A classic picaresque novel, Francisco de Quevedo's «The Spanish Sharper» chronicles the adventures of Don Pablos, a buscon or swindler, who aims in life to learn virtue and to become a caballero, or gentleman, both of which he fails miserably at. The work is a notable piece of satire that criticizes not only Spanish society but the protagonist Pablos himself. His ambition to elevate his status to that of a gentleman is, in Quevedo's op ...
Set in Dunnet Landing, Maine in a summer of the late 1800s, «The Country of the Pointed Firs», is the story of a female writer seeking isolation and inspiration for her writing in a small coastal New England town. Rich with the dialect of the region and the culture of the time «The Country of the Pointed Firs» is an intimate examination of the relationships amongst the members of a rural New England fishing village in the late 1800s. ...
At the center of «Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)» by Philippine national hero Jose Rizal is the conflict against Spanish colonialism. The Philippines, which is named after King Philip II of Spain, was ruled by the Spanish empire as a colony from 1565 until the Philippine Revolution ended this rule in 1898. For his part in the Philippine Revolution, Jose Rizal was tried and convicted for rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. His sentence was to be ...
Considered one of the masterpieces of world-renowned naturalist Emile Zola, «Nana» is his finely written work on the demimonde of France's failing Second Empire. A symbolically compounded novel, it follows the rise and fall of Nana, a street-walking prostitute who becomes an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. Though apparently independent and self-confident in her role of 'high-class cocette,' Nana envies the material possession ...
First serialized in «The Saturday Evening Post» between May and June of 1919, P. G. Wodehouse's «A Damsel in Distress» is the light-hearted whimsical tale of American composer George Bevan who falls in love with a mysterious young lady who takes refuge in his taxicab one day. When George finally tracks her down, all manner of comedic chaos is bound to ensue in classic Wodehouse fashion. ...
The fourteenth novel in a twenty book series collectively entitled, «Les Rougon-Macquart, L'?uvre» was first translated into English in 1886, the title having since been rendered «The Masterpiece». Set in France's Second Empire, the story of naturalist painter Claude Lantier is believed to be a highly fictionalized account of Zola's friendship with the painter Paul Cezanne. The fictional artist of Zola's Bohemian world, Lanti ...
"Vanity Fair" is William Makepeace Thackeray's 19th century novel which satirizes the English society of the time. It is the story of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, who have just completed their studies at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies and are beginning to embark upon the world. The simple-minded nature of Amelia is contrasted with the strong-willed nature of Becky, who has affections for Amelia's brother Joseph S ...
Literally meaning «The tailor re-tailored,» «Sartor Resartus» is Thomas Carlyle's 1836 novel which was first serialized in «Fraser's Magazine» in 1833-1834. The novel poses as a review for the work «Clothes, Their Origin and Influence» by the fictional philosopher Diogenes Teufelsdrockh, Professor of «Things in General» at Weissnichtwo University. Intended by Carlyle as a new kind of book, «Sartor Resartus» is at once a work of fiction ...
Written in 1869 with a clear awareness of the time's tension over women's rights, «He Knew He Was Right» is primarily a story about Louis Trevelyan, a young, wealthy, educated Victorian man and his marriage to the beautiful Emily Rowley. They meet in the Mandarin Islands, where Emily's father is governor, but their happiness in wedlock is short-lived. They soon have a son and Louis begins to have strong feelings of jealousy toward ...
