Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Small Fry

  Anton Chekhov

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  "Small Fry" is a short story by Anton Chekhov originally published in Oskolki magazine on March 1885 and signed A. Chekhonte .
  The petty clerk Nevyrazimov, sitting in his office on the Easter Eve in the company of a cockroach scurrying the table, muses upon what he might do to make it in the world (steal big money or perhaps report on somebody to the secret police) but comes to the conclusion that such deeds would be beyond his abilities. Disgusted with the feeling of his own unworthiness he takes it out on the cockroach and "feels better".

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  Foreordained - From their pens...

  Anthony Hope

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  Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins was born on 9th February 1863 in Clapton, London.  
  He was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead, Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford.  Hope trained as a lawyer and barrister and was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1887. Despite what was thought to be a promising legal career he had literary ambitions and wrote in his spare time. 
  His early works appeared in various periodicals of the day but for his first book ‘A Man of Mark’ (1890), with no publisher interested, he published with his own resources.  
  More novels and short stories followed, including the mildly successful ‘Mr Witt's Widow’ in 1892. Hope even found time to run as the Liberal candidate for Wycombe in the election that same year but was unsuccessful. 
  His first major literary success came with ‘The Dolly Dialogues’, a collection of previously published magazine pieces followed very quickly by his instant classic, ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’. He now gave up the vestiges of his legal career to pursue writing full-time. 
  Despite never again reaching the same pinnacle of success he was popular and wrote prolifically across novels, plays and of course, short stories though his writing output rapidly diminished after the war. 
  In 1918 he was knighted for his contribution to propaganda efforts during World War I.  
  His short stories are delicate, mannered and often surprising with their wit, humour and interplay of characters who say one thing and usually mean another.  He was very definitely a writer of escapist rather than serious fare but they are no less enjoyable for that. 
  Anthony Hope died of throat cancer on 8th July 1933 at his country home, Heath Farm at Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey. He was 70.

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  Cup of Gold

  John Steinbeck

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  The first novel from American literary great John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath) tells the fictionalized story of the illustrious 17th century pirate Captain Henry Morgan  
  Henry Morgan is a young boy growing up in a small town in Wales. One day, a sailor returns to regale Henry with tales of the West Indies, and the glory that awaits those adventuresome enough to go. Henry, dazzled, quickly finds a place aboard a ship heading to the islands, thus setting himself on the path to becoming the brutal and fearsome pirate Captain Morgan.  
  The portrait Steinbeck paints of Morgan (with some artistic license taken) is of a complex, lustful, and largely unhappy man, set in evocative locales that are laced with traces of magical realism. Though Morgan’s life was filled with blood and violence, Steinbeck portrays him as a thoughtful and intelligent commander of men, whose tragic flaw is an unquenchable lust for great accomplishments combined with a misunderstanding of what great accomplishments actually are.  
  Through his cunning he repeatedly attains the ever-grander victories he seeks—but he quickly discovers what so many before and after him have discovered: that achievement is not always as satisfying as the quest to achieve.  
  Publisher's Note: Originally published in 1929, Cup of Gold is a literary work that reflects the time in which it was published—both its good and its ill. The original text contains wording and terminology that represent outdated cultural beliefs regarding race and ethnicity. In the interest of preserving and documenting both the faults and highlights of literary history—an instrumental, crucial function of works entering the public domain—this text is unedited and uncensored in this audiobook recording. Please proceed with discretion.

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  Heart of Darkness

  Joseph Conrad

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  "Heart of Darkness," written by Joseph Conrad in the late 19th century, is a novella that follows Charles Marlow, a seaman on a journey up the Congo River to connect with a mysterious ivory trader named Kurtz. Through this quest, the story explores themes of imperialism, colonization, and the darkness within humanity. 
  The narrative begins aboard the Nellie, a cruising yawl anchored on the Thames River, where Marlow reflects on the river's historical significance and its connection to both the past and the present. He contemplates the vastness and mystery of the unknown world, in contrast to the familiar sights of London. As the story unfolds, we gain insights into Marlow’s character and his quest to uncover the enigmatic figure of Kurtz, who embodies the complex moral ambiguities of European colonialism. 
  The atmosphere grows increasingly heavy with foreshadowing, inviting readers to reflect on the deeper implications of Marlow's journey into the heart of darkness.

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  Moth The (Unabridged)

  H. G. Wells

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  'The Moth' is the strange tale of two rivalling entomologists, each determined to demolish the other's life's work. When one of them dies, the other struggles to cope in the absence of his rival. And then he discovers an entirely new species of moth - a moth very reminiscent of his dead rival - and which pursues him wherever he goes.

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  August Heat - From their pens to...

  W F Harvey

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  William Fryer Harvey AM was born on 14th April 1885 into a wealthy Quaker family in Leeds, West Yorkshire. 
  He was educated at the Quaker Bootham School in Yorkshire and Leighton Park School in Reading before university at Balliol College, Oxford.  
  His health was fragile and he poured his energies into writing short stories and in 1910 published his first collection ‘Midnight House’. 
  In the Great War he was with the Friends' Ambulance Unit and then served as a surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Navy.  There he received the Albert Medal for Lifesaving but lung damage received at that time troubled him for the rest of his life. 
  He continued to write short stories, and even a memoir, but by 1925 ill health had forced his retirement to any outside work.  Three years later he published his second collection which contained his macabre classic ‘The Beast with Five fingers’, only one more collection would come from his pen in his lifetime. 
  For many years of his life he now lived in Switzerland with his wife but a yearning to be home saw them come back to England in 1935. 
  W F Harvey died in Letchworth on the 4th June 1937. He was 52.

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