Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under...

  Jules Verne

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  Jules Verne is considered to be an important author in France and most of Europe, where he has had a wide influence on the literary avant-garde and on surrealism. His reputation was markedly different in the Anglosphere where he had often been labeled a writer of genre fiction or children's books, largely because of the highly abridged and altered translations in which his novels have often been printed. Since the 1980s, his literary reputation has improved.
  VOLUME 1: The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention rumours which agitated the maritime population and excited the public mind, even in the interior of continents, seafaring men were particularly excited.

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  The Singing Lesson

  Katherine Mansfield

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  The Singing Lesson, written by Katherine Mansfield, is all about a surprising day of a music teacher’s life. Taken from Katherine’s ‘The Garden Party and Other Stories’ collection, it’s a short story written in third person from an unknown narrator’s perspective. - Miss Meadows, a music teacher, receives a letter from her fiancé which states quite plainly that Basil, her fiancé, isn’t ready to marry her and feels that the marriage would fill him with disgust. The word “disgust” is scratched lightly and written above it is the word “regret”. Naturally she’s filled with despair, anger & sadness. And due to her bad mood she sees everyone and everything in a negative light. Her usual calm and cheery demeanor turns gloomy and angry that day and this change doesn’t go unnoticed by her students.

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  The Jew - Turgenev's...

  Ivan Turgenev

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  Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was born on 9th November 1818 in Oryol, Russia to parents from the nobility.  He and his two brothers were raised by their mother on the family estate.  Surrounded by foreign governesses he became fluent in French, German, and English.  Their father spent little time with them and this undoubtedly had an effect on him and his brothers.  When he was nine the family moved to Moscow to give their children a better education. 
   
  Turgenev studied for a year at the University of Moscow and then at the University of St Petersburg to study Classics, Russian literature, and philology.  During that time his father died from kidney stone disease.  In 1838 Turgenev studied philosophy and history at the University of Berlin for 3 years before returning to St Petersburg for his master's. 
   
  He started his career with the Russian Civil Service and it was only in 1852, after several earlier publications, that he made his name with his short story collection, ‘A Sportsman's Sketches’, based on his observations of peasant life and nature. 
    
  That same year he wrote an obituary for Nikolai Gogol: "Gogol is dead!... What Russian heart is not shaken by those three words?... He is gone, that man whom we now have the right (the bitter right, given to us by death) to call great."  The St Petersburg censor banned publication but the Moscow censor allowed it.  He was dismissed but Turgenev was held responsible and imprisoned for a month, and then exiled to his country estate.  
   
  Along with many other intellectuals Turgenev left Russia and settled in Paris in 1854.  During this period he wrote his finest stories and four novels.  
   
  Alexander II ascended the Russian throne in 1855, and the political climate relaxed.  Turgenev returned home.  
   
  ‘Fathers and Sons’, Turgenev's most famous and enduring novel, appeared in 1862. Its leading character is considered the first ‘Bolshevik’ in Russian literature. But the hostile reaction prompted Turgenev's decision to again leave Russia.  
   
  His health declined during his later years.  In January 1883, an aggressive malignant tumor was removed but by then it had metastasized in his upper spinal cord, causing him intense pain in his final few months of life.  
   
  Ivan Turgenev died on 3rd September 1883 of a spinal abscess, a complication of the metastatic liposarcoma, in his house near Paris.  He was buried in St Petersburg.  
   
  In ‘The Jew’ Turgenev explores a subject that is often treated abrasively by Russian authors.  In this heartbreaking tale an officer is begged by a Jew to help him.  He is even prepared to offer, with tragic consequences, a young girl as part of the bargain.

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  Count of Monte Cristo The -...

  Alexandre Dumas, Classic...

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  The Count of Monte Cristo is a gripping story of revenge, justice, and transformation set in 19th-century France. It follows Edmond Dantès, a young sailor whose promising future is destroyed by betrayal. Wrongfully imprisoned for years in the Château d'If, he escapes, uncovers a hidden treasure, and returns to society with a new identity: the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo.With patience, brilliance, and immense wealth, Dantès carefully orchestrates the downfall of those who wronged him. But as his plan unfolds, he must face the consequences of vengeance and decide whether redemption is still possible.Rich in suspense, emotion, and philosophical depth, this timeless novel explores the human thirst for justice and the power of forgiveness.

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  Devil in the Belfry - Another...

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Edgar Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts on 19th January 1809. His father abandoned his family the following year and within a year his mother had died leaving him an orphan.   
  He was taken in by the Allan family but never formally adopted although he now referred to himself as Edgar Allan Poe.  His father alternatively spoiled or chastised him and tension was frequent over gambling debts and monies for his education.  His university years to study ancient and modern languages was cut short by lack of money and he enlisted as a private in the army claiming he was 22, it is more probable he was 18. After 2 years he obtained a discharge in order to take up an appointment at the military academy, West Point, where he failed to become an officer. 
  Poe had released his 1st poetry volume in 1827 and after his 3rd turned to prose and placing short stories in several magazines and journals.  At age 26 he obtained a licence to marry his cousin.  She was a mere 13 but they stayed together until her death from tuberculosis 11 years after. 
  In January 1845 ‘The Raven’ was published and became an instant classic.  Thereafter followed the prose works for which he is now so rightly famed as a master of the mysterious and the macabre. 
  Edgar Allan Poe died at the tragically early age of 40 on 7th October 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland. Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as ‘congestion of the brain’ or ‘cerebral inflammation’, common euphemisms for death from disreputable causes such as alcoholism but the actual cause of death remains a mystery.

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  A Christmas Carol - Written by...

  Charles Dickens

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  A reading of a classic Christmas tale. Follow Ebenezer as he finds out the true meaning of Christmas in this timeless piece of literature.

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