Si ces épigrammes devaient être gravés sur la tombe d'un monument, ce serait un monument à la liberté... de pensée. Que l'on en juge : "Nous nous soumettons à la majorité parce que nous y sommes tenus. Mais nous ne sommes pas forcés de donner à notre attitude soumise une posture respectueuse." Ou encore : "Chez celui qui n'a jamais causé de tort à autrui, la vengeance est une vertu." C'est une collection d'aphorismes de cette trempe que renferme ce petit ouvrage, appelé à tenir dans la poche, sinon à occuper durablement sa table de nuit. Dans un style à la Flaubert dans son Dictionnaire des idées reçues, ces diatribes acerbes sonnent comme autant de piqûres de rappel. Celui qui est devenu l'un des maîtres du fantastique sait introduire ce qu'il faut de méchanceté ("Le premier homme que vous croiserez est un imbécile. Si vous pensez le contraire, interrogez-le et il vous le prouvera"). Ajoutez à cela une once d'anticléricalisme ("Chrétiens et chameaux accueillent leurs fardeaux à genoux"), une pointe de lucidité trempée dans l'ironie ("La mort n'est pas la fin ; il reste le litige sur l'héritage"), enfin une infime misogynie ("Pour étudier ce qu'il y a de bon et de mauvais chez la femme, il est inutile de faire appel à deux femmes"). Pour finir, laissez tonner et résonner la formule impeccable et de circonstance : "Un auteur populaire est quelqu'un qui écrit ce que pense le peuple. Le génie les invite à penser autre chose."
Texte intégral révisé suivi d'une biographie d'Ambrose Bierce. L'auteur du "Dictionnaire du diable" est désormais reconnu comme le créateur de la "short story" d'horreur, et à ce titre comme l'initiateur d'un courant majeur de la littérature américaine contemporaine, de Richard Matheson à Anne Rice en passant bien entendu par Stephen King. Si Bierce a avec Edgar Poe le même goût du morbide, la même délectation pour la mort, violente, cruelle, il s'inspire pour sa part de la réalité la plus prosaïque - ici la Guerre de Sécession - qu'il décrit avec une minutie et une précision quasi photographiques. "Morts violentes" en est une bonne illustration. Là, pas de fantastique au sens littéraire du terme mais une exploration clinique de la réalité la plus crue, d'où nait le surnaturel et, chez le lecteur, le sentiment de l'horreur. Aussi, c'est à de véritables variations sur les métamorphoses du corps mort ou agonisant que se livre Bierce, de la vision d'un pendu sur un pont ("Ce qui se passa sur le pont de Owl Creek"), à celles du face-à-face pendant toute une nuit d'un soldat et d'un cadavre ("Une rude bagarre"), d'un espion apprenant qu'il va être exécuté sur-le-champ, de porcs en train de dévorer des cadavres ("Le coup de grâce"), ou encore d'une foule indistincte de blessés progressant à genoux comme des animaux et dont l'un des représentants, la mâchoire arrachée, menace bestialement du poing un enfant terrifié ("Chickamauga"). Dans "Morts violentes" la peur s'insinue partout.
Parues dans divers recueils américains dans la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle, traduites dans divers volumes chez Grasset à partir de 1957, ces Histoires macabres et flegmatiques de la guerre de Sécession rassemblent treize nouvelles consacrées à l'atrocité de la guerre civile américaine. Ambrose Bierce, lui-même vétéran de ce conflit qui reste à ce jour le plus meurtrier de l'histoire des Etats-Unis (Deuxième Guerre mondiale y compris), aborde les horreurs et les hasards des combats, avec un sang-froid qui en décuple l'épouvante. Dans « Chickamauga », un enfant se retrouve par hasard au milieu d'un champ de bataille où il découvre des monceaux de corps parmi lesquels des agonisants qui l'observent. Dans « Une rude bagarre », c'est un soldat terrifié qui est obligé de dormir à côté d'un cadavre. La peur de monter au front, d'affronter la mitraille, d'avancer sur un champ de bataille où s'abattent les obus, mais aussi l'arrogante élégance des officiers qui semble un dernier défi à la mort, les si beaux paysages hachés par la mitraille, peu d'écrivains ont montré de manière aussi saisissante ce qu'est réellement une guerre.
Sa participation à la guerre civile américaine le convertit à une forme de scepticisme teinté de misanthropie qui ne fit que se renforcer au fil du temps. Plus tard, son métier de journaliste acheva de le débarrasser de ses dernières illusions. Une conscience aussi vive de l'hypocrisie et la bêtise humaines devait naturellement l'amener sur le terrain de l'humour, du grotesque et du macabre. Parodier les Fables d'Ésope, détourner le plus célèbre des esclaves phrygiens pour mieux défendre les principes stoïciens à la source de ses fables, permet à Bierce de joindre sa voix à celles des grands moralistes du passé. Qui aurait cru que la fable connaîtrait une seconde jeunesse au Far West ? Sans doute le temps est-il venu de redécouvrir ses oeuvres de jeunesse sinon pour leur virtuosité littéraire, du moins pour leur humour hyperbolique, leur caractère transgressif et leur merveilleuse liberté de ton.
This carefully crafted ebook: "Ashes of the Beacon: An Historical Monograph Written in 4930 (Unabridged)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
"Ashes of the Beacon" purports to be "An Historical Monograph Written in 4930" and gives a few indications concerning the lamentable failure of "self-government" in America. It is less amusing and more analytical; and while practically everyone will find much in it to disagree with, there is also plenty to think about. Though generally conservative and frequently pigheaded, Bierce is neither a fool nor a hypocrite, and he makes his points with thoroughgoing clarity. His work as a whole is a lifelong battle against woolly thinking, murky logic and bad writing.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. He spoke out against oppression and supported civil and religious freedoms. He also wrote numerous Civil War stories from first-hand experience. Many of his works are ranked among other esteemed American authors' like Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen Crane, and Mark Twain.
This carefully crafted ebook: "Epigrams by Ambrose Bierce" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
This ebook is from the Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce. Epigram is a short, sharp saying in prose or verse, frequently characterize by acidity or acerbity and sometimes by wisdom.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. He spoke out against oppression and supported civil and religious freedoms. He also wrote numerous Civil War stories from first-hand experience. Many of his works are ranked among other esteemed American authors' like Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen Crane and Mark Twain.
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Ocean Wave (4 Sea Adventures: A Shipwreckollection + The Captain of "The Camel" + The Man Overboard + A Cargo of Cat)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
This ebook is from the Complete works of master storyteller Ambrose Bierce.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce".
Contents :
1.A Shipwreckollection
2.The Captain of "The Camel"
3.The Man Overboard
4.A Cargo of Cat
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Fourth Estate (4 Satirical Stories about Journalists and Politicians)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
This ebook is a collection of works about journalists and politicians of master storyteller Ambrose Bierce.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce".
Contents :
1.Mr. Masthead, Journalist
2.Why I Am Not Editing "The Stinger"
3.Corrupting the Press
4."The Bubble Reputation" - How Another Man's was Sought and Pricked
5. How Another Man's was Sought and Pricked ????
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Parenticide Club (My Favorite Murder + Oil of Dog + An Imperfect Conflagration + The Hypnotist)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
This ebook is a collection of series of rather morbid and grotesques tales, depicting family murders and related by the murderers.
The tales include:
"My Favorite Murder"...a man on trial for his mother's murder also relates his uncle's
"Oil Of Dog"...ghastly tale of death (not for those against the murder of animals)
"An Imperfect Conflagration"...tale of a father/son burglar team's disagreement
"The Hypnotist"...a young man experiments with his hypnotic powers
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce".
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Devil's Dictionary (or The Cynic's Wordbook: Unabridged with all the Definitions)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
The book is a classic satire in the form of a dictionary on which Bierce worked for decades. It was originally published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book before being retitled in 1911. A number of the definitions are accompanied by satiric verses, many of which are signed with comic pseudonyms. It offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language which lampoon cant and political double-talk as well as other aspects of human foolishness and frailty. The definitions provide satirical, witty and often politically pointed representations of the words that is seeks to "define". The Devil's Dictionary has inspired many imitations both in its day and more recently.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce".
This carefully crafted ebook: "Negligible Tales (14 Unabridged Tales)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
This ebook is a collection of rather morbid and grotesques tales by Ambrose Bierce.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce".
Book content:
A Bottomless Grave
Jupiter Doke, Brigadier-General
The Widower Turmore
The city of the Gone Away
The Major sTale
Curried Cow
A Revolt of the Gods
The Baptism of Dobsho
The Race at Left Bower
The Failure of Hope Wandel
Perry Chumly s Eclipse
A Providential Intimation
Mr. Swiddler s Flip-Flap
The Little Story
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Best Of Ambrose Bierce: The Damned Thing + An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge + The Devil's Dictionary + Chickamauga (4 Classics in 1 Book)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
This ebook is a complete collection of 4 Classics stories.
The Damned Thing is a story focuses on how the human race takes their views of nature for granted, and how there may be things in the natural world that the human eye cannot see or the human ear cannot hear.
An Occurrence at Owl takes place during the war of the 1860's between the American states of the North and the states of the South. A group of soldiers is hanging a Southern farm owner for trying to stop Northern military movements across the Owl Creek Bridge. In the last moments of his life, the Southern prisoner dreams he has escaped; and everything that happens in the story is really only the work of the prisoner's brain just before he dies.
One of Bierce's most famous works is his much-quoted book, The Devil's Dictionary, originally a newspaper serialization which was first published in book form in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book. It offers an interesting reinterpretation of the English language in which cant and political double-talk are neatly lampooned.
Chickamauga was first published in 1889. It's about an innocent child who stumbles into unspeakable horror during the battle.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. He spoke out against oppression and supported civil and religious freedoms. He also wrote numerous Civil War stories from first-hand experience. Many of his works are ranked among other esteemed American authors' like Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen Crane, and Mark Twain.
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Mocking-Bird (A Short Story From The American Civil War)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. This story, first published in 1891, forms one of the great antiwar statements in American literature.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914?) was an American satirist, critic, poet, editor and journalist. Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. He spoke out against oppression and supported civil and religious freedoms. A Civil War veteran, Bierce had absolutely no illusions about "courage," "honor," and "glory" on the battlefield. He is also noted for his tales of the Civil War, which drew on his own experience as a Union cartographer and officer. He also wrote numerous Civil War stories from first-hand experience of being gravely wounded in the Civil War.
This carefully crafted ebook: "Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (26 Stories: includes Chickamauga + An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge + The Mocking-Bird)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of short stories written by Ambrose Bierce. Published in 1891, the 26 stories detail the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. His famous story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is included in this collection.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1914) was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist. His short stories are considered among the best of the 19th century, providing a popular following based on his roots. Bierce's lucid, unsentimental style has kept him popular when many of his contemporaries have been consigned to oblivion. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce."
This carefully crafted ebook: "Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (Illustrated Stories, Fables, Poetry, Maxims, Sketches, Epigrams, Quips, Witticisms)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
"Cobwebs from an Empty Skull", first published in 1874, is a collection of short fables and stories written under Bierce's pseudonym, Dod Grile, and although one of his earliest published books, it still displays the wit and cynicism which colors his writing. The book is divided into three sections: "Fables of Zambri, the Parsee," an assortment of over 100 fables; "Brief Seasons of Intellectual Dissipation," discussions between a fool and a philosopher, a doctor and a soldier, respectively; and "Divers Tales," 28 different stories of an eclectic nature, including The Grateful Bear, Dr. Deadwood, I Presume, Mrs. Dennison's Head, and Jim Beckwourth's Pond.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1914) was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, today best known for his The Devil's Dictionary (1911). His short stories are considered among the best of the 19th century, providing a popular following based on his roots. Bierce's lucid, unsentimental style has kept him popular when many of his contemporaries have been consigned to oblivion. His dark, sardonic views and vehemence as a critic earned him the nickname, "Bitter Bierce."
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Land Beyond the Blow (After the method of Swift, who followed Lucian, and was himself followed by Voltaire and many others)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
Is a story by Ambrose Bierce, an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist.
Table of Contents:
1.Thither
2.Sons of the Fair Star
3.An Interview with Gnarmag-Zote
4.The Tamtonians
5.Marooned on Ug
6.The Dog in Ganegwag
7.A Conflagration in Ghargaroo
8.An Execution in Batrugia
9.The Jumjum of Gokeetle-Guk
10.The Kingdom of Tortirra
11.Hither
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1913) wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled a satirical lexicon The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto "Nothing matters", and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work, all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce".
Despite his reputation as a searing critic, Bierce was known to encourage younger writers, including poet George Sterling and fiction writer W. C. Morrow. Bierce employed a distinctive style of writing, especially in his stories. His style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, impossible events and the theme of war.
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Fiend's Delight (novella + short stories + poetry)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
The Fiend's Delight, a compilation of Bierce's articles; essays, stories, poems and reflection, was published in London in 1873 by John Camden Hotten under the pseudonym "Dod Grile". This was Bierce's first book when he lived and wrote in England from 1872 to 1875, contributing to Fun magazine.
Ambrose Bierce (born June 24, 1842; assumed to have died sometime after December 26, 1913) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. He wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled a satirical lexicon The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto "Nothing matters", and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work, all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce".
Despite his reputation as a searing critic, Bierce was known to encourage younger writers, including poet George Sterling and fiction writer W. C. Morrow. Bierce employed a distinctive style of writing, especially in his stories. His style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, impossible events and the theme of war.
Content:
Some Fiction.
1. "One More Unfortunate."
2. The Strong Young Man of Colusa.
3. The Glad New Year.
4. The Late Dowling, Senior.
5. "Love's Labour Lost."
6. A Comforter.
7. Little Isaac.
8. The Heels of Her.
9. A Tale of Two Feet.
10. The Scolliver Pig.
11. Mr. Hunker's Mourner.
12. A Bit of Chivalry.
13. The Head of the Family.
14. Deathbed Repentance.
15. The New Church that was not Built.
16. A Tale of the Great Quake.
17. Johnny.
18. The Child's Provider.
19. Boys who Began Wrong.
20. A Kansas Incident.
21. Mr. Grile's Girl.
22. His Railway.
23. Mr. Gish Makes a Present.
24. A Cow-County Pleasantry.
25. The Optimist, and What He Died Of.
26. The Root of Education.
27. Retribution.
28. Margaret the Childless.
29. The Discomfited Demon.
30. The Mistake of a Life.
31. L. S.
32. The Baffled Asian.
Tall Talk.
1. A Call to Dinner.
2. On Death and Immortality.
3. Music-Muscular and Mechanical.
4. The Good Young Man.
5. The Average Parson.
6. Did We Eat One Another?
7. Your Friend's Friend.
8. Le Diable est aux Vaches.
9. Angels and Angles.
10. A Wingless Insect.
11. Pork on the Hoof.
12. The Young Person.
13. A Certain Popular Fallacy.
14. Pastoral Journalism.
15. Mendicity's Mistake.
16. Picnicking considered as a Mistake.
17. Thanksgiving Day.
18. Flogging.
19. Reflections upon the Beneficent Influence of the Press.
20. Charity.
21. The Study of Human Nature.
22. Additional Talk-Done in the Country.
Current Journalings.
Obituary Notices.
1. Christians.
2. Pagans.
Musings, Philosophical and Theological.
Laughorisms.
"Items" from the Press of Interior California.
Poesy.
1. Ye Idyll of Ye Hippopopotamus.
2. Epitaph on George Francis Train.
3. Jerusalem, Old and New.
4. Communing with Nature.
5. Conservatism and Progress.
6. Inter Arma Silent Leges.
7. Quintessence.
8. Resurgam.
In "Iconoclastic Memories of the Civil War: Bits of Autobiography," Bierce recounts some of his experiences as a soldier.
At the outset of the American Civil War, Bierce enlisted in the Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. In February 1862 he was commissioned First Lieutenant, and served on the staff of General William Babcock Hazen as a topographical engineer, making maps of likely battlefields. Bierce fought at the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862), a terrifying experience that became a source for several later short-stories as well as the memoir, "What I Saw of Shiloh". In June 1864, he sustained a serious head wound at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and spent the rest of the summer on furlough, returning to active duty in September. He was discharged from the army in January 1865.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was an American writer, journalist, critic, poet, and Civil War veteran, best known for "The Devil's Dictionary" (1911). He dominated the horror genre as the preeminent innovator of supernatural storytelling in the period between the death of Edgar Allan Poe and the rise of H.P. Lovecraft. Bierce's death was as mysterious as his strange stories; sometime around 1914 he left for Mexico, wanting to experience the Mexican Revolution firsthand, and was never to be seen again.
"The Parenticide Club" features four short-stories about a family murder, as seen from the eye of its most innocent member, who just might be the murderer himself.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was an American writer, journalist, critic, poet, and Civil War veteran, best known for The Devil's Dictionary (1911). He dominated the horror genre as the preeminent innovator of supernatural storytelling in the period between the death of Edgar Allan Poe and the rise of H.P. Lovecraft. Bierce's death was as mysterious as his strange stories; sometime around 1914 he left for Mexico, wanting to experience the Mexican Revolution firsthand, and was never to be seen again.
Monk Ambrosius arrives at a rural monastery and the last thing he expects to happen is to be drawn into sympathy with a young girl. Her name is Benedicta, the local hangman's daughter. Ambrosius is not allowed to spend time with Benedicta but he opposes his superiors and stands by her side until a young impetuous man confronts him.
The battle between mind and heart is fierce. Find out what will prevail in Ambrose Bierce's story "The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter".
Halpin Frayser awakes from a dreamless sleep and the only thing in his mind was the words "Catherine Larue". Frayer feels a shiver down his spine because this was not the first strange thing he had experienced that day. Earlier, he was hunting in the forest but he could feel that something was not quite right. The picture of a haunted forest dripping with blood had come up in his mind. He had seen himself writing a poem with blood. The corpse of his mother had been in front of him.
When one day later a detective finds Frayser's lifeless body, many questions begin to arise.
Joel Hetman Jr. is summoned home because his mother was found dead. The only thing his father saw was an unknown man fleeing their home. The murderer was never found and the crime case turned to a mystery. One night Joel and his father were walking down a moonlit road when suddenly the father saw a pale figure. Was it a ghost or was he going crazy?
Joel will finally find out what happened to his mother. "The Moonlit Road" by Ambrose Bierce holds all the answers.
A man named Manton killed his wife and his two children and managed to get away with it. Ten years later he returns to the house where the crime was committed. He is recognized by the locals and he is provoked into a duel which is to be held in the haunted house where Manton killed his family. The locals were aiming to scare Manton away. However, the day after the duel Manton was found dead.
Was it Manton's opponent who had killed him or had the ghost of his past caught up to him? Find out the answers in Ambrose Bierce's ghost story "The Middle Toe of the Right Foot".
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Tales" is a collection of 23 stories by the American author Ambrose Bierce. It consists of some of the author's best known works such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", "Chickamauga", "A Horseman in the Sky" and many others.
The American Civil War, execution of plantation owner, twist endings, stream of consciousness narration, soldiers who are morally challenged, horses running through the sky, murder and supernatural occurrences. The collection of stories promises to take up not only those, but also more intriguing cases.
