Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a celebrated French novelist, poet, playwright, dramatist, essayist and statesman whose work ushered in the Romantic literary movement in France, one of the most influential movements in French and all European literary history. Like many of his time, Hugo promoted the virtues of liberty, individualism, spirit and nature in rebellion of the conservative political and religious establishments of Imperial France, and ev ...
Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was a self-designated English novelist. He wrote an astonishing quantity in a great variety of genres while creating a broad range of themes and characters. Winning a literary competition in «Tit-Bits» magazine in 1889 was the kick-off to his literary career. The early novels of Bennett played a significant role in the transition from the Victorian to the modern novel. A contemporary of Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and ...
William Godwin (1756-1836), the seventh of thirteen children, was raised by a dissenting minister, which accounts for his studies and work as a dissenting minister early in life. By 1782, Godwin had exposed himself to the optimism of Enlightenment philosophy through books and discussion, and so became more enthusiastic about the overthrow of all political, religious and social institutions. He turned to writing as a profession, and in the 1790s ...
Contained within this volume are two of Joseph Conrad's great tales of the sea, «The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'» and «The Secret Sharer.» Drawing from his own experiences as a seaman, Conrad's writing is rich with the details of a life lived at sea. In «The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'» a ship's crew struggles with morale as a black member of the crew lay dying. In the shorter work «The Secret Sharer» a captain on ...
Theophile Gautier's masterpiece «Mademoiselle de Maupin» might be better known for its lengthy preface than the actual novel itself. It is there in which the author discusses art for art's sake, arguing that «everything useful is ugly.» The novel itself is a historical romance based on the life of French opera star Julie d'Aubigny, better known as Mademoiselle Maupin. The subject of gossip and many colorful stories during her time ...
Written as a companion piece to «Cousin Bette,» «Cousin Pons» is another tale displaying Honore de Balzac's contempt for nineteenth-century French society. The aged musician Sylvain Pons has very little in his life. His only happiness comes from dining with his extended family and from admiring his antique collection. However, his distant relatives hold contempt for the meager Pons and disdain for his treasures. Yet, when the family discove ...
An imaginative work published in 1902, Baum tells the story of Claus, an orphaned human raised by various immortal creatures in an enchanted forest. When he reaches adulthood, Claus is told to live among mortals, and he is disheartened initially by poverty, war, and other negative aspects of humanity. He becomes well-known for his kindness to children, and this enthusiasm leads to the invention of the first toys. Claus eventually makes it his li ...
"The Cossacks" is one of Tolstoy's greatest works. In this semi-autobiographical work we meet the central character of Olenin, a young man of twenty-four who has yet to make anything of himself in life. Olenin joins the Russian army and is assigned to a remote post. There he falls in love with a beautiful young Cossack woman who has already been promised to another man, a Cossack warrior. What will become of Olenin? Will he fight for t ...
Written by Baldasar Castiglione, count of Novilara and an Italian courtier himself, «The Book of the Courtier» remains as one of the most important and definitive accounts of Renaissance court life. Organized as a series of fictional conversations that occur between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino in 1507, «The Book of the Courtier» discusses the expectations of a courtier who must have a warrior spirit, be athletic, and have good knowledge ...