Books with title A House Boat on the Styx

The premise of the book is that everyone who's ever died (up to the time of its publication) has gone to Styx, the river that circles the underworld. The book begins with the ferryman Charon being startled & annoyed by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed its janitor. What follows are 11 more stories which are set on the houseboat. There's no central theme. The purpose appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history & mythology. In the 12th chapter the houseboat disappears, leading into a sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat. The book sold for $1.25 in 1895. (Goodreads)

First published in the year 1895; the present fantasy novel 'A House-Boat on the Styx' by John Kendrick Bangs begins with Charon; ferryman of the Styx being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business; he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor. What follows are eleven more stories which are set on the house boat.

A House-Boat on the Styx is a book written by John Kendrick Bangs and published in 1895. The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up to the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx, the river that circles the underworld. The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor. What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. In the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, leading into the sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat. Other notable books by John Kendrick Bangs include The Idiot, The Dreamers, Ghosts I Have Met, The Enchanted Typewriter, and Peeps at People.

A House-Boat on the Styx is a book written by John Kendrick Bangs and published in 1895.The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up to the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx. This does not appear to be the conventional Hell described by Dante in The Inferno, but rather the Hades described in Greek myth (both of which had Styxes): a universal collecting pot for dead souls, regardless of their deeds in life.The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx (in The Inferno, he was the ferryman of the river Acheron) being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor.What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. In the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, segueing into the sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat. -- from Wikipedia

A HOUSE-BOAT on the STYXBy John Kendrick Bangs A century ago, almost every educated English-speaking person would have been aware of John Kendrick Bangs and his unique satirical humor. But over time, Bangs, and others like him, have faded from the public consciousness. This is a pity which this volume hopes to redress. The action of "A House-Boat on the Styx" takes place on the river Styx, which circles Hades. It is important to note that Bangs places the action in Hades, not in Hell, since, unlike the Christian Hell, the Hades of Classical Mythology was not primarily a place of punishment. Rather it was simply the abode of the dead. The book is a collection of twelve interrelated stories, in which it is assumed that various personages from history and mythology are living in Hades. In the first story Charon, the boatman who ferries the shades across the Styx, notices a new vessel on the river. His fears that this very large and luxurious boat will put him out of business are assuaged when he is appointed the boat's doorman and porter. In the eleven humorous stories that follow, there is no central theme; just Bangs' very imaginative conjecture as to what would happen if these historical personages from George Washington to P. T. Barnum, from Confucius to Baron Muenchhausen, from Queen Elizabeth I to Lucretia Borgia, et alii interacted with one another. For example, there is the acrimony felt by Shakespeare for Francis Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh, over their teasing "The Swanlet of Avon" as to who really wrote his plays and how he spelled his name. There is the ill-disguised resentment that Columbus feels when Washington gives a birthday party for himself. (Columbus Day was not yet a national holiday.) And, of course, there is the rivalry between Doctor Johnson and just about everybody else in the place. Bangs' humor, however, depended on his reader possessing two things: a liberal education (and its concomitant knowledge of historical personages), and a knowledge of current world events. The problem was how to bring his humor to a generation in which values, especially that of what constitutes a liberal education, have changed so drastically; not to mention the notion of 100 year old "current" events. To address these issues, those entries and personages which need explanation to the modern reader are fully explained in footnotes. With the exception of these footnotes, the text is identical to that of the edition of 1896.

Charon, the Ferryman of renown, was cruising slowly along the Styx onepleasant Friday morning not long ago, and as he paddled idly on hechuckled mildly to himself as he thought of the monopoly in ferriagewhich in the course of years he had managed to build up."It's a great thing," he said, with a smirk of satisfaction--"it's agreat thing to be the go-between between two states of being; to have theexclusive franchise to export and import shades from one state to theother, and withal to have had as clean a record as mine has been.Valuable as is my franchise, I never corrupted a public official in mylife, and--"Here Charon stopped his soliloquy and his boat simultaneously. As herounded one of the many turns in the river a singular object met hisgaze, and one, too, that filled him with misgiving. It was anothercraft, and that was a thing not to be tolerated. Had he, Charon, ownedthe exclusive right of way on the Styx all these years to have itdisputed here in the closing decade of the Nineteenth Century? Had nothe dealt satisfactorily with all, whether it was in the line of ferriageor in the providing of boats for pleasure-trips up the river? Had he notreceived expressions of satisfaction, indeed, from the most exclusivefamilies of Hades with the very select series of picnics he had given atCharon's Glen Island? No wonder, then, that the queer-looking boat thatmet his gaze, moored in a shady nook on the dark side of the river,filled him with dismay."Blow me for a landlubber if I like that!" he said, in a hardly audiblewhisper. "And shiver my timbers if I don't find out what she's therefor. If anybody thinks he can run an opposition line to mine on thisriver he's mightily mistaken. If it comes to competition, I can carryshades for nothing and still quaff the B. & G. yellow-label benzine threetimes a day without experiencing a financial panic. I'll show 'em athing or two if they attempt to rival me. And what a boat! It looks forall the world like a Florentine barn on a canal-boat."Charon paddled up to the side of the craft, and, standing up in themiddle of his boat, cried out,"Ship ahoy!"There was no answer, and the Ferryman hailed her again. Receiving noresponse to his second call, he resolved to investigate for himself; so,fastening his own boat to the stern-post of the stranger, he clambered onboard. If he was astonished as he sat in his ferry-boat, he wasparalyzed when he cast his eye over the unwelcome vessel he had boarded.He stood for at least two minutes rooted to the spot. His eye swept overa long, broad deck, the polish of which resembled that of a ball-roomfloor. Amidships, running from three-quarters aft to three-quartersforward, stood a structure that in its lines resembled, as Charon hadintimated, a barn, designed by an architect enamoured of Florentinesimplicity; but in its construction the richest of woods had been used,and in its interior arrangement and adornment nothing more palatial couldbe conceived."What's the blooming thing for?" said Charon, more dismayed than ever."If they start another line with a craft like this, I'm very much afraidI'm done for after all. I wouldn't take a boat like mine myself if therewas a floating palace like this going the same way. I'll have to see theCommissioners about this, and find out what it all means. I supposeit'll cost me a pretty penny, too, confound them!"A prey to these unhappy reflections, Charon investigated further, and themore he saw the less he liked it. He was about to encounter opposition,and an opposition which was apparently backed by persons of greatwealth--perhaps the Commissioners themselves. It was a consoling thoughtthat he had saved enough money in the course of his career to enable himto live in comfort all his days, but this was not really what Charon wasafter.

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