Зарубежная классическая проза
6404 кн.
First published in 1852, “The Blithedale Romance” is the third of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic novels. Set in the utopian communal farm called Blithedale in the 1840’s, the novel tells the story of four inhabitants of the commune: Hollingsworth, a misogynist philanthropist obsessed with turning Blithedale into a colony for the reformation of criminals; Zenobia, a passionate feminist; Priscilla, a mysterious lady with a hidden agenda who turns out to be Zenobia’s half-sister; and Miles...
| Автор | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
A group of Utopians, dispirited by a mid-19th-century America they view as dissolute, takes to the pastoral life, but finds little satisfaction in its socialist living experiments. Little by little, the members' hypocrisies, contradictions, and ideological and economic paradoxes are exposed — even as they attempt to create the ideal community. Among the group are Hollingsworth, an idealistic but egotistical reformer; Zenobia, an ardent feminist and exotic beauty; Priscilla, her...
| Автор | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
Renowned as the author of such popular adventure stories as Kidnapped and Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote gripping tales of terror and the supernatural. Stevenson's considerable gifts as a teller of tales shine brightly in this choice collection of three of his best short stories. The Gothic tale of «The Body Snatcher» concerns a young medical student's dealings with grave robbers who provide corpses to dissect and study — a practice that takes on...
| Автор | Роберт Стивенсон |
"The Body Snatcher and Other Tales" is a collection of three ghoulish tales by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the first story, «The Body Snatcher», we find Fettes and Wolfe Macfarlane engaged in the dubious business of stealing corpses for a famous unnamed professor of anatomy. In the second story, «The Bottle Imp», we learn of a magic bottle that contains a wish-granting imp. The only catch is that the bottle must be sold at a loss or its owner's soul will burn for eternity in Hell. In...
| Автор | Роберт Стивенсон |
Scottish poet, novelist, and anthropologist Andrew Lang is well-known for his volumes collecting the world’s legends, fairy, and folk tales. Lang compiled and edited famous and immortal stories from many genres, including those of romance and adventure. Collected together here in “The Book of Romance” are Andrew Lang’s retellings of some of the most important English, Irish, French, German, and Icelandic legends. Chief among this volume are Lang’s depictions of Arthurian Legend. Drawing upon the...
| Автор | Andrew Lang |
First serialized in “The Century Magazine” in 1885 and 1886, Henry James’s “The Bostonians” is the story of Basil Ransom and his cousin Olive Chancellor and their competition for the allegiance and affection of the talented and beautiful Verena Tarrant. Basil, a conservative lawyer and Civil War veteran, has gone to Boston to visit his cousin Olive, an outspoken and independent feminist who is very active in the cause. Olive takes her cousin to hear a speech on female emancipation and the...
| Автор | Генри Джеймс |
First published in 1924, “The Box-Car Children” is the beloved children’s classic by American grade school teacher and author, Gertrude Chandler Warner. It is the story of four orphaned siblings, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, and their adventures living in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. The children are having fun while living in the boxcar at first, though several adults in the community are aware of their situation and are keeping an eye on them. Life is going well for these...
| Автор | Gertrude Chandler Warner |
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s final novel, considered to be the culmination of his life’s work, “The Brothers Karamazov” is the story of the murder of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, whose four sons are all to some degree complicit in the crime. Fyodor is a contemptible man who during his two marriages has three sons, Dmitri, Ivan, and Alexei. A fourth, Pavel, whom he employs as his servant, is suspected to be the illegitimate product of a union with “Reeking Lizaveta,” a mute woman of the street who died in...
| Автор | Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
American author, journalist, and social activist Jack London is best known for his stories set during the Klondike gold rush. During the late 19th century London traveled to the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada to strike it rich. While he didn’t find a great fortune in gold he came away with the experiences that would inspire some of his greatest writing. Set in the harsh wilderness of the Yukon territory, “The Call of the Wild” is a story embodied with a realism indicative of...
| Автор | Jack London |
Jack London's novels and ruggedly individual life seemed to embody American hopes, frustrations, and romantic longings in the turbulent first years of the twentieth century, years infused with the wonder and excitement of great technological and historic change. The author's restless spirit, taste for a life of excitement, and probing mind led him on a series of hard-edged adventures from the Klondike to the South Seas. Out of these sometimes harrowing experiences — and his...
| Автор | Jack London |
Begun as an ambitious project by the versatile English courtier, diplomat, philosopher, and author Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, “The Canterbury Tales” follows a group of people on their pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Saint Thomas á Becket. The Prologue introduces all of the pilgrims in great detail, and through these descriptions Chaucer provides the entire spectrum of social classes and professions of his time. When the group stops at an inn and the innkeeper introduces a competition...
| Автор | Geoffrey Chaucer |
Written by the Indian philosopher Vatsyayana sometime between the 4th century B.C. and the 1st century A.D., “The Kama Sutra” is perhaps the world’s most famous book ever written on love and sexual desire. “Kama” is one of the four Hindu goals of human life and is translated as love, including sexual desire and romantic love. “Sutra” in this context means aphorisms, or rules and lessons, on the subject of love. “The Kama Sutra” has become synonymous with its instructions on sexual positions, but...
| Автор | Horace Walpole |
