At the beginning of Wandemähre, a crowd of recruits came from Fougères to Mayenne. Four years ago these places were covered by the royalist rebellion, and Fougeres was always considered one of the most dangerous of its foci. That is why the commander of the half-brigade Hulot decided to make a set as soon as … Read more
Jean-Jacques Russo Julia, or New Eloise “I observed the customs of my time and published these letters,” the author writes in the “Preface” to a real philosophical and lyrical novel. A small Swiss town. Educated and sensitive raznochinets Saint-Pre, like Abelard, falls in love with his apprentice Julia, the daughter of Baron d’Etange. And although … Read more
Friedrich Schiller Rogues The action takes place in the modern author of the play of Germany. The plot unfolds for two years. Drama is preceded by the epigraph of Hippocrates, which in the Russian translation reads: “What medicines do not heal, heals iron, which does not heal iron, heals fire.” The plot is based on … Read more
FN Gorenshtein The Psalm Roman consists of five parts – each one tells of one of the plagues of the Lord that struck the earth, as the prophet Ezekiel prophesied. Part one – “The Parable of the Lost Brother” – tells of the second execution – the famine. The scene of action is hungry Ukraine … Read more
The early stories of Kazakov remained in the circle of permissive cordiality. The most telling story is “Blue and Green” (1956). Kazakov said that he wrote it “on behalf of that Arbat boy”, as he himself was in those years. Book descriptions of book passions of the Moscow tenth-grader, to whom the first love came. … Read more
Genius works always push foreheads supporters of different opinions, forcing the reader to support and hate one of the parties. This is how Rye Bradbury’s story “Rust” works, the summary of which is incapable of giving passages without quotes. The author acts as an omniscient but cold-blooded witness to the dialogue between the two military … Read more
Stefan Zweig Impatience of the heart In 1938, the narrator accidentally met the knight of the Order of Maria Theresa Anton Hofmiller, who told him about what happened to him a quarter of a century ago when he was twenty-five years old. The narrator wrote down his story, changing only the names in it and … Read more
M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin Well-intentioned speeches In the chapter “For the reader”, the author is presented as a frontier man shaking hands with representatives of all parties and camps. His acquaintances are darkness-darkening, but they have nothing to look for, except “good intentions,” it would be good to understand them. Let them hate each other, but … Read more
December 24, the house of the Stahlbaum Advisor of Medicine. Everyone is getting ready for Christmas, and the children – Fritz and Marie – are guessing what this time they will be presented as a gift by an inventor and godfather, a senior court adviser Drosselmeyer, who often repaired watches in the house of Stalbaums. … Read more
Periander was the tyrant of Corinth. With him, as the Corinthians say (and this story is also confirmed by the lesbians), the greatest miracle happened in life. Arion of Mephimna was carried out on a dolphin from the sea at Tenar. It was an incomparable cifar of its time and, as far as I know, … Read more
The old farmer, Mouz Ehrams, was looking for cows who had lost their way somewhere when he found a strange creature in the bush. It was brilliant, green, with purple spots and stinked the whole neighborhood. And it moaned softly – “exactly the wind was bored by the wind under the wide eaves of the … Read more
Romain Rolland The Enchanted Soul According to the writer’s plan, the novel is “something more than a literary work: it is a living being, a story about the spiritual world of one woman”, covering forty years of her life – from a carefree youth to a courageous death. From the first pages of the novel … Read more
LN Andreev The Life of Man Throughout the action on the scene are Someone in the gray and second nameless character, silently standing in the far corner. In the prologue Someone in gray addresses the public with an explanation of what will be presented to her. This is the life of Man, all from birth … Read more
“The smoking-room is alive…” – Cola cries to friends who came to see if he died from the plague. But no, Cola Bryunnon, “an old sparrow of Burgundian blood, full of spirit and belly, no longer the first youth, half-century knocked, but strong,” is not going to leave his beloved land and still revels in … Read more
From this book, the author’s success in Russia began. The protagonist – matured hippies in the small advertising business. His wife left him. Suddenly, he is summoned to a powerful advertising concern and is asked to explain where he got the photograph of one strange sheep. It turns out that this sheep – a kind … Read more
Long ago a man and his wife lived. They had two children: the eldest daughter Masha and the younger son Vanya. Once the parents went to the city and punished Masha to look after her brother and not leave the yard. And for the good conduct promised to the guests. But as soon as her … Read more
Working in Canada on an old DS-3 aircraft gave Ben a “good temper”, thanks to which he flew in the “fairchild” over the Egyptian deserts in recent years, searching for oil for an oil exporting company. To land geologists, Ben could land the plane anywhere: “on sand, on a bush, on a stony bottom of … Read more
Frank Norris Sprut “Sprut” is a work about life and struggle for farmers’ rights of the San Joaquin Valley, created on the basis of a real event – an armed clash between farmers and authorities in the county of Musselslaf in 1880. Poet Presley came from San Francisco to this fertile region, where immense fields … Read more
MA Sholokhov Shibalkovo seed The Red Army man persuades the head of the orphanage to take his child from him. Although there are no places, he, too, can not drag him behind the detachment. Forty versts he walked to the city, knocked down his legs, he had no choice, as soon as he gave the … Read more
The heroine of the book, a girl named Alice, begins her journey to the Land of Wonders unexpectedly for herself: Alice, razmylshaya from heat and idleness, suddenly noticed a rabbit, which in itself is not surprising; but this rabbit turned out to be not only a speaker, but also a holder of a pocket watch, … Read more
Severely ruled Demetrius from the very moment he sat on the throne: he executed many people, imprisoned the boyars, left the country without a penny. But the limit of his cunning reached when, in 1606, he decided to convert all the Orthodox into the Catholic faith, and even give the lands of the Russians to … Read more
The first act begins with a brawl of servants who belong to two warring families – Montague and Capulet. It is not clear what caused the enmity, it is obvious only that it is an old and irreconcilable, pulling the passions of both young and old into the whirlpool. To the servants quickly join the … Read more
M. de Montaigne Experiences The first book is preceded by an appeal to the reader, where Montaigne declares that he did not seek fame and did not seek to bring benefits – it is primarily a “sincere book”, but it is intended for relatives and friends, so that they can revive his image and the … Read more
The heroes of the novel are mostly not named by their names. Among the listeners of the Traveler’s story are the Psychologist, A very young man, the Provincial Mayor, the Doctor and others. They are present at the return of the Traveler from the future, which appears in front of his guests not in the … Read more
B. Kellerman The Tunnel of the Richman of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities come to the concert in honor of the opening of the newly built palace, unprecedented in the number of celebrities with a worldwide reputation. Engineer Mac Allan and his wife Maud took the box of a friend, a palace builder, … Read more
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791 Mozart’s art is one of the highest peaks of the world musical culture. The work of the great Austrian composer reflected the advanced ideas of his era, inexhaustible faith in the triumph of light and justice. Mozart’s music is dominated by cheerful colors, clear, uncorrupted lyrics; At the same time, it … Read more
“About eight years ago I was in Tehran at a small conference on neurophilosophy, where several outstanding researchers of human knowledge were invited, including Anne Traisman, a leading American specialist in the field of attention.” One day, when the conference participants were sitting in a cafe, who “Anne asked:” Tell me, what does your husband … Read more
“I observed the customs of my time and published these letters,” the author writes in the Preface to a real philosophical and lyrical novel. A small Swiss town. Educated and sensitive raznochinets Saint-Pre, like Abelard, falls in love with his apprentice Julia, the daughter of Baron d’Etange. And although the severe fate of the medieval … Read more
Jacob Wasserman Caspar Hauser The protagonist of the novel “Kaspar Hauser” had a prototype – a really existing person, about which much was written and spoken throughout Europe. He suddenly appeared in 1828 in Nuremberg, this young stranger of sixteen or seventeen, whose past was shrouded in mystery and whose short life was soon forcibly … Read more
The action takes place in the 1950s. In the cafe on one of the central streets of the Argentine capital, the winners of the happy prizes of the Tourist Lottery, who are waiting for a free sea cruise, gather. Among the first to come are colleagues – teachers of the state college Carlos Lopez and … Read more
A. Serafimovich In the storm On the sea, Grandfather Agafon and Andreika are fishing in the boat. They pull the fish caught in the net. The boy unintentionally releases the carp into the water, for which the grandfather painfully beats his tarred rope. Andrei is an orphan. When his father left for the Kuban and … Read more
The first family dinner with the Marquis de Norpois has been remembered for a long time by Marcel. It was this rich aristocrat who persuaded his parents to let the boy go to the theater. The Marquis approved Marcel’s intention to devote himself to literature, but criticized his first sketches, Bergotte called the “flutist” for … Read more
XVIII century. In the Admiral Benbow inn, located near the English city of Bristol, a mysterious stranger settles in, a heavy old man with a saber scar on his cheek. His name is Billy Bones. Rough and unbridled, he is at the same time obviously afraid of someone and even asks the son of the … Read more
In one of the Moscow houses, surrounded by many servants, lived an old lady. Among all her servants, the janitor Gerasim was particularly distinguished. He was a tall, handsome man – a real hero. Only now he could not speak – he was so ugly. The lady was very strict and considered that only she … Read more
The book consists of short notes by M. Gorky, published in the Petrograd newspaper “New Life” from May 1, 1917 to June 16, 1918. “The Russian people were married to Freedom.” But this people must throw off the centuries-old oppression of the police regime. The author notes that the political victory is only the beginning. … Read more
The play unfolds in the “small town of one of the southern states.” The owner of the universal store, Jayb Torrens, the leader of the local Ku Klux Klan, is brought from the hospital, where after a thorough examination the doctors came to the conclusion that his days were numbered. This living dead man, even … Read more
King The wedding was almost over and began to prepare for the wedding dinner, as a Moldovan raider Bene Creek, nicknamed King, comes to an unfamiliar young man and reports that a new officer has arrived and Benu is preparing a round-up. The king replies that he knows about the bailiff, and about the raid, … Read more
Leo established some kind of advice. But which one, the author of the fable is not known. The new council consisted of elephants. And, probably, so badly lacked members for the newly-minted council that the lion decided to add donkeys there. Leo established a council of some kind, it is not known, And, having put … Read more
Like an ant – a grain of sand to a grain of sand – Father Vasily built his life: he married, became a priest, produced a son and daughter. After seven years, life crumbled to dust. Drowned in the river by his son, his wife began to drink with sorrow. Rest is not found by … Read more
In the story “Figures” Bunin describes the quarrel of the little restless boy Zhenya and his uncle. The story begins with a stage of forgiveness, when a little boy, looking in the evening to his uncle before going to bed, wishes that good night and, unable to resist, turns to his uncle with the long-suffering … Read more
According to the laws of the genre picaresque, the novel begins with a description of the hero’s childhood years. Pablos’s parents – a witch mother, a thief-father – are always arguing, whose profession is better. “Theft, son, this is not a simple craft, but an elegant art,” assures the father. But the boy already cherishes … Read more
R. M. du Gar Family Thibault The beginning of XX century. Gentle friendship connects two classmates – Jacques Thibault and Daniel de Fontaine. Opening one of the teachers correspondence between the boys leads to a tragedy. Insulted in the best of his school mentors, who roughly mastered his treasured “gray notebook” and vilestly interpreted friendship … Read more
E. L. Schwartz Shadow Strange adventures have occurred with a young scientist named Christian-Theodore, who came to a small southern country to study history. He settled in a hotel, in a room where the storyteller Hans Christian Andersen lived before him. (Maybe this is the whole point?) Annunciate’s host daughter tells him about the unusual … Read more
Earth. The second half of the XXI century. Quite an ordinary mediocre radiochemist Frederic Hallam accidentally discovers that in a dusty flask with a label “Wolfram” suddenly turned out to be some other substance. Spectrometric analysis shows that this is an isotope of plutonium, which theoretically can not exist, in addition it turns out that … Read more
At the beginning of the story there is a story about the endless expanses of the steppe and endless sea. The narrator at night talks with the old gypsy Makar Chudra, who guarded the horses of his camp. The old man says that no one in this life needs anyone, he is not a stick … Read more
E. and J. Goncourt Germini Laserte Third quarter of the XIX century, the era of the Second Empire, Paris. In the poorly furnished room is an old woman – Mademoiselle de Varandale. Near the bed on her knees stands her maid – Germini Laserte. Rejoicing at the recovery of the hostess, the servant embarks on … Read more
The narrator, the protagonist of the novel Watanabe Tooru, recalls how at 37 he landed on an airplane in Germany. Of the onboard loudspeakers, the Beatles’ Norwegian wood was poured, and Watanabe felt dizzy with memories. “Even now, 18 years later, I can clearly imagine that field… The breeze ran across the field, slightly swept … Read more
Aristophanes of the Cloud 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, corrupted (allegedly) morals, and this weakened the state. But before that it was still far: first it was only brought … Read more
LN Tolstoy The power of darkness The power of darkness, or claws, is bogged down, to the whole birdie abyss Autumn. In the spacious hut of the well-to-do, morbid peasant Peter – the wife of Anisya, Akulina, his daughter from the first marriage, they sing songs. The owner himself again calls and scolds, threatening to … Read more
Charles Matyurin Melmot wanderer One of the features of the composition of the novel – the so-called “framework narrative.” The general plot canvas serves as a frame for numerous false novels. However, in the novel Maturin, the attentive reader will catch the absolute sequence of the general plot, in which the author does not for … Read more