The Great Carbuncle

"The Great Carbuncle" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne published in 1835. The Great Carbuncle points out that earthly possessions are not necessary for success and that people should be satisfied with what they have instead of wanting things that are not essential in life.

The Great Carbuncle" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.In the White Mountains, a band of eight adventurers gathers together. They are each on a personal quest for the Great Carbuncle, a brilliant gem legendary in its elusiveness. The adventurers are as follows:* The Seeker: a man sixty years of age who has sought the Great Carbuncle nearly his entire life. He says when he finds the Carbuncle he will die alongside it.* Doctor Cacophodel: a chemist. He hopes to perform many tests on the Carbuncle and make many copies of it.* Master Ichabod Pigsnort: a merchant, who wishes to sell the Carbuncle to the highest bidder.* The Cynic: a bespectacled man with a constant sneer. He considers the hopes of the other adventurers futile. He seeks the Carbuncle to prove to everyone that it doesn't exist.* The Poet: He hopes the Carbuncle will bring him inspiration.* Lord de Vere: a wealthy prince, who would use the Carbuncle's brilliance as a symbol of his family's greatness for posterity.* Matthew and Hannah: newlyweds, who wish to use the gem as a light in their household and as a conversation piece.The next morning, Matthew and Hannah wake up realizing that the others have left before them. Even though they fear they have lost the Carbuncle, they take their time in preparing for their morning's adventure.They begin to climb a great mountain. They soon fear they will be lost, until they spy a great red brilliance. They realize it is the Carbuncle. Beneath the Carbuncle, they see the figure of the Seeker, who has died trying to reach the gem. The Cynic approaches them and claims that he cannot see the Carbuncle. He removes his glasses and is immediately blinded by the gem's brilliance. Matthew and Hannah decide the gem is too brilliant for their household, and they leave it where it lies.

Offers critical entries on Hawthorne's novels, short stories, travel writing, criticism, and other works, as well as portraits of characters, including Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth. This reference also provides entries on Hawthorne's family, friends - ranging from Herman Melville to President Franklin Pierce - publishers, and critics.

This collection of tales is an engaging compendium of Hawthorne's short stories, including many set in and around the writer's native New England. The title story is a charming fable-like tale that takes as its focus a long-famous geological feature in the New Hampshire mountains (the face-like granite protrusion collapsed in 2003).

Sherlock Holmes, the world’s “only unofficial consulting detective”, was first introduced to readers in A Study in Scarlet published by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. It was with the publication of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, however, that the master sleuth grew tremendously in popularity, later to become one of the most beloved literary characters of all time. In this book series, the short stories comprising The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes have been amusingly illustrated using only Lego® brand minifigures and bricks. The illustrations recreate, through custom designed Lego models, the composition of the black and white drawings by Sidney Paget that accompanied the original publication of these adventures appearing in The Strand Magazine from July 1891 to June 1892. Paget’s iconic illustrations are largely responsible for the popular image of Sherlock Holmes, including his deerstalker cap and Inverness cape, details never mentioned in the writings of Conan Doyle. This uniquely illustrated collection, which features some of the most famous and enjoyable cases investigated by Sherlock Holmes and his devoted friend and biographer Dr. John H. Watson, including A Sandal in Bohemia and The Red-Headed League, is sure to delight Lego enthusiasts, as well as fans of the Great Detective, both old and new. In this story Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate the curious discovery of a blue carbuncle in the crop of a Christmas goose abandoned by a man during a scuffle with some street ruffians. Holmes makes a series of deductions concerning the owner of a tattered old hat recovered along with the goose and thus sets out on the trail of the audacious thief who stole the precious stone five days previously.