaw examined education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege…. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion (adaptation of his play of the same name), respectively.”

George Bernard Shaw date between 1900-1910 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The play starts out with the key characters seeking shelter from the rain under the portico of St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. The mother and daughter are waiting for her son Freddy to return with a taxi. Freddy is not portrayed in a very good light, he is seen as very spineless. A flower girl appears and is trying to sell flowers to the people under the shelter. She is very uncultured and speaks cockney. A gentleman comes out of the rain under the shelter and the flower girl tries to sell him flowers. All during this time, you have who is called a note taker, who is writing down what he is hearing.

The flower girl becomes very upset because she thinks he is a copper. There is much debate about whether or not he is a copper because of the appearance of his shoes. The note taker accurately guesses where people are from based on their speech patterns. The rain stops falling and people vacate the shelter except for the flower girl, the note taker and the gentleman.

We learn that the note taker is none other than Professor of Phonetics, Henry Higgins, and the gentleman is Colonel Pickering. It so happens that both men are interested in each other’s work and had plans to meet other which was unknown to each. Higgins claims that with the work he has done in his study of phonetics and the science of speech, he can make anyone more refined. The men exchange addresses, but Pickering suggests that they get together for supper.

While they are leaving, the flower girl is still trying to sell her ware. Higgins is very condescending and rebukes her. However the church clock strikes at that moment, and he is feeling like a Pharisees, so he throws a handful of coins into her flower basket.

The next morning, the flower girl takes a cab to visit Higgins because she wants to become more refined, and she is using the money he dumped into her flower basket the previous day to pay for her lessons. Pickering is present when the flower girl appears. We soon learn that her name is Eliza Doolittle. Higgins is very unconventional and has no tolerance for high society and doesn’t follow their rules. He can also be viewed as being very curt, and some might say a bully.

After much back and forthing between Higgins and the sassy Eliza, he decides to take her on as a project. The outcome is that in a few months time, the flower girl will become so refined in her speech, manner and dress that she is able to fool the other guests at a garden tea party into thinking that she is a woman of class.

Higgins asks his housekeeper Mrs Pearce to bathe Eliza and get her some new clothes. While that is going on, Eliza’s father Albert Doolittle shows up and demands money for his daughter, but he does so under the guise of asking for the return of his daughter. Higgins pays Doolittle five pounds.

As the play unfolds, you see Eliza blossoming and becoming more refined. One day Higgins and Pickering decide to take Eliza to visit Mrs Higgins to get her impressions of Eliza, but they want to pave the way first. Higgins’ mother is a very refined, stately, and well-to-do woman in her sixties. Mrs Higgins views their experiment as idiocy. During the visit, the mother and daughter who were under the portico while it was raining, also visit Mrs Higgins. We later learn that they are Mrs Eynsford Hill, Clara Hill. Higgins signals Eliza to come into the parlour, and with a gesture, which the others do not see, lets her know which of the two older ladies is his mother.

Mother and daughter do not recognize Eliza as the flower girl they previously met because she has changed so much.

With much effort and hard work and the determination on the part of Eliza, the experiment is a huge success, and Eliza pulls it off at the garden tea party. She passes for a woman of refinement and means. The problem is that Pickering and Higgins didn’t think beyond that outcome. They didn’t think about what would become of Eliza after the experiment. They took her for granted and probably thought that she would continue to live with them, after all she is their creation. They never quite defined what Eliza’s role is in their lives.

The last third of the story is simply amazing with dialogue between Eliza and Higgins. She is exceedingly upset with him and hurls his slippers at him, but he doesn’t get it. He calls her a presumptuous insect, and she calls him a selfish brute. At one point in their conversation Eliza says, “What am I fit for? What have you left me fit for? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What’s to become of me?”

Higgins’ response, “Oh, that’s what worrying you, is it? I shouldn’t bother about it if I were you. I should imagine you won’t have much difficulty in settling yourself, somewhere or other, though I hadn’t realized that you were going away. You might marry you know. You see, Eliza, all men are not confirmed bachelors like me and the Colonel….” And the description of the nonverbal communication that’s going on is priceless.

The next morning, Pickering and Higgins go to his mother’s home because they cannot find Eliza. Mrs Higgins tells them that they are like children. Eliza is there and she eventually speaks to them. There is a lot more conversation between them and much is centered around what Eliza will do next. It’s worthy to note that as it is with the Pygmalion myth, Higgins also does not like women, and the reader doesn’t know why. He too is proud of his creation.

Higgins says, “I’ll adopt you as my daughter and settle money on you if you like. Or would you rather marry Pickering?”

Eliza responds, “I wouldn’t marry you if you asked me; and you’re closer my age than what he is.”

What does the foolish Higgins do at that point, he corrects her grammar and she tells him she will talk as she likes. Eliza lets Higgins know that Freddy has been writing to her and that the he is in love with her. Higgins views Freddy as a fool. In this story, Galatea does not wed her Pygmalion. “Eliza, in telling Higgins she would not marry him if he asked her, was not coquetting: she was announcing a well-thought out decision.”

Eliza marries Freddy and they struggle to make ends meet. Pickering solves the problem by helping Eliza to establish her own flower shop. Freddy isn’t very good at business and Pickering has to explain to him what a cheque book and bank account mean. The two still struggle financially. But, Eliza always makes the most of the opportunities given her. Eliza and Freddy attend night school, learning bookkeeping, shorthand, typing and taking polytechnic classes. They also take classes at the London School of Economics, but they are not learning about the flower business. After a while, business starts to improve and they are able to take care of themselves.

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw highlights the complexity of human relationships, and the interaction between classes. One of the biggest lessons is from Eliza and it is if you keep on elevating and making yourself better in life, it’s virtually impossible to return to the way you were. My Fair Lady [Blu-ray] is an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.

I recommend Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw because it’s an excellent play and the reader cannot help but enjoy it while learning many lessons. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book links are affiliate links.

CAUTION: Do not watch the film in lieu of reading the book because film adaptations are usually not exactly like the book.

PYGMALION (1938) – Full Movie – Captioned

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The Invisible Mentor Week in Review

Avil Beckford — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:25:17 +0000

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: HG Wells’ The War of the World, John Maynard Keynes, Economist, and Joann Lim, Making It Happen Specialist and Professional Coach.

H.G. Wells (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

Adventures in Learning

This is a guest post by Carlo Pandian who gives a unique look at the new world of the businessman.

Is the Traditional Businessman Dead?

Booked for Mentoring

Mentor Yourself: Book Review – The War of the Worlds by HG Wells

Wisdom of Life Profile

John Maynard Keynes was a brilliant and outspoken economist. “[He] was educated at the finest British schools, Eton and then King’s College, Cambridge, becoming in his youth a part of the Bloomsbury Group, which consisted of a dozen privileged aesthetes, including Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, and Clive Bell.” When he was in his mid-thirties, Keynes married a ballerina, Lydia Lopokova, and they remained together until his death from a heart attack on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1946.

Mentor Yourself: John Maynard Keynes, British Economist Who Revolutionized Economic Theory and Policy

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we featured Making It Happen Specialist and Professional Coach Joann Lim. Joann Lim has lived a lot in her young life and is a ray of hope for others. Here are Part I and Part II of Joann Lim’s interview.

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Mentor Yourself: Book Review – The War of the Worlds by HG Wells

Avil Beckford — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:04:12 +0000

Why The War of the Worlds Matters

As a child, while confined to bed because of an illness, Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882–1945) read H G Wells’ The War of the Worlds and became captivated with rockets and outer space. Goddard was a pioneer in liquid-fuelled rocketry and made significant contributions to the field. In addition, spaceflight pioneers Hermann Oberth (1894–1989 and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935 read science-fiction novels and stories by writers such as Wells and French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Will The War of the Worldsby HG Wells inspire the innovative streak in you?

Cover of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds

Why Herbert George Wells is Qualified to Write The War of the World

How does an author acquire the scientific knowledge and imagination to write such a book? “Herbert George Wells won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science at South Kensington in 1884, where he studied under biologist T. H. Huxley. Subsequently, he worked as a teacher and then as a journalist, producing a series of scientific speculations for a number of leading periodicals including the Fortnightly Review and Nature.” (Encyclopedia of World Biography, Vol. 16. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2004. p195-196)

Wells was an excellent debater and debated with Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945), both well-known US presidents. In 1888, Wells presented a paper titled, “Are the Planets Habitable?” to the Debating Society at the Royal College of Science. He was also very interested in Charles Darwin’s work on natural selection – his theory on evolution. “[Wells’] legacy in terms of science, technology, and ethics lies in his imaginative application of science to invention, his hopefulness about what science may produce for humanity, but also his warnings about what the abuse of science may mean for the human race.” (Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. p2061-2062. John S. Partington)

HG Wells’ The War of the World is an invasion story. However, it’s an invasion by beings from another planet. It is about interplanetary warfare and is written in a journalistic style. The names of newspapers are mentioned in the context of journalists reporting the invasion of the Martians. The narrator of The War of the Worlds is a philosophical writer who is never named. He relates his encounter with the Martians who invade earth and includes his brother’s encounter with them. You know that the narrator and his brother survive the invasion because the story is told after the fact. In the story, the brothers do not meet so you assume that they got together after and talked about their experiences. You believe what the narrator is telling you, because there is a certain kind of honesty about him. And the journalistic style makes the story believable.

The Martians invade earth in a cylindrical mechanism. Humans believe that they are superior to other beings. For days in 1894, missiles are launched from Mars to Earth. The narrator and Ogilvy a well known astronomer at Ottershaw are observing using a telescope. The missiles are launched for 10 days and then they finally stop. Ogilvy surmises that it is unlikely that there is organic evolution on Mars.

The narrator lives in Maybury, and the first alien craft lands at Horsell Common in England. Ogilvy is the one who discovers it. Ogilvy, Henderson, Stent, Royal and several workmen pry the craft open. There are several onlookers when the craft is opened. The narrator describes what he sees, “I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks—like eyes. Then something resembling a grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me–-and then another….The mass that framed them [the eyes], the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of what quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.”

People are terrified and yet fascinated by what they are seeing. After they pry the craft open and see what’s inside Ogilvy, Henderson, Stent, Royal and the workmen leave hurriedly. A Deputation including Ogilvy, Henderson and Stent returns and the Martians incinerate them. The narrator relates the terror he is feeling.

When the warfare begins, people start to evacuate. The narrator loads a few things that are meaningful, and takes his wife to Leatherhead where he has a cousin, thinking that she will be safe there, and returns to Maybury. The warfare is very one-sided – the Martians are in 100-feet tripods, which protect them. They incinerate anything and anyone in sight and they emit a poisonous gas into the air. And more Martians invade earth, and they unmercifully attack humans, although humans outnumber them. They are more organized than humans in their attack, and they also work together as a team.

The War of the Worlds describes the Martians’ journey from town to town, county to county, and the destruction they unleash along the way. When the narrator returns home, he is watching what’s going on, from inside his house. While looking through the window, he sees a soldier, and whispers to him to come inside. The soldier updates the narrator on the fate of the other soldiers in his regiment. It quickly becomes very clear to the soldier and the narrator that it’s unsafe to remain where they are. When they are leaving, the soldier tells the narrator to take food with him, and they both stuff food inside their pockets. That’s a great lesson for the narrator, and it comes in handy later on.

A big part of the story takes place when the narrator encounters the curate, while trying to evade the Martians. The curate is a religious man, a pastor, whose church is destroyed by the Martians. He asks the narrator, “Why are these things permitted? What sins have we done? The morning service was over, I was walking through the roads to clear my brain for the afternoon, and then—fire, earthquake, death! As if it were Sodom and Gomorrah! All our work undone, all the work—What are these Martians?”

The narrator views what’s unfolding before his eyes through a scientific lens, which contrasts with the curate’s religious view. The curate talks about the beginning of the end, and the great and terrible day of the Lord, and the narrator screams at him, telling him to man-up. “‘Be a man!’ said I. ‘You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes, and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent.’”

They travel together, and it’s much of the same. The constant whining by the clergy and the narrator wishing his companion wasn’t with him. They end up in a house, and in the pantry they find bread, steak, ham and beer. The house suffers from the terror the Martians are unleashing, and collapses on them. The narrator is hurt and unconscious for a short time. They are trapped under the house for nearly two weeks. However, they get to closely observe the Martians.

The curate personifies everything you would not expect in a religious person. He is extremely greedy and is only thinking about himself. Had the narrator not intervened and rationed the food, the curate would have consumed it all. Yes they were facing a very stressful time, but would you not expect a pastor to be at peace with the strong likelihood that he is going to die? He would be transitioning to another world that’s very different and some might say better than ours.

They take turns to look through a hole at what the Martians are doing outside the house. The narrator gets a close up view of them. He sees the Martians consuming the blood of humans to satiate themselves and get the nutrients they need to survive. The curate becomes mad being in a confined space and from the stress of the situation. He starts to scream, which alerts the Martians to the presence of humans. The narrator hits him over the head to quiet him down, but it’s too late. He hides when he sees the Martian invade their hiding place. The curate is killed.

When the Martians leave, the narrator slips out of the house, and shortly after, he encounters the soldier he had met previously. The soldier relates his plan to survive the invasion, and the narrator gets caught up in the vision. But after observing the soldier for a few days he realizes that the soldier is all talk and no action. The plan is essentially one for “ethnic” cleansing – forced cleansing of the weaker and marginalized. The narrator is ashamed of himself, and realizes that he has to find his wife, who he temporarily forgot about.

I was very emotional while reading The War of the Worlds by HG Wells, and felt that the way the Martians died was very anticlimactic. But a few days later, I changed my mind, and felt it was very profound and powerful. Technology does not destroy the Martians, bacteria does. Humans are immune to many bacteria, but there isn’t any bacteria on Mars. They drink the blood of humans and introduce bacteria into their systems, which they couldn’t withstand. Indeed it was survival of the fittest.

I was also distressed while reading the book because I felt that the soldiers were uncoordinated with their attack, and I was feeling so helpless because I was right there with the narrator. With all his education, the narrator could not conceive of a plan to stop the invasion. When the soldiers accidentally kill one of the Martians, I expected them to evaluate what they did so that they could replicate the action, but I guess that wasn’t the point. The narrator returns home believing his wife is dead after hearing accounts from others about the destruction of Leatherhead. She returns home as well, with the narrator’s cousin, so they have all survived the invasion.

A big lesson that I learned from The War of the Worlds is that community is very important. During the invasion, most people were acting as individuals and taking care of their own needs instead of working in a coordinated manner. I recommend The War of the Worlds by HG Wells.

Works by H G Wells

The Time Machine (The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds (Everyman’s Library (Cloth))) (1895)

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)

The Invisible Man (1897)

The First Men in the Moon (1901),

The Wonderful Visit (1895)

The Sea Lady (The Work Collection of H G Wells Set.13 (The Salvaging Of Civilisation, The Sea Lady, The Sleeper Awakes)) (1902)

“The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents” (1893)

“The Red Room” (1896),

The War of the Worlds (1898)

“The Door in the Wall”

Anticipations (1902)