LN Tolstoy Cossacks On an early winter morning from the porch of the Moscow hotel Chevalier, after spending a long time with friends after a long dinner, Dmitry Andreevich Olenin drives off on the Yamskaya troika to the Caucasian infantry regiment, where he is enlisted as a cadet. From a young age, without parents, Olenin … Read more
IS Turgenev Notes of the hunter: Date Birch grove. Mid-September. “Since the morning, a light rain has fallen, replaced by a warm sunshine at times, there was a fickle weather, the sky was all clouded with loose white clouds, then suddenly it was cleared for a moment, and then azure, clear and tender, appeared from … Read more
G. H. Andersen Thumbelina A childless woman, on the advice of a sorceress, raised a girl from the grain of a tulip an inch tall – Thumbelina. Cradle for her was a nut shell, a boat – a petal of a tulip in a dish with water and flowers, where the girl sailed and sang. … Read more
A. P. Chekhov The Soul The daughter of retired collegiate assessor Olenka Plemyannikova often finds her neighbor Kukina, the owner of the entertainment garden “Tivoli”, for complaints about life, the weather, and the uncomfortable taste of the audience. The misfortunes of Kukin are so touching her that Olenka falls in love with him, although Kukin … Read more
MM Prishvin Zhen-shen After the end of the Russo-Japanese war, I chose a three-line better and set off from Manchuria to Russia. Pretty soon crossed the Russian border, crossed a ridge and on the shore of the ocean met with a Chinese, a seeker of zhen-shen. Louvain sheltered me in his hiding place, hidden from … Read more
In the beginning of 1806 Nikolay Rostov goes home on vacation. He persuades Denisov to stay with him. Nicholas’s house is waiting for a happy meeting. Natasha tries to find out from his brother whether his attitude toward Sonya has changed, assures himself that she loves her very much, and, in order to prove this, … Read more
Franz Kafka Castle The action takes place in Austria-Hungary, before the November Revolution of 1918 K., a young man of about thirty years, arrives in the Village on a late winter night. He settles down for the night at an inn, in a common room among the peasants, noticing that the owner is extremely embarrassed … Read more
There was one of summer warm days… My friend and I stood and talked near our house. You walked among us, among the flowers and grass that you had on your shoulders, and your face did not leave an indefinite half-smile, which I tried in vain to solve. Running through the bushes, the Spaniel Chif … Read more
ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH SEROV 1820-1871 Serov – an outstanding representative of Russian musical culture – combined a gifted composer, a widely erudite scientist, a brilliant critic-publicist. Brought up on the ideas of Belinsky, Serov advocated the ideological content of music, defended the idea of a high public mission of art. A champion of nationality and realism, … Read more
L. Pirandello Henry IV The action takes place in a secluded villa in rural Umbria at the beginning of the 20th century. The room reproduces the decoration of the throne room of Henry IV, but to the right and left of the throne – two large modern portraits, one of which depicts a man in … Read more
The events addressed by Senkevich in the novel The Crusaders were of great importance both for the history of Poland and for the Slavic and Baltic peoples neighboring it, which became the object of German feudal aggression. This is the decisive stage in the struggle against the Teutonic Order, when the famous Battle of Grunwald … Read more
On a winter night, when they were burying themselves from the Germans, Rybak and Sotnikov circled the fields and copses, having been given the task of procuring food for the partisans. The fisherman went easily and quickly, Sotnikov was behind, he should not have gone to the task at all – he was ill: he … Read more
Francis Coldheim in the attic of his house built the Aspen Factory – a device consisting of a dial and traps, where he launches a wasp, and from where it creeps, it depends on what death it will die. F. consults with the Factory, brings her victims – rats, gulls, dragonflies. F. is not registered, … Read more
Once upon a time there used to be an average adviser named Minamoto no Tadaeri, and he had many beautiful daughters whom he loved and cherished in luxurious rooms. And he had another daughter, unloved, her mother he once visited, but she died a long time. And his main wife had a cruel heart, she … Read more
The rich farmer lives in lush mansions, eats sweetly, drinks deliciously. His treasures are incalculable, he gives banquets and feasts every day. In a word, he should live and rejoice, but the trouble is – the farmer does not manage to get enough sleep. At night, he can not fall asleep either because of fear … Read more
Vasya, nicknamed Golovan, wakes up in the boys’ bedroom. After listening to the rain and observing the mysterious night figures, he approaches the candle in the basin, around which traditionally hosts night gatherings of 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Nanny initially forbade to meet in the middle of the night, but soon the parties came … Read more
Chapter 1-12 Having lent a large sum, a farmer from Kentucky, named Arthur Shelby, faces a prospect of losing everything he owns. Although he and his wife, Emily Shelby, have established cordial relations with their slaves, Arthur still decides to sell two of them to Mr. Haley, a rough slave, to raise money and pay … Read more
François Moriac Road to Nowhere We find the rich family of Revolu at the critical moment of their life. Madame Revolution, her sons Denis and Julien, her daughter Rosie learn the terrible news – their father, the owner of the largest notary office in the city – Oscar Revolution – is ruined. He kept a … Read more
Dr. Watson was pleased to find himself again on Baker Street, in an unofficial room on the second floor, this starting point for so many wonderful adventures. He looked at the tables and charts hanging on the walls, on an acid-fired shelf with chemicals, a violin in a case leaning against a wall in the … Read more
The Happy Prince The beautiful sculpture of the Happy Prince, studded with precious stones and covered in gold, stood on a column high above the city, causing universal admiration. Once in the autumn the Swallow flew over the city, he strove to warm places, left his beloved home-child-Trot, she did not like travel and only … Read more
Hotel; night; Italy; year of the 1748th. The protagonist – Giacomo Casanova, twenty-three years old, recovered from the IV volume of his own memoirs and supplemented, finished with a woman’s dream about the eternal Casanova, sleeps, dropping female names from her lips. His restless sleep is interrupted by hussar Henri, at first impression – a … Read more
For a long time, in ancient times, an old man lived in the same city. He worked in a smithy near the Moscow road foreman at the main blacksmith, because he did not see well and was weak. He carried water, sand and coal to the smithy, fanned the horn, held hot iron on the … Read more
Louis Aragon was born on October 3, 1897 in Paris. He was the illegitimate son of Margarita Tuk, who recorded him as the adoptive son of his mother and stepfather, politician Andrie. Subsequently, Louis chose a pseudonym of Aragon for the name of the Spanish historical region. Since 1915 he studied at the Medical Faculty … Read more
G. Beecher-Stowe Uncle Tom’s hut The novel takes place in the early 1850s. in USA. He opens the conversation with the “good” planter Shelby with slave-dealer Gayley, whom he wants to sell his best nigger to Uncle Tom in payment of debts. Speaking about humanism, understood in a very peculiar way, Gayley expresses the point … Read more
The action takes place in the middle of the XIX century. In one of the ordinary London nights in the life of Mr. Dombey, the greatest event is happening – his son is born. Henceforth his firm (one of the largest in the City!), In whose management he sees the meaning of his life, will … Read more
The story “Overcoat” was first published in 1843. She talks about the life of a “little man” in society. He is indifferent to everyone, but he genuinely loves his small post. Only one circumstance pulls him out of the habitual way of life: buying a new overcoat. According to Belinsky, the story “The Overcoat” became … Read more
A small wandering troupe traveled around the Crimea: an organ-grinder Martyn Lodyzhkin with an old organ-grinder, a twelve-year-old boy Sergei and a white poodle Artaud. On that day the artists were unlucky. They went from dacha to dacha, they went around the whole village, but they could not earn anything. At the last dacha with … Read more
It is said that once there was a concubine named Han Yuqiao at the palace to the sovereign. But the beauty of Anfei reigned supreme in the heart of the lord. So Yuqiao became ill. Then, in order to strengthen the girl’s health, they decided to give her to the house of the official Yang … Read more
The main heroine of the work is a twenty-year-old girl Frosya, daughter of a railwayman. Her husband left far and long. Frosya is very sad about him, life loses all meaning for her, she even throws the railway communication and signaling courses. Frosya’s father, Nefed Stepanovich, retired by age, but continues to miss his job. … Read more
Kobo Abe Another person’s face The researcher, the head of the laboratory at the Institute of High-Molecular Chemistry, burned his face with liquid oxygen during the experiment, causing his whole face to become scarred. The wounds do not heal in any way, and he always walks with a bandaged face. He reflects on the fact … Read more
Eugene Xu Paris mysteries Mid-30’s. the last century, the slums of Paris, where gangsters and murderers are leading their black businesses, but honest poor people are struggling for existence. Prince of Gerolstein Rodolphe, a thirty-seven-year-old handsome man with “big yellowish brown eyes” who perfectly knows the methods of pugilism, arrives in Paris with the aim … Read more
IV Goethe The Suffering of the Young Werther It is this genre, characteristic of the literature of the 18th century, that Goethe chooses for his work, and the action takes place in one of the small German towns in the late 18th century. The novel consists of two parts – these are the letters of … Read more
The Marquis de Sade Justine, or the Unhappy Fate of Virtue. “People inexperienced in the feat of virtue may find it advantageous for them to surrender to vice instead of resisting it.” Therefore, “it is necessary to imagine the power of examples of unhappy virtue,” capable of leading to the good “a spoiled soul, if … Read more
Charlotte Aissé (circa 1693, Circassia – March 13, 1733, Paris) is a French writer, known primarily for her correspondence, published under the title “Letters to Mrs. Calandrini” (Lettres de mademoiselle Aissé a madame Calandrini). The origin is not entirely reliable: she called herself the daughter of the Circassian (probably Adyghe) prince, whose palace was plundered … Read more
In Athens, the most famous philosopher was Socrates. For his philosophy, he then paid with his life: he was brought to trial and executed precisely because he had questioned too much, deconstructing manners and thereby weakened the state. But before that it was still far: first it was only brought out in a comedy. At … Read more
“Darkened from the dust the blue southern sky is dull… The port is full of bustle and confusion, people seem to be insignificant in this noise, created by them enslaved and depersonalized them.” A string of stevedores, carrying thousands of poods of grain in order to earn a few pounds of bread, were ridiculous and … Read more
The action of this novel anti-utopia takes place in a fictional World State. There is a 632-year stability era, the Era Ford. Ford, who created the world’s largest automobile company in the early twentieth century, is revered in the World State for God. It is called “Our Lord Ford”. In the state this is ruled … Read more
The saga tells the story of eight generations of an Icelandic family. The central place is reserved for the seventh generation: the events connected with it took place at the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century. Ketil Ploskonosy occupied a high position in Norway. When King Harald the Fair-haired reached … Read more
Sergei Petrovich – a third-year student of the natural faculty. He is ugly, ugly, clumsy, ordinary. He does not succeed in romances with women, he has no close friends, although he craves for love and friendship with all his heart. Sergei Petrovich lives with a student Novikov, a talented, intelligent and generous man. Under the … Read more
The events described unfold on the Italian-Austrian front in 1915-1918. Coming from America – Frederick Henry – volunteered for the army, taking the position of lieutenant of the sanitary troops in the Italian regiment. Sanitary units stand in the city on Plavna, awaiting an offensive and shorting time with various entertainments. At the same time, … Read more
Heinrich Heine Germany. Winter fairy-tale The action of the poem takes place in the autumn and winter of 1843 The lyrical hero of the poet leaves cheerful Paris and his beloved wife in order to make a short trip to his native Germany, which he missed very much and visit an old sick mother who … Read more
In the work of Alexander Pushkin, there is a period called the Boldin Autumn (1833). It was during this period that “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” was written. According to the plot, Pushkin’s fairy tale resembles the classic European fairy tale “Snow White”. However, “The Tale of the Dead Princess … Read more
“The Arc de Triomphe” – a novel by the German writer Erich Maria Remarque, first published in 1945; the German edition was published in 1946. There were many assumptions that the prototype of the main heroine Joan was Marlene Dietrich, with whom Remarque spent his time in Paris before the outbreak of World War II. … Read more
Composer Edward Grieg spent the autumn in the woods near Bergen. All the forests are good with their mushroom air and leaves rustling. But mountain forests near the sea are especially good. They can hear the surf. From the sea constantly causes fog, and from the abundance of moisture the moss is rampant. He hangs … Read more
The heroes of this tragedy are two evil czars from the city of Argos, Atreus and Fiest. The son of this Atreus was the famous leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War Agamemnon – the one killed by his wife Clytemnestra, and her son, Orestes, killed her for this. When the Greeks asked what … Read more
It’s a tragedy about fate and freedom: it’s not the freedom of a person to do what he wants, but to take responsibility for what he does not want. The city of Thebes was ruled by King Laia and Queen Jocasta. From the Delphic oracle, King Laius received a terrible prediction: “If you bear a … Read more
The poem “The Lay of Igor’s Host” was written in Old Russian by an unknown author, a contemporary of that time. He talks about the campaign of the Russian princes against the Polovtsians in 1185, about the rout of the Russian army. The author seeks to explain to his compatriots his reasons and tell about … Read more
At the heart of the story “Poor Lisa” Karamzin – the story of the unhappy love of a peasant woman to a nobleman. The work, written and published in 1792, influenced the further development of Russian literature – here for the first time “people acted, the life of the heart and passions was depicted in … Read more
M. Maeterlinck the Blind Old northern forest under the high starry sky. Leaning against the trunk of the old hollow oak, the decrepit priest froze in a dead stillness. His blue lips are half open, his stopped eyes no longer look at this, the visible side of eternity. The emaciated hands are kneeling. To his … Read more
Once Zoshchenko was with Gorky. And so Gorky says to him: but what would you, Mikhal Mikhalych and all that, not write here in this fantastic, if I may say so, manner the whole history of mankind? To, therefore, your hero, a man in the street, understood everything and got it out of your work, … Read more