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A captivating Victorian “sensation” novel by the author of “Lady Audley's Secret”, Run to Earth has it all: scoundrels and mercenaries, love and lust, jealousy, intrigue, and suspense. (Introduction by Gail Mattern)...

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Literature, Romance

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Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen's classic comic romance, in which the five Bennett sisters try to find that most elusive creature: a single man in possession of a large fortune. Sparks fly when sweet, pretty Jane meets their new neighbor, Mr. Bingley, but her sister Elizabeth is most offended by his haughty friend, Mr. Darcy. This is Austen at the height of her powers: the ironic narration, hilariously drawn supporting characters, and romantic suspense make this her most enduringly popular novel. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Literature, Romance

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Ausgangspunkt der „Marquise von O.“ ist die skandalöse Begebenheit einer unwissentlich zustande gekommenen Schwangerschaft. Durch verschiedene sprachliche Mittel wird der Geschichte ein Eindruck von Authentizität verliehen. Zu diesen Mitteln zählen beispielsweise der Untertitel „Nach einer wahren Begebenheit, deren Schauplatz von Norden nach dem Süden verlegt worden“ sowie die Abkürzung der in der Novelle erwähnten Orts- und Personennamen. Letztere legt eine tatsächliche Existenz von Figuren nahe, deren Identität nicht preisgegeben werden darf. Der tatsächliche Wahrheitsgehalt der Novelle ist jedoch fraglich....

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Literature, Romance, Tragedy

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The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915 and one of his best known works. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a horrible verminous creature. Terrifying in its banal simplicity, it became one of the seminal works of the twentieth century. This Translation is by Ian Johnston. (Summary by David Richardson)...

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Fiction, Literature

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Emilie Flygare-Carlén var under 1800-talet en av Sveriges mest populära och lästa författare. En Nyckfull kvinna, som gavs ut i fyra delar, har den unga Edith Sternfelt som centralgestalt. Hon är på ytan en mycket självmedveten, självsäker och nyckfull kvinna, men bär samtidigt på en stor osäkerhet. I första delen, Den obundna flickan, presenteras läsaren/lyssnaren för en rad personer som har viktiga roller på olika sätt. Av dessa är ”farbror Janne”, Ediths döde fars bror, en framträdande person. Han kallar sig ”en man av ränseln” och trivs bäst när han får göra strövtåg genom landet i sällskap med sin lille kortväxte följeslagare Primus. Janne är en både ömsint och vis man, och har ett gott öga till sin brosrdotter, som står hans hjärta nära, även om han är oroad över hennes nyckfullhet. Modern, hovrättsrådinnan, änka och ägare till det stora bruket Dagby i Värmland, styr med fast, och ibland något despotisk, hand sina underlydande, och försöker även styra sin äldsta dotter. Hon är är både oroad och förtretad över hur Edith avvisat en lång rad friare, och planerar, utan Ediths vetskap, att presentera henne för en lämplig kandidat, ...

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Fiction, Literature

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Il fu Mattia Pascal è un celebre romanzo di Luigi Pirandello che apparve dapprima a puntate sulla rivista Nuova Antologia nel 1904 e pubblicato, nello stesso anno, in volume. Fu il primo grande successo di Pirandello, scritto in un momento difficile della sua vita... (Wikipedia)...

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Fiction, Literature

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Gottfried Kellers Novelle Die drei gerechten Kammmacher (diese Schreibweise wurde in der Erstausgabe 1856 verwendet und gilt nach der neuen deutschen Rechtschreibung, viele Ausgaben verwenden Kammacher) gehört zur Sammlung Die Leute von Seldwyla und gilt als Beispiel einer realistischen Groteske. Die Geschichte handelt von drei deutschen Handwerksgesellen, die bei einem Seldwyler Meister arbeiten, alle drei fleißig, sparsam, genügsam, berechnend und konfliktscheu. Da sie alle drei die Kammmacherei kaufen möchten, und dazu alle die selbe vermögende Jungfer heiraten wollen, werden sie zu erbitterten Rivalen. Es kommt zu einem entscheidenden Wettlauf, der für zwei der Gesellen schlimm ausgeht - aber auch für den Sieger kommt es anders, als er gedacht hatte. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia und Karlsson)...

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Humor, Literature, Satire

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Die Leute von Seldwyla ist ein zweiteiliger Novellenzyklus des Schweizer Dichters Gottfried Keller. Es umfasst zehn Lebensbilder (so der Arbeitstitel während der Berliner Entstehungszeit), die durch einen gemeinsamen Schauplatz, die fiktive Schweizerstadt Seldwyla, zusammengehalten werden. Diese Sammlung umfaßt sechs der zehn Novellen. (Wikipedia)...

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Literature, Short stories

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There is an old anecdote, probably apocryphal, which describes how a feminine admirer wrote to Browning asking him for the meaning of one of his darker poems, and received the following reply: When that poem was written, two people knew what it meant--God and Robert Browning. And now God only knows what it means. (Summary by Gilbert Keith Chesterton)...

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Literature, Essay/Short nonfiction

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Lasciati gli studi di medicina per dedicarsi al lavoro di redattore di giornale il giovane SDG seppe scrivere in quegli anni alcune tra le più belle rappresentazioni di uno spaccato di vita napoletana. La Napoli dei vicoli, delle sue donne, delle mille botteghe e della miseria fu dipinta in ogni sua più impercettibile sfumatura come solo la mano d’un ‘verista sentimentale’, come egli si definiva, poteva. In quest’opera egli racconta, in quindici brevi storie, alcuni drammi causati dalla miseria come quello d’una madre che vede morire il bambino Ndreuccio per un semplice malanno, della giovane Serafina accoltellata per strada, la vedova Carmela costretta a chiudere un suo maschietto all’Albergo dei Poveri e mandare la bambinella ad imparar a cucire da una sartina, o le lacrime della piccola Bettina che ritrova vuota la sua calza lasciata alla befana. Ma anche storie apparentemente comuni come quella di Fortunata la fiorista accoltellata dal marito per gelosia, o quella dell’incontro in ospedale della giovane e bella Suor Carmelina che seppe turbarlo, o ancora dell’ingenuità di Antonietta sedotta da un marinaio. Nelle descrizioni appa...

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Short stories, Literature

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Edith Wharton was a novelist of manners of late 19th Century New York Society, who spent much of her life in France. In this novel she tells the story of Undine Sprague, the thrice- (or more) married, upwardly mobile beauty from Apex City, transplanted to New York, and finally to France, leaving the dead and wounded in the wake of her experiments in happiness. (Summary by Karen Merline)...

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Fiction, Literature

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Tom Sawyer Abroad is a novel by Mark Twain published in 1894. It features Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in a parody of Jules Verne-esque adventure stories. In the story, Tom, Huck, and Jim set sail to Africa in a futuristic hot air balloon, where they survive encounters with lions, robbers, and fleas to see some of the world's greatest wonders, including the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Detective, the story is told using the first-person narrative voice of Huck Finn.(Summary by Wikipedia)...

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Adventure, Literature

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Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand ist ein Schauspiel in fünf Aufzügen von Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Als Vorbild der Hauptfigur galt der schwäbische Reichsritter Gottfried (genannt: Götz) von Berlichingen zu Hornberg. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia) Text: Fassung Weimar...

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Literature, Play

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Masterful short stories about life in Dublin at the turn of the century, by James Joyce. (Summary by Hugh McGuire)

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Short stories, Literature, Fiction

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The story ostensibly concerns a young literary critics who greatly admirs the writer Hugh Vereker. A meeting with Vereker, however, shows him that he – and all other critics – have in fact missed the great point of Verreker's work, and the critic (and his editor) thereupon devote themselves to trying to unravel the mystery. James's story, however, almost certainly has an autobiographical side to it, perhaps itself criticizing those critics who couldn't see, or wouldn't see, the figures lost in the carpet of his own writing. (Summary by Nicholas Clifford)...

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Fiction, Literature

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The Wings of the Dove, published in 1902, represents to my memory a very old--if I shouldn't perhaps rather say a very young--motive; I can scarce remember the time when the situation on which this long-drawn fiction mainly rests was not vividly present to me. The idea, reduced to its essence, is that of a young person conscious of a great capacity for life, but early stricken and doomed, condemned to die under short respite, while also enamoured of the world; aware moreover of the condemnation and passionately desiring to put in before extinction as many of the finer vibrations as possible, and so achieve, however briefly and brokenly, the sense of having lived. (summary taken from the Preface by Henry James)...

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Fiction, Literature

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Kabale und Liebe ist ein Drama in fünf Akten von Friedrich Schiller. Das von Schiller als Bürgerliches Trauerspiel bezeichnete Drama zeigt die durch niederträchtige Intrigen (= Kabalen) zerstörte Liebe zwischen dem Adelssohn Ferdinand von Walter und der bürgerlichen Musikertochter Luise Miller.(Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia)...

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Play, Literature

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An unlikely pair of wanderers they were; the orphan girl Lou and her travelling partner Jim Botts. Jim appeared in need of following some apparent 'rules' during the journey, while Lou seemed in need of better clothing, and perhaps some refinement. But who was most benefitting whom on the week-long journey from rural village to big city? And which of the two was willing to try anything once? (Introduction by Roger Melin)...

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Literature, Fiction, Travel

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I’LL WRITE THE SUMMARY LATER (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis)

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Fiction, Literature

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The book tells the story of a young man named William Crimsworth. It describes his maturation, his loves and his eventual career as a professor at an all-girl's school. (Summary from Wikipedia, adapted by Stav Nisser)...

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Fiction, Literature