Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

The first book in the 20-novel Rougon-Macquart Cycle. A monument of French naturalism. The sprawling tale of a family in Provence, during the Second Empire, the family that grew out of the liaisons between Adelaide Fouque and her husband Rougons, and the smuggler Macquart. - Summary by Mark Leder

Beautiful, playful young Deirdre, caught in the crosshairs of Ireland's wily, chauvinistic King Conachur, who desires to marry her after his own wife Maeve has escaped his clutches, is one of many prequels to the legend of “The Great Tain”, Ireland's national epic. Sometimes called "The Irish Iliad", this saga of war between rival Irish and Scottish kings, with its many characters, was preserved in oral tradition with many variations, until committed to writing in the Middle Ages. Stephens gives his own interpretation, insights and humor of the Deirdre story as he spins court intrigue, ...

Take a fascinating journey from France to America through the "eyes" of a pocket handkerchief. She marvels at the vastness of the universe which the Creator devised and glories in her own fabrication by the young hands of a French peasant. All the while, she sees the intricacies of Providence in her life, as well as those about her. (Summary by Keith Salis)

This is a story that is set in 16th century Germany. Characters representing the various classes of the remnants of feudalism and the rising bourgeois class struggle against each other. Placed in the light of the very recent and polarizing Protestant Reformation, the characters' tensions increase. - Summary by Joel Kindrick

Sono i canti dal tredicesimo al ventesimo del poema cavalleresco Orlando Furioso, in cui si intrecciano numerose vicende fantastiche incentrate sull’amore di Orlando (e di molti altri) per la bellissima ma ritrosa Angelica, fino a che Orlando impazzisce sapendo che Angelica si è unita al giovane Medoro, per cui il suo senno dovrà essere recuperato da Astolfo sulla luna cui giungerà in sella al mitico cavallo alato Ippogrifo.In questi canti si intrecciano molte vicende, tra cui la vicenda di Cloridano e Medoro e il successivo innamoramento di Angelica e Medoro che nei canti successivi ...

"Mrs. Dalloway" recounts a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in the middle of June 1923. Clarissa Dalloway is a high society London lady. On that day, she is hosting a party, meeting people, going to the park, and reflecting on her choices. Where would she have been if she married Peter Walsh and not Richard Dalloway? What if she would not invite this or that person to her party? Her feelings about Peter Walsh grow because on that particular day he returns from India to settle some affairs in London. Other people also reflect on their choices. Mr. Smith who cannot move on from the horrors ...

The novel centres, in a very ambiguous way, around the life story of the protagonist Jacob Flanders, and is presented entirely by the impressions other characters have of Jacob [except for those times when we do indeed get Jacob's perspective]. Thus, although it could be said that the book is primarily a character study and has little in the way of plot or background, the narrative is constructed as a void in place of the central character, if indeed the novel can be said to have a 'protagonist' in conventional terms. Motifs of emptiness and absence haunt the novel and establish its elegiac ...

Colección de ensayos e historias del viaje que Washington Irving realizó en 1828 a Granada, acompañado por el guía Mateo Jiménez. Una placa conmemorativa en la Alhambra recuerda que Washington Irving escribió allí mismo sus cuentos. (summary by tux)

Some of the states who rebelled against the Federal Government in the American Civil War issued statements by nascent governing bodies explaining why they were attempting to leave. Here are the statements, published in 1860 and 1861, of South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. - Summary by David Wales

This novel is subtitled The Mellstock Quire, A Rural Painting of the Dutch School. The Quire is the group of musicians who accompany the hymns at the local church and we follow the fortunes of one member, Dick Dewy, who falls in love with the new school mistress, Fancy Day. Another element of the book is the battle between the traditional musicians of the Quire and the local vicar, Parson Maybold, who installs a church organ. This battle illustrates the developing technology being introduced in the Victorian era and its threat to traditional country ways. The novel was published anonymously in...

Oliver Twist is an 1838 novel by Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial.Like most of Dickens' work, the book is used to call the public's attention to various contemporary social evils, including the workhouse, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. The novel is full of sarcasm and dark humour, even as it treats its serious subject, revealing the hypocrisies of the time.It has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and the basis for a highly successful British musical, Oliver!. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Jacob Abbott chronicles the unspeakably treacherous rise of Richard III to the throne of England in the midst of the war between the Yorks and the Lancasters and his ultimate fall on the Field of Bosworth. (Introduction by Cathy Barratt)

Cañas y barro relata la historia de una de las familias más importantes de La Abufera valenciana. Generación tras generación se han ganado el prestigio pescando y siendo los mejores barqueros del Palmar. Sin embargo, Tono, hijo del tío Paloma, decide abandonar la pesca y dedicarse a labrar los campos, lo que a consecuencia del fuerte carácter del tío Paloma, se traduce en una gran enemistad entre padre e hijo. Por otro lado, Tonet hijo de Tono y nieto del tío Paloma, es un muchacho débil de carácter al que le gusta la vida fácil; esto unido a la relación amorosa con Neleta, su amor...

The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered, along with The Three Musketeers, as Dumas's most popular work. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting ...

Spinster Polly Harrington is perfectly content to be in control of her comfortable life, even if is she alone in a big house. But then a letter arrives informing her she is the guardian to her young orphaned niece, and she as well as the whole town quickly learns that life will never be the same with Pollyanna around to help them count their blessings. - Summary by thestorygirl

Washington Irving's Old Christmas tells of an American's travels through England during the Christmas season. Through a chance meeting with an old friend he is able to experience Christmas in a stately manor house. Through his eyes as a houseguest he glimpses the uniquely British customs and celebrations of Christmas as it would have been experienced during the Middle Ages, rather than in the early 19th century. - Summary by Greg Giordano

Natty Bumppo goes by many names: La Longue Carabine, Hawk Eye, Leatherstocking, and in this tale, The Pathfinder. Guide, scout, hunter, and when put to it, soldier, he also fills a lot of roles in pre-Revolution upstate New York. An old friend, Sergeant Dunham of the 55th Regiment of Foot, asks him to guide his daughter through the wilderness to the fort at Oswego where Dunham serves. With the French engaging native Indian allies against the British and the Yankee colonists, such a journey is far from safe. Dunham has a plan in mind - to see his daughter Mable married off to the most ...

Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Join her and a web of connections in exploring London, their memories and their innermost thoughts and feelings. This novel explores relationships, mental health, nostalgia, regret, and the multitude of reasons for which people make decisions which change the course of their life. (Summary by Hannah Dormor)

Le Père Goriot est un roman d’Honoré de Balzac, écrit en 1834, dont la publication débute dans la Revue de Paris et qui paraît en 1835 en librairie. Il fait partie des Scènes de la vie privée de la Comédie humaine. Le Père Goriot établit les bases de ce qui deviendra un véritable édifice : la Comédie humaine, construction littéraire unique en son genre, avec des liens entre les volumes, des passerelles, des renvois. (Résumé par Wikipédia)Le Père Goriot (English: Father Goriot or Old Goriot) is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), ...

The action takes place in London, with excursions to Devon, Yorkshire, and Portsmouth, as we follow the adventures of the eponymous hero. Nicholas is forced to unwelcome employment to help secure support for his widowed mother and his sister from their mercenary relative Ralph, on whose mercy they have been thrown. After many adventures Nicholas finally triumphs over his Uncle, although his success is also tinged with sadness. (Summary by Chris Garbett)