Description
Written in 1895, A House-Boat on the Styx is a fantasy novel by John Kendrick Bangs. Based on the works of Dante, Homer and Vergil, the book takes the reader to the afterworld populated by the greatest men in history who spend time together on a luxury boat on the river Styx, the water that divides the land of the living from the land of the dead.The novel starts by introducing one of the most important figures in Greek mythology, Charon, the boatman who takes the souls of the dead across the river to the land they will be living in forever, to the underworld. He is startled by the appearance of a house-boat. At first, he is concerned that the boat is there to put him out of business, but later on he accepts a job offer to work as the boats janitor. The book then continues with eleven more stories, each of which featuring one of the men on the boat, all well-known historical or literary characters. The company of illustrious gentlemen includes members such as Napoleon, George Washington, Mark Twain, Kipling, William Shakespeare and Baron Munchausen and is presided by Sir Walter Raleigh. The members engage in gentlemanly activities they smoke cigars, play pool and cards, they discuss topics such as the species of animals that should be saved from the flood and whether it is a good idea to organize a Ladies Day. At the end of the book, the boat lifts anchor and leaves, paving the way for the novels sequel entitled Pursuit of the House-Boat.A House-Boat on the Styx is a highly entertaining satirical book. All the characters are well-known from history or literature, all are gentleman of extraordinary talent and the stories about them are all extraordinary, too small wonder the book was one of the 10 best-selling novels in the U.S. in 1896, according to the Publishers Weekly.