Characteristic of Dickens' later writings, «Little Dorrit» is a social condemnation, particularly of the system of prisons set aside for the debtors of England. Through the memorable characters of Amy and her father William Dorrit, as well as the disenchanted Arthur Clennam, recently returned from abroad, Dickens weaves a suspenseful tale that plumbs the depths of confined minds. Despite the changing fortunes of many of the characters, fina ...
Considered to be one of the most crucial passages and subplots to Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel «The Brothers Karamazov», this story is a parable told by Ivan to his younger brother Alyosha, a novice monk, about the return of Christ during the time of the Spanish Inquisition. When Christ begins performing miracles, he is soon arrested by those of the Inquisition. «The Grand Inquisitor» has influenced many literary and popular culture works as ...
The first novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, «This Side of Paradise» is the story of Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner who leaves his home to attend boarding school and eventually Princeton. The book examines the lives and morality of the post-World War I youth through Amory's character, who has a series of romances that eventually lead to his disillusionment. This first novel by Fitzgerald was incredibly popular and would cement his position a ...
"The Wild Ass's Skin" is Honore de Balzac's 1831 novel that tells the story of a young man, Raphael de Valentin, who discovers a piece of shagreen, in this case a rough untanned piece of a wild ass's skin, which has the magical property of granting wishes. However the fulfillment of the wisher's desire comes at a cost, after each wish the skin shrinks a little bit and consumes the physical energy of the wisher. «The Wild ...
"Sister Carrie" is the story of Caroline 'Sister Carrie' Meeber, an eighteen-year-old girl living in rural Wisconsin. Dissatisfied with country life, Carrie takes a train to Chicago where she takes up an affair with a powerful gentleman and later pursues her dream of becoming a famous actress. «Sister Carrie» created some controversy when it was first published due to the uncommon consequences of Carrie's immorality, she ulti ...
Mary Shelley (1797-1851) was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer and travel writer, whose gothic style and progressive ideas have made a permanent fixture in literary history. Daughter of political philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley quickly developed ideas about female independence, sexual freedom and how to compromise in the face of nineteenth century English convention. ...
"Captain Blood" is the story of Dr. Peter Blood, an Irish physician who was once a sailor and a soldier. In the aftermath of the Monmouth rebellion, Dr. Blood is arrested for treason. While he did not actually participate in the rebellion, rather he aids a wounded rebel, he is tried and convicted nonetheless. The sentence for treason is death, but King James II has the sentence commuted and instead sells Captain Blood and his fellow rebels ...
Henry James's «The Bostonians» is the story of Mississippi Lawyer and Civil War veteran Basil Ransom's conflict with his cousin Olive Chancellor for the allegiance and affection of Boston feminist Verena Tarrant. First serialized in «The Century Magazine» between 1885-1886, «The Bostonians» deals heavily with the then very timely political issue of feminism and the changing role of women in society. ...
James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous historical novels and sea-stories. In his lifetime he published thirty-three extensive fictional works, three books of explicit social and political commentary, five travel works, a monumental history of the United States Navy, a book of naval biographies, and a remarkable amount of miscel ...
