The Pioneers. or The Sources of the Susquehanna

James Fenimore Cooper

The fourth of the Leatherstocking novels, we find Leatherstocking (Natty Bumppo) entering the last stages of his life. He has lost a great deal of his effectiveness with his musket and now relies a great deal on his dog to help him hunting. The main focus is one two things: 1. the reinstatement of Nattys old commander in his properties and wealth in the new US while believing he is the victim of treachery by his old friend the judge in this story; and 2. Nattys struggle with and disgust about the developing societal rules that limit his freedom in hunting, trapping and fishing in the wilderness as he has his whole life. Good story on both accounts. In The Pioneers, James Fenimore Cooper thematically debates the complexity of landscape within a new American frontier. The battle between nature and civilization is a constant and competing force within the minds of the characters and in the general surroundings.

Cierpienia wynalazcy

Honoriusz Balzak

W Angouleme Dawid Séchard kupuje od ojca nieuznającego prostego przekazywania z pokolenia na pokolenia drukarnię, z zamiarem udoskonalenia panującego w niej sposobu produkcji. Wkrótce udaje mu się poważnie ulepszyć pracę w swojej drukarni. Jednak jego naiwność sprawiła, że drogą misternej intrygi został oszukany przez konkurentów braci Cointet i wtrącony do więzienia. Zrozpaczony Lucjan, czując się współwinnym za los przyjaciela, postanawia popełnić samobójstwo, topiąc się w stawie. Po drodze spotyka jednak tajemniczego księdza, Hiszpana Carlosa Herrerę (w rzeczywistości Jacques Collin, znany już z Ojca Goriot), który odwodzi go od tego kroku. Namawia Lucjana, by wrócił do Paryża i na nowo spróbował wspiąć się na szczyty towarzyskiej drabiny, jednak za cenę całkowitego posłuszeństwa jego radom. Lucjan zgadza się, wysyła Dawidowi pieniądze potrzebne do uregulowania wszystkich wierzytelności, po czym wraca do stolicy. Cierpienia wynalazcy to klasyka twórczości autora.

Otello

William Shakespeare

Tytułowy Otello jest Maurem i dowódcą weneckiej armii. Poślubia on córkę weneckiego senatora Desdemonę. Za sprawą intryg i sugestii sfrustrowanego życiem Jagona, chorążego weneckiej armii, zaczyna wątpić w lojalność swojej żony i daje się opętać obsesyjnej zazdrości. Choć motywacje Jagona nie zostają ujawnione, jego szatańskie działania doprowadzają do bolesnej tragedii.

The Great Prince Shan

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Written in 1922, this story of world politics in 1934 has everything that goes to the making of an enthralling tale. A theme of present import, an intricate plot full of suspense and surprise, fascinating characters and an unusual love interest. The central figure of this absorbing story is the mysterious and cultured Prince Shan, ruler of China; the heroines are captivating English girl and a exotically beautiful Russian who pit their charm, their loveliness, and their wisdom against each other and against the highly-trained diplomats of many countries. Each of them attempts to influence the decision which may change the map of the world. Will Germany, Russia and China parcel out the world amongst themselves?

Das Geheimnis der alten Mamsell

Eugenie Marlitt

Als die Spielersfrau Meta dOrlowska unter tragischen Um-ständen auf der Bühne stirbt, wird ihre vierjährige Tochter Felicitas von der wohlhabenden Familie Hellwig aufgenommen. Dort hat das Mädchen ein schweres Leben. Vater Hellwig beschützt das Mädchen so gut er kann, und lässt sie wie seine eigenen Kinder von Privatlehrern ausbilden. Doch bald stirbt auch ihr Beschützer, der alte Kommerzienrat. Verständnis und Zuneigung findet die kleine Fee nur bei der alten Mamsell, einer ihrerseits von der bigotten Gesellschaft ausgeschlossenen Ver-wandten der Familie, die abgetrennt von der Welt im Dach-geschoss des Hauses in einem freundlichen, kunstliebenden kleinen Reich lebt. Felicitas schließt innige Freundschaft mit der alten Dame, die zum einzigen Halt des Mädchens wird. Doch die Mamsell umgibt ein Geheimnis, das um jeden Preis bewahrt werden muss...

Mansfield Park

Jane Austen

A young girl named Fanny Price comes to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram. Fannys family is quite poor; her mother, unlike her sister Lady Bertram, married beneath her, and Fannys father, a sailor, is disabled and drinks heavily. Fanny is abused by her other aunt, Mrs. Norris, a busybody who runs things at Mansfield Park, the Bertrams estate. The Bertram daughters, Maria and Julia, are shallow, rather cruel girls, intent on marrying well and being fashionable. The elder son, Tom, is a roustabout and a drunk. Fanny finds solace only in the friendship of the younger son, Edmund, who is planning to be a clergyman. Fanny grows up shy and deferential, caught as she typically is between members of the Bertram family.

The Free Fishers

John Buchan

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, The Free Fishers is classic Buchan and his last historical novel. Its a fast-paced tale of treason, espionage and romance. Anthony Lammas, a professor at the St. Andrews University, finds himself involved in a web of intrigue that threatens the whole country. A conspiracy to betray Englands defences to Napoleonic agents is discovered by Lammas, a young professor who sets out to save his former students appearing to be in grave danger. Youll smile at the story and the old-fashioned dialogue at times but thoroughly enjoy the pace of the story, the straightforwardness of the characters villains, heroes and the dramatic varierty of their experiences. As a historian and a novelist he lovingly creates the reality of the time interwined with the intrigue and motives of the characters that make up this excellent novel.

Poglądy księdza Hieronima Coignarda

Anatole France

W Poglądach księdza Hieronima Coignarda Anatole France noblista, erudyta i bibliofil daje wyraz własnych przekonań na temat instytucji życia publicznego, wymiaru sprawiedliwości i ludzkich postaw. Ukrywa je pod maską minionego wieku, jednak złośliwe aluzje do czasów współczesnych autorowi są doskonale widoczne i świadczą o aktualności prozy Francea.

Le Capitaine Pamphile

Alexandre Dumas pere

Faites la connaissance: la grenouille mademoiselle Camargo, la tortue Gazelle, les singes Jacques I et Jacques II, lours Tom et la chatte Michette. Lhistoire, qui se semble comme le conte pour les enfants, est le récit humoristique sadresse plutôt aux. Ces btes sont le jouet de leurs passions bien humaines et les victimes de la cruauté et de la btise des hommes. Outre les péripéties rocambolesques, les drôles événements, ici il y a une ironie mordante, qui vise une classe montante de marchands et capitalistes, qui nont pas de la considération morale et qui ne peut pas sarrter sur la route du profit.

Guy Garrick

Arthur B. Reeve

Newspaperman Walter Jameson is assigned to shadow his friend Professor Craig Kennedy for a month to report on how he solves mysterious crimes and to give an intimate picture of the man and his work. Basically, Kennedys a scientist who uses his superior scientific knowledge and a bunch of contraptions he makes to expose the criminals. The Dream Doctor is the third book in the Dr. Kennedy series written by Arthur B. Reeve, the short stories were stitched together into pseudo-novels. Reeve was an American mystery writer who created 82 Craig Kennedy mystery stories. The stories have a very Sherlock Holmes type feel. An enjoyable collection, especially for those interested in sleuthing aided by science.

Fear Stalks the Village

Ethel Lina White

Fear Stalks the Village will appeal to those who love detective. This novel is mysterious in its plots: people who live in an id? llic village receive anonymous letters accusing them of past mistakes. Secrets are revealed, and people begin to avoid each other, and then mysteriously begin to die. It turns out that this is not such an ideal and calm village.

The Midnight Guest. A Detective Story

Fred M. White

Another story where readers must solve the riddle: who is the killer. The main task: to solve who killed a fictitious famous artist Louis Delahay. Some say its his wife. But the clues in his past, they will help to identify the real offender.

Simple Peter Cradd

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Edward Phillips Oppenheim is considered one of the originators of the thriller genre, his novels also range from spy thrillers to romance, but all have an undertone of intrigue. This novel is one of E. Phillips Oppenheims best works and opens with a fantastic description of the boring life of Mr. Peter Cradd, leather merchant, husband, father, slave to his family, stoic self denier, and all-around put upon man in the bowler hat. He is barely able to pay his bills, has a wife who seems him only as a wallet, and two children whose most favorable opinion of him is disappointment. He answers a letter from a lawyer, and finds out that he has inherited a fortune. What he does with it, where he moves, how he educates himself, and whom he loves form the rest of the story?

The Last of the Mohicans. A Narrative of 1757

James Fenimore Cooper

Fenimore Cooper is known for everyone who were interested in Indians and their life in childhood. Almost everyone knows the name of Coopers favorite hero, wandering from novel to novel Natanael, Bampo. The hero of The Last of the Mohicans is Hawkeye. The last members of a dying Native American tribe, the Mohicans Uncas, his father Chingachgook, and his adopted half-white brother Hawkeye live in peace alongside British colonists. But when the daughters of a British colonel are kidnapped by a traitorous scout, Hawkeye and Uncas must rescue them in the crossfire of a gruesome military conflict of which they wanted no part: the French and Indian War.

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

The story of all-consuming passion, the story of a married woman who fell in love with a handsome officer and threw her husband against everything: the opinion of the world, generally accepted morality, her conscience. This is a much deeper work than just a story of love and suicide. This is a book about the torment of conscience, about egoism, about hypocrisy, meanness and selfishness, about the search for oneself and ones place in this world. This is a book about life, about the life of officials and peasants, about faith, about religion, about respect.

Krzyżacy

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Początek XV wieku. Na granicy polsko-krzyżackiej Polacy nękani są przez żądnych nowych podbojów Krzyżaków. Podczas jednego z napadów Jurand, niezłomny rycerz ze Spychowa, ratuje kupców polskich pobitych i okradzionych przez rycerzy zakonnych. W akcie zemsty Zakon pali Spychów i morduje żonę Juranda. Maćko z Bogdańca wraz ze swym bratankiem Zbyszkiem wracają z Litwy. W karczmie w Tyńcu spotykają dwór księżnej Anny Danuty. Wśród dwórek znajduje się piękna Danusia Jurandówna. Zbyszko zauroczony urodą i śpiewem dziewczyny ślubuje jej wierność jako damie serca. Obiecuje ofiarować wybrance pawie czuby, jakie nosił Krzyżak, który zabił jej matkę. W drodze do Krakowa młody rycerz nierozważnie atakuje napotkanego Krzyżaka, który okazuje się posłem. Mimo zabiegów stryja i księżnej Zbyszko zostaje skazany na karę śmierci... Sienkiewicz opisuje dzieje barwnych i wyrazistych postaci na tle znaczących wydarzeń historycznych. Kulminacją powieści Krzyżacy jest zwycięska bitwa pod Grunwaldem.