"Black Mischief" was Evelyn Waugh's third novel, published in 1932. The novel chronicles the efforts of the English-educated Emperor Seth, assisted by a fellow Oxford graduate, Basil Seal, to modernize his Empire, the fictional African island of Azania, located in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of Africa.<P> Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (1903–1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer of books. His...
Orlando, first published in 1928, is a high-spirited romp inspired by the tumultuous family history of Woolf's partner, the aristocratic poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West, it is arguably one of Woolf's most popular and accessible novels: a history of English literature in satiric form. The book describes the adventures of a poet who changes sex from man to woman and lives for centuries, meeting the key figures of English literary history. Considered a feminist classic, the book has...
Considered by many as the greatest of all Spanish authors, Miguel de Cervantes is most well-known of course for «Don Quixote,» a work of such literary impact that its historical importance cannot be understated. Unfortunately Cervantes' other works are often overlooked and characterized as inferior to his masterpiece. While his other writings never gained the popularity of «Don Quixote,» he did author several other works that are worthy of consideration. Amongst these is the pastoral...
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is Harriet Beecher Stowe's abolitionist masterpiece. The titular Uncle Tom is the slave of Mr. Shelby, the proprietor of a certain estate in Kentucky, which has fallen into disorder in consequence of the speculative habits of its owner, who, at the opening of the tale, is forced to part not only with Uncle Tom, but with a young quadroom woman named Eliza, the servant of Mrs. Shelby, and wife of George Harris, a slave upon a neighboring estate. Mrs. Harriet...
A classic picaresque novel, Francisco de Quevedo's «The Spanish Sharper» chronicles the adventures of Don Pablos, a buscón or swindler, who aims in life to learn virtue and to become a caballero, or gentleman, both of which he fails miserably at. The work is a notable piece of satire that criticizes not only Spanish society but the protagonist Pablos himself. His ambition to elevate his status to that of a gentleman is, in Quevedo's opinion, unobtainable; as such aspirations from the...
"The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories" is a collection of Mark Twain's most loved short stories. In this collection you will find the following tales: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, The Facts Concerning The Recent Carnival Of Crime In Connecticut, The Stolen White Elephant, Luck, The £1,000,000 Bank Note, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, The Five Boons Of Life, Was It Heaven? Or Hell?, and The Mysterious Stranger.
Inspired by The Mussel Slough Tragedy, an 1880 dispute over land titles between California settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad, Frank Norris' 1901 novel, «The Octopus: A California Story», is the first part in the unfinished trilogy, «The Epic of Wheat». The novel depicts the conflict between wheat farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and the Pacific and Southwestern railroad. When the railroad attempts to take possession of land leased to and improved by the farmers, they are...
Theodor Fontane (1819-1898) was a German realist who worked for most of his life as a journalist, poet, editor, theater critic, and travel essayist. He could not attain the financial stability to write novels until he was almost sixty, at which point he began writing historical novels. He eventually concentrated on stories about Berlin society and the decline of the aristocracy, such as «Trials and Tribulations» and «Jenny Treibel». One of his best known works was «Effi Briest», a novel about a...
Among the most sophisticated examples of Gothic romance, «The Italian» was written in 1797 at the height of Radcliffe's power as an author. The dark, shadowed Italy of this novel immediately encapsulates the fast-paced plot concerning Vincentio di Vivaldi and his beautiful love Ellena Rosalba. While they wish to marry, Vincentio's mother is against their marriage. Her scheming to separate them soon involves Schedoni, a mysterious monk, and arguably Radcliffe's most exceptional...
Written from 1852 to 1856, this autobiographical novel was Tolstoy's first publication. The early life of Nikolai, the son of wealthy landowner in Russia, is fully explored, slowly revealing this young boy's inner mind, relationships, and social standing. As he describes his tutor, angelic mother, aloof father, worldly brother, and later his moralistic friend, Nikolai displays a mind given to dreaming and a personality as complex as it is conflicted. As he grows and moves from his...