The Old Wives' Tale

Arnold Bennett

Sinopse

The Old Wives' Tale is a novel by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1908. It deals with the lives of two very different sisters, Constance and Sophia Baines, following their stories from their youth, working in their mother's draper's shop, into old age. It covers a period of about 70 years from roughly 1840 to 1905, and is set in Burslem and Paris. It is generally regarded as one of Bennett's finest works.

Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboration with other writers), and a daily journal totalling more than a million words. He wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals, worked in and briefly ran the Ministry of Information in the First World War, and wrote for the cinema in the 1920s. Sales of his books were substantial and he was the most financially successful British author of his day.

Disponível desde: 22/04/2024.

Outros livros que poderiam interessá-lo

Extracts from Adam's Diary

Mark Twain

Get the true story of Adam and Eve, straight from the source. This humorous text is a day-to-day account of Adam’s life from happiness in the “GARDEN-OF-EDEN” to their fall from grace and the events thereafter. Learn how Eve caught the infant Cain, and Adam takes some time to learn exactly what it is.

Ver livro

Far From the Madding Crowd -...

Thomas Hardy

Set in rural Victorian England, Far from the Madding Crowd describes the life and relationships of a woman Farmer, Bathsheba Everdene. First with the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, then her lonely neighbor William Boldwood, and finally, the prodigal soldier Sergeant Frank Troy. Set in Thomas’s imaginary county of Wessex, it deals with themes of love, honor, and betrayal, against a backdrop of the idyllic, though the idyllic was often harsh in a farming community in Victorian England. Far from the Madding Crowd is Thomas Hardy’s fourth published novel and his first major literary success. Published in 1874, he revised it extensively in 1895 (as the original appeared as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, and he felt it needed altering to make it smoother and more of a continuous novel). In 1901 he revised it again. This recording is of the first 1895 revision. The novel has often been adapted for stage and screen, the most notable being the 1967 Oscar-nominated film directed by John Schlesinger. It is widely regarded as one of the most powerful romance novels of all time.

Ver livro

Gooseberries - From their pens...

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29th January 1860 in Taganrog, on the south coast of Russia.
His family life was difficult; his father was strict and over-bearing but his mother was a passionate story-teller, a subject Chekhov warmed to. As he later said; ‘our talents we got from our father, but our soul from our mother’.
At school Chekhov was distinctly average. At 16 his father mis-managed his finances and was declared bankrupt. His family fled to Moscow. Chekhov remained and eked out a living by various means, including writing and selling short sketches to newspapers, to finish his schooling. That completed and with a scholarship to Moscow University obtained he rejoined his family.
He was able to help support them by selling satirical sketches and vignettes of Russian lifestyles and gradually obtained further commissions. In 1884, he qualified as a physician and, although it earned him little, he often treated the poor for free, he was fond of saying ‘Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.’
His own health was now an issue as he began to cough up blood, a symptom of tuberculosis. Despite this his writing success enabled him to move the family into more comfortable accommodation.
Chekhov wrote over 500 short stories which included many, many classics including ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Lady with a Dog’. His collection ‘At Dusk’ won him the coveted Pushkin Prize when was only 26.
He was also a major playwright beginning with the huge success of ‘Ivanov’ in 1887.
In 1892 Chekhov bought a country estate north of Moscow. Here his medical skills and money helped the peasants tackle outbreaks of cholera and bouts of famine. He also built three schools, a fire station and a clinic. It left him with less time for writing but the interactions with real people gained him detailed knowledge about the peasantry and their living conditions for his stories.
His most famous work, ‘The Seagull’ was received disastrously at its premiere in St Petersburg. It was later restaged in Moscow to highlight its psychological aspects and was a huge success. It led to ‘Uncle Vanya’, ‘The Three Sisters’ and ‘The Cherry Orchard’.
Chekhov suffered a major lung hemorrhage in 1897 while visiting Moscow. A formal diagnosis confirmed tuberculosis and the doctors ordered changes to his lifestyle.
Despite a dread of weddings the elusive literary bachelor quietly married the actress Olga Knipper, whom he had met at rehearsals for ‘The Seagull’, on 25th May 1901.
By May 1904 with his tuberculosis worsening and death imminent he set off for the German town of Badenweiler writing cheerful, witty letters to his family and assuring them his health was improving.
On 15th July 1904 Anton Chekhov died at Badenweiler. He was 44.

Ver livro

The Man Who Laughs

Victor Hugo

A baby boy's face is carved into a permanent grin by a cruel king's decree. Left for dead, Gwynplaine finds solace with a traveling showman and a blind girl who sees him for who he truly is. Thrust into the spotlight, Gwynplaine must choose between a life of wealth fueled by his disfigurement or fight for a world that sees beyond the surface.

Ver livro

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is a triumph of descriptive prose, and has entered into the annuls of fame of both American literature as well as Americana. The story transcends time, and while set in the Roaring Twenties, describes the human psyche - its needs, desires, obsessions - in both detail and depth. A must read for anyone wanting to gain a deeper understanding into the mindset of that time, as well as perhaps modern-day America.

Ver livro

Top 10 Short Stories The -...

Jerome K. Jerome

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

Invariably Jerome is most often remembered for his light-hearted and humourous works such as ‘Three Men in a Boat’. Here we have a number of his beautifully lyrical short stories and some from his forgotten, and rather darker side.

01 - The Top 10 - Jerome K Jerome - An Introduction
02 - Told After Supper - The Doctor's Story by Jerome K Jerome
03 - The Curate's Story - My Uncle's Story - My Own Story by Jerome K Jerome
04 - Told After Supper - The Wisdom Of Uncle Podger by Jerome K Jerome
05 - The Absent Minded Man by Jerome K Jerome
06 - The Man of Science by Jerome K Jerome
07 - The Man Who Went Wrong by Jerome K Jerome
08 - The Cost of Kindness by Jerome K Jerome
09 - The Man Who Did Not Believe in Luck by Jerome K Jerome
10 - The Minor Poets Story by Jerome J Jerome
11 - The Lesson by Jerome K Jerome

Ver livro