VV Nabokov Ada, or Passion “Hell” is a grandiose parody of different literary genres: from the novels of Leo Tolstoy through the cycle of Marcel Proust “In search of lost time” to fiction in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut. The novel takes place in a country that originated from the assumption that the Battle of … Read more
The old woman Anna lies without moving, without opening her eyes; it is almost frozen, but life is still warm. Daughters understand this, bringing to the lips a piece of a broken mirror. It fogs up, which means that my mother is still alive. However, Varvara, one of Anna’s daughters, believes that it is possible … Read more
“This book has experienced recently the unfortunate credulity of some readers and even magazines… Others are terribly offended… what they put as an example of such an immoral person as the Hero of Our Time, while others very subtly noticed that the writer drew his portrait and portraits of their acquaintances… ” The author explains … Read more
Two young girls, “poplar and birch”, Lizaveta Grigoryevna Bakhareva and Eugenia Petrovna Glovatskaya return from Moscow after graduation from the institute. Along the way, they visit the monastery for Aunt Bakhareva, Mother Superior of Agnia, where Lisa demonstrates new views on the role of women in the family and life. There, the girls get acquainted … Read more
A. de Vigny Saint-Mar, or Conspiracy in the Time of Louis XIII. The plot of the novel is based on the story of the truly conspiratorial plot in 1642 of a favorite of King Louis XIII, the Marquis Saint-Mar, against the all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu. 1639. Young Henri d’Affia, the Marquis de Saint-Mar, goes to serve … Read more
In the warning, the author writes that all his characters are fictitious and he would like his work to be read as “a fantastic story, where clouds reflected over the Essex district, but not even the span of his land is imprinted.” In one of the towns of New England, on the street, which everyone … Read more
It sounds like an uncomplicated melody – about the grass, the sky, the foliage… Sixty-year-old salesman Willie Loman with two large suitcases goes to his New York house, sandwiched between skyscrapers. He is very exhausted and a little scared: after leaving the morning with samples of goods, he did not get to the place – … Read more
The events unfold in 1957. Walter Faber, a fifty-year-old engineer of Swiss descent, works at UNESCO and is engaged in setting up production equipment in industrially backward countries. At work he has to travel often. He flies from New York to Caracas, but his plane due to malfunctions in the engine is forced to make … Read more
Deaf English province of the end of the last century. In the valley of Blackmore there is a family of the driver Jack Durbeyfilda. One evening, on the evening of May, the head of the family meets a priest who, when answering the greeting, calls him “Sir John,” Jack is surprised, and the priest explains: … Read more
A strong man is always to blame: In History, we hear the darkness of examples, But we do not write History; But about how they say in Fables, – Thus begins I. Krylov’s fable “The Wolf and the Lamb”, which tells about the conflict between the Wolf and Lamb. On a hot day the Lamb … Read more
In a deserted mountainous area, not far from the court of the Polish king, Rosaura, a noble lady dressed in a man’s dress, and her servant, lost their way. The night is approaching, and there is no light around. Suddenly travelers distinguish in the twilight a tower, from behind the walls of which they hear … Read more
Oles Semenovich Chishko The genus. in 1895 Chishko is a prominent Soviet composer who has worked extensively and successfully in various fields of musical art. Being a professional singer, Chishko paid much attention to vocal genres – opera, romance, song. His work is distinguished by the melodiousness, simplicity and accessibility of expression. From 1948 to … Read more
M. Ye. Saltykov-Shchedrin. A tale of how one man of two generals fed. Two frivolous generals retired on an uninhabited island. “Generals served the whole life in some registry, they were born, brought up and grew old, therefore, did not understand anything, even the words did not know anything except:” Accept the assurance of my … Read more
The action of the trilogy novel Halldor Laxness unfolds in the late 16th – early 17th century. in Iceland and Denmark, as well as in Holland and Germany, where one of the main characters – poor peasant Youn Hreggvidsson – falls during his wanderings. The meaning of the title of the trilogy is revealed in … Read more
Sriharsha Adventures of the Nishadchy Epic poem translating the legend of Nahl and Damayanti from the “Mahabharata” In the middle of India in the mountains of Vindhya is the country of Nishadha, and its ruler was the noble and magnanimous king of Nala. Not far from Nishadha was another country, Vidarbha, and there the daughter … Read more
Bunin – a great Russian writer of the XIX – XX centuries. His works have always been restrained and rhythmic. In the poem Bunin always affirms not the importance of events, but their philosophical meaning, a theme inspired by life itself. The poem “Youth” was written by Bunin in 1916. This poem is a description … Read more
P. Calderon Salamei alcalde In the village of Salameya enters the regiment of soldiers under the leadership of the captain. They are very exhausted by a long, exhausting transition and dream of rest. This time their happiness is smiling: instead of a short halt, they are expected for several days of quiet life – the … Read more
The poem is written in honor of King Sebastian. The author begins with a description of the expedition headed by Vasco da Gama. During her time, Vasco paved the sea route to India. Team Luza sails from their native lands. Then it was believed that the Romans called Portugal Lusitania in honor of some Luza. … Read more
The young man Pamphil was very partial to the Bacchides. But under the pressure of his parents, reluctantly, he married a neighbor – a respectable Filumen. She loves her young husband. But the heart of that, probably, still belongs to the heterere… An unforeseen event: at death a close relative, and Lachet, the father of … Read more
The affairs of Count Anselmo Terraciani more or less recovered when he, neglecting a class pride, married his only son Giacinto in Doradice, the daughter of the rich Venetian merchant Pantalone dei Bisogniosi, who gave her twenty thousand dowry scanties. This amount could form the basis of the welfare of the count’s house, when its … Read more
G. H. Andersen Ugly Duckling Ducks have hatched ducks. One of them was late, and outwardly failed. The old duck frightened her mother that it was a turkey, not otherwise, but he swam better than other ducklings. All the inhabitants of the bird’s dvor attacked the ugly duckling, even the poultryman pushed away from the … Read more
Irwin Shaw The rich man, the poor man 1945. The unusual family of Jordahs lives in the city of Port-Philippe. Nobody loves anyone in this family. Father, Axel Jordah, works in his own bakery and hates this work, and this country. His wife believes that he ruined her life and her dreams. Raised in strict … Read more
Sherlock Holmes proceeds to investigate the murder of Colonel James Barclay in Oldershot, where the military unit is quartered. James was a brave soldier, for which he was promoted to officer. His wife was Nancy, the daughter of a sergeant of her regiment. They lived for 30 years. The couple did not have children. Mrs. … Read more
A provincial town, a local hospital, an outbuilding for the mentally ill… The condition of this building, and of the hospital itself, is extremely miserable-everything old, half ruined, in the courtyard and in the rooms there is an unbearable stench. In such conditions, there are five residents of Chamber No. 6, the only one in … Read more
In the Overture, which is a prologue to the narrative, the representatives of English society are compared to the heroes of fables, who are old as the world – cowards and braggarts, offenders and their victims, rogues and simpletons. Good and evil are mixed, and the poor man is not necessarily honest, but the rich … Read more
GNVladimov Verny Ruslan The watchdog Ruslan heard how something out of the night outside exhaled, lanterns shook with a gnash. Calmed down only by morning. The master came and took him to the service. But when the door opened, a white bright light suddenly poured into his eyes. Snow – that’s what it got out … Read more
The action takes place in Germany in the eighteenth century, at the court of one of the German Dukes. The son of President von Walther is in love with the daughter of a simple musician, Louise Miller. Her father treats this with disbelief, since the marriage of an aristocrat with a petty bourgeois is impossible. … Read more
My homeland is a small estate of the Orel province. There, after listening to arguments at religious and philosophical meetings in St. Petersburg, I decided to go to look around, to find out what the wise forest elders think. So began my journey to the invisible city. Spring. Nightingales sing in a black garden. Peasants … Read more
“Russia is dying,” “Russia is no more,” “the eternal memory of Russia” – I hear around me. But before me is Russia: the one that our great writers saw in awesome and prophetic dreams. Russia is a storm. Russia is destined to endure torment, humiliation, division; but it will come out of these humiliations new … Read more
Somehow the fortuneteller predicted the future wife of the Han emperor a great destiny. She really gave birth to a son who became the sovereign of the Udi. Since childhood, the boy was a clear mind, able to draw his heart. At first the son of concubine Li was considered to be the heir, but … Read more
The tales of ME Saltykov-Shchedrin, written primarily in the eighties of the XIX century (they are often called political), became a satire on the existing order in Russia. The description of the position of the Russian peasant is devoted to the work “Konyaga”, the feature of which is that the author after the image of … Read more
An experienced field on which a paradoxical and contradictory current of one human life unfolds-the life of an indigent American in Paris at the turn of the 1920s-1930s-becomes, in essence, the entire western civilization of the twentieth century engulfed in a deadly crisis. With Henry, the hero of the book, we first encounter in cheap … Read more
O. de Balzac Shagreen leather I. The Talisman At the end of October, a young man entered the Palais Royal building – Rafael de Valantin, in whose eyes the players noticed some terrible secret, his features expressed the impassiveness of a suicide and a thousand deceived hopes. Los Valentine lost the last Napoleon, and in … Read more
Manor in the Carpathian Mountains. Here, after marrying and deciding to settle down and take up farming, a wizard settled. He is in love with his wife and promises to live like everyone else, but the soul asks for something magical, and the owner of the estate is unable to keep from “pranks.” And now … Read more
The commander of the partisan detachment, Levinson, orders the orderly Morozka to take the package to another detachment. Frost does not want to go, he suggests sending someone else; Levinson quietly orders the orderly to surrender their weapons and go to all four sides. Morozka, having returned to her senses, takes the letter and goes … Read more
Bhavabhuti The last acts of the Rama Piece in verse and prose, based on the contents of the last book of the “Ramayana” After freeing Sita from imprisonment in Lanka and killing her kidnapper of the demon king Ravana, Rama and his wife return to Ayodhya, where the days of their life are now serene … Read more
S. Topelius The Man and the Elephant In the old castle of Abo (Finland), lived an old house. He was only friends with the house chapel of the cathedral and the old gatekeeper of the castle, Matts Mursten, whom he met when he, while still a boy, climbed into the basement for cartridges, fell into … Read more
In one village there lives a peasant. He has three sons: the elder Danilo clever, the average Gavrilo “and so, and syak,” the youngest Ivan is a fool. Brothers make a living by growing wheat, transporting it to the capital and selling it there. Suddenly a misfortune happens: someone starts trampling crops at night. The … Read more
The poem, borrowing one of the plots of the “Mahabharata” In Dvaraka, the capital of the Yadav family, is the divine sage Narada and transmits to Krishna, the leader of the Yadavas and the earthly incarnation of the god Vishnu, the message from the king of the gods of Indra, with a request to crack … Read more
VO Pelevin The Ninth Dream of Vera Pavlovna The story recalls a detailed review of “What to do?” Chernyshevsky. It was a little late, though, a review, but it was done famously, masterfully. The heroine in the position of a toilet cleaner, who talks about philosophical matters and seeks to change the world (!) Is … Read more
Plutarch Comparative biographies “Comparative biographies” – this is 23 pairs of biographies: one Greek, one Roman, beginning with the legendary kings of Theseus and Romulus and ending with Caesar and Antonius, of whom Plutarch heard from live witnesses. For historians, this is a precious source of information; but Plutarch wrote not for historians. He wanted … Read more
Twelve sleeping virgins The mysterious narrative is preceded by an appeal to the Dream, the “air companion of young days”, whose presence promises a sweet recollection. The first ballad. Thunderbolt. In time immemorial over frothy Dnieper sat, twisting, Gromoboy. He curses his sad lot, a beggarly and homeless life, with which he is ready to … Read more
The plot is divided into several separate stories, and in each of them there are several different options. So, for example, the image of the person leading the narrative is divided into two opposite images, Enderlin and Gantenbein, showing the ways of his further existence available for the narrator. The author does not disclose their … Read more
Anna Kupo, nicknamed Nana, the daughter of the drunk laundrywoman Gervaise McCar, and the crippled worker Kupo, died in Paris in 1870, eighteen years of age from smallpox, having survived for several days her two-year-old son and leaving several dozens of her lovers in distress. However, her lovers comforted quickly. In addition, a war was … Read more
Early XVIII century. England, along with Austria, Prussia and other countries, leads an endless and exhausting war for the Spanish inheritance against the Franco-Spanish coalition. England is ruled by a weak-willed and compliant Queen Anne, who does not make decisions without consulting with those around her. In fact, the reins of government – in the … Read more
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 – this is primarily a “sincere book”, but it is intended for relatives and friends, so that they can revive his image and character when he comes the … Read more
Speech from the author. “It’s hard to tell this little story – it’s so simple.” On Sundays, the lyrical hero gathered children in spring and summer, and in the morning took them to nature. “As a shepherd, he walked behind the carefree lambs.” At noon the younger slept, and told the elders stories. “And often, … Read more
Mr. Tachit and his son Ralph live in his Gardencloth manor about forty miles from London. Mrs. Tachit travels a lot and happens in her husband’s house only a month a year. She spent the winter in her homeland, in America, met there with her niece and wrote to her husband and son that she … Read more
Graham Greene Honorary Consul The action takes place in a small Argentine town on the border with Paraguay in the late 1960s – early 1970s. The protagonist is a doctor Eduards Plarr, a political emigrant from Paraguay, from where he left with his mother a fourteen-year-old teenager. His father, an Englishman by birth, a fighter … Read more
Once upon a time in the Magic Country came the evil witch, the giantess Arachna. She harmed everyone, only condescending to the tribe of gnomes. Arachne prolonged their life, helped them to hunt and fish. The kind magician Hurricapa did not want to destroy the giantess, he put her to sleep for five thousand years. … Read more