European Fiction

A fox and a cat work together to outsmart a group of big, hungry forest animals. This children’s story is based on a traditional folk tale from Ukraine.

French literary figure Charles Baudelaire was a member of the infamous Club of the Hashish-Eaters, a Parisian literary group dedicated to the exploration of altered states of consciousness, principally through the use of hashish. The Poem of Hashish was first published in 1850. This is Aleister Crowley’s translation of it, from 1895. Baudelaire was part of the French art movement known as saymbolism, which acted as a reaction to realism and placed a lot of emphasis on the power of dreams and the imagination as tools for communicating ideals through symbols.

The story girl of the title is the 14-year-old Sara Stanley who weaves spellbinding tales that enchant her audience that comes from near and far. These 32 stories range from the humorous and satirical to exotic romances, Scottish folk tales, retellings of Greek myths and poems by Tennyson, to ghost stories. They include the scary "Tale of the Family Ghost", and the bittersweet "The Blue Chest of Rachel Ward".

Montaigne mène une réflexion sur la découverte du Nouveau Monde, le colonialisme et la relativité des valeurs et des mœurs. Il montre que l'on appelle "barbare" ce qui ne correspond pas à nos propres mœurs et pire encore, ce qui est proche de la nature. Or, pour lui, les civilisations dont on découvre l'existence, proches de la nature, sont des sociétés vertueuses qui connaissent le respect des anciens, de l'honneur et de la fidélité.

Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte's world turns topsy-turvy. Beloved author D. E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heartbreaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touching tale of love, loss and redemption through friendship.

Considered to be French novelist Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Miserables, which was published in 1862, is a sprawling historical and philosophical epic that covers from 1815 through the Paris Uprising in 1832. Notable for its many subplots and digressions from the main storyline, the novel's stated aim is a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, which can be seen most clearly in the story of the central character Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who struggles to shake the sins of his past and become a good man.

"Tout le monde me prend pour un homme de bien ; mais la vérité pure est que je ne vaux rien." Tartuffe. Quel poison s'est insinué dans le foyer d'Orgon ? En laissant Tartuffe entrer dans sa maison, Orgon ne pouvait pas imaginer qu'il allait mettre en péril sa fortune, son honneur et l'unité de sa famille. Dans cette pièce hautement provocatrice, Molière démontre toute l'étendue de son talent pour fustiger, sous couvert du rire, les impostures d'un discours religieux drapé dans les oripeaux de la dévotion.

On an ordinary summer's afternoon, Alice tumbles down a hole - and an extraordinary adventure begins. In a strange world with even stranger characters, she meets a rabbit with a pocket watch, joins a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, and plays croquet with the Queen! Lost in this fantasy land, Alice finds herself growing more and more curious by the minute.

This is a selection of works by three famous Irishmen: Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats and Bram Stoker. It includes: the short story by Bram Stoker, "Dracula's Guest"; Oscar Wilde's poem "Humanitad" and three versions of his "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"; and finally, an early collection of poetry called The Rose by W. B. Yeats. There is a general introduction by the writer and actor Tim Dalgleish and other additional material.

Revered for his magnificent works of fiction, Jorge Luis Borges thought of himself primarily as a poet. Poems of the Night is a moving collection of the great literary visionary's poetic meditations on nighttime, darkness, and the crepuscular world of visions and dreams, themes that speak implicitly to the blindness that overtook Borges late in life—and yet the poems here are drawn from the full span of Borges's career.

Les aventures du Chevalier de Pardaillan sont celles que l'on dévore sans voir passer les heures, pour retrouver, confus et enthousiaste le bouillonnement d'une épopée traversée par la générosité d'un héros qui se place aux côtés de d'Artagnan et de Cyrano de Bergerac.

In this Swedish folktale, a young boy longs for all the nice things other children have. An old woman tells the boy a secret for granting his wishes: sprinkling salt on a magpie’s tail. But, before the magpie will grant the boy’s wish, the bird has some strange requests of his own.

In this Irish folktale, a young and powerful king has an embarrassing secret: he has horse’s ears! Then one day, the royal barber discovers this unusual trait. Can he keep the king’s long-held secret, or will the barber be banished from the kingdom for good?

Dans la France provinciale de la fin du XIXème siècle, L’enfant, c’est d’abord la relation avec la mère. Dès le début, le décor est planté : l’enfant se fait fouetter par sa mère

1984. Bessie is a confident sixteen-year-old girl with the world at her feet, dreaming of what life will bring and what she’ll bring to this life. Then everything comes crashing down. Her bright and trusting smile is lost, banished by shame - and a secret she’ll carry with her for the rest of her life. 2021. The last thirty-seven years have not been easy for Bess. At fifty-three she is visibly weary, and her marriage to Mario is in tatters. Watching her son in newlywed bliss - the hope, the trust, the joy - Bess knows it is time to face her own demons.

This is the hauntingly romantic story of Marguerite Gautier, a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a young man of modest means. Set in the glittering mid-19th century of the French Empire, it evokes scenes of sumptuous feasts and riotous entertainments amid the swirling milieu of sophisticated Parisian society. The story begins when the narrator, Armand Duval, tells how he met the beautiful young temptress at a theatrical performance.

Un matin, Gregor Samsa, commis voyageur, se lève pour aller au travail mais se rend compte que durant la nuit il s'est métamorphosé en "un monstrueux insecte". Il tente cependant de commencer les activités d'une journée normale, mais, couché sur le dos, ne parvient pas à sortir de son lit.

Obsédé par l'histoire de Johann-August Suter, par ce formidable récit d'aventure, ce destin si extraordinaire que celui du général suisse en exil qui se vit ruiné par l'or, Cendrars mûrit cette œuvre depuis des années. Rédigé en 1925 et publié la même année, ce récit ne conte pas uniquement l'incroyable biographie de Suter, le premier milliardaire américain, c'est un fascinant tableau des Etats-Unis à une fabuleuse époque de leur histoire qui est livrée au lecteur, grâce à une prose franche et vive. Précurseur du vers libre, ami des peintres et de la bohème de Montmartre, le poète et bourlingueur Cendrars acquiert enfin une renommée avec L'Or en 1925.

What do you do when the doctor says you could die at any moment? Well...after you’ve made a cup of tea, of course. Nathan James is young, successful and has the world at his feet. Unfortunately, he’s also about to die - which ruins things somewhat. And now he’s staring imminent death in the face, Nathan is having to rethink some of his life choices very hard. Then Nathan falls in love with a charming girl called Alison, which is a really stupid thing to do. Because how can you give your heart to someone when it might be about to stop?

"Cosette" est le deuxième tome des "Misérables". C'est aussi le prénom de l'enfant que Jean Valjean va devoir prendre sous sa protection, à la mort de sa mère Fantine, dont le tragique destin est lié à celui de l'ancien bagnard héroïque.