Obyczajowa
The Pathfinder. or The Inland Sea
James Fenimore Cooper
In the third installment of the Leatherstocking Tales, Cooper takes his main character, here called the Pathfinder (Natty Bumppo) and examines his role as an explorer for British/Colonial forces in the forests and islands around the Great Lakes. The story is a classic historical adventure/romance and Bumppo falls in love, for the first and only time in the five novels, only to see his choice fall in love with another man a younger man and good friend of Nattys. The Pathfinder remains a classic and entertaining account of the American wilderness and of aspects of human experience in the New World. Probably the best of the five Leatherstocking novels.
Oscar Wilde
Possessing eternal youth and beauty produces exactly the same effect as sentencing a man to life without the possibility of parole. Both have nothing to lose and morals disappear before the desire for immediate self-gratification in all things. And so it is with Dorian Gray. Its a moral story so eventually his evil catches up with him and he dies, as does the criminal. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a fascinating novel in which a beautiful young man, under the poisonous influence of an older dandy, makes a bargain with the devil, according to which he stays young and charming while his portrait becomes a reflection of his conscience. Wildes novel is about youth and beauty versus experience; morality and the triumph of the senses over reason; sin and accountability; society, its hypocrisy and the depths of the human condition.
Charlotte Brontë
Written two years before Jane Eyre, The Professor was Charlotte Brontes first novel and was based on her experiences in Brussels. The story is one of love and doubt, as the hero, William Crimsworth, seeks his fortune as a teacher in Brussels and finds his love for the good Anglo-Swiss girl, Frances Henri, severely tested by the sensuously beguiling and manipulative headmistress, Zoroade Reuter. On the other hand, the social protest sounded distinctly in this novel that is typical for mature works of Charlotte Bronte. In particular, this protest is expressed in the image of a soulless, prudent businessman, the factory owner Edward Crimsworth who devoided of basic humanity in dealing with workers and their families.
Herbert George Wells
Mr. Wells builds novels out of ideas as other men build them of imagery and emotions. H. G. Wells takes us on a very entertaining and profound journey via a character named William who insists on living life nobly and thoroughly. Starting in his boyhood, and throughout his life, it produced profound adventures, yet also make him ridiculous, and even inspiring. It is a passion for courage, for personal nobility, for service to others, for self-sacrificing, all for the social betterment of the whole world. William gets into all sorts of hilarious trouble for living up to his ideals with a lot of it being ironic. The very people he seeks to defend or sacrifice himself for are the ones who take advantage of him, and often he finds himself subject to the logical consequences of adhering to his particular ideal. No matter what happens, he keeps pushing forward and sticking with his principles.
The Secret Places of the Heart
Herbert George Wells
H.G. Wells is best remembered as a central figure in the development of the science fiction genre. However, much of his literary output was more conventional in nature, and he published a number of novels dealing with interpersonal relationships and social themes. H.G. Wells was so charmed by Margaret Sanger that he based The Secret Places of the Heart on his time with her. The novel is a thinly-veiled autobiography that depicts an English gentleman, Sir Richard Hardy, who is attempting to sort out his marital problems while he travels the English countryside in the company of a psychiatrist and much brilliant discussion ranging over the past and future topics of world-wide significance. The Secret Places of the Heart was, in many ways, a love letter from Wells to Sanger... Many critics regard The Secret Places of the Heart as a heavily autobiographical account of one of Wells failed love affairs.
Jolanta Poźniak
The Short Story of Stones is a book inspired by true events. Composed of short stories that together form a coherent whole, it first portrays the tragedy of a child experiencing trauma and seeing the world through her wounded sensitivity. It then follows the life of an adult woman facing the lasting consequences of a painful past. This deeply intimate work moves between darkness and light. Some passages are stark and disturbing, striking the reader with the force of an electric shock; others carry an affirmation of life, tenderness, and faith in its uniqueness. Above all, the book speaks of an unfading hope for dignity, meaning, and a life worth living - despite the burden of what cannot be undone. "Nobody reads anything. If he reads, he understands nothing, and even if he does, he remembers nothing...," wrote Stanisław Lem prophetically several decades ago. Professor Zimbardo, on the other hand, when accused of "making a show" during a lecture, responded that everyone (possibly including the lecturer himself) slept during traditional lectures and that they did not remember anything from a lecture of this kind. Over the seventy pages of "The Short Story of Stones", the author has recorded scenes from life that, after reading, cannot be forgotten. They might be pushed aside, considered impossible, but they cannot be erased from memory. This offers readers, despite the small scale of this tome, a wealth of immutable experiences, and perhaps irrevocable knowledge that leaves much food for thought. This knowledge and these experiences, in my opinion - having worked almost forty years with victims - are essential for therapists, regardless of studies, training and self-therapy, or maybe even in tandem with them".
Herbert George Wells
H.G. Wells is an English author best known as a sci-fi writer, though he is also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, but in this 1917 novel, H. G. Wells weaves a more intuitive tale, about a bishop haunted by strange dreams and visions that challenge his faith. Lyrical, poetic, and verging on stream-of-consciousness in places, this little-read work of one of the most enduringly popular writers of modern literature is like found treasure, offering a captivating and unexpected insight into Wells psyche. The Soul of a Bishop tells the story of a spiritual crisis that leads Edward Scrope, Lord Bishop of Princhester, to give up his diocese in Englands industrial heartland and leave the Anglican Church.
Anne Brontë
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Gilbert Markham is deeply intrigued by Helen Graham, a beautiful and secretive young widow who has moved into nearby Wildfell Hall with her young son. He is quick to offer Helen his friendship, but when her reclusive behavior becomes the subject of local gossip and speculation, Gilbert begins to wonder whether his trust in her has been misplaced. It is only when she allows Gilbert to read her diary that the truth is revealed and the shocking details of her past.