Other books that might interest you

• 

  The Death of Ivan Ilyich - A Leo...

  Leo Tolstoy

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The brilliance of the story is how a normal bureaucrat, a judge in this case, has a small accident that winds up gradually taking his life. As he deals with this incident, with hope at first, and then despair, he comes to terms with his family, his life, and his mediocrities that we all suffer with except for the exceptional few. This story rings a particularly poignant note for those in early middle age facing the next part of their lives. Tolstoy's story is considered his best. Keywords: War and Peace, Anna Karenina, God Sees the Truth-but Waits, The Kreutzer Sonata, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Gogol.

  Show book

• 

  Aesop's Fables

  Aesop Aesop

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The fables of Aesop have become one of the most enduring traditions of European culture, ever since they were first written down nearly two millennia ago. Aesop was reputedly a tongue-tied slave who miraculously received the power of speech; from his legendary storytelling came the collections of prose and verse fables scattered throughout Greek and Roman literature. First published in English by Caxton in 1484, the fables and their morals continue to charm modern readers: who does not know the story of the tortoise and the hare, or the boy who cried wolf?

  Show book

• 

  The Island Of Doctor Moreau

  H. G. Wells

  • 0
  • 1
  • 0

  H. G. Wells’s science fiction classic: the dark and captivating story of one man’s fight for survival against the lab-made nightmares of a mad scientistShipwrecked and abandoned, Edward Prendick cautiously steps ashore a remote island in the Pacific. Though wary, Prendick is unaware of the horrors that await him here. But what appears at first to be a typical volcanic island slowly reveals itself to be the macabre workshop of maligned London physiologist Dr. Moreau. Moreau’s genius had been celebrated far and wide until the true nature of his work was exposed. Now secluded on his island, Moreau engages unimpeded in gruesome experiments of vivisection, splicing animal and man together in a terrifying display of his dominion over nature. When Prendick realizes he’s slated to be the next subject on Moreau’s grisly surgical table, he flees to the jungle—where all manner of unnatural creatures abound . . .

  Show book

• 

  The Metamorphosis - The Lost...

  Franz Kafka

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Metamorphosis is a story, about a man who wakes up transformed into a bug and the repercussions it has on his life and the people around him. What does it all mean? It is most probably an autobiography of how Kafka himself experienced early life living with his parents. Kafka describes how he endured his mother and father's financial and emotional exploitation's, to the point of detaching from them and thereby ceasing to be their son (the real metamorphosis). Gregor’s metamorphosis is that of Kafka’s being an obedient son, subserviently paying for his parents’ narcissistic needs with his own life, into being a disobedient one—as if he had become a ‘piece of vermin’. Gregor’s parents possessed a large sum of money which symbolizes the needlessness of Gregor’s exploitation. Thus the parents did not love him for who he was, but for his loyal willingness to undergo this exploitation. Reduced to vermin, Gregor can no longer financially benefit his parents. It is the parents that caused Gregor’s/Kafka’s metamorphosis. The debt Gregor intended to repay his parents symbolizes the emotional debt many adult children continue to feel towards their elderly parents for the love and care they provided. 

  Show book

• 

  The Open Door and The Portrait

  Margaret O. Oliphant

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Two stories "of the seen and unseen" with mysterious occurrences by Margaret O. Oliphant, originally published in 1881. (Summary by Gesine)

  Show book

• 

  Shamela

  Henry Fielding

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Shamela is a bawdy, spirited and hilarious response to Samuel Richardson’s hugely popular 1740 novel, Pamela.In this pointed satire, Shamela (which transpires to be the real name of Richardson’s Pamela) reveals the ulterior motives behind the events that took place in Pamela. Shamela is unlike the virtuous young lady portrayed in Richardson’s novel and she takes command of her master, Squire Booby. Our heroine has planned it all out from the start and she is determined to entrap her master into marriage. Fielding, most famous as the author of Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews, equated morality with expediency, and he takes advantage of the comic form to provide a multi-layered satire of contemporary politics and values. He lampoons political figures, the clergy and contemporary writers with criticisms that, most importantly, contribute to a comic tour-de-force unlike any other.

  Show book