Historyczna
W.B. Maxwell
1913. The Devils Garden is a popular classic work by W. B. Maxwell. The main character in this story is William Dale who is Postmaster of Rodhaven. He is introduced as an honest peasant of uncompromising temper, whose rough nature is ever softened by his pretty wife Mavis. Dales evening in London is transformed into a catastrophe when he learns a past secret about Mavis that threatens his marriage. Confronted with this secret, Will and Mavis struggle to make their marriage work and become successful. Ironically, Dale is eventually confronted by the same scenario. This work, described as a study of elemental passion and mystery, excited wide discussion and was attacked in many quarters for the daring of its theme, obsession and adultery.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Dr. Dolliver, a worthy character of great antiquity. A persons desire for an immortal existence, an attempt to satisfy which would be stated in various ways: first, through the selfish old sensualist, Colonel Dabni, who greedily grabbed the mysterious elixir and took his draft so that he died on the spot; then, through the plain old Grandir, longing to live for Pansy; and, perhaps, through Pansy herself, who, having come to enjoy some kind of ennobling love, would like to defeat death so that she can always maintain the perfection of her worldly happiness all these forms of desire to be united are higher, a play of shadows that should direct our mind to true immortality outside of this world.
Honoré de Balzac
This is one of the three novelettes that are grouped together as The History of the Thirteen, along with Ferragus: Chief of the Companions of Duty and The Girl with the Golden Eyes. The whole notion is that there is a secret society of wealthy gentlemen in Paris called The Thirteen which has powers approaching the supernatural. General Armand de Montriveau, a war hero, is enamored of Duchess Antoinette de Langeais, a coquettish, married noblewoman who invites him to a ball but ultimately refuses his sexual advances and then disappears. Assisted by the powerful group known as The Thirteen, who subscribe to an occult form of freemasonry, General Montriveau finds the duchess in a Spanish monastery of Discalced Carmelites under the name of Sister Theresa. The ending is romantic and highly tumultuous. Highly recommended!
The Dynamiter. More New Arabian Nights
Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Stevenson
The reader will meet with the wise caliph Prince Florisel, with the insignificant but important villain-Dynamite, with the new Scheherazade the charming clever Clara, and with listeners of her fairy tales three noble and trusting young gentlemen. And he learns that being a terrorist is not only bad, but just shameful and bad. And that love is the strongest.
Henry James
In the hope of a successful marriage, Eugene, Baroness Münster, and her younger brother, the artist Felix, descendants of Wentworth, come to Boston. Having settled in the neighborhood, they become close friends with the young Wentworths Gertrude, Charlotte and Clifford. Witness and sophistication of Eugene, along with the cheerfulness of Felix create a difficult combination with Puritan morality, frugality and the intrinsic dignity of Americans.
L. Frank Baum
Need an adventure story with plots and counterplots? Intrigue? A love interest? Politics? Murder? Follow our young American hero, Robert Harcliffe, as he goes on the adventure of his lifetime. A young man just out of college goes to Brazil as secretary of the prime mover in the revolution, and by so doing begins a series of adventures that run from tragic to comic, ending with the success of the conspiracy, a straightening out of many tangles, and the marriage of the hero to one of the most brilliant and beautiful conspirators. Written by the famous Oz author L. Frank Baum under the alias of Schuyler Staunton, The Fate of a Crown is a stirring novel of the events of a South American revolution against the monarchy at the turn of the 20th Century. It was Baums first novel for an adult readership.
Henry James
The Finer Grain a collection of small stories. The A Round of Visits is a thoughtful tragedy that triggered the opening of Watch and Trusteeship. The Bench of Desolation, located in an English seaside town, is a touching story of reconciliation after some very offensive and bitter misunderstandings.
The Forged Coupon and Other Stories
Leo Tolstoy
At the beginning of the story, walking along an incline, some of Tolstoys characters lie, commit robberies and even killings. The author allows his heroes to experience feelings of satisfaction and complete impunity, after they have committed terrible atrocities. Pelageyushkin, going to the massacres, is content with one own impunity. Tolstoy conducts his heroes in hellish circles: all terrible crimes are uncovered. The punishment for the crime hangs with a Damocles sword over the heads of Tolstoy literary characters. It is also interesting that the writer selects his heroes from each social group.