The Crimson Gardenia

Rex Beach

The royal yacht dropped anchor to the roar of the cannons, and the king went ashore. The city was hung with flags; a thousand whistles sounded. Up the garlanded streets, His Majesty was led between long lines of blue-coated officers, followed by an impatient crowd for miles after miles.

Утро помещика (Poranek ziemianina)

Лев Николаевич Толстой, Lew Nikołajewicz Tołstoj

После непродолжительной учебы в городском университете 19-летний князь Нехлюдов намеревается жить в деревне, чтобы сделать жизнь своих крепостных лучше и легче. То, что изначально задумывалось как благое дело, встретилось в штыки и с толикой непонимания происходящего. Его грандиозный план подвергся суровому испытанию на практике. Несмотря на честность и бескорыстность поступков, люди морально не готовы к колоссальным переменам. Тщетность его попыток наиболее точно объяснил Тургенев И.С.: 201e... пока будет существовать крепостное состояние, нет возможности сближения и понимания обеих сторон, несмотря на самую бескорыстную и честную готовность сближения... 201e.

Homeward Bound, or, the Chase. A Tale of the Sea

James Fenimore Cooper

The storyline is centered around a sea voyage. The storys subtitle is The Chase and it picks up right away as the authorities try to get back a passenger who apparently owes money to the father of his new fiancée.

Boscobel, or, The Royal Oak. A Tale of the Year 1651

William Harrison Ainsworth

The novel clearly includes a huge amount of historical research. And then there is the geography associated with it Charles always stops in the middle of his flight to admire this or that beautiful prospect. The author also gives us the latest news about what happened to all these places. The author uses Boscobel as a guide to follow Charles steps.

Żółta róża. Opowieść kryminalna

Michael Zwick

Frank Rull wysiadł z taksówki przed hotelem Francuskim, w którym zatrzymał się w Paryżu. Po licznych koktajlach, które wypił tego wieczora, szumiało mu w głowie. Przed drzwiami swego pokoju wydobył klucz, wsadził do zamka i chciał przekręcić. Na próżno! Przycisnął klamkę. Ku wielkiemu zdumieniu przekonał się, że drzwi były otwarte. Na palcach wszedł do pokoju. Spuszczone story nadawały mu ponurej ciemności. Rull zaświecił światło. Pokój był pusty. Jednak mężczyzna nie miał wątpliwości, że ktoś pod jego nieobecność złożył tu wizytę. Nagle zauważył na dywanie płatek żółtej roży. Podniósł go i z gorzkim uśmiechem schował do kamizelki. Już pięć osób otrzymało w ostatnim czasie takie płatki i wszystkich prędzej czy później spotkała śmierć w tajemniczych okolicznościach... Gratka dla miłośników sensacji międzywojenne wydanie Żółtej róży z 1934 roku w tłumaczeniu Marii Sandoz.

Twice-Told Tales

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Twice-Told Tales is a two-volume collection of thirty-nine Hawthorne works, consisting of short works of art, allegories, and narrative essays. The greatest gift a reader receives when reading all these stories, including sometimes too superficial vignettes and too obvious allegories, is a close acquaintance with young Hawthorne: thoughtful, reflective, with a deep interest in colonial and revolutionary history, given solitary walks and meditations.

Dekameron

Giovanni Boccaccio

Dekameron to zbiór stu nowel, kompozycyjnie porównywalnych do Baśni stu i jednej nocy, które opowiadają o kulturze i obyczajach w renesansowych Włoszech. Dekameron oznacza dziesięć dni, podczas których dziesięcioro mieszkańców Florencji opuszcza miasto w obawie przed szerzącą się zarazą. Podczas wędrówki każdy z nich opowiada historię na zadany temat. Historie te były na tyle kontrowersyjne, że powieść trafiła w XVI w. do indeksu ksiąg zakazanych.

Fantôme dOrient

Pierre Loti

Fantôme dOrient est le titre de la petite nouvelle qui ouvre le recueil o il raconte lune de ses escapades stanbouliote la recherche de la sépulture dun amour passé. Ce texte larmoyant et nostalgique est suivie dune description tres intéressante de Constantinople en 1890 pour le compte

Red Shadows

Robert E. Howard

The moonlight shimmered hazily, making silvery mists of illusion among the shadowy trees. A faint breeze whispered down the valley, bearing a shadow that was not of the moon-mist. A faint scent of smoke was apparent. The man whose long, swinging strides, unhurried yet unswerving, had carried him for many a mile since sunrise, stopped suddenly. A movement in the trees had caught his attention, and he moved silently toward the shadows, a hand resting lightly on the hilt of his long, slim rapier.

Cleopatra. Being an Account of the Fall and Vengeance of Harmachis

H. Rider Haggard

Henry Rider Haggard relies on adventure and exotic concepts. This story unfolds in the era of the Ptolemaic era of ancient Egyptian history. The line of the dynasty defended by the priesthood of Isis is trying to survive in difficult circumstances. The main character Harmachis must overthrow Cleopatra, banish the Romans and return to Egypt its former status.

The Solution of a Mystery

J.S. Fletcher

One of the main characters, Richard Redford, is charged with murder. His life was threatened with death if he did not confess. But he chose such a point of view that he would have nothing to say to anyone. His indecision to speak causes bewilderment to others. Should a hero accept death with honor or not broken promises?

The Disintegration Machine

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Disintegration Machine is a story featuring Doyles famous character Professor Challenger. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in January 1929. The story centers on the discovery of a machine capable of disintegrating objects and reforming them as they were. This short story is a part of the Challenger series, a collection of stories about the wealthy eccentric adventurer Professor Challenger. Unlike Conan Doyles laid-back, analytic character, Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger is an aggressive, dominating figure. The professor is described as a lion of a man with a full beard and a rotund physique. One day, he is interrupted by the young journalist, Malone, to go investigate a machine designed by Latvian inventor, Theodore Nemor.

Crazy Rhythm

Max Brand

After 8 years in prison for murder, Jimmy Geary returns to his town Yellow Creek, and his past, and an ambush. Jimmy was very happy to see town again. But there are three men who arent happy to see Jimmy Geary return, and they conspire to make his stay this time very short... Neatly plotted and briskly told, it illustrates Max Brands remarkable gift for storytelling. One of the greatest western authors of all time, Frederick Faust wrote under sixteen different pseudonyms, including the best known being Max Brand. Although he wrote under many genres, westerns were his forte. Max Brand leads the reader on a very authentic tale of the old west the way it was.

The Romance of His Life

Mary Cholmondeley

There are eight unrelated shorts in this book. The author tells us about the cottage she lives in and the memorable experience she had during the war.

Jerusalem

Selma Lagerlöf

Jerusalem är en roman i tv delar av den svenska författarinnan Selma Lagerlöf. Jerusalem utspelar sig i Dalarna och i Jerusalem under 1800-talet, där man fr följa ngra människor och deras närstende under flera r. Selma Lagerlöf skriver om mnga olika personer ur olika generationer, bland annat om dem som lever p den stora Ingmarsgrden, där man fr bekanta sig med deras, inte alltid s okomplicerade, relationer till varandra.

Candide. Or, The Optimist

Voltaire

Candide, who grew up in a rich mans family, who absorbed real mentor sermons on the fact that everything in the world happens for the better, serves its purposes and in general is accomplished in the best of all possible worlds, despite all the misfortunes that have happened to people this is also for the better. By the will of fate, Candide sets off on a round-the-world trip, where everyone literally screams that the world is unfair, misfortunes are often meaningless and lead only to great misfortunes, and people everywhere do not shy away from bribes, anger and self-interest. Besides the semi-mythical Eldorado, of course. But its not so easy to get into it. And its not so easy to get out of it.

The Double. A Petersburg Poem

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

In the book The Double Dostoevsky appears before the reader as a writer with an inimitable sense of humor. The author shows an extraordinary skill in describing comic episodes from life and makes the reader cheerfully laugh at the shortcomings of his characters and the comic nature of the situations. Before the reader St. Petersburg streets of the XIX century come to life, he will get acquainted with the mores of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg.

David Copperfield

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield is the story of a young mans adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literatures great comic creations.

Mare nostrum

Vicente Blasco Ibáez

Vicente Blasco Ibáez (18671928) był hiszpańskim publicystą, pisarzem oraz działaczem politycznym o poglądach lewicowych, autorem reportaży, powieści społeczno-obyczajowych oraz regionalnych. Tytułowe Mare Nostrum to starożytna rzymska nazwa Morza Śródziemnego, na którym toczy się akcja powieści. Pochodzący z Walencji Ulisses Ferragut jest kapitanem statku, który w czasie I wojny światowej dostarcza surowce statkom angielskim i francuskim. Kiedy na jego drodze staje tajemnicza doktorka i jej piękna towarzyszka Freya, postanawia zerwać dla nich ze swoimi dotychczasowymi przekonaniami.

Felix Holt, the Radical

George Eliot

Set during the time of the Reform Act of 1832, the story centers on an election contested by Harold Transome, a local landowner, in the Radical cause, contrary to his familys Tory traditions. Contrasting with the opportunism of Transome is the sincere, but opinionated, Radical Felix Holt. Against this background, the author George Eliot tells a love story and weaves a plot which has many elements of the sensation novel, such as illegitimacy, blackmail, and the discovery of an heiress, where the suspense is maintained until the end.

Poetics

Aristotle

The first part of this essay gives a general description of the term poetics. At first, Aristotle claims that any art is based on a mimesis, or imitation. Aristotle proves this by arguing that curiosity is peculiar to any person. In particular, the curiosity of observing all sorts of unpleasant things, for example, images of dead animals, and getting pleasure from it.

Sketches by Boz. Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day People

Charles Dickens

Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People is a collection of short pieces published by Charles Dickens in 1836. The 56 sketches concern London scenes and people and are divided into four sections: Our Parish, Scenes, Characters, and Tales. The material in the first three of these sections is non-fiction. The last section comprises fictional stories. It was Dickenss first book, published when he was twenty-four, and in it we find him walking the London streets, in theatres, pawnshops, law-courts, prisons, along the Thames, and on the omnibus, missing nothing, recording and transforming urban and suburban life into new terrain for literature. Originally, the sketches were published in various newspapers and periodicals from 1833-1836 before being published collectively in one volume. If you enjoy the works of Charles Dickens then this collection is highly recommended for your book collection.

The Rover

Joseph Conrad

This is both mystery and romance; the latter creates one of the recurring difficulties in Conrad: it preserves the Victorian histrionic element, which sometimes may seem a little attractive. But overall, it is well read and much less burdensome than some of his novels. The Rover was Conrads last book and probably one of his most accessible stories.

The Ghost of a Chance

Mary Cholmondeley

The large, sumptuous room, with its dim oriental rugs and subdued lighting, a fine set of Indian paintings, and two exquisite rose-red lacquered cabinets, had great charm. The main character has just returned from China. Huge packing boxes, stacked one above the other in the hall, were no doubt full of wonderful acquisitions, china, embroideries, carpets. But he didnt seem to want to unpack them.