Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

Published in 1908, this is the story of two small families and the agreeable couple who help them. The heartfelt Norths, though clouded by disabilities, maintain the joy of life while struggling through sadness and loss. Their neighbours, the Austins, live comfortably if without much in the way of shared interest. As Eloise Wynne approaches to “bless” the Norths with her amiable fiancé, Doctor Allan Conrad, the two offspring in each family discover a hidden deception and how each parent, that they had grown up without, had met their fatal ends. - Summary by Daryl Wor

Eugénie Grandet, first published in 1833, is one of Honoré de Balzac's finest novels, and one of the first works in what would become his large novel series titled La Comédie Humaine. Set in a provincial town in post-Revolutionary France, the story deals with money, avarice, love, and obsession. A wealthy old miser must manage the passion of his innocent daughter, who later has to navigate on her own the treacherous ways of a world in which money is "the only god." Balzac's meticulous use of psychological and physical detail influenced the development of 19th-century literary realism, in ...

Eric, artist for the king, has created a marvelous painting of a royal wedding. It is finished except for the face of the queen, which appeared to him in a dream. When he awoke, he had forgotten the form of the features. Obsessed with recapturing this vision, he goes on a quest to find the woman because he cannot paint another stroke until he sees those eyes again. During his journey, he discovers much more, perhaps even the true meaning of his dream and of his life. - Summary by Amy Gramour

Effi Briest ist die Titelfigur des gleichnamigen Romans von Theodor Fontane, der in Buchform erstmals 1895 erschienen ist. Als Erscheinungsjahr wurde auf dem Titelblatt 1896 angegeben. Der Gesellschaftsroman wird dem bürgerlichen Realismus zugeordnet und spielt vor dem Hintergrund des durch strenge Normen festgelegten Lebens im Kaiserreich unter Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck. Der Roman beruht auf einer wahren Begebenheit, der Ehebruchgeschichte der Freifrau Elisabeth von Ardenne, geboren 1853. (Zusammenfassung aus Wikipedia)

Emile, or On Education or Émile, or Treatise on Education (French: Émile, ou De l’éducation) was published in 1762 in French and German and in 1763 in English. The significance of Rousseau in education as well as in politics must be found in his revolutionary attitude toward established institutions. Some of his biographers relate the story that when the Academy of Dijon, in 1749, offered a prize for an essay on the question whether the progress of the arts and sciences has tended to the purification of morals and manners, he followed the suggestion of Diderot, who reminded him of the ...

Ce n'était pas une petite tâche que de peindre les deux ou trois mille figures saillantes d'une époque, car telle est, en définitif, la somme des types que présente chaque génération et que La Comédie Humaine comportera. Ce nombre de figures, de caractères, cette multitude d'existences exigeaient des cadres, et, qu'on me pardonne cette expression, des galeries. De là, les divisions si naturelles, déjà connues, de mon ouvrage en Scènes de la vie privée, de province, parisienne, politique, militaire et de campagne. Dans ces six livres sont classées toutes les Études de moeurs qui...

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialized in 1897 by Pearson's Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was in 1898 from publisher William Heinemann of London. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is the first-person narrative of both an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and of his younger brother in London as southern England is invaded by Martians. The novel is one of the most ...

Deeper questions of life and death, and of God’s relationship to man, are explored in this collection of “dreams” by a noted English novelist and literary critic. A man takes an uncertain step into the next world as his life ends – Defendants at the Last Judgment hurl their own accusations at the Judge – An angel arrives on Christmas Eve to guide one soul through a night of despair and doubt – Flowers in a garden contemplate their own mortality – What would it mean if the world renounced Christ, or God took Christ away from the world? – And in a world of the future, pleasure ...

Originally entitled A frutefull pleasaunt, and wittie worke of the beste state of publique weale, & of the newe yle, called Utopia: written in Latine, by ... Syr Thomas More knyght, and translated into Englishe by Raphe Robynson ...The first book tells of the traveller Raphael Hythloday, to whom More is introduced in Antwerp. The second book consists of Hythloday's description of the island and people of Utopia, their customs, laws, religions, economy, language and relations with other nations. Hythloday portrays Utopia as an idealised state, where all property is common to all the people and ...

One of May Sinclair’s “uncanny” stories, this novella explores many of Sinclair’s most treasured themes: the bounds of marriage, the conflict between flesh and spirit, the complexity of human emotions in relation to other humans, the practical everyday implications of philosophical Idealism. In the story, when Agatha Verrall enters into an extra-marital affair with Rodney Lanyon, she struggles to keep the relationship on a spiritual plane without falling into the physical passion that she fears. To her astonishment, she discovers that she has an extraordinary paranormal ability to ...

Personal correspondence of Bohemian religious reformer John Huss (Jan Hus) from 1411 when he was exiled from Prague through his death by burning as heretic in 1415 by order of the Council of Constance. These were first published in 1536 by the German Protestant reformer Martin Luther and his introduction is included here. - Summary by Rom Maczka

A collection of the letters which Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy wrote while in Italy and Switzerland. Mendelssohn, a multifaceted talent of the Romantic era, composed a diverse array of works, including symphonies, concertos, piano music, and chamber pieces. (Summary by Mozartjr)

"Letters from Hell" is a didactic Christian fantasy novel, with a faint resemblance to C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters." Otto, the narrator, has died in the prime of life. Through letters, he relates the torments and regrets that are a consequence of the self-centered and dissipated life he led in the world. He also describes the fates of other lost souls who inhabit Hell. (In this work, Hell is not the place of eternal torment, but the "holding area" until the final judgment.)There is also a preface written by George MacDonald. - Summary by TriciaG

During the turbulent moment in English history involving King James 1 and 6, Nigel Olifaunt, a Scottish lord, seeks to protect his family home and holdings, but meets with recalcitrance and treachery, which eventually results in his imprisonment. But there are forces of good that help to set him free and right injustices.

Dante Alighieri.La Divina Commedia.Lettura di Veniero Jenna.Progetto "LibroParlato".La diffusione di questo titolo NON può essere considerata, IN NESSUN CASO, a scopo commerciale.

Can You Forgive Her was published over 2 years in serial form. It follows the life story of three women involved with courtship and marriage decisions. - Summary by Deon Gines

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be in a circus? What if, rather than choosing to be in one, you were captured and taken away from the home and family you knew and made to perform in the heat of a big top? Meet Umboo, the elephant, Chako, the monkey, Snarlie, the tiger and their circus friends and learn how life in the jungle was different from life in the circus. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Qui ne connaît Carmen, immortalisée par l'opéra de Bizet? Quoique... Le narrateur rencontre don José, qui lui raconte son aventure de contrebandier avec la belle Gitane. Quant à la Vénus d'Ille, cette statue à l'allure maléfique est à l'origine d'événements mystérieux.Who does not know Carmen, immortalized by Georges Bizet in his most famous opera? Although... The narrator tells his encounter with don Jose, who tells him of his life as a smuggler with the beautiful Gipsy. As for the Venus from Ille, this statue with its malevolent looks is causing mysterious events. (Summary by ...

One dark winter's day in the north of Finland, Father Mikko seeks shelter in an isolated cabin till a storm abates. After dinner the family sit around the fire, and the daughter asks him to tell them "all the stories he had ever heard from the very beginning of the world all the way down", and so the book begins. In the words of the author "If this little volume may in any degree awake some interest in the Finnish people its author will be amply satisfied, and its end will have been attained." ( Annise)

This book of favorite fairy tales was compiled and illustrated by Peter Newell. it includes Jack The Giant Killer; Cinderella; Sleeping Beauty; Little Red Riding Hood; Aladin and the Wonderful Lamp, The Ugly Duckling, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and Rose Red, The Wild Swans, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, and 4 others that are not so famous. The stories included were based upon the those that various famous men remembered as their favorites when children(Summary by Phil Chenevert)