Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

Dorothy is swallowed by an earthquake! And that is just the start of Dorothy's adventures in this exciting and fun book. She and her kitten, Eureka are on their way home and stop to visit a relative in California. But the earthquake opens the ground under their feet and everyone, including the horse and buggy and her cousin Zeb fall deep, deep into the earth. Down there they find they can walk on air, but are attacked by the strange and dangerous vegetable creatures. But who should drop in but Dorothy's old friend the Wizard of Oz with 9 tiny piglets! And all the animals can talk! From there ...

The Last of the Mohicans is an epic novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in January 1826. It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time, and helped establish Cooper as one of the first world-famous American writers.The story takes place in 1757 during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied themselves with Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the British, with unpredictable and often tragic results.(Wikipedia Excerpt)

The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck. On the night of Christmas a boy and a girl, Tyltil and Mytil, are visited by Fairy Berilyuna. Fairy's granddaughter is sick and can only be saved by the Blue Bird. Thanks to the Fairy's magic gift children have the opportunity to see the soul of things. Inanimate objects Clocks, Fire, Water, Bread, Sugar, Milk transformed into beings with their own character. Together, they set off on a dangerous journey for the fabulous Blue Bird. The play is inspired with the deep idea of the author "be brave enough to see the hidden." - ...

This collection from renowned author Washington Irving (famed for his haunting tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the fantastical legend of "Rip Van Winkle") offers a diverse mix of stories ranging from the spooky and strange supernatural folk tales surrounding his native New England to stories more exotic of ancient legends and travel sketches from faraway places reflective of the time Irving spent journeying through Europe. - Summary by Ben Tucker

This sequel to Dumas' “Marguerite de Valois” begins four years after the sudden death of King Charles IX and succession of his brother Henry III. The reign of King Henry III was plagued with rebellion and political intrigue due to the War of the Three Henries, where his regency was challenged by King Henry of Navarre (leader of the Huguenots) and Henry I, Duke of Guise (leader of the Catholic League). Dumas weaves two main storylines through this turbulent backdrop: one of the love ignited between le Comte de Bussy and la Dame de Monsoreau, and another of the friendship between King Henry ...

“Who ever lov’d, that lov’d not at first sight?”The wonder-decade of the English drama was suddenly interrupted in 1592, when serious plague broke out in London, forcing the closure of the theatres. Leading playwrights took to penning languorously erotic poetry to make ends meet: so we have Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece - and Marlowe’s blazing masterpiece, Hero and Leander.Marlowe’s poem became more notorious than either of Shakespeare’s, due not only to its homophile provocations but also to the scandal attaching to every aspect of Marlowe’s brief life, violently ended...

The Corsair (1814) by Lord Byron narrates the tale of Conrad, a pirate or privateer, who was rejected by society in his youth because of his acts and his later war against humanity. Conrad attacks the island fortress of Pacha Seyd to try to seize his possessions but is captured while trying to rescue women from the pasha's harem. Gulnare, the pasha's slave, initiates a plan to trick Seyd into freeing Conrad but when this fails she kills Seyd and they both escape. Conrad takes Gulnare back to his island home where he discovers that his wife Medora has died from grief. Conrad departs the island ...

Charlotte Bronte was a British author, the eldest of the three famous Bronte sisters who have become standards of English literature. She is best known for her novel Jane Eyre, one of the greatest classics of all times. Just two years after Charlotte's death, her friend Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her biography. Want to know more about Charlotte Bronte? If you do, please read this biography. Summary by Stav Nisser.Volume One of this biography is available here

Heir to a noble Scottish house in the mid 18th century, the Master is a charming, clever, and resourceful villain whose daring but ill-advised schemes first alienate his patrimony and at last cost him his life. His younger brother, sweet-tempered and good but dull and unpopular, suffers at the Master's hands until his patience and courage win him limited ascendancy, but he is at last consumed with hatred and driven to madness and death by the strain of his many sufferings. The story is told from the point of view of a loyal servant with the occasional insertion of documents in the words of ...

This is a volume of short stories by the famous Arthur Conan Doyle. - Summary by Carolin

O Ateneu é um romance do escritor brasileiro Raul Pompeia, considerado como o único exemplar de romance impressionista na literatura brasileira.Publicado pela primeira vez em 1888, o livro conta a história de Sérgio, um menino que é enviado para um colégio interno renomado na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, denominado Ateneu. Comandado pelo diretor Aristarco, o colégio mantém regras rígidas e princípios da aristocracia da época. A obra critica a sociedade brasileira do final do século XIX, tomando como metáfora o Ateneu, seu reflexo, um lugar onde vence sempre o mais forte.(Sumário ...

When George Randolph first caught sight of Orena, he was astounded by its gleaming perfection. Here were hills and valleys, lakes and streams, glowing with the light of the most precious of metals. And, more astonishing than that, it was a world of miniature perfection—an infinitely tiny universe within a golden atom!But for Randolph it was also a world aglow with danger. Somewhere in its tiny vastness were the friends he had to rescue. Captives of a madman, they had been reduced to native Orena size; to return to Earth they needed the growth capsules Randolph was bringing them. It was up to...

Ecclesiastes (ou Eclesiastes, como chamado mais recentemente) é um dos livros do Antigo Testamento da Bíblia Cristã, mas que também faz parte da Bíblia Hebraica. Essa palavra é uma transcrição fonética do grego "Ἐκκλησιαστής" que significa algo como "Pregador" ou "Sábio". A obra faz parte da seção da Bíblia dedicada à sabedoria. O livro basicamente trata da "vaidade" (como foi traduzida) da vida. O termo "vaidade" é tratado no texto hebraico como "hevel", algo fugaz, vão.O livro diz que "tudo é vaidade", nada vale a pena, não vale a pena se esforçar, já que ...

Professor Freud developed his system of psychoanalysis while studying the so-called borderline cases of mental diseases, such as hysteria and compulsion neurosis. By discarding the old methods of treatment and strictly applying himself to a study of the patient's life he discovered that the hitherto puzzling symptoms had a definite meaning, and that there was nothing arbitrary in any morbid manifestation. Psychoanalysis always showed that they referred to some definite problem or conflict of the person concerned. It was while tracing back the abnormal to the normal state that Professor Freud ...

The Storm (1704) holds a special place in the writings of Daniel Defoe. Widely considered a founding document of modern journalism, The Storm narrates the calamitous events of November 1703 that are framed by the author in the first four chapters. These are followed by verbatim eyewitness accounts, solicited from survivors through a newspaper advertisement that Defoe placed shortly after the hurricane struck. Defoe is primarily known for his later fiction, loosely based on historical calamities, such as his Journal of the Plague Year (1722), and by fictionalized novels purporting to be ...

Noted macabre poet Charles Baudelaire later in life wrote this collection of brief sketches, what he deemed "little poems in prose". He thus employs his rich, romanticist skills in service of creating dream-like passages of ethereal beauty and dark turns of fate. His words may be both kind and cruel in turns but is always entrancing. Also included is an extensive biography of Baudelaire by James Huneker. (Summary by Ben Tucker)

Este poeta español, miembro de la mítica Generación del 27, es el mayor referente de la literatura española del siglo XX. También escribió numerosas obras de teatro, género en el que también se lo considera autoridad e ícono del siglo pasado, destacándose Bodas de sangre y La casa de Bernarda Alba. Fue asesinado en Granada durante la Guerra Civil Española por su condición de republicano y homosexual. Entre sus poemas podemos encontrar Gacela de la terrible presencia, Alba, Alma ausente, La casada infiel, Muerto de amor y Ciudad sin sueño. - Summary by Phileas Fogg

This classic tale by Lewis Carroll has delighted children for generations. Alice falls down a rabbit hole and encounters a wide variety of strange and wonderful creatures in all manner of bizarre situations. Join Alice as she journeys through Wonderland, trying to make sense of what she finds there. This version is read dramatically, with different readers voicing the different characters. (Summary by Lucy Perry) CastNarrator: David GoldfarbAlice: Miss AvariceThe White Rabbit: BellonaTimesMouse: cher0520Lory: AvailleDuck: Jessamy GloorDodo: Tim FerreiraEaglet: Dennis D.Old Crab: Joshua ...

A collection of readings in the readers' language of choice.

Flower Fables is Louisa May Alcott's first book, penned at 16 for Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughter, Ellen.(Summary by Clarica)