Żywot i myśli Zygmunta Podfilipskiego

Józef Weyssenhoff

Ironiczna i wieloznaczna powieść, która pozornie ma formę tekstu pochwalnego na cześć Zygmunta Podfilipskiego. Jacek Ligęza bezkrytycznie ukazuje cnoty i zalety swego przyjaciela. W miarę, jak poznajemy kolejne fakty z biografii tytułowego bohatera ukazuje się naszym oczom postać w gruncie rzeczy bezwartościowa. Powieść jest w istocie satyrą odsłaniającą przywary środowiska arystokratycznego, słabości nowoczesnej cywilizacji oraz miałkość utylitarystycznej etyki pozytywizmu. Wyrafinowana ironia oraz wspaniale dobrany język są dużą zaletą utworu Żywot i myśli Zygmunta Podfilipskiego .

The Mayor of Casterbridge. The Life and Death of a Man of Character

Thomas Hardy

The novel tells about a man with character and unusual fate. The life story of Michael Henchard, first a homeless worker, a haymaker, then the mayor of Casterbridge and a local rich man and again a farm laborer, involuntarily arouses interest in the intensity of events.

The Tempting of Tavernake

E. Phillips Oppenheim

The Tempting of Tavernake is written by Edward Phillips Oppenheim. He composed some one hundred and fifty novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue nature, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. The hero of this novel, however, is very unusual for several reasons. Tavernake is unemotional, unable to sympathize or even understand the most common social situations. He is diligent, precise, obsessive in his pursuit of wealth, but oblivious to the feelings of the people around him. They simply dont matter. He meets Beatrice Burnay an American in London without any money. Odd, uncomfortable, almost autistic, he rescues from hunger and possible suicide, and in return she educates him on the possibilities of human emotion.

In der Strafkolonie

Franz Kafka

Kafkas berühmte Erzählung über einen eigentümlichen Apparat. Ein Reisender kommt in eine Strafkolonie, um mehr über die dortigen Zustände zu erfahren. Man zeigt ihm eine grausame Bestrafungsmaschine, die den Angeklagten ihr Urteil mit einer Nadel in den Körper ritzt immer tiefer, zwölf Stunden lang, bis der verurteilte die Bedeutung des Schriftzugs erkennt und schließlich getötet wird. Die Wesensbeschreibung des ausführenden Technokraten wirkt dabei wie eine hellsischtige Vorausschau auf die dreißiger und vierziger Jahre des vorigen Jahrhunderts in Deutschland. Kafkas Erzählung thematisiert das problematische Verhältnis von Macht und Gerechtigkeit.

Les Étranges noces de Rouletabille

Gaston Leroux

Rouletabille, amoureaux et tout enivré du désir dtre heureux avec Ivana Vilitchkov, il se jete avec ses amis dans la gueule du loup et il risque cent fois sa vie. Il veut la tirer des griffes de ce assassin de toute sa famille, il se bat pour sauver Ivana et capturer son ravisseur, mais elle... elle ne veut pas aller avec Rouletabille. Il narrte pas la protéger. Peut la puissance de lamour transformer un limier intelligant en petit garçon?

Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective

Ellis Parker Butler

A hilarious parody of the detective genre Philo Gubb dreams of becoming a detective like Sherlock Holmes and quitting his job as a wallpaper-hanger. He enrolls in a correspondence course which offers lessons and various disguises. He soon gets involved in several cases and much to his surprise and those around him proves to be rather adept at solving crimes. Amazingly, he solves many puzzles and even catches some real thieves and other criminals usually by some mistake or turn of circumstance that puts the criminals in his lap. Each of these stories is a complete mystery so if you read just one, you will know its beginning and the unorthodox methods by which Philo Gubb solves it using his woeful deteckative skills. Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective is one of the first and best detective parodies.

The Price a Woman Pays

Edgar Wallace

Dr. Beechington knew how difficult it was to live in genteel poverty. He was determined his daughter Mary should marry a wealthy man but Mary wasnt so sure. Should she obey her father or follow her heart? 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 Price a Woman Pays is a story packed with great fun and Wallace keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did, and it highlights Wallaces unmatched skill in setting a pulse-pounding pace. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining.

The Five Knots

Fred M. White

Frederick Merrick White is an eminent writer who became famous for his short stories. The main character, Samuel Flowers, is a wealthy man and owns a fleet of ships. In England, where precious treasures are missing, some people begin to search for them. Will they be found, and what will happen to Flowers and his niece?