The Busted Ex-Texan and Other Stories

W.H.H. Murray

The rumble of merry conversation mixed with the mumble of a stream; and from time to time a piece of a sweet song broke from melodious lips, short, energetic, melodious like a bobolink, rushing up from clover heads. And before the mighty shadow, gloomily lying on the great plain on the prairies, stretching east for a thousand miles, turned into darkness, active, happy workers gave the bivouac the kind of skillful ordering that a trained group always gives to any place.

The Mill on the Floss

George Eliot

If you had to choose between the love of a lifetime and your relationship with your family, who would you pick? In The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, the author draws on her own experiences when writing the tale of the complicated relationship between a young woman Maggie and her brother Tom Tulliver during a time when women had limited choices. Maggies often tormented battle to do her duty and belong on the one hand, and to be herself, wild and natural on the other, propels her from one crisis to another. As the Tulliver fortunes decline and fall, the rift between Maggie and her family becomes almost irreconcilable. But Maggies biggest mistake of all is to fall in love with Stephen Guest who is engaged to another woman. This novel is a masterpiece of ambiguity in which moral choice is subjected to the hypocrisy of the Victorian age.

Miles Wallingford. Sequel to Afloat and Ashore

James Fenimore Cooper

At the center of one of Coopers most striking nautical novels is the life of the captain of the Dawn ship, full of exciting adventures. Sea brotherhood, battles with pirates, friendship and betrayal, and finally, love that overcomes all obstacles.

The Financier

Theodore Dreiser

The protagonist of the novel, Frank Kovperwood, begins to do business at school, and as an adult, he moves on to stock speculation. And although he is tried for breaking the law, and he ends up in prison, the hero does not feel guilty at all.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Charles Dickens

As in many of Dickenss greatest novels, the gulf between appearance and reality drives the action. Set in the seemingly innocuous cathedral town of Cloisterham, the story rapidly darkens with a sense of impending evil. Charles Dickenss final, unfinished novel is in many ways his most intriguing. A highly atmospheric tale of murder, The Mystery of Edwin Drood foreshadows both the detective stories of Conan Doyle and the nightmarish novels of Kafka. Though The Mystery of Edwin Drood is one of its authors darkest books, it also bustles with a vast roster of memorable-and delightfully named-minor characters: Mrs. Billikins, the landlady; the foolish Mr. Sapsea; the philanthropist, Mr. Honeythunder; and the mysterious Datchery. Several attempts have been made over the years to complete the novel and solve the mystery, but even in its unfinished state it is a gripping and haunting masterpiece.

My Life. The Story of a Provincial

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

The theme of the little man, which appeared in many of Chekhovs short stories, was also touched on in the novel My Life. The main character, Misail Poloznev, a nobleman by birth, becomes a simple worker. In order to live the way he wants, he breaks with his father. He is opposed to lies and hypocrisy, namely they, in his opinion, reign among the intelligentsia. The quote of the old house painter Radish: Aphids eat grass, rust iron, and lies the soul. According to the protagonist, moral self-improvement of a person is directly related to physical labor, which he would like to make mandatory for everyone.

Burn, Witch, Burn!

A. Merritt

Originally published in 1932, Burn, Witch, Burn! is a classic fantasy/horror and mystery novel by A. Merritt. In it, we meet Dr. Lowell, an eminent neurologist who becomes curious when a series of mysterious deaths comes to his attention. Men and women in the NYC area have been dying of no apparent cause, but with horrible grimaces on their faces and with very rapid onsets of rigor mortis. The trail of bizarre deaths leads to one Madame Mandilip and her doll shop, and before long the reader is immersed in a world of supernaturalism and escalating tension. Combining folklore with modern science, Merritt weaves a wonderfully haunting tale about what happens when the world around us, grounded in science, ends up failing us. Recommended for lovers of the offbeat.

La Bte humaine

Émile Zola

Cest lun des romans les plus profonds et les plus tragiques. Lauteur a essayé de faire ce que peu de gens avaient auparavant. Le sujet principal était létude du monde intérieur du maniaque meurtrier. Le personnage principal a fait de son mieux pour faire face a la soif de violence.