Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

These are the letters of John Keats, as written to family, close friends and others during his brief, eventful years as an artist. (However, the editor chose to exclude love letters to Fanny Brawne, respecting their private nature.) The celebrated Keats letters were written between 1816–1820, and include those colorful entries penned during his 44-day tour with Charles Brown as they rambled through England, Ireland and Scotland. Also included are the famous, lengthy "journal letters," written to his brother George and sister-in-law in America. Not only a poetic genius, Keats shines in ...

A possibly fictionalised account by the comic novelist Jerome K. Jerome of a trip to Germany that he undertook with a friend in order to see the famous Passion Play at Oberammergau. The journey takes in London, Dover, Ostend, Cologne, Munich, Oberau, Oberammergau and then back to London via Heidelberg. As one might expect from the author of 'Three Men in a Boat', much goes wrong along the way, including seasickness, strange food, stranger beds, misleading guidebooks, bewildering train timetables, and numerous cultural and linguistic misunderstandings. (Summary by Szindbad)

The Koran (Qur'an) is regarded by Muslims as the word of God (Allah) as revealed to the prophet Muhammad. It is divided into 114 chapters (surahs), arranged roughly by length. This version, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, is a widely used English translation of the Koran by a Muslim Englishman. Many Muslims, however, including Pickthall, believe that true translations of the Koran from the original Arabic are impossible, and see translations into other languages only as useful interpretations. (Summary by Leon Mire)

Night and Day (1919) is a novel by Virginia Woolf. Set in Edwardian London, Night and Day contrasts the daily lives of two friends, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet. The novel examines the relationships between love, marriage, happiness, and success. (Wikipedia)

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749) was the first widely-read English novel in the genre “Erotica.” It was written by John Cleland as he was serving hard time at a debtor’s prison in London. Over the centuries, the novel has been repeatedly banned by authorities, assuring its preeminent role in the history of the ongoing struggle against censorship of free expression.Until Fanny Hill, previous heroines had conducted their amorous liaisons “off-stage.” Any erotic misadventures were described euphemistically. As women who had gone astray, they always repented, which made ...

Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) wrote eighty-eight Encyclicals during his twenty-five year pontificate (1878-1903). Fifty-six of those are included in this collection.Among the topics covered are the Rosary, socialism, Christian marriage, labour, freemasonry, Church and state, human liberty, dueling, the Holy Eucharist, and more. (Summary by Maria Therese)

In the years following World War I, Connie Chatterley finds that she is unhappy in her marriage. She begins a cross-class relationship with her gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Content warning: This book contains explicit language. (Summary by Scarbo)

Ce quarante-troisième livre de la Bible, traduite par Louis Segond, au XIXe siècle et publiée au début du siècle suivant, nous est parvenu comme étant le témoignage du disciple que Jésus aimait. L'auteur a écrit ces choses « afin que vous croyiez que Jésus est le Christ, le Fils de Dieu, et qu'en croyant vous ayez la vie en son nom ».(Summary by Ezwa)

La compilation de poèmes intitulée "Les fleurs du mal" de Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) fit fureur et scandale dès sa publication initiale. Du coup, six poèmes furent censurés pour immoralité et n'apparaîtront que dans les publications d'après 1949. Voici l'édition de 1896 qui est une compilation presque complète de 152 poèmes, témoins du réalisme et de l'esprit innovateur et provocateur de Baudelaire. - Summary by Sonia

Our heroine, Anne Garland, lives quietly in a rural community deep in the English countryside. However, the arrival of several regiments preparing for an expected invasion brings colour and chaos to the county. A graceful and charming young woman, Anne is pursued by three suitors: John Loveday, the trumpet-major in a British regiment, honest and loyal; his brother Robert, a merchant seaman and womaniser, and Festus Derriman, the cowardly son of the local squire. Set at the time of the Napoleonic wars, this is the author's only historical novel, and unusually for Hardy's books, some of the ...

Amor de Perdição é uma das obras mais marcantes de Camilo, um dos mais importantes e proliferos romancistas portugueses. Inspirado nos amores de Romeu e Julieta, Camilo conta-nos a história do amor proibido de seu tio Simão, de intrigas, crimes e desespero. Mas a história relata-nos também o seu próprio sofrimento, já que Camilo a escreve na Cadeia da Relação do Porto, onde está preso por um amor proibido. (Resumo por sailormoon)

C'est un roman historique, social et philosophique dans lequel on retrouve les idéaux du romantisme et ceux de Victor Hugo concernant la nature humaine. L'auteur lui-même accorde une grande importance à ce roman et écrit en mars 1862, à son éditeur Lacroix : « Ma conviction est que ce livre sera un des principaux sommets, sinon le principal, de mon œuvre ».Le tome I de l'œuvre qui en compte cinq est consacré à Fantine. (Source : Wikipedia)

A series of letters on the early occupation of the colony, the Aborigines, etc addressed by Victorian pioneers to his Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe Esq. , Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Victoria in response to a circular letter sent by him to a number of early settlers dated 29th July 1853. -It cannot be claimed for these papers that they are infallible records of our early history at every point.( from the preface),The last section ends with lists of Aboriginal words and phrases as were collected by a lady. I'm in 2 minds about these, I respect her desire to keep a record but do ...

In “The Just Men of Cordova (1917)”, European financiers are dying conveniently from London to Cordova, victims of a mysterious poison that the police have failed to identify. In his earlier book, Edgar Wallace’s Four Just Men (1905) traveled the globe meting out vigilante justice. Renowned for their cunning, tenacity, lock breaking skills, and mastery of disguise, they operate outside the law, where their lethal brand of justice strikes fear into the hearts of their prey. But just who are they and who is assisting them?From the golden age of detective fiction, Edgar Wallace was a ...

Shakespeare's Sonnets, or simply The Sonnets, comprise a collection of 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare that deal with such themes as love, beauty, politics, and mortality. The poems were probably written over a period of several years. (Summary from wikipedia)

Born in the Marshalsea Prison for Debtors, Amy—Little Dorrit—the daughter of the ruined, but self-respectful William Dorrit, has put her entire heart in caring for her dear father, until one day her humble path is crossed by Arthur Clennam. Their meeting proves providential not only for Amy's life, but for the whole Dorrit family, whose new rise will, in many ways, be also their fall. As in all his novels, in Little Dorrit Dickens ushers us into a fascinating and startlingly rich world of human characters and destinies, where virtue and nobility cross swords with vice and villainy, where ...

This is George Sand's first novel. Her real name was Amantine (or Amandine) Lucile Dupin, and she later became baroness Dudevant. As an aristocratic woman living in 19th century France, she chose her first novel to be, above all, a realistic work. Indiana is trapped since the age of 16 in a loveless marriage with a rich, much older, man. Her only real friend is her cousin, sir Ralph, who, sometimes, just does things which are- logically- the best for her but- mentally- the worst he could do. She tries to find means of escape. But would she be able to recreate her own reality? Can a woman find ...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Summer Evening by John Clare. This was the weekly poetry project for July 26th, 2009.

Emile, or On Education or Émile, or Treatise on Education (French: Émile, ou De l’éducation) was published in 1762 in French and German and in 1763 in English. The significance of Rousseau in education as well as in politics must be found in his revolutionary attitude toward established institutions. Some of his biographers relate the story that when the Academy of Dijon, in 1749, offered a prize for an essay on the question whether the progress of the arts and sciences has tended to the purification of morals and manners, he followed the suggestion of Diderot, who reminded him of the ...

"Harold Transome is a landowner who goes against his family's political tradition (much to his mother's distress), while Felix Holt is a sincere radical. The setting of the book, the 1832 parliament election, is used to discuss the social problems of that time. A secondary plot involves Esther Lyon, the stepdaughter of a minister who is the real heiress to the Transome estate, with whom both Harold Transome and Felix Holt fall in love. Esther loves poor Felix Holt, but would she choose a comfortable life with Harold Transome?" (Summary by Stav Nisser)