Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

This is the story of a mild-mannered civil servant, Mr. Golyadkin, who begins to see his "doppelganger" appearing in his life (at work, in society, etc). This "double" has all the qualities that the protagonist lacks. His "double" bullies and persecutes him, slowly taking his place in the world. As the story progresses what could have been a true "double" is revealed to the reader as being Mr. Golyadkin's own mind splitting from reality. It is a haunting and tragic tale. (Summary by Greg Giordano)

The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, accomplished horseman and gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady. (Introduction from Wikipedia)

The Old Testament, translated by an American committee lead by S.H. Hooke, using Basic English, a simplified English vernacular developed by linguist Charles Kay Ogden for use in teaching English to non-native speakers and as an international auxiliary language. Basic English utilizes a limited vocabulary of around 850 English words. - Summary by Mark Penfold

Edward Chatterton, a prolific British author of maritime adventures, presents fascinating stories of pirates and their exploits from earliest times through the 19th century. Chapters include the history of piracy in Tudor and Elizabethan times and stories of legendary pirates such as Black Beard, Henry Morgan, and Captain Kidd. - Summary by Larry Wilson

This 1911 history of the public health revolution that transformed New York City in the nineteenth century is also about every city and town of the world and the sanitary challenges that each encountered. Stephen Smith (1823-1922) was an American surgeon and a pioneer in public health. “The story of a great life-saving social revolution, the mightiest in the nineteenth century and one of the most momentous in the history of civilization, is told here for the first time. It is told from the standpoint of the transformation of the City of New York, by a chief actor in the event.” Chapter ...

Jane Addams was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a long, complex career, she was a pioneer settlement worker and founder of Hull-House in Chicago, public philosopher (the first American woman in that role), author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace. She was the most prominent woman of the Progressive Era and helped turn the nation to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health and world peace. She emphasized that women have a special responsibility to clean up their communities and make them better places to live, ...

"Samuel Langhorne Clemens", "Mark Twain At Home", "Youth of Mark Twain" & "Mark Twain Gossip"Published in the June 16, 1888 edition of "Literature - An Illustrated Weekly Magazine" (Vol. 1, No. 17) these four, early magazine articles about Mark Twain fill in and analyze areas of Twain's persona for the first time. "Mark Twain At Home" was originally published in the London, England "World". ( John Greenman)

This recording is chapters 56 through 61 plus 78 of the 1879 edition of 'Roughing It' by Mark Twain (1835-1910). The chapters contain in Twain style his observations and experiences in the state of California. - Summary by David Wales

This is the first volume of Dumas' Marie Antoinette Romances (also called "The Memoirs of a Physician"). This historical fiction chronicles the strange events surrounding the fall of the French monarchy (starting ~1770) and rise of revolutionaries so terrifying that the period is still called "The Reign of Terrors" (1793-1794). In this volume, a renowned magician, Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (Balsamo), employs various occult tactics, like hypnotism and necromancy, to gain state secrets. Balsamo claims to be plotting against the Bourbons, but one must wonder whether this 3000 year old ...

'The Listener'First, it was a strange array of cats, then an increasingly mysterious, and then terrifying increase in...happenstances and...appearances...'Number Thirteen'Unlucky for some this room is...on a visit to a Denmark with an ancient presence...'The Horla'Yes, I believed, that an invisible being lived beneath my roof. How weak our head is, and how quickly it is terrified and goes astray, we immediately imagine terrible mysteries and supernatural powers.'The Beast with Five Fingers'With murderous vengeance, the beast pursues the two friends. Will secrecy, intense surveillance and a ...

Please note: this recording contains strong language."1601," wrote Mark Twain, "is a supposititious conversation which takes place in Queen Elizabeth's closet in that year, between the Queen, Ben Jonson, Beaumont, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Duchess of Bilgewater, and one or two others ... If there is a decent word findable in it, it is because I overlooked it." 1601 depicts a highfalutin and earthy discussion between the Queen and her court about farting and a variety of sexual peccadillos, narrated disapprovingly and sanctimoniously by the Queen's Cup-Bearer, an eyewitness at "the Social ...

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. Written for publication as a serial, The Pickwick Papers consists of a sequence of loosely-related adventures. Its main literary value and appeal is formed by its numerous unforgettable heroes. Each personage in The Pickwick Papers (just as in many other Dickens' novels) is drawn comically, often with exaggerated features of character. (Wikipedia)

First published as a serial in Fraser's Magazine in 1844 as The Luck of Barry Lyndon, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq is a picaresque novel, narrated (occasionally charmingly, always unreliably) by a member of the 18th-century Irish gentry. Redmond Barry, later Barry Lyndon, describes his rise to - and inevitable fall from - the top of the English aristocracy. Romantic, military and political intrigue, as well as satire and pathos, follow. Editorial notes, courtesy of Thackeray's fictitious alter ego, G. S. FitzBoodle, interject further levels of irony, humour and detachment.Thackeray, who ...

These stories were the original ones collected by Charles Perrault and published in French in 1696. You may have heard of some of them and they are probably a bit different than what you may expect, coming from an age and time when the ears of our children were not considered so delicate." For example: "Grandmamma, what great teeth you have got!" "That is to eat thee up."And, saying these words, this wicked Wolf fell upon Little Red Riding-hood, and ate her all up." end of story. - Summary by Phil chenevert

Primer Libro de Crónicas El Primer libro de Crónicas, que junto con el Segundo Libro de Crónicas, originalmente formaban parte de un solo libro, se escribieron después de que Judá comenzara a regresar del exilio de Babilonia en 538 a. C. (1 Crónicas 36:23). Este primer libro se centra principalmente en la historia de Judá, el reino del sur, del Israel dividido. El libro comienza con varias genealogías con especial énfasis en David y Salomón, pero incluye el resto de las tribus. Las "crónicas" nos transportan a continuación a la historia del reino bajo David, enfatizando el profundo...

In the unsettled years of England's War of the Roses, where a man stood on the issue of kingship could make his fortune... or end his life. Dick Shelton, a nobly-born lad, is on the cusp of manhood, and he is thrust bodily into this stew where allegiances shift under one's feet. Circumstances cause him to fall in with a gentlemaiden in boy's disguise. Until he learns of the deception, Dick is unaware that the young lady is an heiress whom his guardian Sir Daniel had kidnapped. And the introduction of an outlaw with a penchant for putting black arrows into the bodies of the men who had wronged ...

Fenimore Cooper - author of The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, etc - has often been praised, but just as often been criticised for his writing. Mark Twain wrote a funny, vicious little essay on the subject, in which he states: "In one place in 'Deerslayer,' and in the restricted space of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115."(Summary by Gesine)

Il Decamerone è una raccolta di cento novelle scritta da Giovanni Boccaccio tra il 1349 e il 1351.Le novelle sono raccontate a turno da un gruppo di 7donne e 3 uomini rifugiatisi in una villa fuori Firenze per sfuggire all'imperversare della peste.È considerata una delle opere più importanti della letteratura del Trecento europeo, ed e' la capostipite della letteratura in prosa in volgare italiano. (Riassunto di Eysiss)

This is a collection of early Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short stories. It includes stories of mystery, comedy, shipwrecks and fantasy. (Summary by Richard Kilmer)

The book describes the love triangle between a young woman, Elfride Swancourt, and her two suitors from very different backgrounds. Stephen Smith is a socially inferior but ambitious young man who adores her and with whom she shares a country background. Henry Knight is the respectable, established, older man who represents London society. (Summary by Wikipedia)