La Derniere Aldini

George Sand

Venise, au début du 19e siecle, le ténor Lelio parle de ses deux grands sentiments amoureux devant un tableau des éclats de rire des artistes. Le premier, quand il sappelle toujours Nello et quil est un petit gondolier de Chioggia, montre quel point il était fasciné par la riche pratiquante de Venise, la douce et belle Bianca Aldini. Cette histoire montre linégalité sociale.

Und Friede auf Erden!

Karl May

Und Friede auf Erden! ist Band 30 von Karl Mays Gesammelten Werken, ist eine Reiseerzählung. Das Buch entstand unter dem unmittelbaren Eindruck von Karl Mays großer Orientreise 1899 1900. Und Friede auf Erden! gehört zu den interessantesten Werken von Karl May und spielt in China. In Kairo lernt der Erzähler seinen zukünftigen Diener Sejjid, den religiösen Fanatiker Waller und dessen Tochter, sowie zwei Chinesen kennen. Nach ersten Abenteuern in Gizeh beschliessen die fünf Reisenden, gemeinsam weiterzuziehen. Über Ceylon, die malaiische Halbinsel und Penang führt sie der Weg bis nach China.

Murzyn z załogi Narcyza. Opowiadanie o Kasztelu

Joseph Conrad

Załoga Narcyza, statku handlowego płynącego z Bombaju do Londynu, składa się w większości z białych marynarzy. Jedyny czarnoskóry James Wait staje się głównym bohaterem opowiadania bynajmniej nie z uwagi na kolor skóry, ale na szczególną postawę, która przysporzy załodze przygód. Grymaśny James twierdzi bowiem, iż zaciągnął się na statek, aby... umrzeć.

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

S.S. Van Dine

Gracie Allen in this case is not a famous artist, but a worker in a perfume factory. She involuntarily gives the enchanted Philo Vance all the important clues in this murder of a gangster, in those days when Riverdale in the Bronx was a rural paradise. Vance meets her when she interacts with nature, and then again in a trendy restaurant where her brother plays an important role. For a moment, her mother appears, a gentle, faded lady who turns out to be as sharp as Gracie.

The Ghost of Down Hill & The Queen of Shebas Belt

Edgar Wallace

Best remembered for penning the screenplay for the classic film King Kong, author Edgar Wallace was an astoundingly popular luminary in the action-adventure genre in the early twentieth century. The Ghost of Down Hill is an entertaining mystery novella, based on the idea that a ghost of a monk haunts a house built on top of former holy ground. This novella has upbeat tone and surprising outcome. The Queen of Shebas Belt features the disappearance of a priceless belt supposedly worn by the Queen of Sheba. Seemingly the theft is not through want of money but an act to set up a rival in love. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining. If you havent discovered the joys of Wallaces mysteries there is a good place to start.

Fiddle oDreams and More

Arthur Morrison

Morrisons literary reputation is mostly based on his realistic novels and short stories about slum life in London. In addition, he wrote detective fiction that is openly derivative of Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories. Possessed with a wide and free-ranging curiosity, Morrison wrote both fiction and nonfiction works on diverse subjects, from Japanese art to occultism, and participated in English literary life well into World War II. In 1930 Arthur Morrison moved to Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. In 1933 he published the short story collection Fiddle o Dreams and More. This collection of mystery and detective fiction contains: Billy Blenkins Radium, Frenzied Finance, Infantry at the Double, Sports of Mugby, The Thing in the Upper Room and others. Highly recommended!

The Camford Visitation

Herbert George Wells

Wellss treatise on education is set in the region of Camford (Cambridge/Oxford), and tells of a visitor who proves that education can save the world from destruction. The story centres around a Utopian ventriloquist who subjects human life and in particular its treatment by the University of Camford to sympathetic but quite unsparing scrutiny. At its core, it was a warning to the educational world of imminent war and of its lack of action, as well as an exploration of the place of education in society. Contents include: Mr Trumbers Experience, In the Cramb Meadows, Mr Preeders Pigeon-holes, The Communist Party is Annoyed in its Turn, Congregation Day, and The Healing Touch in History. In this short tale of 75 pages Wells summarises many of his current preoccupations in the form of a parable which is noteworthy for its careful building up of atmosphere and its lively and biting characterisations.

Aventures dAlice au pays des merveilles

Lewis Carroll

Lauteur présente aux lecteurs une fille nommée Alice, qui, par ennui, décide de suivre un lapin étrange qui passe a travers et se retrouve dans un monde magique. Dans son reve, elle rencontre de nombreuses créatures étranges. Le conte jouit dune popularité constante chez les enfants et les adultes. Le livre est considéré comme lun des meilleurs exemples de littérature dans le genre de labsurde;