Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

La dama pálida (Histoire de la Dame pâle), aquí traducido como El vampiro, pero también conocido como La bella vampirizada y El vampiro de los Cárpatos, es un relato corto de Alexandre Dumas escrito en 1849 como parte de su recopilación de cuentos de terror Les Mille et un fantômes (Los mil y un fantasmas), se trata de un relato de influencia fantástica y sombría, ambientado en el corazón de los montes Cárpatos y relacionado con vampirismo literario. Este relato está dividido en cuatro partes: Los montes Cárpatos, El castillo de Brankovan, Los dos hermanos y El monasterio de Hango...

The English Romantic Period in literature featured a towering group of excellent poets: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats. If we add in forerunners Burns and Blake, we have perhaps an unmatchable collection of writers for any era. Of these, Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the brightest and best, coupling a giant intellect with a highly emotional and impetuous nature. He was always a champion of liberty, but was largely ignored when he tried to promote political and social reform. He was wise enough, however, to realize that his efforts were ineffective, and he chose instead, not ...

A marvelous depiction of two sides of South Sea Islands' life through three separate tales. One, the experience of the incoming British keen to live free and exploit the innocent; the other the supernatural as perceived by Stevenson working in the lives of the natives. One tale carries the germ of the story of Madame Butterfly, since become a part of Western culture. Another is an extraordinary retelling of a German horror story transposed to a South Sea Island setting. The last is an effort of the pure Stevensonian imagination and there can be nothing better. - Summary by TONY ADDISON

Publicado en 1896, este volumen contiene 13 cuentos que transcurren en la Valencia natal de Blasco Ibáñez (Wikipedia en español sobre el autor). (Introducción por Verla Viera)

The story takes place in a small woodland village called Little Hintock, and concerns the efforts of an honest woodsman, Giles Winterborne, to marry his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury. Although they have been informally betrothed for some time, her father has made financial sacrifices to give his adored only child a superior education and no longer considers Giles good enough for her.The Woodlanders marks the beginnings of controversy for Hardy's novels. At this point in his career he was established enough as a writer to take risks, especially in the areas of sex, sexual attraction, ...

This novel is subtitled The Mellstock Quire, A Rural Painting of the Dutch School. The Quire is the group of musicians who accompany the hymns at the local church and we follow the fortunes of one member, Dick Dewy, who falls in love with the new school mistress, Fancy Day. Another element of the book is the battle between the traditional musicians of the Quire and the local vicar, Parson Maybold, who installs a church organ. This battle illustrates the developing technology being introduced in the Victorian era and its threat to traditional country ways. The novel was published anonymously in...

Set in an English-Scottish border village during the waning days of the Napoleonic era, this adventure story introduces us to Jock Calder, whose quiet way of life is shattered when a mysterious stranger steps ashore near his home. The stranger changes forever the lives of Jock, his cousin Edie, and his best friend Jim, sending the young men into the jaws of the final battle to defeat The Great Shadow that threatens to devour the whole of Europe. Don't look for Sherlock Holmes in this well-written tale, but do expect a wonderful glimpse of life at the end of the Napoleonic era, including an ...

The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, accomplished horseman and gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady. (Introduction from Wikipedia)

This is a collection of early Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short stories. It includes stories of mystery, comedy, shipwrecks and fantasy. (Summary by Richard Kilmer)

These lesser known stories were penned by Conan Doyle during the period between killing off Sherlock Holmes in 1893 and reluctantly resurrecting him some ten years later. The swashbuckling, eponymous hero, Etienne Gerard, is one of Napoleon's gallant French Hussars, who considers himself the finest of them all. Through these "Boys Own Adventures", Conan Doyle pokes gentle fun at both the French and the English. This is the second volume containing eight adventures. (Summary by Phil)

This is a collection of short stories, poems, and play fragments published in 1926. Many of them are set during World War I. Many have strong references to the Masonic Lodge and its "brethren." The odes attributed to Horace are actually poems written by Kipling imitating the old Roman style.Note: Some of these stories contain outdated attitudes and racial stereotypes. Section 7, "The United Idolaters," and section 13, "The Prophet and the Country," contain racial terms objectionable to many listeners.Cast list for Gow's Watch (both scenes)Narrator: Larry WilsonGow: Ehsan Ahmed MehediFerdinand:...

The experiences in public school, Sandhurst and military life in India of Major George Cotter together with his adventures in the dream world he discovers and frequents. (Summary by Liam Neely)

The Bab Ballads are a collection of light verse by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. Gilbert wrote the Ballads before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan. In writing the Bab Ballads, Gilbert developed his unique "topsy-turvy" style, where the humour was derived by setting up a ridiculous premise and working out its logical consequences, however absurd. The Ballads also reveal Gilbert's cynical and satirical approach to humour. They became famous on their own, as well as being a source for plot elements, characters and songs that Gilbert ...

The Old Curiosity Shop tells the story of Little Nell, a beautiful and virtuous young girl who lives with her grandfather in his shop of curiosities. Her grandfather loves her dearly, and Nell does not complain, but she lives a lonely existence without friends of her own age. Her only friend is Kit, an honest young lad who works at the shop, and whom she is teaching to write. Unbeknownst to Nell, her grandfather is obsessed with their precarious financial position and is attempting to make Nell a good inheritance by winning at cards. He keeps these nocturnal activities a secret, but borrows ...

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. Written for publication as a serial, The Pickwick Papers consists of a sequence of loosely-related adventures. Its main literary value and appeal is formed by its numerous unforgettable heroes. Each personage in The Pickwick Papers (just as in many other Dickens' novels) is drawn comically, often with exaggerated features of character. (Wikipedia)

Charles Dickens the author of Dombey and Son, originally wrote the book in installments which were published from October 1846 to April 1848 under the title Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation. The story centers around Paul Dombey, the stern owner of the Firm. He is totally immersed in having his newly born son continue the business, and entirely neglects his daughter Florence. Tragedy occurs, and Florence’s plight worsens. As the years go by, Mr. Dombey sees to it that the man she loves, his employee, is sent far away. Mr Dombey remarries, but his...

A fable of literally life and death significance, the story explores how the protagonist tries to keep the remembrance of his dead friends, to save them from being forgotten entirely in the rush of everyday events. He meets a woman who shares his ideals, only to find that the past places what seems to be an impassable barrier between them. Although James was not religious in any conventional sense, the story shows a deep spirituality in its treatment of mortality and the transcendent power of unselfish love. (Introduction by Wikipedia)

Everybody makes mistakes, and everything has a price. This novel describes, according to its name, the life of Adeline Mowbray, full of everything: sorrow, happiness, falsehood, truth, kindness, and mistakes. This novel is an exploration of the human heart. Be prepared for a strong and enjoyable read. (Summary by Stav Nisser)

This recording comprises two narratives. One is by Cora Mitchel who in 1861 was a girl in her mid-teens. Her Unionist family escaped the Confederacy from their home in south Georgia to Rhode Island. This is her story written about 1916. The second narrative is by Charlotte St. Julien Ravenel of South Carolina, a contemporary journal written in the closing months of the civil war in 1865. - Summary by David Wales

El joven marino Edmundo Dantés, es encarcelado injustamente a raíz de unas malsanas envidias y condenado sin remedio a prisión perpetua. Gracias a un peculiar compañero de presidio, a cabo de varios años consigue escapar y encontrar un inmenso tesoro que utilizará para ejecutar una minuciosa e implacable venganza contra aquellos que le traicionaron.Una de las novelas de aventuras más famosas de todos los tiempos, posiblemente el mejor trabajo de Alejandro Dumas, plagiada ciento de veces y un verdadero deleite de lectura.Summary by Epachuko