Cover of The Pools of Silence

The Pools of Silence

  • Free to read
  • 5 hours to read
  • 42 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"The Pools of Silence" by H. de Vere Stacpoole is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows the character Dr. Paul Quincy Adams, an American physician attending post-graduate lectures in Paris, whose life takes an adventurous turn when he is offered a medical position on a big-game hunting expedition to the Congo by the enigmatic Captain Berselius. The narrative likely explores themes of adventure, morality, and the contrast between civilization and the wild, as Adams confronts the complexities of human nature and the inherent dangers of the jungle. The opening of this novel sets a vivid stage in Paris, where the sun sets in dramatic hues, reflecting the chill of a winter’s day. Dr. Adams, a tall and strong figure, arrives at a lecture by Dr. Thénard, a neurologist with an impressive reputation. As the lecture unfolds, Dr. Adams's life is transformed by a chance encounter with Captain Berselius, who seeks a medical companion for his expedition. After some hesitation about the roughness of the task ahead, Adams is drawn into the intrigue of the Congo adventure and the character of Berselius, who exudes an unsettling charm but poses risks that others are wary of. This initial setup establishes both a sense of impending adventure and the moral complexities that await in the wild, engaging the reader to delve further into Adams's journey.

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  • Safaris · Congo (Democratic Republic)

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Chapter I

A LECTURE OF THENARD'S

The sun was setting over Paris, a blood-red and violent-looking sun, like the face of a bully staring in at the window of a vast chill room.

The bank of cloud above the west, corrugated by the wind, seemed not unlike the lowermost slats of a Venetian blind; one might have fancied that a great finger had tilted them up whilst the red, callous, cruel face took a last peep at the frost-bitten city, the frost-bound country—Montmartre and its windows, winking and bloodshot; Bercy and its barges; Notre Dame, where icicles, large as carrots, hung from the lips of the gargoyles, and the Seine clipping the cite and flowing to the clean but distant sea.

It was the fourth of January and the last day of Felix Thenard's post-graduate course of lectures at the Beaujon Hospital.

Post-graduate lectures are intended not for students, using the word in its limited sense, but for fully fledged men who wish for extra training in some special subject, and Thenard, the famous neurologist of the Beaujon, had a class which practically represented the whole continent of Europe and half the world. Men from Vienna and Madrid, Germany and Japan, London and New York, crowded the benches of his lecture room. Even the Republic of Liberia was represented by a large gentleman, who seemed carved from solid night and polished with palm oil.

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Contents

Show all 42 chapters
  1. Part One
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Part Two
  8. Chapter VI
  9. Chapter VII
  10. Chapter VIII
  11. Chapter IX
  12. Chapter X
  13. Chapter XI
  14. Chapter XII
  15. Part Three
  16. Chapter XIII
  17. Chapter XIV
  18. Chapter XV
  19. Chapter XVI
  20. Chapter XVII
  21. Chapter XVIII
  22. Chapter XIX
  23. Chapter XX
  24. Chapter XXI
  25. Chapter XXII
  26. Chapter XXIII
  27. Chapter XXIV
  28. Chapter XXV
  29. Chapter XXVI
  30. Chapter XXVII
  31. Chapter XXVIII
  32. Chapter XXIX
  33. Part Four
  34. Chapter XXX
  35. Chapter XXXI
  36. Chapter XXXII
  37. Chapter XXXIII
  38. Chapter XXXIV
  39. Chapter XXXV
  40. Chapter XXXVI
  41. Chapter XXXVII
  42. Chapter XXXVIII
  43. Chapter XXXIX
  44. Chapter XL
  45. Chapter XLI
  46. Chapter XLII

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About this edition

This free edition of The Pools of Silence by H. De Vere Stacpoole comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #26889, released 2008-10-12. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Adventure, Novels.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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