European Literature

"À M..., ville importante de Haute-Italie, la marquise d'O, dame d'excellente réputation, veuve et mère de plusieurs enfants fort bien élevés, fit savoir par la presse qu'elle était, sans savoir comment, dans l'attente d'un heureux événement, que le père de l'enfant qu'elle allait mettre au monde devait se faire connaître, et que, pour des considérations d'ordre familial, elle était décidée à l'épouser." - "La Marquise d'O", Heinrich von Kleist.

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.

Smita sofre todos os tipos de preconceito na sociedade indiana. Seu grande sonho é ver a filha escapar da condição miserável em que vivem e ter acesso à educação formal em uma escola. Na Sicília, Giulia trabalha como ajudante na oficina do pai. Mas, quando ele sofre um acidente, ela se vê obrigada a assumir o comando e logo percebe que o negócio da família está à beira da ruína.

"La princesse de Clèves", premier des grands romans historiques, écrit par une femme du XVIIe siècle, marque également le début de la place des femmes en littérature. Dans toute son œuvre, Madame de Lafayette énonce les ravages des passions, qui ne font que révéler les faiblesses des hommes. "La princesse de Clèves" obéit à cette règle. Madame de Lafayette analyse les étapes du sentiment amoureux chez les trois personnages, ses effets sur leur comportement et la lutte de la princesse qui, pour ne pas tomber dans des intérêts et des plaisirs qui la rendraient méprisables à ses yeux, accepte le seul destin qu'on réserve aux âmes nobles, la mort.

"Es ward uns kund, daß dieser friedlose Übeltäter Störtebecker, nachdem er die Ostersee durch Mord rot gefärbt, auch gestohlen und gebrannt, er wolle eine Bruderschaft aufrichten. Um diesen neuen Frevel gegen Obrigkeit und schuldige Demut nicht reif werden zu lassen, damit aber auch fürder der gemeine Kaufmann sein Handelsgut ungefährdet über See bringen möge, sei hiermit den Edlen der Friesen empfohlen, die Raubgesellen ohne Zögern aus dem Land zu jagen."

Listed in the BBC's "100 Novels That Shaped Our World", Psmith, Journalist takes Wodehouse's immaculate hero to the apparently dull city of New York, where he takes command of twee family periodical Cosy Moments, converts it to the yellowest of yellow journals, and embarks upon a crusade to unmask the owner of the notorious Pleasant Street tenements. But soon the staff of Cosy Moments find themselves dodging ambushes and assassination attempts, as the mysterious tenement owner tries to put them out of business - permanently; and war breaks out among New York's notorious street gangs.

Se è vero, come si dice, che un classico è tale perché non smette mai di essere attuale, la Divina Commedia non può non esserlo. Anzi, ne rappresenta forse l’esempio più lampante ed emblematico della storia della letteratura. Amatissima, citatissima, ma spesso purtroppo fraintesa, dopo settecento anni questo capolavoro non smette di incuriosire e appassionare lettori di tutto il mondo.

Collected and published by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s, "Snow White" is a classic and timeless tale. The jealous queen's multiple attempts to take the beautiful Snow White's life are foiled by the sympathetic dwarfs. Eventually, Snow White gets her happily ever after with the prince, while the queen receives her comeuppance. Included in this book are this and 20 more tales from the Grimm Brothers' collection and by Charles Perrault.

In this Lithuanian folktale, the king wants to know why the sun is red! He sends his horseman on a quest to find a house made of amber, inside which the answer lies. Follow along with him on his adventure!

Slowbridge's customs have been set in stone by Lady Theobald, who has decreed that young ladies should always wear white muslin to social events and that their only decoration should be fresh flowers - which invariably wilt by the end of the evening. Enter Octavia, bedecked in yards of lace and ribbons and with a profusion of diamond jewelry. She is soon informed that only married ladies wear diamonds in England. She makes other mistakes: Young ladies do not ask men to join them on terraces; they do not invite men to play croquet on their lawns.

"Paul et Virginie" est un roman de Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, écrit en 1787. Ce texte est aujourd'hui un grand classique réunissant les thèmes de l'amour impossible et de l'ailleurs exotique et sublimé. Deux femmes se retrouvent par le hasard de la vie à l'île de France, et doivent élever seules leurs enfants. Elles décident qu'ils grandiront ensemble, et ainsi Paul et Virginie sont comme frère et sœur. Mais l'innocence et la pureté des lieux les engagent à l'adolescence vers des sentiments d'une plus grande profondeur.

Conrad, the Corsair, is the chieftain of a pirate band, and plans to attack the Pacha, Seyd, and seize his possessions. Conrad's wife, Medora, prevails upon her husband to abandon his plan and remain at home. Confident in his plan and assured of his safe return, Conrad and his pirate crew set sail for the Pacha's island.

Les nouvelles de Maupassant ont révélé tout le génie et toute la particularité de cet auteur, qui a mis le fantastique, l'histoire de genre, et la nouvelle normande sur un pied d'égalité en littérature. Les mots racontent simplement une histoire mais c'est tout un monde qui est mis en place et toute une époque qui nous est donnée à entendre.

Par une nuit d'hiver glacée, deux flics de la criminelle, partis pour surveiller un parrain de la drogue en banlieue parisienne, mettent pieds dans une étrange affaire. Leur principal suspect est mort brûlé vif dans son appartement et les méthodes employées ne ressemblent pas à un règlement de compte. Eva Svärta, la policière albinos, dominée par le désir obsessionnel de retrouver le meurtrier de sa mère et de sa sœur jumelle, pressent un danger imminent. Et si les fantômes du passé se mettaient à reprendre vie ? Hallucination ou réalité ?

A slow snail tries to outwit a nimble fox in a race to see the king.

Many old Irish folktales tell about the deeds and adventures of Finn MacCool—a great hunter and warrior and the strongest giant in Ireland. As you will see from this story, even a famous giant needs a little help once in a while.

A pine tree is unhappy with its needles and wishes for different types of leaves instead. A fairy grants the tree its wishes, but the results are disappointing.

As heir to Ardinmuir, Connor MacKean had one job: fulfill the marriage pact that's held his family captive for 300 years. Except his sister's the one who took the plunge, and now there's nothing standing in the way of him finding a real and lasting love. Nothing except the fact that the object of his affections has never seen him as anything more than her best friend's little brother.

Robert MacLeod, chief of clan MacLeod, falls in love with a fairy princess named Finnoula. Unable to stay in the mortal world, Finnoula must make a choice between the life of a mortal and the life of the Shining Folk. Learn the legend about the fairy flag at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, owned by the MacLeods for nearly eight hundred years!

A family of pixies is looking for a place for their children to sleep, but nowhere on the farm is good enough. Will they find somewhere in time to return the farmers horse and cart for planting season? Listen along with this Cornish folktale and see just where a pixie littling can get some sleep.