Project Gutenberg 2004-12-04 Public domain in the USA. 203 Hichens, Robert 1864 1950 Hichens, Robert Smythe Hichens, Robert S. (Robert Smythe) Flames Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team "Flames" by Robert Hichens is a novel written in the late 19th century. The story revolves around Valentine Cresswell, a young man who grapples with the concept of virtue and desire. Set against the backdrop of modern London, Valentine is portrayed as almost saintly in his refinement, preferring intellectual pleasures over physical ones, and is often puzzled by the desires of his contemporaries. The narrative explores themes of existential longing, temptation, and the juxtaposition of good and evil through Valentine and his friend Julian Addison. The opening of the book introduces us to Valentine Cresswell, who is characterized by his asceticism and detachment from common vices. As he reflects on why he lacks the desires that seem to govern the lives of others, he expresses a sense of isolation in his pureness, feeling like a "saint" in modern society. His friendship with Julian Addison, who embodies the opposite temperament, sets the stage for deep conversations about morality, temptation, and the human experience. The two friends engage in an experiment to exchange souls, leading to a pursuit of greater understanding of each other's contrasting natures. This initial setup establishes the philosophical undertones and internal conflicts that will likely develop as the story progresses. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 82.5 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Fiction PR Text Category: Novels Category: British Literature Category: Philosophy & Ethics 1116346 2025-10-06T08:55:07.717450 text/html 1116340 1116203 2024-11-06T11:58:49.081201 2023-10-06T12:17:43.331698 text/html text/html 475704 2025-10-06T08:55:20.039294 application/epub+zip 493379 2025-10-06T08:55:09.901392 application/epub+zip 493379 2025-10-06T08:55:08.609379 application/epub+zip 817136 2025-10-06T08:55:28.086255 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 747170 2025-10-06T08:55:19.118342 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 727871 2022-09-07T15:19:12.779628 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1005477 2025-10-06T08:55:07.006362 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 985800 2024-10-28T21:16:01 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17073 2025-10-06T08:55:28.214262 application/rdf+xml 9977 2025-10-06T08:55:09.097389 image/jpeg 2838 2025-10-06T08:55:08.854353 image/jpeg 467390 2025-10-06T08:55:07.800394 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia