Maison d'édition: ReadOn
"Medusa's Coil" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop. It was first published in Weird Tales magazine in January 1939, two years after Lovecraft's death. The story concerns the son of an American plantation owner who brings back from Paris a new wife. It mixes elements of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos with the ancient Greek myth of Medusa, but it has also been noted for its racist aspects.
One of the great World War II novels, this New York Times–bestselling “masterpiece” captures the experiences of three very different soldiers (The Boston Globe). Standing alongside Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead and James Jones’s From Here to Eternity, The Young Lions is one of the most powerful American novels to tackle the Second World War. Ambitious in its scope and robust in its prose, Irwin Shaw’s work is also deeply humanistic, presenting the reality of war as seen through the eyes of ordinary soldiers on both sides. The story follows the individual dramas—and ultimately intertwined destinies—of Christian Diestl, a Nazi sergeant; Noah Ackerman, a Jewish American infantryman; and Michael Whitacre, an idealistic urbanite from the New York theatrical world. Diestl first appears as a dashing ski instructor in Austria, mouthing his loyalty to Nazi ideals. As the war progresses, Diestl’s character continues to erode as he descends into savagery. Ackerman must endure domestic anti-Semitism and beatings in boot camp before proving himself in the European theater. Eventually, as part of the liberating army, he comes face-to-face with the unimaginable horrors of the death camps. Whitacre, trading cocktail parties for Molotov cocktails, confronts the barbarism of war, and in fighting simply to survive, finds his own capacity for heroism. Shaw’s sweeping narrative is at once vivid, exciting, and brutally realistic as well as poignant in its portrayal of the moral devastation and institutional insanity of war. Penned by a master storyteller at the height of his craft, The Young Lions stands the test of time as a classic novel of war and the human experience. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Irwin Shaw including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.Voir livre
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. Across the American continent African Americans have never achieved equal status. Civil war, societal upheavals white ignorance have still left many at the bottom of the heap. For them the American dream is just that, a long way from real life. Yet these authors are unafraid to spell out their lives for future generations, it is a powerful legacy. Hope endures. 01 - The Top 10 - The African American Short Story - An Introduction 2 - The Scapegoat by Paul Laurence Dunbar 3 - The Grist in the Mill by Wallace Thurman 4 - The Stones of the Village by Alice Dunbar Nelson 5 - The Quadroons by Lydia Maria Child 6 - Two Offers by Frances W Harper 7 - The Wife of His Youth by Charles W Chesnutt 8 - The City of Refuge by Rudolph Fisher 9 - Talma by Pauline E Hopkins 10 - The Hoodoo by Martha Gruening 11 - The Black Vampyre by Uriah Derick D'ArcyVoir livre
Delve into the complexities of gender and societal norms with Munshi Premchand’s “Stree Purush.” This compelling narrative explores the life of Vipin Babu, a poet whose idealization of women is challenged by the realities of marriage and expectations. Premchand’s masterful storytelling weaves a tale that questions the superficiality of beauty and the depth of relationships. As Vipin Babu confronts his preconceived notions of the perfect partner, readers are taken on a journey through the emotional turmoil of disillusionment and the search for true connection. “Stree Purush” is not just a story; it’s a mirror reflecting the societal constructs that shape our perceptions and interactions.Voir livre
Sherwood Anderson writes almost as if he were eavesdropping on the private domestic lives of a small Ohio town's inhabitants in the early 1900's. The central figure, George Willard, is a young budding journalist working for the local paper who allows the listener in on the latest gossip being circulated in this casual study of the insular Midwest, when America was still growing up.This timeless collection charted a new stylistic path for modern fiction. Through twenty-two connected short stories, Sherwood Anderson looks into the lives of the inhabitants of a small town in the American heartland. These psychological portraits of the sensitive and imaginative of Winesburg’s population are seen through the eyes of a young reporter-narrator, George Willard. Their stories are about loneliness and alienation, passion and virginity, wealth and poverty, thrift and profligacy, carelessness and abandon. With its simple and intense style, Winesburg, Ohio evokes the quiet moments of epiphany in the lives of ordinary men and women.Table of Contents1. The Book of the Grotesque2. Hands-concerning Wing Biddlebaum3. Paper Pills-concerning Doctor Reefy4. Mother-concerning Elizabeth Willard5. The Philosopher-concerning Doctor Parcival6. Nobody Knows-concerning Louise Trunnion7. Godliness , Parts I and II-concerning Jesse Bentley8. Godliness , Surrender (Part III)-concerning Louise Bentley9. Godliness , Terror (Part IV)-concerning David Hardy10. A Man of Ideas-concerning Joe Welling11. Adventure-concerning Alice Hindman12. Respectability-concerning Wash Williams13. The Thinker-concerning Seth Richmond14. Tandy-concerning Tandy Hard15. The Strength of God-concerning The Reverend Curtis Hartman16. The Teacher-concerning Kate Swift17. Loneliness-concerning Enoch Robinson18. An Awakening-concerning Belle Carpenter19. “Queer”-concerning Elmer Cowley20. The Untold Lie-concerning Ray Pearson21. Drink-concerning Tom Foster22. Death-concerning Doctor Reefy and Elizabeth Willard23. Sophistication-concerning Helen White24. Departure-concerning George WillardVoir livre
Ethan Frome is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, where a visiting engineer tells the story of his encounter with Ethan Frome, a man with a history of thwarted dreams and desires. The accumulated longing of Frome ends in an ironic turn of events. His initial impressions are based on his observations of Frome going about his mundane tasks in Starkfield, and something about him catches the eye and curiosity of the visitor, but no one in the town seems interested in revealing many details about the man or his history—or perhaps they are not able to. The narrator ultimately finds himself in the position of staying overnight at Frome's house in order to escape a winter storm, and from there he observes Frome and his private circumstances…Voir livre
The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In is the second of Charles Dickens' Christmas books, published in 1844. Its contemporary setting is the "Hungry Forties", a time of social and political unrest, and the book has a strong moral message. It remained popular for many years, although its fame has since been eclipsed by that of A Christmas Carol, the first of the series.Voir livre
