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This is a book about a man of 1887, who turned out to be in 2000. It was actually written in 1887, and author Edward Bellamy predicts certain things, such as radio and credit cards. The main character discovered that all social class differences were erased, and there is a utopian society. He wonders how in the twenty-first century all kinds of music are available at the touch of a button. Credit card replaced the money. The author compares the 21st century and 19 in the no...

A collection of fourteen short stories. These are stories about blackmail and own experiments. Some stories may seem close. Thus, the stories will be read in one breath. Since the reader will perceive them with interest. A hint is attached to each story, but you will have to solve some problems yourself.

Who is stealing almost all of the magical treasures of Oz – including the Magic Picture, the Wizard’s black bag, and Glinda’s Book of Records? Dorothy and her friends set out to comb all of Oz, not only for magic stolen from Glinda and the Wizard, but also for the kidnapped princess, Ozma. Along the way, they explore regions never seen in other „Oz” books, meeting strange and interesting people and animals, and falling into peril more than once. Deep in the Winkie Country, ...

The Island of Yew is set at some undisclosed place in the Earth’s global ocean – „in the middle of the sea.” A fairy has become bored with her life, and convinces some young girls to transform her into a human boy so she can go on fast and furious adventures. Transformed, he is Prince Marvel, but he keeps his fairy powers, as they might prove handy in a world where you will quite likely encounter giants, dwarves, wizards, rowdy robber gangs, talking dragons, damsels in dist...

The brother and sister of the poor nobleman settle in a simple town and bring a new element to the quiet life of this place, which gives many opportunities for comedy. Ginny Avesham is an attractive heroine, but the author tries so hard to show her kindness to the reader that she overdoes her and makes her a little theatrical. A simple story, with many good characters, but also with life features. Benson gave us a small but pleasant exploration of life in a small town....

The author tells the story of the twins Martin and Helen Challoner and their relationship against their father priest. Benson has a more serious purpose here and less superficial savvy than in some of his stories. His main theme is the absolute necessity of individual character and independent action. He depicts the sufferings of a holy and spiritual priest in relation to art, literature, and imagination when his son becomes a professional musician and Catholic.

Every child knows about Santa Claus, the jolly man who brings gifts to all on Christmas. There are many stories that tell of his life, but the delightful version relayed in „The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” is by far the most charming and original of all. Orphaned at an infant Claus is found and raised in the magical Forest of Burzee by a wood-nymph Necile, who convinces the great Ak to allow her to raise Claus for her own. As he grows older he meets his fellow human...

When Gerald Winston, an English Egyptologist travelling on the Nile, meets Kara, who claims to be the last descendant of a royal Egyptian family, the scientist’s curiosity is sparked by the story Kara tells. Is it true that Kara’s ancestor Ahtka-Ra, High Priest of Ămen, ruled Rameses II as his puppet? As Winston tries to learn more about the strange Egyptian and his mysterious tale, he is drawn into Kara’s insidious intrigues. A complex tale of embezzlement, forgery, arrang...

The Blotting Book ends with a murder story, but this is not a detective story. There is one amazing feature of this story that sets it apart from the others. The focus of the work is the human character and state, not action and history. This is an older writing style, and the author makes a compassionate analysis of human weakness, without being picky and offering no excuse for bad moral behavior.

Edward Bellamy is an American writer who wrote the novel Dr. Heidenhoff’s Process. This story is about a doctor who seemingly did good deeds. He wanted to eliminate painful memories from the human brain and replace them with good ones. But what consequences does this entail?

Enchanting fantasy novel from creator of beloved „Oz” stories L. Frank Baum whisks young readers away on an exciting underwater adventure! „The Sea Fairies” (1911) was designed as the first volume in a new series for children, to replace the „Oz books”. It was followed by „Sky Island” in 1912. Trot, the hero of the tales is a girl, like Dorothy in the „Oz” stories. An old captain, peg-legged Cap’n Bill taught her to love the sea. The sailor told her that „mermaids is fairie...

„The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale” was one of Baum’s earliest full length fantasy books for children, published in 1901 just one year after „The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Rob Joslyn is in most respects an ordinary American teenager; his one distinguishing peculiarity is his passion for the new science and craft of electricity. He has his own laboratory in the attic of the family home, and has rigged the house with his electrical gadgets. One day, amid the bewildering...

The sequel to „The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, set shortly after the events in the first book. A fantastical tale of endless imagination, „The Marvelous Land of Oz” follows the adventures of a young boy named Tip, who, for as long as he can remember has been under the guardianship of a witch named Mombi in the Land of Oz. When Tip’s prank, in creating a pumpkin-headed man to frighten Mombi backfires, and he is threatened with the terrible fate of being made into a statue as pu...

The fourth in a series, „The Boy Fortune Hunters in China” appeared in 1909, published by Reilly & Britton under Baum’s pseudonym, Floyd Akers. Unlike most of L. Frank Baum’s work, the series is told in first person narrative by the protagonist, 16 year-old Sam Steele. Sam’s father is a sea captain who was reported killed in a shipwreck. After being cheated of his inheritance, he finds his uncle and they set sail in the Pacific. Here, Sam Steele and his two pals, Joe an...

Meet Dorothy’s new friends, the Shaggy Man, Button Bright and Polychrome, as you travel with them to the Emerald City. Share their adventures with the Musicker and the Scoodlers. See how they escape from the Soup-Kettle and what they found at the Truth Pond. Their adventures include: the secret behind the love magnet, entering the town of Foxville, the queen of the Scoodlers, the Truth Pond, Ozma’s birthday party, why the way to Butterfield got split 7 ways, etc.... Find ou...

„Sky Island” was the second of three titles written by Baum featuring a spunky girl from California, Trot, and her companion, the old sailorman, Cap’n Bill. L. Frank Baum had hoped to end the Oz series and introduced Trot and Cap’n Bill in „The Sea Fairies”. In „Sky Island”, Button Bright has found a magic umbrella, which allows him to go anyplace in the world in seconds. He meets Trot and Cap’n Bill during his adventures, and the three decide to go to „Sky Island”, and sma...

According to many people, true friendship lasts until the end of life. However, what happens if something goes wrong? The Laslett Affair novel was written on this subject. A story about friends who believe that there is nothing stronger than their friendship and nothing can prevent their friendship. However, everything changes with time...

”Equality” is a utopian novel, and the sequel „Looking Backward: 2000-1887.” The main character from 1897 wakes up in 2000. Everything seems unusual to him. He learns that women are free to participate in the same auction as men. Gold coins become useless. Now vegetarians, and the thought of eating meat is perceived with disgust. How now to go back and whether to return at all?

Lyman Frank Baum penned fourteen novels in his famous „Oz” chronology. For the second time a little girl from the United States comes to Oz. The story begins in a faraway corner of Oz, in the small country of Oogaboo. There, Queen Ann Soforth musters an unlikely army and sets off to conquer the rest of Oz. Meanwhile, a girl Betsy Bobbin from Oklahoma and her companion, Hank the mule, are shipwrecked in the Nonestic Ocean. The two drift to shore in the Rose Kingdom, a magica...

In the first of L. Frank Baum’s time-Honoréd „Oz” novels, country girl Dorothy Gale and her little dog Toto are caught in a tornado, they and their Kansas farmhouse are suddenly transported to the fantastical Land of Oz where Munchkins live, monkeys fly and Wicked Witches rule, wild beasts talk, silver shoes have magic powers, and good witches offer protection with a kiss. Desperate to return to her native Kansas, and, aided by the Good Witch of the North, she and Toto – to...

Writing under a pseudonym, the prolific „Wizard of Oz” author created a series of far-flung adventure tales starring Sam Steele, a resourceful young sailor. In this story of mystery, deceit, and murder, Sam and his companions seek the legendary wealth of Karnak – a 2,000-year-old treasure buried in the desert sands. The adventure begins when Sam rescues an escaped cabin boy from a sinking dinghy in Boston Harbor. Runaway Joe Herring, along with pampered aristocrat Archie Ac...

Ojo the Unlucky, a Munchkin boy raised in isolation in the Blue Forest by his taciturn Unc Nunkie, finds himself setting out on a quest through the wider world of Oz in this seventh entry in L. Frank Baum’s series about that magical country. The reader accompanies Ojo, the Glass Cat and the Patchwork Girl on a journey to find five magic items in the wonderful Land of Oz to restore to life Ojo’s Uncle Nunkie and the Crooked Magician’s wife, Margolotte, who turn to marble whe...

In this witty and imaginative tale, the Royal Historian of Oz, L. Frank Baum, takes young readers back across The Great Sandy Desert for more exciting adventures in the wondrous Land of Oz. Old friends such as Dorothy, the Wizard, and the Cowardly Lion reappear, along with endearing new characters – the Glass Cat, the Hungry Tiger, Little Trot, Cap’n Bill, the Lonesome Duck, and others. In this story, Ozma’s kingdom is threatened once again by Nome Ruggedo, the dastardly fo...

The Tin Woodman, assisted by Woot the Wanderer, the Scarecrow of Oz, and Polychrome, the Rainbow’s Daughter are on an adventure searching for the pretty Munchkin girl that the Tin Woodman loved before the Old Witch of the East turned his body to tin, causing him to lose his heart. In a series of adventures sure to thrill „Oz” fans both old and new, these beloved friends face such challenges as a selfish giantess and a group of quarrelsome dragons – all to fulfill a promise ...

The ninth book the action of which takes place in the wonderful Land of Oz is indeed a masterpiece. The mix of Oz and non-Oz characters into one story was the result of the request made by Baum’s readers and a great invention that gave birth to a story that captivates any reader, child and adult alike. This was published in July 16, 1915 and has been on record as being Baum’s personal favorite of his series. The story this time around revolves around Scarecrow and his adven...

Finally, I met with one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare. In this work, important and interesting topics are touched: the hypocrisy of people in pursuit of wealth and power, blinding deceitful speeches and disregard for the true virtues of the soul, cruelty and hot temper, deceived hopes and disappointment in loved ones. As for the king himself, Lear appears to be a rather absurd, selfish and domineering old man, who is too used to universal worship and has lost touc...

The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus – an early and very harsh play of Shakespeare. There is no subtle treatment of the characters in it, but it is saturated with bloody events. Based on the traditions of the ancient theater, it represents fictional characters, driven by an inexhaustible thirst for revenge. But, most importantly: the time is now different, and the passions and vices are the same.

A diamond is stolen from the English country estate of Lady Verinder and the renowned Sergeant Cuff is brought in from London to help solve the case. The diamond, said to bring bad luck to its owner because it was stolen from a temple in India, was given to Lady Verinder’s daughter, Rachel, on her 18th birthday. It was bequeathed to Rachel from her uncle (who stole it when he was a young soldier) on his death. The story unfolds through several narrators, all of whom know a ...

Join Dorothy and the Wonderful Wizard as they take Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a fabulous tour of Oz. During their journey they encounter such amazing and amusing people as King Kleaver with his Spoon Brigade and Miss Cuttenclip of the land of paper dolls. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry also meet old friends like the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead and H. M. Wogglebug T. E. But while Dorothy and her friends play, the wicked Nome ...

If you like the books by Iain Lawrence „The Wreckers”, „The Smugglers”, and „The Buccaneers” you’ll love the adventures of Sam Steele. „The Boy Fortune Hunters” series began in 1906 with the novel „Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea” (later re-published as „The Boy Fortune Hunters in Alaska”). The series lasted six novels, ending in 1911 with the novel „The Boy Fortune Hunters in the South Seas”. Here, Sam Steele and crew are shipwrecked on a forbidding and mysterious ...

„Kandyd, czyli optymizm” – oświeceniowa satyryczna powiastka filozoficzna francuskiego filozofa Voltaire’a – opowiada o wymuszonych wygnaniem podróżach młodzieńca imieniem Kandyd. Przemierzając lądy i morza, przeżywa on nieprawdopodobne przygody, które wystawiają na próbę jego wiarę w to, że żyjemy w najlepszym ze światów. Utwór stanowi dialog z oświeceniowymi poglądami filozoficznymi.

Po wypadku, który położył kres jego sportowej karierze, Ian Hunter – były zawodnik, grający wcześniej w zawodowej drużynie futbolowej – wraca na uczelnię gotowy zająć się czymś innym. Swoje wybitne umiejętności dotyczące relacji damsko-męskich przekształca w przedsięwzięcie i wraz z przyjacielem zakłada spółkę Skrzydłowi, oferującą usługi w ramach porad randkowych dla nieśmiałych dziewczyn. Kiedy jednak zgłasza się do nich Blake Olson, Ian jest pewien, że trafił mu się beznad...

Jej małżeństwo wydawało się idealne.Ludzie jej zazdrościli i chcieli żyć jej życiem. Pragnęli być panią Alejandra Gambino – żoną Dino Gambino, córką Eduardo Castillo.Szanowaną i kochaną księżniczką mafii.Nie mieli pojęcia, jaki horror dzieje się za zamkniętymi drzwiami.Gdyby wiedzieli, nawet przez jedną sekundę nie zazdrościliby jej niczego. I wtedy pojawił się Julius Carter.Przystojny, niebieskooki Julius.Uratował ją, a ona go wykiwała.Teraz wszyscy chcą ją dorwać,...

Najpierw odczuwa delikatne muśnięcie ulotnego wrażenia, które momentalnie przeistacza się w pewność, że ma w głowie cały świat ze wszystkimi jego fenomenami, ich atrybutami i aspektami, świat w którym przebywa jako jedyny mieszkaniec. Aby móc wyruszyć z tego osobnego od wszystkiego miejsca, potrzebuje niewiele, wystarczy łódź utworzona z gęstego cienia gawroniego skrzydła, padającego na kartkę papieru, na tę niespełnioną do końca równinę, tonącą w zawoju mgły i ...

"Kronika powrotu" to wybór szkiców z ostatnich dziesięciu lat, publikowanych głównie na łamach „Twórczości" oraz innych czasopism literackich: „Czasu Kultury", „Odry", „Toposu", „Pograniczy". Są w nim także teksty, które nie były jeszcze drukowane. To szkice o współczesnej kulturze – również w jej codziennym wymiarze – o twórcy i jego dziele, o pisarzu i książce. Gorzkie, ciemne, przesycone sarkazmem i ironią (z dużą dawką autoironii), ale wyzbyte tonu jeremia...

Max Riley jest facetem z twoich snów. A przynajmniej będzie nim za odpowiednią cenę. Jego alter ego, Pan Romantyczny, to zabójczo przystojny mężczyzna do towarzystwa, który realizuje romantyczne fantazje – randki, które potrafią zawrócić w głowie. Nowojorska śmietanka nie może się nim nasycić. Nieważne, czy kobiety pragną dominującego milionera, niegrzecznego chłopca o złotym sercu, gorącego kujona, seksownego motocyklisty czy najlepszego przyjaciela – Max odegra każdą rolę, ...

First published in 1896 and considered one of Robert Barr’s best works, this historical novel set in London at the beginning of the 20th century and centering on an industrial strike and a love triangle. The men in Monkton and Hope’s factory strike. Sartwell, their manager, refuses to compromise with them, but discusses the situation with Marsten, one of their number, who clings to his own order, at the same time that he avows his love for Sartwell’s daughter Edna. Sartwell...

Sam Steele is now captain of a ship – an old and battered craft, but his own command. He is sailing it around South America to California. A storm forces Sam’s ship to the Panamanian coast. There, the travelers encounter the Techla Indians, descendants of the Aztecs. The Techlas are hostile to outsiders; Sam and his crew are tempted by the Indians’ abundant gold and gems. Traveling ashore in Moit’s amphibious auto, the Americans attempt to manipulate the Techla, without suc...

Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. The author behind one of the most beloved childhood fairytale characters of all time was known for his joyful embrace of youth and creativity, but there were dark elements surrounding his life that remain mysteries. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverla...

Robert Barr has been almost completely overlooked by critics and anthologists of Canadian literature, in part because, although he was educated in Canada, he spent most of his life in the United States and England. However, since most of his serious novels are either set in Canada or have some Canadian connection, Barr deserves attention. „The Measure of the Rule” is a 1907 coming-of-age novel about a country teacher who migrates to the city to study engineering, but is for...

L. Frank Baum, the author of the famous „Oz” books, wrote a number of series for children (and occasionally, books for older readers) under a variety of pseudonyms. Among those you can find many examples of adventure fiction, including this, the inaugural title of the „Sam Steele” series. Sam Steele is the son of a sea captain; his father is reported killed in a shipwreck, and Sam is quickly cheated of his inheritance. Now an orphan, he meets his maternal uncle, Naboth Perk...

If you have interest in finance, mining and sailing which is largely centered around those 3 topics in this novel, you are welcome! „Young Lord Stranleigh” is a thrilling tale of romance and suspense by Robert Barr. Some very sharp City of London operators think that rich Lord Stranleigh, a Bertie Woosterish West End fashion plate, is an easy mark to make some money. There is a potential gold mine in Africa, for example; a dilapidated but workable cargo steamer The Rajah, t...

This greatest political novel of Robert Barr’s most beloved books has been written in years. Barr was a Scottish-Canadian author 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. „The Victors: A Romance Of Yesterday Morning & This Afternoon...” is a stirring story of a „boss” and others. Patrick Maguire, big, brawny, and smooth...

Two works of 1829 brought Balzac to the brink of success. „Les Chouans”, the first novel he felt enough confidence about to have published under his own name, is a historical novel about the Breton peasants called „Chouans” who took part in a royalist insurrection against Revolutionary France in 1799 that occurred in the region between Brittany and Nantes and Balzac places his story in this accurate historic contest. Balzac is one of France’s greatest storytellers and this ...

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 you...

Originally published in 1906, „John Dough and the Cherub” remains a whimsical fantasy tale for all ages, by the author of the classic „Oz” books. John Dough is a gingerbread man who has come alive because the baker who made him poured – quite unwittingly – a great quantity of the precious Essence of Vitality into the dough from which he was formed. John escapes from several people who want to eat him, and arrives on the Isle of Phreex. His new friend and constant companion ...

Danger, intrigue, and adventure await you in one of L. Frank Baum’s rarest works! Baum published the novel under the pen name „Schuyler Staunton,” one of his several pseudonyms (Baum arrived at the name by adding one letter to the name of his late maternal uncle, Schuyler Stanton). „Daughters of Destiny” unfolds in the Middle Eastern country of Baluchistan and is an exciting page-turner from start to finish. Conflict occurs when the American Construction Syndicate wants to ...

Need an adventure story with plots and counterplots? Intrigue? A love interest? Politics? Murder? Follow our young American hero, Robert Harcliffe, as he goes on the adventure of his lifetime. A young man just out of college goes to Brazil as secretary of the prime mover in the revolution, and by so doing begins a series of adventures that run from tragic to comic, ending with the success of the conspiracy, a straightening out of many tangles, and the marriage of the hero t...

„Modeste Mignon”, by Honoré de Balzac (1846). The heroine of this romance, a young woman of romantic temperament Modeste Mignon, lives in a small city in northwestern France. She has the religious faith of a child, while her mind is exceptionally well informed in many ways. The young girl, daring in her simplicity, enjoys the writings of the famous Parisian poet Melchior de Canalis and imagines herself to be in love with him. However, he is not moved by her attentions. He i...

As this last „Oz” story from L. Frank Baum opens, Dorothy Gale and Ozma have been dispatched by Glinda on a peacekeeping mission. Dorothy and Ozma discover that a war is brewing in a distant and unexplored part of Oz, between two mysterious races, the Flatheads and the Skeezers, both of whom have come under the power of cruel dictators. They have never heard of either of these people but they worry that people might be harmed in a war. The girls set out to try to prevent th...

Just a plain old story told by a superb story teller. „A Marriage Contract” (French: „Le Contrat de marriage”) is an 1835 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac and included in the „Scenes de la vie privée” section of his novel sequence „La Comédie humaine”. Set in Bordeaux, the marriage between an elegant but weak young Parisian gentleman, Paul de Manerville, and the beautiful but spoiled daughter of a Spanish heiress, Natalie Evangélista, is undermined from the beginning...

Autobiographical and exceptionally romantic, „The Lily of the Valley” is an 1835 novel about love and society by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and is one of his personal favorites among his innumerable novels. The creator of the „Human Comedy” brings his creative insight to a portrait of a lady and a love affair set in the Loire valley. It concerns the affection – emotionally vibrant but never consummated – between Felix de Vandenesse and Henri...

Dorothy Gale returns in this third entry in L. Frank Baum’s „Oz” series, after her notable absence in the second volume, „The Marvelous Land of Oz”. Here you will meet such beloved old friends as the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion. Dorothy is shipwrecked and lands on the shores of a fairy country that adjoins Oz, the land of Ev. There she meets that oozy marvel: Tiktok, a wind-up mechanical man; a talking chicken, Billina; the Hungry Tiger, whose appetite is neve...

None of us, whether children or adults, needs an introduction to „Mother Goose”. Those things which are earliest impressed upon our minds cling to them most tenaciously. Published three years before L. Frank Baum achieved fame with „The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, this engaging volume added an exciting new dimension to old, much-loved verses. The book contains 22 prose fables based on famous nursery rhymes: „Old King Cole”, „Little Miss Muffet”, „The Cat and the Fiddle” and ma...

Originally published in 1908, while Baum was resident in Coronado, California, „Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz” is considered one of the „darker” of the Oz tales. However, it also is enlivened by Baum’s considerable wit, penchant for puns, and dry social commentary. This fourth „Oz” novel sees Kansas farm-girl Dorothy Gale once again transported to magical lands, this time thanks to a California earthquake, during which our heroine falls into the depths of the earth, together...

This novel opens in the old town of Guerande which still enclosed by mighty walls and possesses moats still full of water. The houses have not changed and the streets are as they were one hundred years in the past. It is the family seat of the de Guenics. The old society of the town gather here to play cards and gossip, often about the younger generations. The son of the house, Calyste, is going to visit one of the main objects of this gossip and we learn of this person’s p...

„Ursula” novel is one of the pillars of the „Scenes of Provincial Life” section of Honoré de Balzac’s story cycle „The Human Comedy”. Through a series of tragedies and coincidences, a kind and pious teenager named Ursula has been taken in by an octogenarian wealthy doctor, Denis Minoret. Inspired by Ursula’s goodness, Minoret decides to make her his chief heir. This incites the ire of his other relatives, and a ruthless war for Minoret’s estate breaks out. In this book Balz...

„Over The Border: A Romance” written by Robert Barr who was a Scottish-Canadian short story writer and novelist. This book was published in 1903. Robert Barr (16 September 1849 – 21 October 1912) wrote more than 20 novels. Among the more estimable are „The victors” (New York, 1901), about metropolitan politics, and „The mutable many” (New York and London, 1896), which focused on an industrial strike. Both had a distinctively realistic basis, and both were written more objec...

Robert Barr (1849–1912) 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 Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Some of his works include...

Fans of Romeo and Juliet will delight in the novella „Vendetta”, Honoré de Balzac’s unique take on the timeless theme of star-crossed lovers. This short novel is a story of love and revenge, dealing with the vendetta between two families of Corsican origin, set in early 19th century Paris just after the fall of Napoleon. It relates the tragic fate of Ginevra Piombo, the daughter of proud Corsican immigrants, who has the misfortune of falling in love with another Corsican Lu...

„Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan” is a comic tale about a society woman, a Princess and a Duchess, who attempts to recycle her slightly seedy past by pursuing a minor literary figure of great probity and innocence. The Princess de Cadignan, aka the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, has consorted with such notable Balzac rakes as Henri de Marsay, Maxime de Trailles, and Eugene de Rastignac, but is disconcerted to find herself being stalked by an unknown but comely young man. Th...

„Lady Eleanor: Lawbreaker” is a love story pure and simple from a British-Canadian short story writer and novelist Robert Barr, born at Glasgow, Scotland but emigrated with his parents to Upper Canada at age four and was educated in Toronto at Toronto Normal School. Here, the heiress conceals the will so that her cousin, the disinherited son of the house, may come to his own. His first thought is to sell the estate to set Richard Sheridan the dramatist up in management. The...

„The Chicago Princess” is a historical novel with a romantic line, written by Robert Barr. Robert Barr (1849-1912) was a British-Canadian short story writer and novelist, who published the first Holmes parody, „The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs” in 1892. A novel „The Chicago Princess” first published in 1904. After working several years in foreign affairs, and after winning and then losing a fortune, Rupert Tremorne is stranded in Nagasaki, at the end of his wits and in some ...

Forget the erroneous title, the central figure of this particular slice of Balzac’s lifelong gift to literature is a woman of character, Madame Veronique Graslin. Honoré de Balzac (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) is considered to be one of the fathers of realism in fiction and has crafted a vivid picture of Europe during the end of the Bourbon Monarchy. The first characters presented are the shopkeeper Sauviat and his family. The daughter, Veronique, is beautiful and charming...

Written in 1893, „Tekla: A Romance of Love and War” is a novel by Robert Barr. Great fun if you like a bit of chivalry and men in tights. Strongly recommended this book for every teenager who wants to discover the exciting world of reading medieval stories and for their parents! Robert Barr (1849-1912) was a British-Canadian short story writer and novelist, who published the first Holmes parody, „The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs” in 1892. He relocated to London in 1881 where...

„Cousin Pons” is one of the last and greatest of Balzac’s novels of French urban society: a cynical, pessimistic but never despairing consideration of human nature. The book tells the story of Sylvain Pons, a poor moderately successful musician who is swindled by his wealthy relatives when they learn that his collection of art and antiques is worth a fortune. In contrast to his counterpart Cousin Bette, who seeks revenge against those who have humiliated her, Cousin Pons su...

Depicting the fatal clash between material desires and the liberating power of human passions, Honoré de Balzac’s „Eugénie Grandet” (1833) is one of the earliest and most famous novels in his „Comedie humaine” cycle, which portrays a society consumed by the struggle to amass wealth and achieve power. The Grandet household, oppressed by the exacting miserliness of Grandet himself, is jerked violently out of routine by the sudden arrival of Eugenie’s cousin Charles, recently ...

„The Girl with the Golden Eyes” is the third part of a trilogy. Part one is entitled „Ferragus” and part two is „The Duchesse de Langeais”. The three stories are frequently combined under the title „The Thirteen”. It tells the story of a rich and ruthless young man in nineteenth century Paris caught up in an amorous entanglement with a mysterious beauty. Henri de Marsay, a young dandy who is obsessed with appearances, a physically beautiful but spiritually empty young man w...

Originally published in 1830, here we have perhaps Balzac’s best short work, named simply „Gobseck”. Gobseck is a marvelous sketch of a money-lender and miser in Paris during the early part of the nineteenth century who is a font of psychological insight when it comes to humankind’s greed, vanity and other dark motives. His philosophy of never helping anyone because „adversity is the greatest of all teachers” was well known. He also believed that all the peoples of the worl...

Prior to the twentieth century, philosophy was the driving force behind all literature. Authors used the novel as a means to communicate their ideas on man’s purpose and his place in the universe. With Louis Lambert, however, Balzac takes the idea of the philosophical novel a little too far in giving us this odd, chimerical mashup of philosophical treatise and coming-of-age novel. The novel seems to focus on the life and particularly the thoughts of the genius boy protagoni...

By the French author, who, along with Flaubert, is generally regarded as a founding-father of nineteenth-century realism in European fiction. His large output of works, collectively entitled „The Human Comedy” (La Comedie Humaine), consists of 95 finished works and 48 unfinished works. The novel „A Start in Life” is part of the „Scenes of Private Life” section of Balzac’s masterpiece. In much of Balzac’s work, the aristocracy is portrayed as vain, duplicitous, and greedy. B...

This is the coming of age story of a young sculptor named Sarrasine and the choices he will face on his journey towards his destiny. We follow Sarrasine as he travels from France to Italy to search for his passion and find the love of his life. The story of Sarrasine is intertwined with that of the beautiful La Zambinella, and Italian singer with whom the young sculptor will fall madly, deeply in love with. From that moment, he was no longer the owner of his thoughts. Howev...