Зарубежная классическая проза
6404 кн.
Set in rural New England, «Ethan Frome» is the story of its title character who marries Zenobia, a nagging hypochondriac of a woman, and finds himself trapped in an unfulfilling life. When Zenobia's young cousin Mattie Silver comes to live with them, Frome falls in love with her. «Ethan Frome» is the story of forbidden love and its tragic consequences. In «Summer» we have the story of the sexual awakening of a young woman, Charity Royall. Charity, the daughter of mountain moonshiners, is...
| Автор | Edith Wharton |
Published in 1558, ten years after the author's death, «The Heptameron» is an unfinished work inspired by the «Decameron» by Giovanni Boccaccio, containing seventy-two short stories written in French by Marguerite de Navarre, Queen of Navarre and sister of Francois I. The story begins with five gentlemen and five lady travelers who find themselves stranded in a small town in the Pyrenees, and decide to entertain themselves through story-telling, which rapidly evolves into an all-out verbal...
| Автор | Margaret of Queen |
"The Prince and the Pauper" is the story of how when young Prince Edward Tudor of Wales and Pauper Tom Canty switch clothes that they are mistaken for each other and end up switching places. Prince Edward learns of the struggles of the commoners of England while Tom discovers what it is like to be a Prince and then a King. «The Prince and the Pauper» is both a delightfully comedic tale and a biting social commentary on the inequities among different social classes.
| Автор | Mark Twain |
"The Monk" is Matthew G. Lewis's 1796 novel which is the tale of a monk who is tempted by carnal desire and led down a ruinous path of ungodliness. Ambrosio, a pious, well-respected monk in Spain, is lustfully tempted by his pupil, Matilda, a woman who has disguised herself as a monk. Having satisfied himself with her, he is overcome with carnal desire for the innocent Antonia. With the help of Matilda, who is actually Satan in disguise, Ambrosio seduces Antonia, a seduction that would...
| Автор | Matthew Lewis |
Jules Verne's classic science fiction sequel to «From the Earth to the Moon», «Round the Moon» is a forward-looking examination of the possibilities of space travel. One of the first books to look at the challenges and adventures of space travel, «Round the Moon» starts off where «From the Earth to the Moon» left off. We follow the crew of the projectile built by the Baltimore Gun Club on a journey towards their intended destination. Will they make it safely to the Moon and how will they...
| Автор | Жюль Верн |
Anatole France's work «Les dieux ont soif» translates to «The Gods Will Have Blood» or «The Gods are Athirst.» Both translations of the title accurately depict the nature of this novel set during the French Revolution. Young artist Évariste Gamelin is the right-hand man of Jacobin, Marat, and Robespierre and eventually becomes appointed as a juror on the Revolutionary Tribunal during the heinous Reign of Terror. Though Gamelin fully believes in the ideas of revolution and liberty, he uses...
| Автор | Anatole France |
Emile Zola wrote the following in the preface of his first installment to the Rougon-Macquart series: «The characteristic of the Rougon-Macquart family, the group which I propose to study, is their unbridled passions, that great revolutionizing element of our age, inciting to excessive self-indulgence. Physiologically speaking, these appetites are the gradual outcome of certain nervous and sanguineous modifications which manifest themselves in a race of beings, as a consequence of some previous...
| Автор | Emile Zola |
First published in 1791, Ann Radcliffe's «The Romance of the Forest,» is a classic Gothic novel, a suspenseful mystery that examines the tension between hedonism and morality. An instant success for the author, this novel would establish Radcliffe's as the preeminent author of romances of her era. While Radcliffe's work was similar in many respects to her Gothic predecessors her work differed fundamentally in its breadth of development of her characters. The story concerns...
| Автор | Ann Radcliffe |
Originally published between 1838-1847 «A Harlot High and Low» continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré from Honore de Balzac's preceding novel «Lost Illusions.» Central to the tale is the pact made between Lucien and Vautrin in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. A love affair between the beautiful Esther van Gobseck and Lucien creates a conflict for their plans of bringing Lucien to his desired exaltation...
| Автор | Оноре Бальзак |
Listed by the British newspaper «The Guardian» as number 12 on a list of the 100 greatest novels of all-time, Honore de Balzac's «The Black Sheep» is another installment in his magnum opus «The Human Comedy.» Agathe Rouget, who is born in Issoudun, is sent to be raised by her maternal relatives, the Descoings in Paris by her father Doctor Rouget. Agathe has two sons, Philippe and Joseph, with which the story is principally concerned. Philippe becomes a soldier in Napoleon's armies,...
| Автор | Оноре Бальзак |