The action of this satirical poem takes place during the Hundred Years War between France and England. Some contemporaries of Voltaire said that the author, ridiculing Joan of Arc, treated her more cruelly than Bishop of Beauvais, who burned her once at the stake. Voltaire, of course, laughed ruthlessly, he showed Jeanne the seduced, depicted … Read more
The action takes place in 1920-1930-ies. In Great Britain. In a small mining town Blanelli comes a young doctor Andrew Manson – a new assistant doctor, Dr. Page. When he arrives, he learns that his cartridge is paralyzed and will have to carry a double load. The wife of Page Blodewa, an ungrateful and greedy … Read more
A. N. Arbuzov Irkutsk history Two girls, Valya and Larisa, work at a food store in Irkutsk. Valya is a cashier, she is twenty-five years old. This is a cheerful girl who does not think much about her behavior and way of life, for which she earned the nickname Valka-cheap. Her friend Viktor Boytsov, the … Read more
IA Bunin Easy breathing Exposition of the story – a description of the grave of the main character. Then follows the presentation of its history. Olya Meshcherskaya is a successful, capable and playful schoolgirl, indifferent to the instructions of a classy lady. At the age of fifteen she was a recognized beauty, had the most … Read more
This book is not a novel, not a story, not a lyric diary and no memoirs. Chronological connections are replaced here by associative, and the search for beauty – by searching for authenticity, no matter how bad it may seem. This is Moovism (from “move” – it is bad). It is a free flight of … Read more
The village of Ukleevo is famous for the fact that “at the funeral at the factory owner Kostyukov, the old deacon saw among the appetizers a granular caviar and began to eat it greedily, he was pushed and pulled by his sleeve, but he seemed to be numb with pleasure: he did not feel anything … Read more
Canteen. Morning. A set table with a snack. The action takes place in the estate of the leader of the local nobility. Nikolai Ivanovich Balagolayev invited one of his neighbors, a judge and a former leader in the morning, to resolve the dispute between Kaurova, the 45-year-old widow of the lieutenant and her brother, landowner … Read more
AP Platonov The Inmost Man “Foma Pukhov is not gifted with sensitivity: he cut his boiled sausage on the coffin of his wife, starving because of the absence of the hostess.” After the burial of his wife, Pukhov goes to bed, having taken a nap. Someone is knocking at him loudly. The watchman of the … Read more
Spirit Mail, Academic or moral and critical correspondence of the Arab philosopher Malikulmulka with water, air and underground spirits. Assistant Arab magician Malikulmulka, typed correspondence with spirits, proves that a very fascinating book. Such creatures are kind by nature, but they do not tolerate hypocrites and usurers, as well as not seriousness, and preference is … Read more
J. de LaBruyer Characters, or Manners of the present century In the preface to his “Character”, the author acknowledges that the purpose of the book is an attempt to draw attention to the shortcomings of society “made from nature”, with the aim of correcting them. In each of the 16 eyes he expresses his “characters” … Read more
E. S. Wentzel Ladies’ Master Director of the Institute of Information Machines Professor Marya Kovaleva, who lives with two adult sons-obwitus, feels that she is tired of everyday life, and decides to somehow diversify her existence, for example, to cut her hair. Waiting for the queue at the barbershop, Marya Vladimirovna reflects on how she … Read more
Umberto Eco The name of the Rose In the hands of the future translator and publisher of “The Notes of Father Adson from Melk” fall in Prague in 1968. The title page of the French book of the middle of the last century means that it is a translation from the Latin text of the … Read more
IA Bunin Life of Arsenyev Alexey Arseniev was born in the 70’s. XIX century. in the middle zone of Russia, in his father’s farmstead, on Kamenka farmstead. Childhood years passed in the silence of the discreet Russian nature. Endless fields with aromas of grasses and flowers in summer, vast snowy expanses in winter gave rise … Read more
After reading the summary of “Quiet Flows the Don”, you will necessarily want to get acquainted with the whole novel. From the very beginning, the author begins to describe the yard of Melekhovoy, which is located on the very edge of the farm. The reader is told the story of this family, the main member … Read more
The Tale of Siyavush It is said that one morning the valiant Tus and Giv, famous in battle, accompanied by hundreds of warriors with greyhounds and falcons galloped to the plain of Daguy to amuse themselves with hunting. After shooting game in the steppe, they went to the forest. In the distance, a girl appeared. … Read more
The poor coal miner from the Black Forest, Peter Munch, “a small clever man”, began to be uneasy with the low-profit and, it seems, not at all an honorable craft inherited from his father. However, from all ideas, when suddenly he got a lot of money, he did not like any one. Remembering the old … Read more
The work is based on biblical tales of the kind of Israel. Isaac and Rebekah had two twin sons – Esau and Jacob. The first to appear was the hairy Esau, Jacob did not have hair on his body, he was considered the youngest and had a favorite with his mother. When Isaac, who was … Read more
In 1932, Gaidar wrote the story “Far countries”. She convinces the reader that no one can stay away from the changes taking place in the whole country. Children are also becoming active participants in the construction of a new one. Gaidar recreates the life of the 1930s in its entirety in the novel: there are … Read more
L. G. Zorin Warsaw melody After the concert, Victor escorts Gel to her hostel. On the way, Gelya tells Victor about himself. Russian taught her father. Victor talks about his life. He is studying for a technologist: he will create wines. She reads to her poetry Omar Khayyam. Victor wants to meet with her yet … Read more
The action takes place in the living room of the country villa Orpheus and Eurydice, reminiscent of the illusionist’s salon; despite the April sky and bright lighting, it becomes obvious to the audience that the room is in the power of mysterious charms, so that even the usual objects in it look suspicious. In the … Read more
The famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend assistant Dr. Watson are examining a cane forgotten in an apartment on Baker Street by a visitor who came in their absence. Soon the host of the cane appears, the doctor James Mortimer, a young tall man with closely set gray eyes and a long protruding nose. … Read more
On a windy March day in 1867 along the mole of the ancient town of Lyme Regis in the southeast of England a young couple is walking. The lady is dressed in the latest London fashion in a narrow red dress without crinoline, which in this provincial backwater will begin to be worn only in … Read more
The Commander of the Order of Calatrava, Fernán Gómez de Guzmán, arrives at Almagro for the Order’s master, Don Rodrigo Télès-Chiron. The master was young for years and only recently inherited this high post from his father. Therefore, the commander, crowned with military glory, treats him with some mistrust and arrogance, but he must observe … Read more
Li Yan-shek, the ruler of Luoyang, is slandered and summoned to the capital for an investigation. But he is so poor (because of honesty) that he asks a usurer to lend him 10 silver coins for the journey. The moneylender Liu Yan-ming agrees if Lee’s daughter, Yu-in, signs the receipt, and the Taoist nun Liu … Read more
The Marquis de Sade Florvil and Kurval, or the Inevitability of Destiny By this work the author wishes to convince the reader that “only in the darkness of the grave a person is able to find rest,” for “the irrepressibility of passions” and “the inevitability of fate” “will never give him rest on earth.” Kurval, … Read more
There are three story lines in the novel: the first is a narrative, which is conducted on behalf of the angel Agasphere, whose name means “Beloved of God”; 2 nd – a story about the life path of Paulus von Eichen, a younger contemporary of Martin Luther; 3rd is correspondence between Professor Siegfried Baifus, Director … Read more
Theresa Deskairu leaves the courtroom. She was accused of attempting to poison her husband, but with the efforts of her relatives the case was stopped “for lack of corpus delicti.” The honor of the family is saved. Teresa is to return home, to Argelouz, where her husband is waiting, who saved her with her false … Read more
YOUNG GUARD Opera in four acts (seven scenes) Libretto by A. Malyshko based on the novel by A. Fadeev Translation from the Ukrainian M. Isakovsky Characters: Oleg Koshevoi, the head of underground Organization “Young Guard” Elena Nikolaevna, the mother of Oleg Vera Vasilievna, Oleg’s grandmother Andrey Valko, director of the mine Ivan Protsenko, leader of … Read more
VP Astafyev Tsar-fish Ignatich is the main character of the novel. This fellow is respected by fellow villagers for being always happy to help with advice and deed, for skill in fishing, for intelligence and sharpness. This is the most prosperous person in the village, everything does “okay” and is reasonable. Often he helps people, … Read more
After the wedding of eighteen-year-old Ani and fifty-two-year-old Modest Alekseevich, an official, the newlyweds, instead of a merry wedding ball and dinner, went to the monastery on a pilgrimage for two hundred versts. The spouse started this trip in order to let the young wife understand that in marriage he puts religion and morality in … Read more
The novel is preceded by two epigraphs. The first (to all the novel) is taken from the book “Being reasonable, or Moral view of the dignity of life.” “Every minute swears to fate in preserving a deep silence about our lot, even up to the time when it merges with the course of life, and … Read more
The tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare has been known since 1597. The plot of the fate of loving hearts, separated by the will of people or circumstances, was widely spread in the literature of the Renaissance, when the playwright worked. But it was the brilliant gift of Shakespeare that created on its basis a … Read more
Oscar Wilde Portrait of Dorian Gray On a sunny summer day, the talented painter Basil Hallward takes in his workshop an old friend of Lord Henry Wotton – the epicurean esthete, the “Prince of Paradox”, by definition of one of the characters. In the latter one easily recognizes the features of Oscar Wilde, familiar to … Read more
Coma We literally burst into the stream of the hero’s consciousness, which conveys his feelings from the “weave” to the wreckage of the car. We understand that this man was in an accident and is on the verge of life and death. He himself realizes his “problem” and talks about it in a tone not … Read more
The action takes place in a provincial German town during the French bourgeois revolution. The poem consists of nine songs, each of which bears the name of one of the Greek Muses – patrons of different arts. The names of the muses determine the content of each song. On the roads coming from the Rhine, … Read more
A. Pushkin Feast during the plague. There is a covered table on the street, followed by several young men and women. One of the feasting, the young man, addressing the chairman of the feast, recalls their mutual friend, the merry Jackson, whose jokes and witticisms amused everyone, revitalized the feast and dispelled the darkness that … Read more
In Athens they said: “Above all else in human life is the law, and the unwritten law is higher than written.” The unwritten law is eternal, it is given by nature, on it is held every human society: it commands to honor the gods, to love relatives, to pity the weak. The written law is … Read more
F. Fenelon Adventures of Telemac The teacher of the heir to the throne of the Duke of Burgundy, the grandson of King Louis XIV, Fenelon wrote for his young pupil the philosophical utopian novel “The Adventures of Telemachus” about how a real sovereign should be and how to govern the people and the state. The … Read more
The action takes place during the Great Patriotic War, in 1942, in the territory of occupied Byelorussia. “Punishers” is a bloody chronicle of the destruction by the battalion of Hitler’s punitive Dirlewanger of seven peaceful villages. The chapters are appropriately named: “First Settlement”, “Second Village”, “Between the Third and Fourth Villages”, etc. Each chapter contains … Read more
The novel “Eugene Onegin” was written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in 1823 – 1831. The work is one of the most significant creations of Russian literature – according to Belinsky it is the “encyclopedia of Russian life” of the early 19th century. The novel in Pushkin’s poetry “Eugene Onegin” refers to the literary direction of … Read more
The Russian people are the guardian of the most amazing treasure, which is called folklore. There are puzzles, nursery rhymes, proverbs, sayings and, most importantly, fairy tales. Russian folk tales – “Kroshechka-Khavroshechka”, “Geese-swans”, “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” (this is not the whole list) are known to every child and adult. They are built … Read more
Sorochinsky Fair The action takes place at the fair in the town of Sorochinets. The inhabitants of the surrounding villages gather in it. At the fair come Solopii Cherevik with his daughter Paraska. At the fair, a couple is wedded to her, Cherevik gives consent, but his wife opposed such a hasty decision. At the … Read more
Roman Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” was written in 1863-1869. In order to get acquainted with the novel’s main storylines, we invite students of the 10th grade and everyone who is interested in Russian literature to read War and Peace in a brief summary of chapters and parts online. “War and Peace” refers to the … Read more
The action takes place in revolutionary Petrograd in the winter of 1917-18. Petrograd, however, acts as a concrete city, and as the center of the universe, the place of cosmic cataclysms. The first of the twelve chapters of the poem describes the cold, snow-covered streets of Petrograd, tormented by wars and revolutions. People make their … Read more
MN Zagoskin Roslavlev, or Russian in 1812 At the end of May 1812 in St. Petersburg, on Nevsky Boulevard met two friends – Vladimir Roslavlev and Alexander Zaretsky. Roslavlev mope, and cheerful Zaretsky worried about his friend’s condition. Roslavlev is in love with Polina Lidin. But not love is the cause of melancholy: at the … Read more
Franz Kafka Transformation The incident that happened with Gregor Zamzoi is described, perhaps, in one phrase of the story. One morning, waking up after a restless sleep, the hero suddenly discovered that he had turned into a huge terrible insect… Actually, after this incredible transformation, nothing special is happening anymore. Behavior of actors is prosaic, … Read more
The action takes place in Colombia in 1956, when there was a fierce struggle between political groups in the country and a climate of violence and terror prevailed. On the outskirts of a small provincial town in a house covered with palm leaves, with peeling walls, the old married couple who had fallen into poverty … Read more
The play takes place on the squalid outskirts of New Orleans. This place itself was lost. It was to this city that a tram named “Desire” arrived. He brought Blanche Dubois, a girl who experienced a lot of failures. Here she tries to find peace, or get a temporary shelter, where you can rest without … Read more
After the death of Jack in his drafts continued to find previously unpublished or not included in the collections. So, for example, in 1922 the collection of short stories of different years “The Dutch Valor”, which is of interest to the reader, was published. Now it is for certain that Jack London began writing at … Read more
New York, Brooklyn, 1947. The novice writer Stingo, on whose behalf the narrative is based, set out to conquer literary America. However, while he has nothing to boast about. The work of a reviewer in a fairly large publishing house proves to be short, it is not possible to make useful literary acquaintances, and the … Read more