LITMIR.BIZ

"First published in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, XIV (January, 1844), “The Christmas Banquet” shares its subtitle—”from the unpublished “Allegories of the Heart”—with “Egotism; or the Bosom-Serpent,” another Hawthorne story of the period. “The Christmas Banquet” is an allegory composed by Elliston and read aloud to his wife Rosina (and an old friend) after their reunion. The allegory presents the plight of the most unfortunate of men—more unfortunate even than the man with a bosom-serpent—the man who has no human connection to his own life, the man who can feel nothing at all. The Christmas Banquet mentioned in the title is an annual feast, funded by an old misanthrope, in which the ten most miserable people who can be found are gathered together for the holiday. Year after year, the most unfortunate ones gather—a suffer from constant depression, a victim of heart disease, a hypochondriac, a woman whose children has died when she was far from home, etc.—to vie for the banquet prize: a wreath for the most miserable one of all. Each year the guests chosen are different, but Gervaise Hastings, a man unafflicted by any obvious misfortune, is included year after year. "

Подробнее

"The favorite story of the Dutch settlement of Sleepy Hollow, New York, is an ominous ghost story. A headless horseman is waiting for belated travelers. Ikabod Crane, who believes in everything beyond, cares for Katharina Van Tassel, the blonde beauty, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Baltus van Tassel. Late in the autumn night, when the superstitious bridegroom was returning from a party in the bride's house, he began to be haunted by the same ghost, searching at night for his lost head in battle. Since then, no one has seen Ikabod Crane. The beautiful Katarina Van Tassel married Abraham Van Brant, who with all his appearance makes it clear that he knows the secret of the missing Ikabod. Washington Irving is also famous for such stories as «„Rip Van Winkle“», «„The Devil and Tom Walker“», «„The Adventure of the German Student“», «„Tales of the Alhambra“» etc."

Подробнее

«Все так говорили. Я далек от утверждения, будто то, что все говорят, непременно правда. Все нередко и ошибаются. Как показывает опыт человечества, эти самые все уже так часто ошибались и порой так не скоро удавалось понять всю глубину их ошибки, что этому авторитету больше не следует доверять. Все могут быть и правы. „Но это не закон“, как говорит призрак Джайлса Скроггинса в известной балладе. Грозное слово „призрак“ будит во мне воспоминания…»

Подробнее

Дебютная прозаическая книга Марселя Пруста «Утехи и дни» (1896) – литературный эксперимент «прекрасной эпохи», манифест эстетической отрешенности, вышедший в атмосфере нескончаемых писательских споров и конфликтов. Короткие новеллы книги – мастерские зарисовки и одновременно размышления о природе искусства и соизмеримости искусства с жизнью. Ранняя книга Пруста помогает разобраться в механике его великого романа и при этом не раз заставляет пережить восторг перед непостижимостью мира. В предисловии к изданию профессора РГГУ А. В. Маркова объясняется литературный и культурный контекст создания книги.

Подробнее

Юная Эльфрида может очаровать любого взором своих синих глаз. В ее жизни появляются двое – молодой архитектор и умудренный опытом литератор. Бывшие друзья становятся соперниками, а девушке предстоит сделать мучительный выбор.

Подробнее

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an 1845 memoir and treatise on abolition written by famous orator and former slave Frederick Douglass during his time in Lynn, Massachusetts. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass encompasses eleven chapters that recount Douglass's life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. It contains two introductions by well-known white abolitionists: a preface by William Lloyd Garrison, and a letter by Wendell Phillips, both arguing for the veracity of the account and the literacy of its author. The most famous and inspirational works of Frederick Douglass include: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, My Bondage and My Freedom, Life and Times, Letter to Thomas Auld, The Frederick Douglass Papers Edition and many more."

Подробнее

"No Longer Human (1948, Ningen Shikkaku / A Shameful Life / Confessions of a Faulty Man) was an attack on the traditions of Japan, capturing the postwar crisis of Japanese cultural identity. Framed by an epilogue and prologue, the story is told in the form three notebooks left by Ōba Yōzō, whose calm exterior hides his tormented soul. Osamu Dazai was a Japanese author who is considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th century Japan. A number of his most popular works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered modern-day classics in Japan. Japanese novelist and a master storyteller, who became at the end of World War II the literary voice and literary hero of his generation. Dazai’s life ended in double-suicide with his married mistress. In many books Dazai used biographical material from his own family background, and made his self-destructive life the subject of his books. "

Подробнее

"Selected works of Oscar Wilde «„Best of Oscar Wilde“» is the book that everyone should read to understand themselves and each other. “The ones who are able to see the high meaning of beauty are cultural people. However, the chosen one is the one who sees only one thing in beauty: the Beauty itself” said one of the most famous English poets, writers, playwrights, a bright and inimitable Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Oscar Wilde is the author of not only the world famous novel “Portrait of Dorian Gray”, but also of beautiful fairy tales combining the rich imagination of the writer and the ironic style of narration. Every detail has a symbolic meaning and beauty, along with the good, acts as an inseparable whole. Tales give the most complete picture of Wilde's vivid multifaceted talent; these works are graceful, ghostly poetic “symbolist” tales. They sing the beauty of good deeds, sympathy for the offended and humanity. Wilde is also famous for such works as “Puffy Rocket”, “Infanta's Birthday”, “Nightingale and the Rose”, “Princess's Birthday”, “Faithful Friend”, “Young King”, “The Prince and the Swallow”, “The Egoist Giant” "" and «„Star Boy“». "

Подробнее

The Conquest of Bread is an 1892 book by the Russian anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin. Peter Kropotkin was born a Russian prince whose father owned 1,200 serfs. But he became a Russian activist, writer, revolutionary, scientist, economist, sociologist, historian, essayist, researcher, political scientist, biologist, geographer and philosopher. The Conquest of Bread has become a classic of political anarchist literature. It was heavily influential on both the Spanish Civil War and the Occupy movement. In the work, Kropotkin goes on to propose a more decentralized economic system based on mutual aid and voluntary cooperation, asserting that the tendencies for this kind of organization already exist, both in evolution and in human society.

Подробнее

Не возжелай мужа ближней своей. Заповеди такой нет, а чужих мужей желают многие… в поразительном по ироничному напору и силе образов романе Голсуорси место трагически умершей Фрэнсис Фриленд – супруги героя – занимает ее родная сестра, готовая взять на себя и заботу о муже и опеку над племянниками… но не так-то просто сделать это, если ты живешь с батраком и полностью зависишь от богача, на земле которого стоит твой дом, и благодаря которому ты зарабатываешь на пропитание. Богач может помешать не только матримониальным планам, но едва не довести до самоубийства! Любовная интрига романа «Фриленды» разворачивается на фоне интриги гражданской, и Голсуорси создает многоплановое произведение, интересное как для читательниц английской мелодраматической прозы, так и для читателей острых историко-социальных романов об обществе Викторианской Англии.

Подробнее