English literature the book is designed to acquaint students with the main outlines

In 1879 he followed Mrs. Fanny Osbourne, an American whom he later married, to the American continent. In America his health began to fail and made him a tubercular invalid for the rest ofhis life. He spent his last nine years on the Pacific island of Samoa. Stevenson’s first and most famous novel “Treasure Island” was published in 1883. The characters ofthe book, the boy hero Jim Hawkins, the two villains Long John Silver and blind Pew, and their search for the buried treasure have become familiar to

millions o f readers.

The publication of Stevenson’s second major novel. “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in 1.886 assured his reputation. The story tells of a doctor who takes a drug that changes him into a new person, physically ugly and spiritually evil. The novel is one of the most fascinating horror stories ever written.

The same year Stevenson also published his long novel “Kidnapped”. The work is based on historical research and weaves an exciting fictional story around an actual Scottish murder committed in 1745. Because of its length, Stevenson ended “Kidnapped” before the piot was completed. He finally finished the story in 1893 in “Catriona”. Besides the mentioned, he had written many other novels, short stories, essays and travel books. Some of Stevenson’s short stories were collected into ‘'New Arabian Nights” (1882) and “More New Arabian N ights” (1885).

His short stories are rich in imagination and fantasy.

Stevenson’s last years were clouded by tragedy. Al: that time his wife suffered a nervous breakdown. This misfortune struck him deeply and affected his ability to complete his last books. Stevenson’s life began to brighten when his wife recovered par­ tially, but he died suddenly of a stroke ori December 3, 1894. Local chiefs buried him on top of Mount Vaea in Samoa.

Stevenson in all that he wrote, in his essays, his letters, and his novels, remained an artist. He was in style self-conscious, exacting from himself perfection. Stevenson leads the novel back towards story-telling and to the romance. Stevenson is so consistent an artist that it is difficult at first to realize the phenomenon that has produced his success.

Questions and Tasks

1. What are the greatest merits of Thackeray’s works?

2.