Historyczna
Henry James
In this story, a mother allows her only child, a seven-year-old boy, to die of diphtheria only so that he will never be subjected to the corrupting influence of the books written by his father, which she deeply condemns. Anyone who imagines motherly love and at least once saw the torment of a child restlessly darting in his crib, fighting for every breath, would never have invented such a monstrous story. The French call it litterature. By this word they denote works created on the basis of a cheap literary effect, devoid of any likelihood.
Henry James
The Aawkward age nonetheless analyzes the English character with great subtlety. The Awkward Age, which is highly praised for its natural dialogue and the subtlety of the sensation that it conveys, illustrates Conrads remark that James never dwells in deep darkness or in strong sunlight. But he feels deep and bright every gentle shade.
G.K. Chesterton
A very good Christian book, which, nevertheless, speaks not so much about Christianity in itself, as about humanity, as the principle of life in general. If there were such a category as social Christian romance, then this book would be one of the most remarkable examples. The book is attractive and not only because of the description of a non-ideal world, but also because of the authors attitude to his characters. There are no heroes in principle, there are only images. Very bright and understandable.
Honoré de Balzac
Emilie de Fontaine is a spoiled and pround brat. She rejects all suitors her father proposes. Emilie has incredibly high standards for the man she will marry, and at the top of her unreasonable list of criteria is that he absolutely must be a peer of France. Leaving Paris for the summer, as all good families do, they go to Sceaux. At the local ball, Emilie falls in love with a charming, beautifully mannered, elegant young man. Is he noble? Will he bestow a title on his wife? Will it matter if he turns out to be a commoner? One of the pieces of Balzacs La Comédie Humaine, this work reflects the narrow-mindedness of the peerage of French society. The mind-set of people is presented in an elucidating manner that reflects their thinking. The whims and fancies of youthful maidens and young gentlemen and their frivolous attitudes to life are depicted in an interesting manner.
Henry James
At the reception in the rich manor there are not the first youth mister and also not a young lady anymore. Both belong to the same circle of birth, but the financial affairs of a man are in somewhat better condition. It all seems to him that he is meant for something great and terrible that will destroy his own life and the lives of loved ones like a sudden fit of madness or, yes, how many anything can be options. It is like seeing yourself as a thicket in which the beast is hiding for the time being.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
A group of people is a powerful mixture of competing ambitions, and its idealism finds little satisfaction in agriculture. Instead of changing the world, Blithedale community members individually follow selfish paths that ultimately lead to tragedy. Hawthornes tale simultaneously mourns and saturates a rural idyll, not unlike the history of America in the 19th century as a whole.
Henry James
The action revolves around three characters: a young and beautiful maiden who travels around America with fiery speeches about the importance of women; her mentor, a lonely and cold lady who despises the whole male race. Different ideals are presented by the rivalry of Olive Chancellor and her cousin Basel Ransom for influencing the young girl Vera Tarrant, who has a strong oratorical gift. The social plan of this novel is concluded in the struggle of the conservative views of the southerner Ransom with the irreconcilable supporter and active participant in the movement for womens emancipation. Olive found in her young protege a strong instrument of influencing public opinion through her oratorical abilities.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel set in 19th century of Russia that enters deeply into the ethical debates of God, free will, and morality. It is a spiritual drama of moral struggles concerning faith, doubt, and reason, set against a modernizing Russia. The plot of the novel revolves around the murder of perhaps one of the most despicable characters ever created, Fyodor Karamazov, and the investigation and trial that follows, which swirl around the role played by his three sons: the impulsive and sensual Dmitri or Mitya, the coldly rational Ivan and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Dostoyevsky uses a drama of parricide of Shakespearean proportions and family rivalry to examine his own contradictions and struggles between faith and reason, love and hate, duty and abandon. Frequently lurid, nightmarish, always brilliant, the novel plunges the reader into a sordid love triangle, a pathological obsession, and a gripping courtroom drama.