written in the first chapter of the book pride and prejudice is an extraordinary sentence of which even a person who has had only a brief look upon the book will not fail to receive a deep impression-it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. in terms of sherlock holmes, we’d better alter the sentence into “it is a fact universally accepted by readers throughout the world that an excellent book in possession of our famous detective sherlock holmes is undoubtedly a masterpiece of all times.” perhaps this is one of the most obvious explanations for the unrivaled popularity of “holmes series” in the field of detective stories. overwhelmed by the recommendations provided by my friends, i decided to take a look on this sherlock holmes and the duke’s son originally published by oxford university press.

as a whole, this book is about a case concerning the duke’s missing son. arthur, the duke’s son, was found out in a certain morning to have disappeared, accompanied with which was also the disappearance of the german teacher. the school master dr. huxtable then turned to the famous detective of the time sherlock holmes for help. realizing how tough and important the case is, holmes immediately made up his mind to accept the case and followed dr. huxtable back to mackleton by train. having formed a rough idea about the whole matter, holmes probed into the case immediately and had a careful investigation of the entire area shortly after the arrival, during the process of which he discovered the body of the german teacher heidegger. finally, primarily due to his prominent ability as a detective, he managed to unravel the mystery and obtained the twelve thousand pounds promised by the duke.

having once started reading this fiction, i was completely immersed in the mysterious story presented by the book. as the saying goes, “well begun, half done”. at the beginning of the story, just like many other detective stories, the author gives us a brief description of the condition by the words of a client. however, unlike other ones, this story first delineates the client’s strange behavior at length to indicate the severity of the incident in order to attract the readers to continue reading it. as is known to all, vivid depiction is essential to detective stories since it can help the readers understand each figure’s characteristics and visualize the scenes, thus making the story more authentic and attractive. therefore, trying to present a “real world” to his readership, sir arthur conan doyle, author of the original “holmes series”, has skillfully arranged the plots of the whole story from the perspective of dr. watson, a character not so specialized in discovering the truth hidden behind the enigmatic happenings as holmes but so loyal to sherlock homes as a friend that he always accompanies holmes wherever he goes. in this way, he elaborately depicted every scene and character in the book, apart from the special start, the ending of the whole story, being dramatic but reasonable, is certainly an outstanding one. after all, except the author himself, who knows that the duke’s seemingly ordinary secretary is in fact the duke’s bastard? in addition, who knows that the duke actually has already been acquainted with the whole thing before holmes solves this complicated problem? yet, surprising as it is, this ending seems so natural that it fits all the plots of the story perfectly well. while enjoying this wonderful story, i could do nothing but admire the wonderful design of this masterpiece as well as the author’s gorgeous writing skill. closing my eyes, i can even “see” the story happening just like watching a film. not until then did i understand why the japanese cartoon film detective conan used this “conan” as the name of its hero.

as far as i am concerned, nothing is more admirable and surprising in the hero sherlock homes than his profound knowledge which has certainly assisted him a lot when he was studying the case. take the bicycle tyres for instance, holmes actually is capable of recognizing 42 different varieties of bicycle tyres. what’s more, according to his other stories, holmes has studied different kinds of newspapers, cigarettes, people’s footprints and other special things as well. therefore, he seems to have the mastery of anything relevant to the cases he deals with. except for his illimitable knowledge, holmes also specializes in arranging the facts in order and then finding the fact leading him to a great discovery or even the truth itself. from his speaking “every mystery has an answer”, we can readily shape the impression of a man with great intelligence and inflexible will. in this case, after getting rid of unrelated facts, sherlock homes eventually grasped the clue and discovered the amazing fact.

needless to say, as a world-renowned masterpiece, sherlock holmes and the duke’s son has attracted and is still charming numerous readers from all corners of the world and people from all walks of life. the “holmes series” has already set up a standard against which all the following detective fictions are measured. sherlock holmes, beyond all doubt, has become a name firmly rooted in people’s memories. although dr. watson’s closing the case book of sherlock holmes in 1927 was a great pity to the readers, the discontinuance of the entire “holmes series” may have actually added to the legendary stature of sherlock holmes.

i believe that one of the factors that makes a piece of literature or even a movie a masterpiece is how well the reader can relate to the story. this is definitely a book everyone can relate to.

the adventures of tom sawyer is a literary masterpieces, written in 1876 by the famous author mark twain. tom sawyer is a mischievous young boy who lives in the small town on the mississippi river called st. petersburg. the story line is simple, the book reads like a biography or a memoir of a summer in tom sawyer's life.

tom sawyer seems to be the precursor of and the template for misfit kids such as dennis the menace, malcolm in the middle, and calvin and hobbs. what makes this story great is that tom sawyer represents everything that is great about childhood. the book is filled with tom's adventures playing pirates and war with his friend joe harper. tom has a trusted friend, huck finn, who few of the adults approve of. the book is filled with ideas of how the world works, such as how pirates and robbers work, that are so innocent, they could only come from a child. it is a story filled with action, adventure, ingenious ideas, love, and schoolyard politics. the whole story is seemingly a complication of what people did or wish they did during their childhood.

the book is a little difficult to read at first. personally, it takes me a little while to get used to the 19th century dialect in the book. other than referring to persons of african decent in derogatory terms (which i'm sure uses terms even young children already know), the book would be an enjoyable read for people of all ages. i highly recommend this book for anyone looking to feel young again, if just for a few hundred pages.

 
the old man and the sea is one of hemingway's most enduring works and may very well become one of the true classics of this generation. it played a great part in his winning the pulizer prize in 1953 and the 1954 novel prize for literature and confirmed his power and presence in the literary world. hemingway is also one of my favorite writers. besides the old man and the sea, i have read some of his other works, such as the sun also rises, a farewell to arms and the snow of kilimanijaro. but the old man and the sea is the one that left the deepest impression on me.

i first read this book when i was in my fifteens. and now i remember it just as well as if i had read it yesterday.

pride and prejudice is a chefdoeuvre.

my first impression of this story was from screen.

it's long long ago, maybe before i can read english books. i don't remember which movie edition i had seen. but i was impressed by the music, the scenery and the costume. i was very favor of a section of music in its balls. it's pretty brisk, liked a wonderful song of a bird. regarding to the characters, i liked elizabeth, the heroine,though i didn't think she's beautiful. but she's smart. however, i didn't pay much attention to the plot. i thought it's so long that it made me impatient and bored. by now, i haven't read the whole story in english or its chinese version, either. i owe it to my prejudice.
in fact, i didn't understand the story at that time. i didn't know why it called pride and prejudice. of course someone was pride, but i didn't find where' s the prejudice. i thought it's normal, the way people treated each other in that. i considered prejudice would be very disgusting. but to the movie everthing was ok in my minds, except its length. now, i think i have understood more about it. i'm a prejudiced person so i can't find where's wrong. i merely like to do the things i like. everytime i meet somebody or something,my thinking about he or it all depends on my foregone experience and my mood of the time.

then man treat great event in one's life with punishing, demonstrate different attitudes to the love question of the marriage of young girl of the family origin of middle class of villages and towns, thus reflected authors oneself's marriage view: it is wrong to get married for the property, money and position; get married and does not consider that above-mentioned factors are unwise too . so, she objects to getting married for money , objecting to regarding the marriage as a trifling matter . she emphasizes the importance of the ideal marriage , and regard men and women's emotion as the foundation stone which concludes the ideal marriage .
   the woman protagonist in the book elizabeth comes from the little landlord's family, reaches the west to have deep love for for the rich and powerful people sons and younger brothers. reach the disparity of ignoring family status and wealth of the west, propose to her, but is refused. elizabeth's misunderstanding and prejudice to him are a reason, but a main one is the arrogance that she dislikes him. reach the thes of the west in fact status' the reflections of difference, exist this kind arrogant, not having common thoughts and feelings between he and elizabeth, the marriage that can not have lofty ideals . elizabeth watches conducting oneself in society and a series of behavior of reaching the west personally afterwards, see he change the proud conceited expressions of passing by, dispel misunderstanding and prejudice to him, thus concluded the happy marriage with him.

a tale of two cities is one of dickens's most important representative works.the novel profoundly exposed the society contradiction before the french revolution,intensely attacks the aristocratic social class is dissolute and cruel,and sincerely sympathizes with the depressed classes.the novel also described many magnificent scenes like the revolt people attacked bastille and so on,which displayed people's great strength.

the novel has portrayed many different people. doctor manette is honest and kind but suffers the persecution actually ， lucie is beautiful and gentle ，charles is graceful and noble，lorry is upright and honest ，sydney is semblance of indifferent, innermost feelings of warm,unconventional but also selfless and lofty，miss pross is straightforward and loyal，evremonde brothers are cruel and sinister......the complex hatred is hard to solve, the cruel revenge has made more hatreds, loves rebirth in the hell edge,but take the life as the price.

as an outstanding writer,in dickens's work,the language skill is essential.each kind of rhetoric technique,like the analogy,the exaggeration,the contrast,the humorous,and the taunt are handled skillfully,and the artistry of the work is also delivered the peak.a tale of two cities has its difference with the general historical novel, its character and the main plot are all fictionalizes.with the broad real background of the french revolution,the author take the fictional character doctor manette's experience as the main clue,interweaves the unjust charge, love and revenge three independences but also incident cross-correlation stories together,the plot is criss-crossed,and the clue is complex.the author use insert narrates,foreshadowing,upholstery and so many techniques,causes the structure integrity and strictness,the plot winding anxious and rich of theatrical nature,it displayed the remarkable artistic skill.the style a tale of two cities is solemnity and melancholy,fills indignantion,but lacks the humor of the early works.