Résumé
Résumé de Le Capitaine de l’Étoile polaire et autres récits
Go deeper: the whole of Le Capitaine de l’Étoile polaire et autres récits
About 5 h 40 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Readers who enjoy ghost stories, sea yarns, clever puzzles and mysteries told by nervous narrators will love this collection. It also suits Sherlock Holmes fans drawn to Doyle's stranger side.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
What would you do if your captain stared across the ice at a ghost no one else could see, and still refused to sail for home? That is the scene that gives this book its name.
The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales collects ten short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, the Scottish doctor who also created Sherlock Holmes. He wrote them early in his career, when magazines were hungry for a good shiver. The tales range from Arctic ice to a Scottish bay, a Boston steamer, an Australian goldfield and the Louvre at midnight. Some frighten, some make you laugh, and some are tender.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A ghost on the ice grips the PolestarFree
- 2A ship found empty and a doctor's account
- 3A professor tries to part soul from body
- 4A scholar who hates people saves a stranger
- 5Two men and a box on a Boston steamer
- 6A small idea in Spain ruins a Devon factory
- 7A failed writer dreams of great novelists
- 8A brilliant student meets a mysterious woman
- 9A parson cleans up a rough mining camp
- 10A night in the Louvre among the mummies
Point clé 1 sur 10
A ghost on the ice grips the Polestar
The first tale is a ship's diary kept by John M'Alister Ray, a medical student serving as surgeon on a whaler. In September the Pole-Star lies locked among ice fields north of Spitsbergen. Food is running short, and the crew wants to go home.
Captain Nicholas Craigie refuses to leave. He swears he has seen whales just beyond one strip of ice, and he wants his fortune. Strange sounds spread through the ship. The second mate tells of a tall white figure on the ice, and Ray blames a bear on its hind legs.
Then Ray sees the Captain grip his wrist and stare across the floe at something nobody else can find. Craigie asks whether bad dreams are a sign of madness. Ray begins to wonder whether he is the only sane man aboard. When a sensible man keeps a careful record, his fear becomes the reader's.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Le Capitaine de l’Étoile polaire et autres récits
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Questions about Le Capitaine de l’Étoile polaire et autres récits
What is The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales about?
It is a set of ten short tales by Arthur Conan Doyle that mix ghosts, sea mysteries, comedy, and love. They include a haunted whaler, the drifting Marie Celeste, a mesmerism experiment, a mining-camp preacher, and a midnight in the Louvre.
Is the Marie Celeste story based on a real event?
It starts from the real mystery of the Mary Celeste, found abandoned in 1872 and towed into Gibraltar. Doyle invents the passenger Habakuk Jephson and his statement, so the explanation is fiction built on a true mystery.
Who is Captain Nicholas Craigie?
He is the whaling captain of the Pole-Star in the title story, a brave, well-read, restless man who keeps his past secret and sees a vision across the ice. His ship's doctor records his behavior in a diary.
Is this book easy to read?
Each tale stands alone and suits a single sitting, with clear plots, lively dialogue, and narrators who speak plainly. You can start with any story, whether you want a chill or a laugh.
Why is the book worth reading?
It shows the range of Arthur Conan Doyle beyond Sherlock Holmes, with clever plots, strong atmosphere, and humor across many settings. Readers who enjoy suspense and sudden turns of fate will find a tale for every mood.
Cite this edition
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Captain of the Polestar, and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-captain-of-the-polestar-and-other-tales.
Doyle, A. C. (2026). The captain of the Polestar, and other tales. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-captain-of-the-polestar-and-other-tales (Original work published 1890)
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Captain of the Polestar, and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-captain-of-the-polestar-and-other-tales.
@book{doyle2026captain,
author = {Doyle, Arthur Conan},
title = {The Captain of the Polestar, and Other Tales},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-captain-of-the-polestar-and-other-tales},
note = {First published 1890}
}
