Romans i literatura obyczajowa
Edith Wharton
This is Edith Whartons earliest published collection of 8 short stories (1899). A selection consists: Muses Tragedy: Unrequited love between a poet and his muse. The Journey: A woman journeys with her ailing husband. The Pelican: A woman supports her son. Souls Belated: The pressure put on couples to marry. A Coward: A man recounts his cowardice past. The Twilight of the God: Past lovers meet under a husbands eye. A Cup of Cold Water: Redemption song. The Portrait: One of Whartons earliest short stories, when a painter paints your flaws. Like much of Whartons later work, they touch on themes of marriage, male/female relationships, New York society, and the nature and purpose of art. Give yourselves a treat, and read this short but unforgettable diverse collection!
Louise Jordan Miln
The vicar suffered almost the same way he suffered the night his wife, Elena, died and because he suffered, he put his beautiful cameo-like face in the sunniest smile. It was his path part of his daily life, an integral part of himself. A pious man, in the strongest senses of this over-used word, Philip Reynolds possessed a noble talent for the things of the earth that at the same time soften human life and give it a poignancy.
Hugh Walpole
Mrs. Trenchards figure contains all the jealous stubbornness of a strong parent who does not want to let go of his child. Her strength lies mainly in her ability, as she is understood to be unsympathetic, to impose creative possibilities on those whom she loves, and singles out a caring Catherine as a person whose fate she wants to control. When Katherine agrees to be engaged during the year, she realizes the need to pay any reasonable price to keep her mother and Trenchards.
The Hand of Ethelberta. A Comedy in Chapters
Thomas Hardy
Hardys fifth novel, entitled "Comedy in Chapters." In a typical Hardy manner, the story is based on a love triangle. Ethelberta and her involuntary sister Picoti are in love with the same man, Christopher, who reciprocates Ethelbertas feelings. However, a happy result for them is out of the question, because it is poor.
Brand Whitlock
The Happy Average is a novel of far more genuine merit than Mr. Whitlocks former works. It is a realistic story of commonplace life in a small Ohio town, the realism being of that wholesome sort which portrays the every-day existence, the small joys and sorrows, of the average men and women of the average Western village. The story deals with the struggles of the hero, Glenn Marley, a young man of very ordinary ability, to win a place in the legal profession and at the same time earn enough money to enable him to marry the girl (Lavinia Blair) of his choice, who is the daughter of Judge Blair, one of the leading citizens of the town. The story, however is a faithful picture of life in a conservative Western town and will appeal to those who enjoy the simple recital of unexciting events.
The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories
Edith Wharton
Seven short stories from the prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist Edith Wharton. With a wide variety of protagonists a cloistered monk to a struggling artist to a Governor to a New England lawyers wife she is flexing her writing muscles and trying on personas. Includes The Last Asset, In Trust, The Pretext, The Verdict, The Pot-Boiler, and The Best Man. In the title story, the reader learns that the hermit, as a young boy, witnessed the killing of his parents and sister during an attack on his town. As a result of his trauma, he has retreated into isolation until he meets a wild woman who comes to live nearby. Highly recommended when you want something short but stimulating between longer reads!
The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
There is a trial of the bare and thin peasant Denis Grigoriev. He is accused of unscrewing the nut, which rails are attached to the cross ties. The little man does not deny this, but does not see his guilt. The investigator finds out that Denis, like other men, unscrews the nuts in order to make them sinkers. The defendant sincerely does not understand that such unscrewing can lead to train accidents and death. The investigator sends the attacker to prison, but he still does not understand what he did.
Mary Webb
In this dense novel, the house in which the Darke family exists apparently has its own impassive but claustrophobic influence on the family, which, in turn, tied itself up too quickly in its network of special hate agreements and connections. Jasper fights against his religion, Ruby is trapped between her need for conventions and her own desires, and Peter is forced to rebel.