Placówka

Bolesław Prus

Placówka to lata osiemdziesiąte XIX wieku w Królestwie Polskim. Rodzina Józefa Ślimaka ma dziesięciomorgowe gospodarstwo nad rzeką Białką. Powodzi się im nieźle. Zawdzięczają to pracy na roli i handlowi z budowniczymi odcinka kolei. Wkrótce we wsi pojawiają się koloniści niemieccy. Wykupują folwark od dziedzica, chcą również kupić ziemię Ślimaka. Napotykają opór starego gospodarza. Dochodzi do otwartej wojny. Osaczony przez Niemców Ślimak zostaje pozbawiony dodatkowych zarobków. Koloniści nie chcą wydzierżawić mu łąki, musi więc sprzedać ostatnią krowę. Młodszy syn Ślimaka, Stasio, tonie w rzece. Starszy, Jędrek, po bójce z Niemcami idzie do aresztu. Żona Jagna ciężko choruje, a pożar niszczy dom. Załamany tymi nieszczęściami Ślimak decyduje się sprzedać ziemię Niemcom. Nocą po pożarze konająca Jagna wymusza na mężu przysięgę, że nigdy nie odda ojcowizny owej placówki Niemcom.

The History of Troilus and Cressida

William Shakespeare

This is a very unusual play. Maybe thats why little known. The scene of action is Troy, the time of the siege that glorified it. Heroes Agamemnon, Priam, Achilles, Hector, Menelaus, Paris, Elena. The main reason for the war is to return the prodigal Helen Cuckold Menelaus. Yes exactly. Trojans defend themselves by doubting the right to hold an unfaithful wife. The Greeks besiege, doubting the reason to besiege.

Faust. A tragedy

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The great Goethe invented his Faust when he was a little over twenty years old, and completed the tragedy a few months before his death. This work was the result of the philosophical and artistic searches of the author a poet, playwright, prose writer, the greatest scientist of his time, a man of encyclopedic knowledge. The hero of the tragedy, Dr. Johann Faust, lived in the first half of the 16th century and was known as a magician and a warlock who, having rejected modern science and religion, sold his soul to the devil.

Queen Zixi of Ix. Or, The Story of the Magic Cloak

L. Frank Baum

Another enchanting tale of juvenile literature from the creator of The Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum dedicated the book Queen Zixi of Ix, or The Story of the Magic Cloak to his oldest son, Frank Joslyn Baum. In it, the queen of fairies creates a magic cloak which grants its wearer a single wish. Meanwhile, an orphan boy becomes the new king of Noland and his sister gains the cloak which is stolen by the Queen of Zixi, who wishes her mirror to show her as the beautiful young woman she appears instead of showing her appearance at her true age of 683 years. Adventures ensue, armies attack and retreat, and good wins out when the fairy queen takes back the magic cloak. The cloak turns out to be a source of trouble as well as a blessing. Baum packs this adventure with his customary humor, inventive fantasies, and captivating characters.

Cardillac

Robert Barr

Robert Barr (18491912) was a Scottish-Canadian short story writer and novelist, born in Glasgow, Scotland who relocated to London in 1881 where he founded the magazine The Idler in 1892 in collaboration with Jerome K Jerome. In 1895 he retired from its co-editorship and became a prolific novelist. His famous detective character Eugéne Valmont, fashioned after Sherlock Holmes, is said to be the inspiration behind Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot. Some of his works include: In the Midst of Alarms, a story of the attempted Fenian invasion of Canada in 1866; A Woman Intervenes, a story of love, finance, and American journalism; and Countess Tekla, a historical novel. Mr. Robert Barrs Cardillac is a machine-made historical tale of the time of King Louis XIII, set in old France.

The Earl of Nowhere

Edgar Wallace

Every city has its own peculiar voice. Neither the harsh roar of London, the nerve destroying staccato of sound which belongs exclusively to New York, nor the kettledrum buzz of Madrid is comparable with the voice of Paris, which is mainly vocal.""Queer thing about Paris, sir," said Jim Selby, "somebody is always talking.""The staid Vice-Councillor of the British Embassy lifted his head, and, being literally-minded, listened.""I hear nobodyexcept you," he said.""The Earl of Nowhere" includes the short stories from incomparable Edgar Wallace. Few people today would recognize the name "Edgar Wallace" but before his death in 1933 he was a literary force to be reckoned with. He was both prolific and popular and his books reportedly sold at the rate of 5,000 a day.

The Prairie. A Tale

James Fenimore Cooper

The Prairie: A Tale (1827) is a novel by James Fenimore Cooper, the 3rd novel written by him featuring Natty Bumppo. Civilization drives old hunter Natty Bumppo (Leatherstocking) west of the Mississippi to the prairies, where he becomes a trapper and helps a band of emigrants in their conflicts with Indians, miscreants, and the harsh environment. We find Hawkeye removed to the uncharted territory which would become Wyoming and the Dakotas. Having fled the relentless sound of axes hewing down his beloved forests in the east, the Leatherstocking is now in his eighties and has isolated himself in the land of the Pawnee, the Sioux and countless herds of buffalo. Culminating in a magnificently written death scene, The Prairie brings the old hunter full circle with images of his youth and reminiscences of the remarkable life which made him the prototype of the American Hero.

Czahary

Maria Rodziewiczówna

Akcja tej popularnej powieści rozgrywa się w końcu XIX wieku na Kresach. Tytułowe Czahary to majątek stanowiący część spadku, o który spierają się dzieci starego Janickiego. Dwaj zaborczy bracia nie chcą wziąć pod uwagę tego, co należy się trzeciemu, Wacławowi, uznanemu za zaginionego. Ich siostra Kasia upiera się jednak przy sprawiedliwym podziale dóbr. Tylko ona wie, że Wacław żyje... Opowieść o triumfie szlachetności, prawości i kobiecej odwadze na tle wspaniałych, kresowych krajobrazów.