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  Oblomov

  Ivan Goncharov

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  Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov is a profound exploration of indolence and the human condition, centered on Ilya Oblomov, a Russian nobleman whose defining trait is his overwhelming lethargy. Unable to muster the energy for work or ambition, Oblomov spends his days in bed or lost in nostalgic reveries of his idyllic childhood estate. His apathy contrasts sharply with his pragmatic friend Stoltz, who strives for progress and success. When Oblomov falls in love with Olga, her attempts to inspire him initially spark change, but his inertia ultimately prevails. Goncharov’s novel critiques societal stagnation and the feudal system while painting Oblomov’s passivity as both tragic and universal. A poignant blend of humor and pathos, Oblomov examines the tension between dreams and reality, leaving readers to ponder the fine line between contentment and complacency.

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  Bartleby The Scrivener: A Story...

  Herman Melville

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  "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street" is a novella written by Herman Melville, first published in 1853. The story is a poignant exploration of the dehumanizing effects of modern capitalism and the isolation that can result from the mechanization of work. The novella is narrated by an unnamed Wall Street lawyer who hires a scrivener named Bartleby to copy legal documents. Initially, Bartleby is diligent and efficient, but over time, he starts responding to requests with the phrase "I would prefer not to." This passive resistance leads to a series of confrontations and ultimately to Bartleby's refusal to do any work at all. The lawyer is both fascinated and perplexed by Bartleby's behavior, and the story explores themes of alienation, conformity, and the dehumanizing nature of modern office life.

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  The Odyssey

  Homer

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  The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years, during which time he encountered many perils and all his crew mates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.The Odyssey was originally composed in Homeric Greek in around the 8th or 7th century BCE and, by the mid-6th century BCE, had become part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer's authorship of the poem was not questioned, but contemporary scholarship predominantly assumes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently and that the stories formed as part of a long oral tradition. Given widespread illiteracy, the poem was performed by an aoidos or rhapsode and was more likely to be heard than read.

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  Merchantman and the Pirate The...

  Charles Reade

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  Ships at anchor reared their tall masts, here and there; and the broad stream was enlivened and colored by junks and boats of all sizes and vivid hues, propelled on the screw principle by a great scull at the stern, with projecting handles for the crew to work; and at times a gorgeous mandarin boat, with two great glaring eyes set in the bows, came flying, rowed with forty paddles by an armed crew, whose shields hung on the gunwale and flashed fire in the sunbeams.

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  Cohen of Trinity - From their...

  Amy Levy

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  Amy Levy was born in London, England in 1861, the second of seven in a fairly wealthy Anglo-Jewish family. The children read and participated in secular literary activities and became firmly integrated into Victorian life. 
  Her education was at Brighton High School, Brighton, before studies at Newnham College, Cambridge; she was the first Jewish student when she arrived in 1879, but left after four terms. 
  Amy’s writing career began early; her poem ‘Ida Grey’ appeared when she was only fourteen. Her acclaimed short stories ‘Cohen of Trinity’ and ‘Wise in Their Generation,’ were published by Oscar Wilde in his magazine ‘Women's World’. 
  Her poetic writings reveal feminist concerns; ‘Xantippe and Other Verses’, from 1881 includes a poem in the voice of Socrates's wife. ‘A Minor Poet and Other Verse’ from 1884 comprises of dramatic monologues and lyric poems. 
  In 1886, Amy began a series of essays on Jewish culture and literature for the Jewish Chronicle, including ‘The Ghetto at Florence’, ‘The Jew in Fiction’, ‘Jewish Humour’ and ‘Jewish Children’. 
  That same year while travelling in Florence she met the writer Vernon Lee. It is generally assumed they fell in love and this inspired the poem ‘To Vernon Lee’. 
  Her first novel ‘Romance of a Shop’, written in 1888 is based on four sisters who experience the pleasures and hardships of running a London business during the 1880s. This was followed by Reuben Sachs (also 1888) and concerned with Jewish identity and mores in the England of her time and was somewhat controversial. 
  Her final book of poems, ‘A London Plane-Tree’ from 1889, shows the beginnings of the influence of French symbolism. 
  Despite many friendships and an active life, Amy suffered for many years with serious depressions and this, together with her growing deafness, led her to commit suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide on September 10th, 1889. She was 27.

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  Winnie-the-Pooh

  A. A. Milne

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  Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by name in a children's story commissioned by London's Evening News for Christmas Eve 1925. The character is inspired by a stuffed toy that Milne had bought for his son Christopher Robin in Harrods department store, and a bear they had viewed at London Zoo. 
  The first collection of stories about the character is the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children's verse book When We Were Very Young (1924) and many more in Now We Are Six (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The stories are set in Hundred Acre Wood, which was inspired by Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex—situated 30 miles (48 km) south of London—where the Londoner Milne's country home was located. 
  A. A. Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, on whom the character Christopher Robin was based. 
  CREATED: 
  Narrated by Nick Donovan 
  Author: A. A. Milne 
  Date of original publication: 1925 
  Genre: children's story 
  Language : English 
  Version : unabridged, full/complete 
  Without subtitles

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