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  A Little Cloud - From their pens...

  James Joyce

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  James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on the 2nd February 1882 in Dublin into a middle-class family, and the eldest of ten surviving siblings 
  Admired as a brilliant student he briefly attended the Christian Brothers-run O'Connell School before excelling at the Jesuit schools of Clongowes and Belvedere.  From there he went on to attend University College Dublin from 1898, studying English, French and Italian 
  In 1902, Joyce was now in his early twenties, and went to Paris to study Medicine but soon abandoned his teachings.  Back in Dublin to attend to his dying Mother he met Nora Barnacle. They bonded immediately into a life-long match. Together they decided to emigrate to Europe.  The couple lived in Trieste, Rome, Paris, and finally Zürich where Joyce pursued a variety of jobs and ventures to supplement his literary pursuits but none of these paid off.  
  After publishing a poetry volume, ‘Chamber Music’, in 1907, his short story collection ‘The Dubliners’, in 1914, helped establish his talent in the rapidly changing world.  
  Although far from home Joyce’s literary heart and works were set in his recollections of Dublin.  Characters are close resemblances of family and friends and indeed enemies.  His landmark work ‘Ulysses’, published in 1922, is set in the streets and alleyways of the city as it parallels Homer’s Odyssey in a variety of styles including its famed stream of consciousness. 
  His pen continued to produce classics of the order of ‘A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man’ and ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ together with several volumes of poetry and a play ‘The Exiles, in 1918.   
  On the 11th January 1941, Joyce underwent surgery in Zürich for a perforated duodenal ulcer. The next day he fell into a coma. On the 13th after a brief period of lucidity in which he called for his wife and son he passed.  He was 58.

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  The Brothers Karamazov

  Anonymous

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  The Brothers Karamazov, also translated as The Karamazov Brothers, is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger from January 1879 to November 1880. Dostoevsky died less than four months after its publication. It has been acclaimed as one of the supreme achievements in world literature.
  
  Set in 19th-century Russia, The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel that discusses questions of God, free will, and morality. It has also been described as a theological drama dealing with problems of faith, doubt, and reason in the context of a modernizing Russia, with a plot that revolves around the subject of patricide. Dostoevsky composed much of the novel in Staraya Russa, which inspired the main setting.

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  A Christmas Carol - Full Cast Drama

  Charles Dickens

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  In the heart of London, during a chilly Christmas Eve, a tale of redemption and the transformative power of goodwill unfolds in Charles Dickens' timeless masterpiece, "A Christmas Carol." The story introduces us to Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man who values wealth above all else and has long abandoned the joy and compassion of the holiday season. 
   
  Scrooge is visited by the spirit of his long-deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, condemned to an eternity of torment for his own avarice in life, arrives weighed down by heavy chains made of cashboxes, ledgers, and padlocks, a grim testament to the price of a selfish existence. Marley warns Scrooge that he, too, is bound for a similar fate unless he changes his ways. To aid in this transformation, Scrooge will be visited by three more spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. 
   
  The story's power lies in the journey of Ebenezer Scrooge, as he confronts his own misdeeds and awakens to the true spirit of Christmas. As he witnesses the lives of those around him, his icy heart begins to thaw. The Cratchit family's humble celebration, despite their meager means, touches him deeply, and he is especially moved by the vulnerability of Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit's ailing son. Scrooge's transformation culminates when he is confronted with the vision of his own lonely death, unloved and unmissed. Filled with remorse and newfound understanding, he implores the spirit for a second chance, a chance to change his ways and embrace the spirit of giving, love, and compassion that embodies the true essence of Christmas. 
   
  "A Christmas Carol" serves as a timeless reminder that it is never too late to change, to find the joy in life's simplest pleasures, and to share the wealth of kindness and goodwill with those around us, especially during the holiday season.

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  A Legend of Old Egypt - From...

  Boleslaw Prus

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  Aleksander Głowacki who wrote under the nom de plume Boleslaw Prus was born on 20th August 1847 at Hrubieszów in the Kingdom of Poland, at that time, controlled by the Russian Empire. 
  At three his mother died and then at nine his father.  Female relatives helped raise him but at 15 he joined the Polish uprising against the might of Imperial Russia.  Wounded on the battlefield, arrested and imprisoned, he was later released into the care of a relative and resumed secondary school and then Warsaw University but poverty forced him to leave after two years.  At some point he developed agoraphobia which often caused problems. 
  In 1869, he enrolled in the Forestry Department at Puławy but was soon sacked and so he began a system of self-education that led to work as a newspaper columnist on a wide-ranging series of topics that eventually became the ‘Weekly Chronicles’ and spanned 40 years. 
  With his finances now stabilized he married and then adopted his late brother-in-law’s son.  
  It seems he had doubts as to the scale of his talents and early on adopted the name ‘Boleslaw Prus’ for both his journalistic and literary offerings. 
  His work as a short-story writer met with much acclaim. He wrote several dozen of them, originally published in newspapers and ranging in length from micro-story to novella. His keen observation of everyday life and sense of humor are evident in them.  
  During his career he also wrote novels. After ‘Pharoah’, in 1895, he embarked on a four-month journey taking in Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Rapperswil in Switzerland, where he stayed for two months, and his final destination, Paris.  Here his agoraphobia was so bad he couldn’t cross the Seine.  
  However, his writing continued and in 1911 his novel ‘Changes’, though uncompleted, began to be serialised.  It was never finished. 
  Boleslaw Prus died on 19th May 1912, at his Warsaw apartment.  He was 64.  A National Hero, thousands attended both his funeral service and interment.

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  Great Expectations

  Charles Dickens

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  Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens's most beloved and enduring novels—a compelling coming-of-age story that explores ambition, identity, love, and moral growth. Set in Victorian England, the novel follows the life of Pip, an orphaned boy whose humble beginnings shape his early understanding of the world, only to be challenged by unexpected fortune and painful self-discovery.
  
  Pip's life changes dramatically after a mysterious benefactor provides him with the means to become a "gentleman." As he enters London society, Pip becomes increasingly consumed by wealth, status, and the desire to rise above his origins. Central to his emotional journey is his unrequited love for the cold and beautiful Estella, who has been raised by the eccentric and bitter Miss Havisham—an unforgettable character trapped in the ruins of her own broken past.
  
  Through Pip's struggles and mistakes, Dickens examines the true meaning of gentility and success. The novel contrasts external refinement with inner virtue, revealing how pride, vanity, and social ambition can distort one's values. Alongside its vivid characters and dramatic plot twists, Great Expectations offers sharp social commentary on class divisions, justice, and the rigid structures of Victorian society.
  
  Ultimately, Great Expectations is a story of personal transformation and redemption. As Pip learns the cost of his "great expectations," he is forced to confront his own flaws and rediscover compassion, loyalty, and humility. Rich in emotional depth, symbolism, and timeless wisdom, the novel remains a powerful exploration of what it truly means to grow up—and to become a better human being.

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  Ruedas de fortuna - Una aventura...

  H. G. Wells

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  A finales del siglo XIX Inglaterra experimenta la época dorada de la bicicleta; más accesible y segura, deja de ser un medio de transporte y ocio restringido a burgueses y se convierte en una "máquina de libertad" para bolsillos menos pudientes. Las mujeres, en su mayoría confinadas al hogar, tampoco dejarán pasar esta oportunidad.
  
  Ruedas de Fortuna es una novela que explora los cambios sociales que provoca la irrupción de la bicicleta en una rígida sociedad victoriana a través de Hoopdriver, dependiente en un comercio de telas de Londres quien, sin apenas saber manejar una bicicleta, decide realizar un viaje por el sur de Inglaterra. En el camino se cruzará con una joven ciclista de ideas avanzadas que le hará cambiar de planes. Una aventura narrada con humor altamente británico por un Wells que conoció de primera mano esos caminos.

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