European Literature

Relinquishing thoughts of a materially rewarding life, the respectably educated Felix Holt returns to his native village in North Loamshire and becomes an artisan. He is a forceful young man of honor, integrity, and idealism, burning to participate in political life so that he may improve the lot of his fellow artisans.

Under the Greenwood Tree is an affectionate and youthful portrait of a world Hardy knew well - village life in 'Wessex' - in which a romantic tale is set against changing circumstances. The traditional feature of local music making performed by the village band and choir is challenged by the modern innovation of organ and organist providing music in the church.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by the English poet William Blake consists of a series of texts written in the style of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own beliefs. Composed between 1790 and 1793, the book makes reference to Milton and Swedenborg, and adopts a device from Dante's Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost: a visit to hell. Blake expresses a deliberately depolarized and unified vision of the cosmos in which the material world and physical desire are both part of the divine order.

Our agent, a man named Mr Verloc, minds his own business while he keeps his shop in London's Soho, alongside his wife, who attends to her aged mother and disabled brother. Their lives are turned upside down when Verloc is reluctantly employed to plant a bomb and destroy an observatory in London. What was once the perfect bomb plot inevitably turns awry and Verloc, his family and his associates are forced to face the consequences.

Gertrud and her foster sister, Hanna, used to be inseparable. But as the years pass, Hanna becomes the beautiful one while Gertrud remains plain. Their once unbreakable bond is strained by jealousy - until Gertrud is brutally murdered and Hanna disappears without a trace.

In this epic and haunting series a young man's life is forever changed as, enveloped in the bohemian art world of the 1930s, he embarks on a journey of love, loss, and restoration. Jack has been praised all his life for his extraordinary artistic talent and is rarely seen without his sketchpad. However, in Jack's world art is considered a hobby - men are expected to have jobs that offer security and advancement. When tragedy threatens, Jack is torn: Should he follow the well-laid plans for his future or pursue a path set to disappoint his family and which offers only uncertainty?

Dans un trois pièces d’une cité de Créteil, deux femmes, une mère et sa fille, vivent en huit-clos, hantées par les souvenirs de l’occupation et de la seconde guerre mondiale. La mère souffre de démence et croit qu’elle subit toujours les persécutions de Pétain ou de Darlan. La visite d’un huissier venu faire un inventaire avant la saisie de leurs meubles provoque les récits imbriqués de leurs vies respectives. Devant l’homme de loi impassible, les deux femmes vont se livrer à de furieux monologues aussi hilarants que monstrueux.

Als Josef K. eines Morgens aufwacht wird er überraschend verhaftet. Von einer mysteriösen Behörde soll ihm der Prozess gemacht werden. Im Laufe der Kapitel gerät K. in ein alptraumhaftes Labyrinth einer surrealen Bürokratie. K. dringt immer tiefer in dieses System ein, er erfährt Verschiedenes über die Hierarchien der "Gerichte", doch nie gelangt er zur höchsten Instanz, nie erfährt er, worin seine "Schuld" besteht. Gleichzeitig dringt das System immer weiter in K.s Leben ein. Schließlich muss er erkennen, dass der "Sinn dieser großen Organisation, dieser korrupten Bande", der Sinn dieses geheimnisvollen Prozesses die "Sinnlosigkeit" ist...

One of the most successful and beloved Victorian fairy tales... The Princess and the Goblin is the story of Princess Irene and her friend Curdie, who come face to face with the dreaded mountain goblins. This children's fantasy novel was originally published in 1872. It uses subtle layers of symbolism to tell a story of courage and honor.

"Notre vie avait-elle irrémédiablement basculé ? Ne serait-elle plus jamais comme avant ? Étrange, cette notion d'avant et d'après. Je sentais que nous venions de perdre quelque chose d'essentiel. Aucune projection dans l'avenir. Aucun espoir. Rien. Le vide. Une ombre planait désormais sur notre vie. Et j'avais peur."

Un texte sur le pouvoir émancipateur de la littérature, qui est aussi un pouvoir de consolation et de réconciliation avec la vie. Toute mon adolescence, j'ai entendu parler des personnages d' À la recherche du temps perdu, persuadée qu'ils étaient des cousins que je n'avais pas encore rencontrés. À la maison, les répliques de Charlus, les vacheries de la duchesse de Guermantes se confondaient avec les bons mots entendus à table, sans solution de continuité entre fiction et réalité.

Au phare, c'est cette destination vers laquelle se tend et se déploie tout le roman, un serment en suspens, à flux tendu au-dessus des profondeurs abyssales de la conscience des personnages. La promesse d'une promenade scelle l'alliance de Mrs Ramsey avec ses enfants, contre le père, contre vents et marées, le temps qui passe et la Guerre - c'est autour de cette parole donnée que se nouent les désirs enfouis et les pensées tues, que se cristallisent tragiquement les souvenirs d'enfance.

Робинзон Крузо - это даже не книга и не персонаж, а нечто большее: человек-миф, от века к веку он существует, обрастая легендами. Перед нами жизнь сильного человека; пример человеческих возможностей, концентрации духовных и физических сил.

The Mill on the Floss, first published in 1860, tells the story of Maggie Tulliver and her brother Tom as they grow from children to young adults in the small rural town of St. Ogg's, England. Intelligent and passionate, Maggie yearns to develop her mind and break free of the constraints of her provincial village. Though she loves her brother above anyone else, Tom's rigid, pragmatic personality often conflicts with Maggie's headstrong nature, with increasingly tragic consequences.

Acclaimed as one of the great, albeit disturbing, visionary works of Western civilization, Conrad's haunting tale dramatizes the stark realities of Africa in the colonial period. Heart of Darkness reflects the physical and psychological tragedies Conrad experienced while working in the Belgian Congo in 1890 and is the basis of Francis Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now.

At the opening of The Claverings (1866) the beautiful Julia Brabazon jilts her lover Harry Clavering in order to make a marriage of convenience with a wealthy but dissolute earl. Harry licks his wounds, leaves London to train as a civil engineer, and falls in love with his employer's daughter, to whom he soon becomes engaged. But when Julia returns unexpectedly as a wealthy widow, the flame of Harry's old love is rekindled.

When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam, Oroonoko reflects the author's romantic view of native peoples as noble savages in 'the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin'.

Quelques hommes pleins de conviction dirigent leur regard vers la Lune pour s'en rapprocher afin d'en prendre possession et d'accomplir un exploit hors du commun. Le monde entier est derrière eux, l'exploit est de taille, et alors que le chantier avance, Michel Ardan, un audacieux français lui propose de remplacer le boulet par un obus creux dans lequel il prendrait place. Nicholl, adversaire du projet se joint à lui pour cet extraordinaire voyage, ainsi qu'un troisième compagnon.

Lecture des États multiples de l'être, de René Guénon (1932).

È il 1946 quando Amerigo lascia il suo rione di Napoli e sale su un treno. Assieme a migliaia di altri bambini meridionali attraverserà l'intera penisola e trascorrerà alcuni mesi in una famiglia del Nord; un'iniziativa del Partito comunista per strappare i piccoli alla miseria dopo l'ultimo conflitto. Con lo stupore dei suoi sette anni e il piglio furbo di un bambino dei vicoli, Amerigo ci mostra un'Italia che si rialza dalla guerra come se la vedessimo per la prima volta. E ci affida la storia commovente di una separazione.