Casa editrice: Charles River Editors
Jules Verne was a prolific French writer in the 19th century who greatly influenced the science fiction genre. Verne is the second most-translated author behind only Agatha Christie. This edition of Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon includes a table of contents.
On the Eve appeared in 1860, two years before Fathers and Sons, Turgenev's most famous novel. It is set in the prior decade (by the end of the novel, the Crimean War (1853-56) has already broken out. It centers on the young Elena Nikolaevna Stakhov, daughter of Nikolai Arteyemvitch and Anna Vassilyevna Stahov. Misunderstood by both her parents (Nikolai Artemyevitch is at least as interested in his German mistress as in members of her family) she is on friendly terms with both the would-be professor Andrei Petrovitch Bersenyev and the rising young sculptor Pavel Yakovitch Shubin, both of whom might be -- or might not be -- in love with her. The appearance of Dmitri Nikanorovitch Insarov, a young Bulgarian revolutionary who seeks independence for his nation,, alters the balance of her relationships however. The book is praised, among other things, for the way in which Turgenev manages to describe the varying emotions of a girl on the verge of womanhood. But it is also a portrayal of a kind of youthful Russian society striving towards a modern cosmopolitanism, that will shake off the parochialism and narrowness of its elders. A geopolitical note: Bulgaria was, at the time, still part of the decaying Ottoman empire in the Balkans, but already the vultures were circling -- Russia, Britain, and France -- hoping to get what they could when the collapse came. Hence, in large part, the coming of the Crimean War, hence the Balkan conflicts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, hence in part World War I, and ultimately the Balkan wars of the late twentieth century (Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, etc. etc.). (Summary by Nicholas Clifford)Mostra libro
Ashputtel is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world. The protagonist is a young woman living in forsaken circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between around 7 BC and AD 23, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.Mostra libro
The Top Ten - Katherine Mansfield - An Introduction Katherine Mansfield was a mistress of the short story form. Her stories often start with what seems like an abrupt interruption into peoples lives yet, within a sentence or two, we are wholly at home in these new settings. Her tragic early death deprived us of untold glories but those she left behind sparkle and radiate with an energy that few others have matched. 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. 1 - The Top Ten - Katherine Mansfield - An Introduction 2 - The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield 3 - The Voyage by Katherine Mansfield 4 - Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield 5 - Bliss by Katherine Mansfield 6 - The Lady's Maid by Katherine Mansfield 7 - Mr and Mrs Dove by Katherine Mansfield 8 - The Canary by Katherine Mansfield 9 - A Dill Pickle by Katherine Mansfield 10 - Psychology by Katherine Manfield 11 - Life of Ma Parker by Katherine MansfieldMostra libro
"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine, and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his "The Piazza Tales" in 1856. A Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copy and any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to".Mostra libro
Poe's eerie story of a strange doppelganger, with a classic twist at the end.William Wilson, from his early schooldays, is dogged and taunted by another boy of similar height and appearance, who bears the same name as himself. Although as young boys they manage to tolerate each other, over time, as Wilson moves through Eton and Oxford and out into the world, his alter ego frequently turns up to thwart him at critical moments in his life.Mostra libro
In the winter of 1854 Tolstoy, then an officer in the Russian army, arranged to be transferred to the besieged town of Sebastopol. Wishing to see at first hand the action of what would become known as the Crimean War, he was spurred on by a fierce patriotism, but also by an equally fierce desire to alert the authorities to appalling conditions in the army. The three "Sebastopol Sketches"—December', May' and August'—re-create what happened during different phases of the siege and its effect on the ordinary men around him. Writing with the truth as his utmost aim, he brought home to Russia's entire literate public the atrocities of war. In doing so, he realized his own vocation as a writer and established his literary reputation.Mostra libro
