Классическая проза ЛитРес

Colonial politics in 1930 Kyauktada, India, come to a head when the European Club, previously for whites only, is ordered to elect one token native member. The deeply racist members do their best to manipulate the situation, resulting in the loss not only of reputations, but of lives. Amidst this cynical setting, timber merchant James Flory stands as a bridge between the warring factions, a Brit with a genuine appreciation for the native people and culture. But he has trouble acting on his feelings, and the significance of his vote, both social and political, weighs on him. When Elizabeth Lackersteen arrives, blonde, eligible, and anti-intellectual, Flory finds himself the hapless suitor. Orwell alternates between grand-scale political intrigue and nuanced social interaction, mining his own Colonial Indian heritage to create a monument of historical fiction.

Orwell's own experiences inspire this semi-autobiographical novel about a man living in Paris in the early 1930s without a penny. The narrator's poverty brings him into contact with strange incidents and characters, which he manages to chronicle with great sensitivity and graphic power. The latter half of the book takes the English narrator to his home city, London, where the world of poverty is different in externals only. A socialist who believed that the lower classes were the wellspring of world reform, Orwell actually went to live among them in England and on the continent. His novel draws on his experiences of this world, from the bottom of the echelon in the kitchens of posh French restaurants to the free lodging houses, tramps, and street people of London. In the tales of both cities, we learn some sobering Orwellian truths about poverty and society.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is «huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures» (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times ).

A genre-bending retelling of  The Odyssey ,  Army of the  Brave and Accidental  is a modern fable: a story about relationships, parenthood, and trying to have an impact on the world told from the shifting perspectives of ten characters. A hundred years after James Joyce stitched together a version of the epic tale, Canadian writer and essayist Alex Boyd updates the story as a reflection of Canadian twenty-first-century culture, allowing it to take a radically different cultural snapshot. These reimaginings newly create and colour a contemporary view of modern love without compromising any of the pitfalls or exaltations. Army of the Brave and Accidental  is funny, deft, wise and poetic all at once. The epic spans major cities such as Toronto and New York and is a coming-of-age story, a journey, a love story and a tragi-comedy.

From the author of the bestselling Jalna series comes a story of a grouchy South-Pole explorer befriends a singing lamb. Lambert, a little lamb with an angelic singing voice, is carried off to the South Pole by rich, grouchy Mr. Van Grunt, who plans to eat him one day. Instead, the two become best friends and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime.

From the author of the bestselling Jalna series. This is essentially a novel of contrast – a story of light and shade, a contrast of Sicilian exuberance with the restraints of life in a Massachusetts fishing village. It finds beloved author Mazo de la Roche in a new vein. Here is a narrative lighter in quality than those which have to do with the turbulent Jalna scene, but no less sure in its characterization; no less picturesque in its detail.

“Poems – by Currer, Ellis & Acton Bell” is a collection of fantastic poetry written by the literary sisters Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Brontë. Published in 1846 under the pseudonyms Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily), and Acton (Anne) Bell, it only sold three copies when first published. After the success of their later works, the poems have since garnered more attention and acclaim. The Brontë sisters consisted of Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848), and Anne (1820–1849), who belonged to a nineteenth-century literary family associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters are most famous for their novels, namely Charlotte's “Jane Eyre”, Emily's “Wuthering Heights”, and Anne's “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall”, each an irrefutable classic of English literature. Contents include: “Mementos”, “The Wife's Will”, “Gilbert”, “Life", “The Letter”, “Regret”, “ Presentiment”, “The Teacher's Monologue”, “Passion”, “Preference”, “Evening Solace”, “Stanzas”, “Parting”, “Faith And Despondency”, “Stars”, “The Philosopher”, “Remembrance”, “A Death-Scene”, “Song”, “Anticipation”, “The Prisoner”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this classic volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with biographical notes of Emily and Anne Brontë by their sister Charlotte Brontë, along with an Essay by Virginia Woolf on the Brontë Family Home, Haworth.

From the author of the bestselling Jalna series, a story of one small thing that creates a lot of beauty. Bill and Coo were two pigeons who built their nest in the shelter of the gable of the Dullards’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Dullard hated all birds, especially pigeons. Mr. Dullard even tries to hit Bill with a rock, but the rock bounced back from the roof and hit Mr. Dullard instead. After that they let the pigeons alone, but they grumbled about them continually. When the beautiful new egg Coo laid was hatched, something emerged which changed the lives of the envious, bad-tempered humans living beneath and had a surprising effect on the jealous members of the bird world. In language of great simplicity and with a storyteller’s art, Mazo de la Roche tells of the little baby bird whose coming spreads beauty where harshness and envy had been before.

From the author of the bestselling Jalna series! Writing in isolation was never trickier than in this full house. In this short but poignant tale, Mazo de la Roche tells the story of a small boy from an orphan home who has come to work for two sisters – Mrs Morton and Lydia Dove – who are, in old age, suffering greatly reduced circumstances. They have rented out half of their house to a writer, Lindley, who has sought out this isolated spot for the writing of a novel. However, the seclusion promised him is broken by strange and frightening events. The sisters’ struggle over the boy, Lindley’s love for the boy, his efforts to keep himself aloof for the writing of his book, are related by Mazo de la Roche with that complete belief in her characters which makes them live for the reader.

Set in the Niger Delta this novel tells the tale of a women's struggle for equality in a traditional patriachal society. Set against the once-in-a-generation festival at which the one chosen by the gods performs the dance of «the mother mask», Ojaide weaves a tale of suspense while displaying the traditions and religious beliefs that define the Niger Delta.

The Town Below changed the face of Québécois literature. The Town Below takes place in St. Joseph Parish of Quebec City’s Saint-Sauveur suburb. Saint-Sauveur is a parochial and provincial place where narrow piety and corruption can be found in every corner, and Denis and Lise, two adolescents in love, scandalize the town with their affair. Scheming politicians and clergymen and grasping social climbers mix with salt-of-the-earth citizens in a rough-and-tumble satiric assault on pre-Quiet Revolution Quebec mores and attitudes. The Town Below  won the Prix David and the Prix de la langue française. Lemelin was also awarded Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships. A bestseller in Quebec when it originally appeared,  The Town Below  has been called the «pioneer novel of working-class Quebec» and exploded, with great controversy, the smothering social and religious strictures prevalent among postwar Québécois. The novel was first published in English by Reynal & Hitchcock in 1948.

From the author of the bestselling Jalna series. Switched at birth: two boys exchange lives for a year. This novel from Jalna author Mazo de la Roche tells the story of two families, English and American, on whom circumstances have played a strange prank which might have had unhappy consequences. As an experiment, they send off their sons to see the other's country, but then war intervenes, and the story of the Wyldes and the Rendels shows the problems and the promise of Anglo-American relationships now and for the future.

From the author of the bestselling Jalna series. Shaw Manifold is a born forester, of hardy stock. A fatherless boy of nine, he was brought up in the rugged environment of his grandfather’s farm, a lonely youngster in the midst of callous elders. His only ally was his mother, Cristabel, whose work removed her to a distant city. Mother and son lived for their reunions: their private world was a tortured and nostalgic place, but its love braced Shaw against the exhaustion of overwork and the interminable feud with his grandparents from which he escaped to his school of forestry and the Canadian woods. Then at the outset of a brilliant career he found he had overreached his strength. In sickbed and sanatoriums he began to fight the greatest battle of his life. With his courage and endurance, Shaw tells of his relationship with his mother, of his defiance of the Gowers, of his love for Elspeth Blair, and of the expeditions that led to his greatest challenge yet.

It Begins… This book contains segments of letters found by an individual known as “The Editor”. When first presented with these mysterious letters, it was clear the writer was sick. An individual so twisted… The Editor had no choice but to continue investigating this material and its origin. Is this material of fiction; a sick joke, perhaps? Or is this a dark literary outlet for a hidden serial killer or cult? The questions just keep stacking. Upon further research, The Editor was able to confirm his greatest fear… there were others! The thought sickens The Editor. Instead of the writings of one deranged person, we have reason to believe that there are actually more insane participants roaming the world; but how many? The Editor warns that the contents of this book are not for the light-hearted, or the sensitive reader. The Editor is just the messenger… but he brings the message of a killer. You have been warned… Have a glorious day! –The Editor-

Рассказ о пшеничном солнечном герое на огромном жёлтом грузовике. О человеке, ставшем Американской легендой, всегда готовом прийти на помощь добрым людям!

Ning juba esimesel neljapäeval tulnud kratile hing sisse, muidu kuluvat ikkagi kolm neljapäevaööd ära. Ja verd polnud loomulikult vajagi. Aap pomisenud rehe all tasa-tasa: „Upelsteni nimel, olgu sul hing sees!” Nii et, hea õpetaja, sellele kratile, kes ausa Madli sukapaela peab ära tooma, saame elu sisse küll. Ja veel oma hingeõnnistust ohtu seadmata!”

Originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, “Little Women” is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott. Based on her own life, the story follows the four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—and chronicles their transition from childhood to womanhood. “Little Women” became incredibly popular when first published and remains widely-read today. Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) was an American short story writer, novelist, and poet most famous for writing this novel, as well as its sequels “Little Men” and “Jo's Boys”. She grew up in New England and became associated with numerous notable intellectuals of her time, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Henry David Thoreau. Other notable works by this author include: «An Old-Fashioned Girl» (1886), «Eight Cousins» (1869), and «A Long Fatal Love Chase» (1875). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.

Trzej muszkieterowie „Pierwsza połowa XVII wieku. Na francuskim tronie zasiada Ludwik XIII. W szeregach królewskiej gwardii służą trzej muszkieterowie Atos, Portos i Aramis… Pewnego dnia dołącza do nich młody Gaskończyk d’Artagnan. Już we czwórkę – w myśl dewizy „Jeden za wszystkich, wszyscy za jednego” – próbują pokrzyżować podstępne plany kardynała Richelieu, spełnić życzenie królowej Anny Austriaczki, ukarać uwodzicielską Milady de Winter, uratować życie księcia Buckinghama… Autor „Trzech muszkieterów” – Aleksander Dumas znakomicie połączył literacką fikcję z prawdziwymi wydarzeniami: wiernie oddał stosunki panujące na dworze królewskim, rywalizację między królem i kardynałem Richelieu o wpływy i władzę, nienawiść kardynała do królowej, wrogość między gwardzistami kardynalskimi i muszkieterami królewskimi. Jedna z najlepszych powieści z gatunku płaszcza i szpady – przenosi słuchacza w świat pełen intryg, pojedynków, zdrad, miłosnych uniesień.

No other author made a greater contribution to the literature of Christmas than Charles Dickens. Collected here are the five Christmas Novellas (A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain), plus twenty-three other short works on the theme of kindness and goodwill from “A Christmas Dinner” (1835) to “No Thoroughfare” (1867). Read and reread these heartwarming classics every holiday season.

No other author made a greater contribution to the literature of Christmas than the master himself, Charles Dickens. Collected here in one volume are his five famous Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain. Read and reread these heartwarming classics to yourself or to a loved one every holiday season.

Warszawa okresu międzywojennego. Piękny Andrzej Sanicki, uwikłany w gorący romans z rozwódką, musi wypełnić ostatnią wolę matki i ożenić się. Nie zamierza jednak zrywać z kochanką ani udawać uczucia do przyszłej żony, więc jej wybór pozostawia ojcu. Kazia Szpanowska, cicha, spokojna, pracowita panna z prowincji godzi się na małżeństwo z Andrzejem z rozsądku, by uszczęśliwić rodzinę a jednocześnie dochować wiary zaginionemu narzeczonemu. Czy taki związek może przetrwać na wielkomiejskim targowisku próżności? Czy wrzos może zakwitnąć na bruku? W tle galeria wielkoświatowych birbantów, kobiet fatalnych, panien na wydaniu, poczciwych i mniej poczciwych plotkarek oraz cynicznych oszustów. A także dwa nieprzenikające się światy: bogatych elegantów oraz biedoty, która nie ma najmniejszych szans, by wyrwać się ze swych nor.