Thomas Mann Death in Venice Gustav Ashenbach on a warm spring evening 19 … left his Munich apartment and went on a long walk. Excited by day labor, the writer hoped that his walk would reassure him. Coming back, he was tired and decided to take the tram at the Northern Cemetery. At the bus … Read more
The father of the narrator went to the Crimea to sell tobacco, so the house remained the narrator himself, his grandfather, his mother, and two brothers. My grandfather sowed a towel on the road and went to live in a kuren. He took with him the storyteller and his brother. Many people were passing by … Read more
The action takes place in Moscow. The mother of the protagonist, thirty-seven-year-old engineer Viktor Dmitriev, Ksenia Feodorovna is seriously ill, she has cancer, but she herself believes that she has a peptic ulcer. After the operation, she is sent home. The outcome is clear, but she alone believes that the matter is on the mend. … Read more
They met in summer, on one of the Volga steamers. He is a lieutenant. She is a charming little, tanned woman (she said she is coming from Anapa). “… I’m completely drunk,” she laughed, “I was really crazy, three hours ago I did not even know you existed.” The lieutenant kissed her hand, and his … Read more
AI Solzhenitsyn In the circle of the first On December 24, 1949, at five o’clock in the evening, state counselor of the second rank Innokenty Volodin almost ran away from the stairs of the Foreign Ministry, jumped out into the street, took a taxi, raced through central Moscow streets, went out on the Arbat, went … Read more
The author hears this story from the nurse of his younger brother Lyubov Onisimovna, in the past the beauty of the actress of the Oryol Theater Count Kamensky. At the Trinity, she leads the author to the cemetery, where the simple grave tells the story of “tupeynogo artist” Arkady. Arkady – a hairdresser and makeup … Read more
Terentius Self-torturer Although Terence wrote in Latin and for the Roman viewer, his characters carry Greek names and it is assumed that the action often takes place in Hellas. So in this case. Severe old man Menedemos so cursed his son Kliniya for his hobby of a poor neighbor’s girl that he was forced to … Read more
Three women “for thirty” live in the summer with their young sons at the dacha. Svetlana, Tatiana and Ira are second cousins, they bring up their children alone. Women quarrel, finding out who owns half the dacha, whose son is an offender, and whose – offended… Svetlana and Tatiana live in the country for free, … Read more
The “live hat” of Nosov begins quite normally. Two boys sit at the table and calmly draw. Nearby, at the dresser, a kitten plays. Suddenly, the characters hear something slap on the floor. It turned out that the hat fell from the dresser. Also, the usual thing, but she suddenly moved, causing the guys to … Read more
The literary journey is two-dimensional in nature: it is a real journey, and a journey of imagination. On the one hand, the material of the novel is the real journey of the officer A. Veltman to Bessarabia, Moldova, Vala-hii, Dobrudja for almost ten years, and the Russian-Turkish campaign of 1828. But on the other hand, … Read more
PART ONE “Evenings…”, consisting of 8 stories, are divided into exactly 2 parts, and each is preceded by a preface of the imaginary publisher. In the first, describing his farm, he gives the characteristics of some particularly colorful inhabitants of Dikanka that they woo in the evenings in the “Pasichnikov hovel” and tell those strange … Read more
The hottest place in hell is destined for those who remain neutral during a moral crisis. All works of art and literature, as well as scientific data and historical events, mentioned in this book, are real. The consortium is a private organization with offices in seven countries. Its name has been changed for security reasons … Read more
Edgar Allan Poe Unusual adventure of a certain Hans Pfaal An extraordinary event happened in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Namely: gathered in the square, the citizens could observe the following picture: a balloon dropped from the sky. Glued from old newspapers, the balloon was generally of a strange shape, resembling a hood topped down … Read more
Opens the poem of stanzas about the beautiful nature, torn by the storms of violence and arbitrariness of Greece, the country of the heroic past, bent under the heels of the invaders: “Here and these islands: / Here – Greece, she is dead; / But in the coffin is good; / One scares: where Is … Read more
Roman Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” was written in 1861. He was immediately destined to become a symbol of the age. The author particularly clearly expressed the problem of the relationship between two generations. For an understanding of the plot of the work, we suggest reading the “Fathers and Sons” in a summary of the chapters. … Read more
Part one. Robinson Exploring the space, the Earthman Maxim Kammerer crashes and lands on an unknown planet. Maxim remains unharmed, but his ship explodes, and he finds himself in the forest. The atmosphere is suitable for breathing, the surrounding situation is similar to the terrestrial. After a while, Maxim meets several Aborigines who bring him … Read more
Mozdok steppe. There is a war with fascist Germany. I’m a fighter, mortar. I’m a Muscovite, I’m eighteen years old, the second day at the front line, a month in the army, and I’m bringing the regimental commander “a very responsible package.” Where this commander is unknown. And for the failure to complete the assignment … Read more
I. A. Brodsky Marble In the second century after our era, two people are sitting in the prison cell – Tullius Varro and Publius Marcellus. The prison is located in a huge steel tower, about a kilometer in height, and the chamber Publius and Tullia is located approximately at an altitude of seven hundred meters. … Read more
The author’s father was born in Switzerland, in Basel. His grandfather Ivanovsky had three sons. Father was the youngest in the family, as they say – misinic, that is, little finger. When his father graduated from college and was preparing to enter the university, the idea arose to go to Russia, to the homeland of … Read more
GK Chesterton The Return of Don Quixote The amateur performance staged in the halls of the former medieval abbey, now the estate of Baron Sivud, changed the fate of its participants and many other people, contributed to the age-old struggle of social revolutionists and conservative aristocrats, proved to be very instructive an episode in the … Read more
The story “Without a family” belongs to the pen of the famous French writer Hector Malo (1830-1907). G. Little is the author of many books. Some of them were written for children and youth, but none brought him such popularity and recognition as the story “Without a family”, published in 1878. In the story a … Read more
IA Bunin Figures “My dear, when you grow up, will you remember how one winter night you left the nursery in the dining room – it was after one of our quarrels – and, lowering your eyes, made such a sad face? and when something will entice you, you do not know how to hold … Read more
Doña Marta and donja Lucia, the daughter of Don Gómez, mourn the brother killed by Don Felipe. But both girls are in secret from each other in love with Don Felipe and in fact are more worried about his fate than grieve about his brother. Marta guesses about Lucia’s love for Felipe. To convict her … Read more
AV Sukhovo-Kobylin Case Six years have passed since the time of the upset wedding of Krechinsky. It would seem that the landowner Muromsky, his sister Atuyev and Lidochka’s daughter should live peacefully in the village, forgetting about the “libelous” history with a false diamond. But why are they back in the capital, this time in … Read more
On the edge of the steppe, in the evening of January 1930, Gremyachy Log riding was driven into the farm. Passers-by learned the way to the kuren of Yakov Lukich Ostrovny. The owner, having recognized the visitor, looked around and whispered: “Your Honor, otkel you. Mister esaul…” This was the former commander of the Island … Read more
Sinclair Lewis Babbitt The novel takes place in a fairly large American city under the loud name Zenith. The protagonist of the novel, George Babbitt, a forty-five-year-old owner of the agency that sells and leases real estate, lives on the outskirts of the city, in the prestigious, rapidly developing area of Blooming Hills. He has … Read more
FERENZ ERKEL 1810-1893 Erkel – the founder of the Hungarian national romantic opera and the largest of its representatives throughout the XIX century. In plots taken from the history of his native country, he stressed what directly echoed modernity, with the struggle of advanced people of Hungary against national and social oppression. It is no … Read more
JB Shaw House where hearts are broken The action takes place on a September evening in an English provincial house that resembles a ship in its shape, for its owner, the gray-haired old captain Shatover, spent his entire life swimming across the seas. In the house, except for the captain, live his daughter Hesiona, a … Read more
VF Odoevsky Princess Zizi Princess Zizi in society are treated with prejudice. Her name was often repeated in the living room of my guardian. Aunt’s companion, a poor widow, Maria Ivanovna, told her story. Princess Zizi lived with her mother and elder sister Lydia. The old princess was ill all the time, And the princess … Read more
Thomas Mine Reed Horseman without a head The action takes place in the 1850s. On the Texas prairie there are vans going – it’s moving from Louisiana to Texas ruined planter Woodley Poindexter. He is accompanied by Henry’s son, daughter Louise and nephew, retired captain Cassius Colhoun. Suddenly they lose track – before them scorched … Read more
The old communist Mikhail Mostovskoy, taken prisoner on the outskirts of Stalingrad, was brought to a concentration camp in West Germany. He falls asleep under the prayer of the Italian priest, Hardy, argues with the Tolstoyan Ikonnikov, sees the hatred of the Menshevik Chernetsov and the strong will of the “master of the thoughts” of … Read more
Mark Twain Yankee from Connecticut at the court of King Arthur A typical business Yankee of the late nineteenth century, who knows how to do any thing in the world, gets a scrap on the skull during a skirmish in his factory, gets from the industrial state of Connecticut in the era of King Arthur … Read more
The work appeared in 1902 was innovative in genre. In this socio-philosophical drama there is no traditional plot, the action develops in the dialogue of the characters. The place of events is a doss house for the “former” people who are caught up in the “bottom” of life. Maxim Gorky defined the main question of … Read more
The action takes place at the end of the XX century. in the town of Harmont, which is located near one of the Visiting Zones. The Visiting Zone – there are only six of them on Earth – this is the place where for a few years before the described events, space aliens landed for … Read more
Speaking of the work of Anton Chekhov, immediately in his memory, his small humorous stories, filled with profound meaning and often tragic, emerge, and for the theater-goers he, first of all, is one of the most outstanding playwrights of the late XIX – early XX century. Chekhov’s play “The Cherry Orchard” was the last in … Read more
When Benjamin Borku, who is all simply called Benbe, turns twenty-two, he is going to go to America and there to carry out one of his many projects that pursue one goal: get rich without spending too much effort. At home, the youth does not hold anything. Father Benbe, who belonged to the ancient family … Read more
Chapter 1 “Family Court” The rich lady Arina Petrovna Golovleva receives the news that her son Stepan, nicknamed in the family Stepkoff, sold the house in Moscow for 8 thousand rubles. This house, the “parental blessing”, Arina Petrovna once bought for 12,000 and “threw her son a piece,” hoping to get rid of his further … Read more
One powerful person, nicknamed Lilanzhong, bought something like a slave girl thirteen years old. It turned out that she was not inclined to music, nor to homework, so he decided to return her to her former mistress. The girl begged not to do this, promised to thank him and in time not only learned to … Read more
It has been sixteen years since Ki who dethroned Prince Zauloch from the throne of Kiev and took his place. That battle took the lives of all the sons of Zavolokh, and the prince himself had to flee with the remnants of the army. His wife, having learned that she had lost all sons, and … Read more
Two years after the transfer of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the godless king Baty comes to Russia. He becomes with his army on the Voronezh River near Ryazan. Batu sends ambassadors to the Ryazan prince Yuri Ingorevich, offering the following conditions: the prince of Ryazan will immediately give up a tenth of … Read more
In the preface it is said that the book was born under the influence of the word “AMAGKN”, seen by the author on the wall of Notre Dame Cathedral. Book One January 6, 1482, Paris reads the bell of the bells. Residents of the French capital gather in the Palace of Justice to see the … Read more
“He is alive and glowing” This story begins with the fact that Denisk’s boy is waiting in the yard for his mother. She probably stayed in the institute or in the store, and does not even suspect that his son has already missed her. The author very subtly emphasizes that the child is tired and … Read more
“I remember the early autumn weather. August was warm with rains. Then, in the Indian summer, the webs sank a lot into the fields. I remember an early, fresh, quiet morning. I remember a large, all-gold, dried up and thinned garden, I remember the maple alleys, the delicate aroma of fallen leaves, and the smell … Read more
Evelyn W Return to Brideshead During World War II, while in England and commanding a company that did not take part in hostilities, Captain Charles Ryder received orders from the commanders to transport his subordinates to a new place. Arriving at the place of destination, the captain discovers that he was at the Brideshead estate, … Read more
One of the ancient capitals of Georgia is Mtskheta. It is built between two rivers – Aragva and the Kura, in it stands one of the most beautiful cathedrals of Svetitskhoveli. Somehow one Russian general was carrying a captive child, but he did not take it, because the child was ill and left him in … Read more
Arkady Makarovich Dolgoruky, who is also a teenager, recounts in his notes about himself and recent events, in which he was one of the main participants. He is twenty years old, he just graduated from high school in Moscow, but he decided to postpone his admission to the university, so as not to be distracted … Read more
… May 1660th. The beginning of the independent rule of the young Louis XIV. The heir to the English throne, Charles II, who lives in exile incognito, meets with his cousin, the king of France, and asks for his support in the restoration of the throne. The powerful Cardinal Mazarin denies Louis funding this plan. … Read more
In the Louvre, late at night, the curator Jacques Sauniere is murdered, his body disfigured by strange signs. The police believe that the person killed himself soothed himself. His murderer, Sayles, is calling a certain Teacher and reporting that four people who had informed him before his death with the same information were removed. A … Read more
N. Hawthorne House of the seven pediments 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 … Read more
Narrator Leskov’s story “The Man on the Clock” was written and first published in 1887 under the title “Salvation of the Perished.” The work was created within the literary realism direction. The story “The Man on the Clock” is based on a real story of the rescue of a watchman drowning man. Main characters Postnikov … Read more