D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

• 

  Pygmalion

  George Bernard Shaw

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after the Greek mythological figure. It premiered at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913 and was first presented in German on stage to the public in 1913. Its English-language premiere took place at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End in April 1914 and starred Herbert Beerbohm Tree as phonetics professor Henry Higgins and Mrs Patrick Campbell as Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle.
  In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era British playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called Pygmalion and Galatea that was first presented in 1871. Shaw would also have been familiar with the musical Adonis and the burlesque version, Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed. Shaw's play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the 1938 film Pygmalion, the 1956 musical My Fair Lady and its 1964 film version.
  Shaw mentioned that the character of Professor Henry Higgins was inspired by several British professors of phonetics: Alexander Melville Bell, Alexander J. Ellis, Tito Pagliardini, but above all, the cantankerous Henry Sweet.

  Voir livre

• 

  Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland...

  H. G. Wells

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  What these elves were like I have failed to gather, so vague and imperfect is his vocabulary, and so unobservant of all minor detail does he seem to have been. They were clothed in something very light and beautiful, that was neither wool, nor silk, nor leaves, nor the petals of flowers. They stood all about him as he sat and waked, and down the glade towards him, down a glow-worm avenue and fronted by a star, came at once that Fairy Lady who is the chief personage of his memory and tale.

  Voir livre

• 

  Tarquin of Cheapside

  F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Tarquin of Cheapside - one of the stories, which entered in a collection of eleven short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald "Tales of the Jazz Age" (1922). 
  This short story is told in narrative style. As the story opens the invisible narrator and reader are in the home of Wessel Caster. Wessel is reading The Faerie Queen when he is suddenly disturbed by frantic pounding at his front door. When Wessel opens the door he finds a man exhausted and frightened. The man, called "Soft shoes" by the narrator, quickly explains he is running for his life and needs a place to hide. Although Wessel has his concerns he decides to help Soft shoes into hiding and awaits the pursuers... All the while wondering what has caused this man to flee. Once the pursuers are gone the man demands the stranger explain, which he does in written form that Wessel begins to read aloud as the story comes to a close.

  Voir livre

• 

  Jack and Jill

  Louisa May Alcott

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “Jack and Jill” by Louisa May Alcott is a children’s book originally published in 1880. The story takes place in a small New England town after the Civil War. It tells the story of two good friends, Jack Minot and Janey Pecq, who are always seen together. Janey gets the nickname of Jill, to mimic the old rhyme. One winter day, they go up a hill and then suffer a serious accident. They are seriously injured in a sledding accident, and they recover from their physical injuries, while learning life lessons along with their many friends. They are helped along their journey to recovery by various activities created by their mothers.

  Voir livre

• 

  Filmer

  H. G. Wells

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "Filmer" by H.G. Wells is a gripping tale of ambition, obsession, and the ethical boundaries of scientific discovery. The story centers on Filmer, a brilliant but reclusive scientist who develops a method for human flight. Consumed by his desire to achieve greatness, he grapples with the moral implications of his invention and the societal pressures it attracts. As Filmer’s dreams collide with reality, Wells delves into themes of isolation, hubris, and the cost of progress. The narrative explores the tension between personal aspirations and collective responsibility, questioning whether innovation should come at the expense of humanity. A thought-provoking blend of science fiction and psychological drama, "Filmer" reflects Wells’s enduring fascination with the complexities of human ambition.

  Voir livre

• 

  A Legend - From their pens to...

  Alexander Kuprin

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Alexander Kuprin was born in Narovchat, Penza in Russia on 7th September 1870. 
  At 3 his Father died and he and mother moved to Moscow. By 10 he was enrolled at the Second Moscow Military High School and there his interest in literature began. The Alexander Military Academy followed and two years later he was a sub-lieutenant and posted to an Infantry Regiment for a further four years. 
  Despite his duties he was a now a keen writer and published his first short story at this time. His military duties also garnered him experiences for his breakthrough work ‘The Duel’.  Leaving the military he left for Kiev to work for local newspapers.  He continued to publish both stories and novels and by 1901 he was in St Petersburg becoming part of a group that included Chekhov, Ivan Bunin, Maxim Gorky and Leonid Andreyev.  
  In the years that followed further controversial works and acclaim followed.  His comments on the regime meant he was also put under secret police surveillance.   
  As World War I erupted, Kuprin opened a military hospital but was then given command of an infantry company in Finland. He was soon discharged on grounds of ill health.  
  The October Revolution saw him praise Lenin, but he warned that the Bolsheviks threatened Russian culture and might cause further widespread suffering to the peasants.  As Civil War raged he took his family to Helsinki and then on to Paris. 
  Exile saw his talents decline further and his succumbing to alcoholism. He became lonely and withdrawn. The family's poverty increased his malaise.   
  In May 1937, the Kuprin’s returned to Moscow.  He now saw his work published but wrote almost nothing new.  In 1938 his health rapidly deteriorated.  Already suffering from a kidney problems and sclerosis, he had now developed cancer of the oesophagus.  
  Alexander Kuprin died on 25th August 1938.

  Voir livre