In the beginning, I would like to make a short digression into the history of the United States of interest to us during the period. without knowledge of the main historical events, it is impossible to understand literary processes and analyze texts.
The United States of America is one of the youngest states. The development of the continent by Europeans began in the 16th century; before their appearance, the territory of the future world power was inhabited by Indian tribes. By the 18th century, the entire North American continent had been colonized by Europeans. In 1774, 13 British colonies began hostilities in the struggle for independence. The result of their victory on July 4, 1776 was the formation of a new sovereign state.
During the 19th century, the territory of the United States increased due to the acquisition of Louisiana from the French, Florida from the Spaniards and the conquest of other lands. The capture of local states was accompanied either by the forced eviction of the Indian people in the reservation, or by the complete destruction of the population.
In 1861, disagreements arose between the southern and northern states related to economic and cultural issues, as a result of which the Confederation of 11 southern states arose, declaring its separation. At the beginning of the civil war, the southerners won several victories, but in the end it ended with the victory of the northern states and the preservation of the federation.
The end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century is marked by a grandiose economic recovery in the United States due to the influx of immigrants from other continents. April 4, 1917 America entered the First World War. Until that time, the state preferred to take a neutral position in relation to events in Europe. At this point, the United States was engaged in the creation of zones of influence in the countries of the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean and Central America. After the war in 1929, a sharp jump in the country's economy gave way to a terrible crisis. During the Great Depression, production dropped significantly and unemployment increased. On December 7, 1941, as a result of the bombing of the American base at Pearl Harbor by Japanese fighters, the US Army entered World War II with Japan. After December 11, 1941, America entered into a military conflict with Italy and Germany. The Americans deployed all their military operations mainly in the Pacific. After the Tehran Conference on June 6, 1944, the US Army figured in the defeat of the German army on the Atlantic coast of France. The fighting against Japan successfully took place in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. On August 6, 1945, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and on August 9, a bomb was dropped on another Japanese city - Nagasaki. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito signed an act of surrender.
US literature of the late 19th century
Literary scholars call the end of the 19th century late American romanticism. During this period, a sharp division took place in the literary space of the country, caused by the Civil War between the North and the South. On the one hand, there is the literature of abolitionism, which, within the framework of romantic aesthetics, protests against slavery from ethical and general humanistic positions. On the other hand, the literature of the South, idealizing the traditions of the slave system, stands up for the historically doomed and reactionary way of life.
The motives of opposition to anti-humanistic laws occupy a significant place in the works of such writers as Longfellow, Emerson, Thoreau, and others. We can observe the same motives in the works of G. Beecher Stowe, D. G. and realistic elements is the work of the greatest American poet Walt Whitman. Dickinson's work is permeated with a romantic worldview - already outside the chronological framework of romanticism. Romantic motifs organically enter the creative method of F. Bret Hart, M. Twain, A. Beers, D. London and other US writers of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
It should be noted that American romanticism differs significantly from European romanticism. The assertion of national identity and independence, the search for a "national idea" run through all the art of American romanticism. The culture of the United States did not have the centuries-old experience that Europe had at that time - by the end of the 19th century, the new nation had not yet managed to “acquire” objects and realities that romantic associations could be attached to (such as the tulips of Holland and the roses of Italy). But gradually, in the books of Irving and Cooper, Longfellow and Melville, Hawthorne and Thoreau, phenomena and facts of American nature, history, and geography acquire a romantic flavor.
No less significant for American romanticism was the theme of the Indians. Indians in America from the very beginning a factor that is associated with a very complex psychological complex - admiration and fear, hostility and guilt. The image of the "noble savage", the life of the Indians, its freedom, naturalness, closeness to nature could become a romantic alternative to capitalist civilization in the books of Irving and Cooper, Thoreau and Longfellow. In the works of these authors, we see evidence that the conflict between the two races was not fatally inevitable, but the cruelty and greed of the white settlers were to blame for it. The work of American romantics makes the life and culture of the Indians an important component of the national literature of the United States, conveying its special imagery and coloring. The same applies to the perception of another ethnic minority - black Americans in the southern states.
Within American Romanticism, within a single creative method, there were notable regional differences. The main literary regions are New England (northeastern states), the middle states, the South.
The atmosphere of the American South is conveyed by the works of J. P. Kennedy and W. G. Simms. It is worth noting that the authors could not completely get rid of the stereotypes of glorifying the virtues of "southern democracy" and the advantages of the slave-owning order. With all these features of limitations, "southern" romanticism paves the way for the formation of a complex, multidimensional, but undoubtedly fruitful "southern tradition" in US literature, which in the 20th century. represented by the names of W. Faulkner, R. P. Warren, W. Styron, C. McCullers, S. E. Grau, and others. political reactionary positions, arguing that "joyfully, knowing no worries, the slave lives on the plantation."
The middle states are distinguished from the beginning by great ethnic and religious diversity and tolerance. Here American bourgeois democracy is being laid down and capitalist relations are developing especially rapidly. The work of Irving, Cooper, Paulding, and later Melville is associated with the middle states. The main themes in the work of the romantics of the middle states are the search for a national hero, interest in social issues, reflections on the path traveled by the country, a comparison of the past and present of America.
Romanticism in New England (Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Bryant, and others) is characterized primarily by the desire for a philosophical understanding of the American experience, for an analysis of the national past, its ideological and artistic heritage. Inherent in this literature is the exploration of complex ethical issues; An important place is occupied by the revision of the Puritan complex of religious and moral ideas of the Puritan colonists of the 17th-18th centuries, with which a deep successive connection is preserved. New English Romanticism has a strong tradition of moral-philosophical prose, rooted in America's Puritan colonial past. After the end of the Civil War in the literature of the United States, a realistic trend in literature began to develop. A new generation of writers is connected with a new region: it relies on the democratic spirit of the American West, on the elements of folk oral folklore and addresses its works to the widest, mass readership. From the point of view of the new aesthetics, romanticism ceased to meet the requirements of the time. Romantic "impulses" were sharply criticized by M. Twain, F. Bret Hart and other young realist writers. Their contradictions with the romantics are caused, first of all, by a different understanding of the truth of life and ways of expressing it in art. American realists of the second half of the 19th century. strive for maximum historical, social and everyday concreteness, they are not satisfied with the language of romantic allegories and symbols.
It must be said that this denial is purely dialectical in nature. In the literature of the USA of the XX century. there are romantic motives and they are associated, as a rule, with the search for lost high ideals and true spirituality, the unity of man and nature, with the moral utopia of extra-bourgeois human relations, with a protest against the transformation of the individual into a cog in the state machine. These motifs are clearly visible in the work of the greatest American word artists of our century - E. Hemingway and W. Faulkner, T. Wilder and D. Steinbeck, F. S. Fitzgerald and D. D. Salinger. US writers of recent decades continue to turn to them.
american literature novel realistic
The 19th century is a time of great change in the spiritual life of the United States. The industrial revolution and economic successes were destroying the strict puritanical prescriptions that condemned art created not by reason, but by feeling. Everything inspired optimistic confidence in the great destiny of America. People naively believed in their unlimited possibilities.
American romanticism
Unlike the European one, he was all focused on the future, optimistic. At the same time, he was characterized by longing for the irretrievably departed, sadness from contemplating the eternal cycle of life. Belief in a better future and prosperity for America reconciled most romantics with the darker sides of life.
The prominent representatives of romanticism in literature were the poet Henry Longfellow and the writer Fenimore Cooper, who were so different from each other.
Henry Longfellow (1807-1882) is a classic of American literature. His work is a milestone in American poetry of the 19th century. Unlike famous poets and writers, Longfellow fully enjoyed fame during his lifetime. When he died, mourning was declared not only in the United States, but also in England.
His best work was the poem "The Song of Hiawatha". It has become one of the most famous works of world literature.
"Song" is written based on Indian traditions and legends. Longfellow sang in it the Indian national hero of the fabulously harmonious age Hiawatha, who preached peace between the tribes, taught people agriculture and writing. The poem is imbued with a surprisingly touching description of nature and folk legends, the spirit of light sadness. It calls for harmony in relations between people, between nature and man.
The Indian theme is reflected in five novels by Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), united by a common hero - the hunter and tracker Natty Bumpo: "Pioneers", "The Last of the Mohicans", "Prairie", "Pathfinder", "St. John's Wort". The novels are set in the 18th century. during the war between England and France in America. F. Cooper bitterly describes the inhuman extermination of Indian tribes and the destruction of a unique culture. The meeting of two civilizations turned into a tragedy. Honest and brave Natty Bumpo and his faithful friend the Indian chief Chingachguk were also crushed by the world of money-grubbing and gain.
In the wake of the movement to abolish slavery, several talented works arose. The most significant of these was the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 - 1896).
The book was a great reader success. She carried the truth about the horrors of slavery in the US South. Contemporaries said that in the struggle to abolish slavery it played a greater role than hundreds of propaganda pamphlets or rallies. Uncle Tom's Cabin has been staged in theaters throughout the United States. In Boston, the play ran for 100 consecutive days, and in New York, only one of the theaters ran for 160 days. Fascinating content, a truthful description of the conditions of life of slaves and the mores of slave-owning planters made "Uncle Tom's Cabin" one of the most popular books in world literature. It is still read with unflagging interest.
During the period of the democratic rise of the 50s, when the States were shaken by disputes between northerners and southerners and the Civil War was ripening in the country, the poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) appeared. An ordinary journalist, he published in 1855 the book "Leaves of Grass", which made him the great poet of America and brought him worldwide fame. This only book of the poet was unlike anything that had been written before him. An amazing creative take-off, the “Whitman riddle” people are unsuccessfully trying to solve.
Whitman called himself a prophet of democracy. He sang of America, to self-forgetfulness - its working people. He sang the movement of the stars and every atom, every grain of the universe. Looking at the people, he distinguished an individual, leaning over the grass, he saw a blade of grass - a leaf of grass. Furiously in love with life, he rejoiced at any slightest sprout of it, merged with the elements of the surrounding world. The image of "grass" and "I" of the poet are inseparable:
"I bequeath myself to the dirty earth, let me grow my
favorite herb,
If you want to see me again, look for me at your place
under the soles."
Whitman created his own authentic Whitman style. His invention is free verse. The poet described the rhythm of the free verse in which “Leaves of Grass” was written in this way: “This verse is like the waves of the sea: they either roll in or recede - radiant and quiet on a clear day, menacing in a storm.” Unlike the Romantic poets, Whitman's poetic speech is surprisingly human and direct:
"The first person you meet, if you, passing by, want to speak
With me why don't you talk to me
Why don't I start a conversation with you?"
Whitman praised not only the beauty of man and the beauty of the nature of his country. He sang about railroads, factories and cars.
"...Oh, we'll build a building
More magnificent than all Egyptian tombs,
More beautiful than the temples of Hellas and Rome,
We will build your temple, O holy industry..."
Well, America's great poet wasn't particularly perceptive. Intoxicated with a dream and delighted with the world, he did not see the danger to man and humanity arising from the powerful tread of modern industry.
First warnings
Among American writers of the first half of the XIX century. there were many who criticized the negative aspects of American reality. "Liberty, equality and fraternity" came into conflict with life. In it, in the words of one of the romantics, the "almighty dollar" dominated.
While Whitman sang of America, Herman Melville said many bitter words about it in his famous novel Moby Dick, or the White Whale. Bourgeois civilization, he believed, brings evil and death to people. Melville denounced racism, colonization and slavery. A few years before it began, he predicted the American Civil War.
Another well-known American writer, Henry Thoreau, sharply criticized bourgeois civilization. He preached the simplification of man, his harmonious relationship with nature. Here is his famous description of the railroad: “Each sleeper is a man, an Irishman or a Yankee. On them, on these people, the rails are laid... and the wagons roll smoothly. The sleepers may someday wake up and stand up, ”Toro prophetically warned.
American realism
The largest American realist writers in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. were Mark Twain, F. Bret Harte, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) subjected to merciless criticism and ridicule of his main enemies - the "monarchy of money" and religion. Therefore, some of his books could not be printed in the USA for a long time. The best works of Mark Twain - "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", are dedicated to the lives of ordinary people in America.
occupies a special place in American literature. Bret Hart (1836-1902). He is famous for his stories and stories from the life of California gold diggers. They show the enslaving power of gold in a breathtaking and masterful manner. Garth's works were accepted in Europe as a new word in American literature.
At the end of the XIX century. a prominent place in American literature has occupied a short story. O "Henry showed himself to be a virtuoso master of the story, a light and cheerful short story. The largest writer of the early 20th century, Jack London (1876-1916), gained fame with his stories. They describe a new and unfamiliar world for Americans - fearless and courageous people, gold diggers of the North, the world of romance and adventure.The best works of Jack London are the stories "Love of Life", "The Mexican", the novels "White Fang" and "Martin Eden". In the story "White Plague" - a vision of the catastrophe of bourgeois civilization.
The reverse side of US economic prosperity is depicted in a grand way in the novels of America's preeminent writer Theodor Dreiser (1871 -1945). The trilogy "Financier", "Titan" and "Stoic" tells the story of a "superman" financier who came to a bitter conclusion about the futility of accumulation and money-grubbing. One of the writer's best works is the novel "An American Tragedy".
Painting
American painting was heavily influenced by Western Europe. It was characterized by romanticism and realism, and from the end of the 19th century - impressionism. Artists of the romantic direction were most interested in two big themes - nature and personality. Therefore, portraiture was widespread. In times of economic prosperity, artists tended to paint wealthy people and their families. American painting has not yet been distinguished by any special originality.
Heart of the Andes. Frederic Church (1826-1900). In the 1850s visited South America, after which he became famous in the United States for his vivid and impressive images of exotic landscapes
Mother and Child, 1890. American M. Cassatt became the first woman to achieve recognition among the Impressionists. Paintings on the themes of motherhood are simple, expressive and full of warmth
Only after the Civil War did American artists stop feeling like uncouth apprentices. Their works are becoming more and more "American".
The most famous American painters of the XIX century. there were representatives of the romantic direction: Cole, Darend and Bingham. The portrait painter Sargent enjoyed great popularity. However, Winslow Homer is considered to be a typical American artist of the end of the century.
Light Breeze, 1878. W. Homer (1836-1910). This painting was hailed as the artist's greatest achievement. Children's themes were popular in the second half of the 19th century, as well as in the days of Huckleberry Finn.
The Daughters of Edward Buat, 1882. J. Sargent (1856-1925). Born into a wealthy American family in Italy. He spent his whole life in Europe, occasionally making trips to the United States. Created virtuoso secular portraits
Metropolitan Museum of Art
In the 19th century in the United States began collecting works of European painting. Wealthy Americans traveled to Europe and bought art treasures there. In 1870, a group of public figures and artists founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the largest art collection in the United States.
Today it houses about 3 million works of world art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is on a par with the largest art museums in the world, such as the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery in Russia, the Louvre in Paris or the British Museum in London.
Architecture
American architecture was as eclectic as European. It intricately intertwined elements of the styles you know - Gothic, Rococo and Classicism. In the second half of the XIX century. Americans have made a great contribution to the development of world architecture. They are credited with creating steel structures for large industrial and administrative buildings.
And it all started with a tragic event. In 1871, the city of Chicago was almost completely burned out by a great fire. It was necessary to rebuild the entire city, which caused a surge of various ideas. A group of architects led by Louis Sullivan designed the skeleton of a commercial skyscraper based on a steel frame filled with stone and cement. In the 1880s first in Chicago, and then in other cities, the first skyscrapers appeared, which became a symbol of the industrial power of America.
References:
V. S. Koshelev, I. V. Orzhehovsky, V. I. Sinitsa / World History of the Modern Times XIX - early. XX century., 1998.
In contact with
Despite its relatively short history, American literature has made an invaluable contribution to world culture. Although already in the 19th century all of Europe was reading the gloomy detective stories of Edgar Allan Poe and the beautiful historical poems of Henry Longfellow, these were only the first steps; It was in the 20th century that American literature flourished. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, two world wars and the struggle against racial discrimination in America, classics of world literature, Nobel Prize winners, writers are born who characterize an entire era with their works.
The radical economic and social changes in American life in the 1920s and 1930s provided the perfect breeding ground for realism, which reflected the desire to capture the new realities of America. Now, along with books whose purpose was to entertain the reader and make him forget about the surrounding social problems, works appear on the shelves that clearly show the need to change the existing social order. The work of the realists was distinguished by a great interest in various kinds of social conflicts, attacks on the values accepted by society and criticism of the American way of life.
Among the most prominent realists were Theodore Dreiser, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner And Ernest Hemingway. In their immortal works, they reflected the true life of America, sympathized with the tragic fate of young Americans who went through the First World War, supported the struggle against fascism, spoke openly in defense of workers, and unashamedly portrayed the depravity and spiritual emptiness of American society.
THEODORE DREISER
(1871-1945)
Theodore Dreiser was born in a small town in Indiana to a bankrupt small business owner. Writer from childhood he knew hunger, poverty and need, which was later reflected in the themes of his works, as well as in a brilliant description of the life of the ordinary working class. His father was a strict Catholic, limited and despotic, which made Dreiser hate religion till the end of one's days.
At the age of sixteen, Dreiser had to leave school and work part-time in order to somehow earn his living. Later, he was still enrolled in the university, but he could only study there for a year, again because of money problems. In 1892, Dreiser began working as a reporter for various newspapers, and eventually moved to New York, where he became editor of the magazine.
His first significant work is the novel "Sister Kerry"- comes out in 1900. Dreiser tells the story of a poor country girl, close to his own life, who recovers in search of work in Chicago. As soon as the book barely made it to print, it immediately was called contrary to morality and withdrawn from sale. Seven years later, when it became too difficult to hide the work from the public, the novel nevertheless appeared on store shelves. Writer's second book "Jenny Gerhard" published in 1911 was also crushed by critics.
Further, Dreiser begins to write a cycle of novels "Trilogy of Desires": "Financier" (1912), "Titanium"(1914) and unfinished novel "Stoic"(1947). Its purpose was to show how, at the end of the 19th century, America was "big business".
In 1915, a semi-autobiographical novel was published. "Genius", in which Dreiser describes the tragic fate of a young artist whose life was broken by the cruel injustice of American society. Myself the writer considered the novel his best work, but critics and readers greeted the book negatively and it is practically not for sale.
Dreiser's most famous work is the immortal novel. "American tragedy"(1925). This is a story about a young American who is corrupted by the false morals of the United States, which leads him to become a criminal and a murderer. novel reflects american lifestyle, in which the poverty of workers from the outskirts stands out against the backdrop of the wealth of the privileged class.
In 1927, Dreiser visited the USSR and published a book the following year. "Dreiser looks at Russia", which became one of the first books about the Soviet Union, published by a writer from America.
Dreiser also supported the movement of the American working class and wrote several non-fiction works on this topic - "Tragic America"(1931) and "America Worth Saving"(1941). With tireless strength and the skill of a true realist, he depicted the social order around him. However, despite how harsh the world appeared before his eyes, the writer never did not lose faith to the dignity and greatness of man and his beloved country.
In addition to critical realism, Dreiser worked in the genre naturalism. He scrupulously depicted seemingly insignificant details of the everyday life of his heroes, cited real documents, sometimes very long in size, clearly described the actions related to business, etc. Because of this style of writing, criticism is often accused Dreiser in the absence of style and fantasy. By the way, despite such condemnations, Dreiser was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 1930, so you yourself can judge their veracity.
I do not argue, maybe sometimes the abundance of small details is confusing, but it is their ubiquitous presence that allows the reader to most clearly imagine the action and, as it were, become a direct participant in it. The writer's novels are large in size and can be quite difficult to read, but they are undoubtedly masterpieces american literature, worth spending time on. It is highly recommended to fans of Dostoevsky's work, who will certainly be able to appreciate Dreiser's talent.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald
(1896-1940)
Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of America's most famous writers. lost generation(these are young people called to the front, sometimes who have not finished school yet and start killing early; after the war they often could not adapt to civilian life, drank too much, committed suicide, some went crazy). They were devastated people who had no strength left to fight the corrupt world of wealth. They try to fill their spiritual emptiness with endless pleasures and entertainment.
The writer was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in a wealthy family, so he got the opportunity to study in prestigious Princeton University. At that time, the university was dominated by a competitive spirit, under the influence of which Fitzgerald also fell. He tried with all his might to become a member of the most fashionable and famous clubs, which attracted with their atmosphere of sophistication and aristocracy. Money for the writer was synonymous with independence, privilege, style and beauty, and poverty was associated with avarice and narrow-mindedness. Later Fitzgerald realized the falsity of their views.
He never finished his studies at Princeton, but it was there that his literary career(he wrote for the university magazine). In 1917, the writer volunteered for the army, but he never took part in real military operations in Europe. At the same time he falls in love with Zelda Sayre who came from a wealthy family. They married only in 1920, two years later, after the resounding success of Fitzgerald's first serious work. "On the Other Side of Paradise" because Zelda didn't want to marry a poor unknown man. The fact that beautiful girls are attracted only by wealth made the writer think about social injustice, and Zelda was later often called the prototype of the heroines his novels.
Fitzgerald's wealth grows in direct proportion to the popularity of his novel, and soon the spouses become epitome of luxury lifestyle they even came to be called the king and queen of their generation. They lived chic and ostentatious, enjoying a fashionable life in Paris, expensive rooms in prestigious hotels, endless parties and receptions. They constantly threw out various eccentric antics, scandals and became addicted to alcohol, and Fitzgerald even began to write articles for glossy magazines of that time. All this is undoubtedly destroyed the talent of the writer, although even then he managed to write several serious novels and stories.
His major novels appeared between 1920 and 1934: "On the Other Side of Paradise" (1920), "The Beautiful and the Damned" (1922), "The Great Gatsby", which is the writer's most famous work and is considered a masterpiece of American literature, and "Night is tender" (1934).
The Best Fitzgerald Stories Included in Collections "Tales of the Jazz Age"(1922) and "All those sad young people" (1926).
Shortly before his death, in an autobiographical article, Fitzgerald compared himself to a broken plate. He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood.
The main theme of almost all of Fitzgerald's works was the corrupting power of money, which leads to spiritual decay. He considered the rich to be a special class, and only over time began to realize that it was based on inhumanity, his own uselessness and lack of morality. He realized this along with his characters, who were mostly autobiographical characters.
Fitzgerald's novels are written in beautiful language, understandable and refined at the same time, so the reader can hardly tear himself away from his books. Although after reading the works of Fitzgerald, despite the amazing imagination a journey into the luxurious Jazz Age, there remains a feeling of emptiness and futility of being, he is rightfully considered one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century.
WILLIAM FAULKNER
(1897-1962)
William Cuthbert Faulkner is one of the leading novelists of the mid-twentieth century, in New Albany, Mississippi, in an impoverished aristocratic family. He studied at Oxford when the First World War began. The experience of the writer, received at this time, played an important role in shaping his character. He entered military flight school, but the war ended before he could complete the course. After that, Faulkner returned to Oxford and worked head of the post office at the University of Mississippi. At the same time, he began taking courses at the university and trying to write.
His first published book, a collection of poems "Marble Faun"(1924), was not successful. In 1925, Faulkner met the writer Sherwood Anderson which had a great influence on his work. He recommended Faulkner engage in poetry, prose, and gave advice to write about American South, about the place Faulkner grew up in and knows best. It is in Mississippi, namely in the fictional district Yoknapatofa most of his novels will take place.
In 1926 Faulkner wrote the novel "Soldier Award" who was close in spirit to the lost generation. The writer showed tragedy of people who returned to civilian life crippled both physically and mentally. The novel was also not a great success, but Faulkner was recognized as an inventive writer.
From 1925 to 1929 he worked carpenter And painter and successfully combines this with writing work.
In 1927, the novel "Mosquitoes" and in 1929 - "Sartoris". In the same year, Faulkner published the novel "Sound and Fury" which brings him fame in literary circles. After that, he decides to devote all his time to writing. His work "Sanctuary"(1931), a story about violence and murder, became a sensation and the author finally gained financial independence.
In the 1930s, Faulner wrote several gothic novels: "When I was dying"(1930), "Light in August"(1932) and "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936).
In 1942, the writer publishes a collection of short stories "Come down, Moses", which includes one of his most famous works - the story "Bear".In 1948 Faulkner writes "The Defiler of Ashes", one of the most important social novels associated with racism.
In the 40s and 50s, his best work, a trilogy of novels, was published. "Village", "City" And "Mansion" dedicated the tragic fate of the aristocracy of the American South. Faulkner's last novel "The Kidnappers" comes out in 1962, it also enters the Yoknapatof saga and depicts the story of the beautiful but dying South. For this novel, and for "Parable"(1954), whose themes are humanity and war, Faulkner received Pulitzer Prizes. In 1949, the writer was awarded "for his significant and artistically unique contribution to the development of the modern American novel".
William Faulkner was one of the most important writers of his time. He belonged to Southern School of American Writers. In his writings, he turned to the history of the American South, especially during the Civil War.
In his books, he tried to deal with racism, knowing full well that it is not so much social as psychological. Faulkner saw African Americans and whites as inextricably linked to each other by a common history. He condemned racism and cruelty, but was sure that both whites and African Americans were not ready for legislative action, so Faulkner mainly criticized the moral side of the issue.
Faulkner was proficient with the pen, although he often claimed to have little interest in writing technique. He was a bold experimenter and had an original style. He wrote psychological novels, in which great attention was paid to the replicas of the characters, for example, the novel "When I was dying" built like a chain of characters' monologues, sometimes long, sometimes one or two sentences. Faulkner fearlessly combined opposing epithets to powerful effect, and his writings often have ambiguous, indefinite endings. Of course, Faulkner knew how to write in such a way that excite the soul even the pickiest reader.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
(1899-1961)
Ernest Hemingway - one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century. He is a classic of American and world literature.
He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of a provincial doctor. His father was fond of hunting and fishing, he taught his son shoot and fish and also instilled a love for sports and nature. Ernest's mother was a religious woman who was entirely devoted to the affairs of the church. On the basis of different views on life, quarrels often broke out between the writer's parents, because of which Hemingway couldn't feel at home.
Ernest's favorite place was a house in northern Michigan, where the family usually spent their summers. The boy always accompanied his father on various trips to the forest or fishing.
Ernest's school gifted, energetic, successful student and excellent athlete. He played football, was a member of the swim team and boxed. Hemingway also loved literature, writing weekly reviews, poetry and prose for school magazines. However, the school years were not calm for Ernest. The atmosphere created in the family by his demanding mother put a lot of pressure on the boy, so that he ran away from home twice and worked on farms as a laborer.
In 1917, when America entered World War I, Hemingway wanted to join the army, but due to poor eyesight, he was refused. He moved to Kansas to live with his uncle and started working as a reporter for the local newspaper. The Kansas city star. Journalistic experience clearly visible in the distinctive style of Hemingway's writing, laconic, but at the same time clear and precise language. In the spring of 1918, he learned that the Red Cross needed volunteers for Italian front. It was his long-awaited chance to be at the center of the battles. After a short stop in France, Hemingway arrived in Italy. Two months later, while rescuing a wounded Italian sniper, the writer came under fire from machine guns and mortars and was badly injured. He was taken to a hospital in Milan, where, after 12 operations, 26 fragments were removed from his body.
Experience Hemingway received in war, was very important for the young man and influenced not only his life, but also his writing. In 1919 Hemingway returns as a hero to America. Soon he travels to Toronto, where he begins working as a reporter for a newspaper. The Toronto star. In 1921, Hemingway married the young pianist Hadley Richardson, and the couple moves to Paris, the city that the writer has long dreamed of. To collect material for his future stories, Hemingway travels around the world, visiting Germany, Spain, Switzerland and other countries. His first job "Three Stories and Ten Poems"(1923) was not successful, but the next collection of short stories "In our time", published in 1925, achieved public recognition.
Hemingway's first novel "And the Sun Rises"(or "Fiesta") published in 1926. "A Farewell to Arms!", a novel depicting World War I and its aftermath, comes out in 1929 and brings great popularity to the author. In the late 20s and into the 30s, Hemingway released two collections of short stories: "Men Without Women"(1927) and "Winner Gets Nothing" (1933).
The most outstanding works written in the first half of the 30s are "Death in the Afternoon"(1932) and "Green Hills of Africa" (1935). "Death in the Afternoon" narrates about the Spanish bullfight, "Green Hills of Africa" and the well-known collection "Snows of Kilimanjaro"(1936) describe Hemingway's hunting in Africa. nature lover, the writer skillfully draws African landscapes for readers.
When in 1936 began Spanish Civil War Hemingway hastened to the theater of war, but this time as an anti-fascist correspondent and writer. The next three years of his life are closely connected with the struggle of the Spanish people against fascism.
He took part in the filming of the documentary "Land of Spain". Hemingway wrote the script and read the text himself. The impression of the war in Spain reflected in the novel "For whom the Bell Tolls"(1940), which the writer himself considered his best job.
A deep hatred of fascism made Hemingway active participant in World War II. He organized counterintelligence against Nazi spies and hunted German submarines in the Caribbean on his boat, after which he served as a war correspondent in Europe. In 1944, Hemingway took part in combat flights over Germany and even, standing at the head of a detachment of French partisans, was one of the first to liberate Paris from German occupation.
After the war Hemingway moved to Cuba, occasionally visited Spain and Africa. He ardently supported the Cuban revolutionaries in their struggle against the dictatorship that had developed in the country. He talked a lot with ordinary Cubans and worked hard on a new story. "The Old Man and the Sea", which is considered the pinnacle of the writer's work. In 1953 Ernest Hemingway received Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant story, and in 1954 Hemingway was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature "for storytelling once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea."
During his trip to Africa in 1953, the writer was in a serious plane crash.
In the last years of his life he was seriously ill. In November 1960, Hemingway returned to America in the town of Ketchum, Idaho. Writer suffered from a number of diseases, because of which he was admitted to the clinic. He was in deep depression, because he believed that FBI agents were watching him, listening to telephone conversations, checking mail and bank accounts. In the clinic, this was taken as a symptom of mental illness and the great writer was treated with electric shock. After 13 Hemingway sessions I lost my memory and ability to create. He was depressed, suffered from bouts of paranoia, and increasingly thought about suicide.
Two days after being discharged from the psychiatric hospital, on July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway shot himself with his favorite hunting rifle at his home in Ketchum, leaving no suicide note.
In the early 80s, the Hemingway case at the FBI was declassified, and the fact of surveillance of the writer in his last years was confirmed.
Ernest Hemingway was by far the greatest writer of his generation, with an amazing and tragic fate. He was freedom fighter, vehemently opposed wars and fascism, and not only through literary works. He was incredible master of writing. His style is distinguished by conciseness, accuracy, restraint in describing emotional situations, and concrete details. The technique he developed was included in the literature under the name "iceberg principle", because the writer gave the main meaning to the subtext. The main feature of his work was truthfulness, he was always honest and sincere with his readers. While reading his works, there is confidence in the reliability of events, the effect of presence is created.
Ernest Hemingway is the writer whose works are recognized as real masterpieces of world literature and whose works, no doubt, should be read by everyone.
MARGARET MITCHELL
(1900-1949)
Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of a lawyer who was chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society. The whole family loved and was interested in history, and the girl grew up in atmosphere of stories about the Civil War.
At first, Mitchell studied at the Washington Seminary, and then entered the prestigious Smith College for Women in Massachusetts. After graduation, she began working in The Atlanta Journal. She wrote hundreds of essays, articles and reviews for the newspaper, and in four years she has grown to reporter, but in 1926 she suffered an ankle injury that made her work impossible.
The energy and liveliness of the character of the writer were traced in everything she did or wrote. Margaret Mitchell married John Marsh in 1925. From that moment on, she began to write down all the stories about the Civil War that she heard as a child. This resulted in a novel "Gone With the Wind", which was first published in 1936. The writer has been working on it for ten years. This is a novel about the American Civil War, told from the point of view of the North. The main character is, of course, a beautiful girl named Scarlett O'Hara, the whole story revolves around her life, family plantation, love relationships.
After the release of the novel, the American classic bestseller, Margaret Mitchell quickly became a world-famous writer. Over 8 million copies have been sold in 40 countries. The novel has been translated into 18 languages. He won Pultzer Prize in 1937. The very successful movie with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Leslie Howard.
Despite numerous fan requests for a continuation of O'Hara's story, Mitchell did not write more. not a single novel. But the name of the writer, like her magnificent work, will forever remain in the history of world literature.
9 votes1. Truman Capote - "Summer Cruise"
Truman Capote is one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century, author of such bestsellers as Breakfast at Tiffany's and Other Voices, Other Rooms, In Cold Blood and Meadow Harp. Your attention is invited to the debut novel, written by the twenty-year-old Capote, when he first came from New Orleans to New York, and for sixty years was considered lost. The manuscript for "Summer Cruise" surfaced at Sotheby's in 2004 and was first published in 2006. In this novel, Capote describes with unsurpassed stylistic grace the dramatic events of the life of high-society debutante Grady McNeil, who is staying in New York for the summer while her parents sail to Europe. She falls in love with a car parking attendant and flirts with her childhood friend, remembers past hobbies and dances in trendy dance halls...
2. Irving Shaw - "Lucy Crown"
The book includes one of the most famous novels by the American prose writer and playwright Irwin Shaw "Lucy Crown" (1956). Like other works of the writer - "Two Weeks in Another City", "Evening in Byzantium", "Rich Man, Poor Man" - this novel opens the reader to a world of fragile ties and complex, sometimes unpredictable relationships between people. The story of how one mistake can turn the whole life of a person and his loved ones, about an invaluable and destroyed family happiness, is told in a deceptively simple language, striking with the author's knowledge of human psychology and inviting the reader to reflection and empathy.
3. John Irving - "Men are not her life"
The undoubted classic of modern Western literature and one of its undeniable leaders plunges the reader into a mirror labyrinth of reflections: the fears from the children's books of the once popular writer Ted Cole suddenly overgrow with flesh, and now the fabulous man-mole turns into a real murderous maniac, so that in almost forty years Ruth Cole , the daughter of the writer, also a writer, collecting material for the novel, became a witness to his cruel crime. But first of all, Irving's novel is about love. The atmosphere of condensed sensuality, love without shores and restrictions fills its pages with some kind of magnetic force, turning the reader into a participant in a magical action.
4. Kurt Vonnegut - "Mother Darkness"
A novel in which the great Vonnegut, with his gloomy and mischievous humor, explores the inner world ... of a professional spy, reflecting on his own direct participation in the fate of the nation.
The writer and playwright Howard Campbell, recruited by American intelligence, is forced to play the role of an ardent Nazi - and gets a lot of pleasure from his cruel and dangerous masquerade.
He deliberately piles absurdity upon absurdity - but the more surreal and comical his Nazi "exploits", the more they trust him, the more people listen to his opinion.
However, wars end in peace - and Campbell will have to live without the opportunity to prove his innocence in the crimes of Nazism ...
5. Arthur Hailey - "Final Diagnosis"
Why Arthur Hailey's novels have conquered the whole world? What made them classics of world fiction? Why, as soon as `Hotel` and `Airport` came out in our country, they were literally swept off the shelves, stolen from libraries, given to friends to read `in queue`?
Very simple. The works of Arthur Haley are a kind of `pieces of life`. Airport life, hotel, hospital, Wall Street. A closed space in which people live - with their joys and sorrows, ambitions and hopes, intrigues and passions. People work, fight, fall in love, break up, succeed, break the law - such is life. Such are Hayley's novels...
6. Jerome Salinger - The Glass Saga
"Jerome David Salinger's cycle of stories about the Glass family is a masterpiece of American literature of the 20th century," a blank sheet of paper instead of an explanation. "Zen Buddhism and non-conformism in Salinger's books inspired more than one generation to rethink life and search for ideals.
Salinger loves the Glasses more than God loves them. He loves them too exclusively. Their invention became a hermit's hut for him. He loves them to the point that he is ready to limit himself as an artist."
7. Jack Kerouac - Dharma Bums
Jack Kerouac gave voice to a whole generation in literature, in his short life he managed to write about 20 books of prose and poetry and became the most famous and controversial author of his time. Some stigmatized him as a subverter of foundations, others considered him a classic of modern culture, but all the beatniks and hipsters learned to write from his books - to write not what you know, but what you see, firmly believing that the world itself will reveal its nature.
Dharma Drifters is a celebration of backcountry and bustling metropolis, Buddhism and the San Francisco poetic renaissance, a jazz improvised tale of the spiritual quest of a generation that believed in kindness and humility, wisdom and ecstasy; generation, the manifesto and bible of which was another Kerouac novel, On the Road, which brought the author worldwide fame and entered the golden fund of American classics.
8. Theodore Dreiser - "An American Tragedy"
The novel "An American Tragedy" is the pinnacle of the work of the outstanding American writer Theodore Dreiser. He said: "No one creates tragedies - they are created by life. Writers only depict them." Dreiser managed to depict the tragedy of Clive Griffiths so talentedly that his story does not leave the modern reader indifferent. A young man who has tasted all the charm of the life of the rich, is so eager to establish himself in their society that he goes to crime for this.
9. John Steinbeck - Cannery Row
Inhabitants of a poor quarter in a small seaside town...
Fishermen and thieves, petty merchants and swindlers, "moths" and their sad and cynical "guardian angel" - a middle-aged doctor...
The heroes of the story cannot be called respectable, they do not get along too well with the law. But it is impossible to resist the charm of these people.
Their adventures, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, under the pen of the great John Steinbeck turn into a real saga about a Man - both sinful and holy, mean and ready for self-sacrifice, deceitful and sincere...
10. William Faulkner - The Mansion
The Mansion is the final book in William Faulkner's Village, City, Mansion trilogy, dedicated to the tragedy of the aristocracy of the American South, who faced a painful choice - to keep their old ideas of honor and fall into poverty, or break with the past and join the ranks. nouveau riche businessmen who make fast and not too clean money on progress.
The mansion in which Flem Snopes settles gives the name to the whole novel and becomes the place where the inevitable and terrible events that shook Yoknapatof County take place.
American tragedy (abridged retelling)
Theodore Dreiser classical prose Classics in retellingAn American Tragedy is Theodore Dreiser's most famous novel. The book tells about the tragic fate of the talented young man Clyde Griffiths. Between sincere love and big money, he chooses the latter, passionately wanting to fulfill the cherished "American" dream - by all means, from the low social stratum to break into the elite of society.
And on the way to the realization of this goal, Clyde stops at nothing - he goes to kill his girlfriend.
little men
Louisa May Alcott Children's prose world bookA private school for boys does not have strict rules of conduct. However, this is where real men grow. Wise and loving mentors bring up honesty, courage, diligence and self-confidence in their pets. The story is written by the world famous American writer Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888).
Compositions
Washington Irving classical prose Missing No dataWashington Irving (1783-1859), called the "Father of American Literature", was the first great master of mystical storytelling in US history. This book contains one of the central stories from his first book, A History of New York (1809), The Remarkable Deeds of Peter Hardhead, the writer's most famous novel, Rip van Winkle (1819), and the novel The Life of the Prophet Muhammad ( 1850), which for many years remains one of the best biographies of the founder of Islam written by Christians.
Irving's work successfully embodied a combination of fantastic and realistic beginnings, soft transitions from the magical world to the world of everyday life. Many of his works, adorned with majestic descriptions of nature and unusual characteristics of the characters, rethink already known ancient and medieval stories, bringing novelty and mystery to them.
Maksimka
Konstantin Stanyukovich classical prose "Sea stories"This is a story about the touching friendship between Ivan Luchkin, a sailor of the Zabiyak military steam clipper, and a dark-skinned boy from the American ship Betsy, whom the sailors picked up in the open ocean and named Maksimka Zabiyakin. Reader: Alexander Kotov ©℗ IP Vorobyov ©℗ SOYUZ Publishing House.
The most terrible troops
Alexander Skutin humorous prose AbsentAn American instructor at the Marine Corps training center explains to recruits: “The Russians have such an airborne assault force. One of their airborne paratroopers with you three can handle it without a weapon. But that is not all. The Russians also have amphibious assault forces. These are complete scumbags.
One of their marines will kill five of you, without weapons, like babies. But this is not the worst. They have such a construction battalion. These are such animals that they are generally afraid to give weapons.
Inconspicuous bachelor
Pelam Woodhouse classical prose AbsentA young British gentleman decides to invest in staging a play whose success should surpass even Hollywood masterpieces... A rake and womanizer suddenly finds himself at the center of a sensational story of kidnapping and robbery... An American tycoon, tortured by a grumpy wife, tries to escape to England - but he is drawn into a maelstrom of intrigue and blackmail … For any other writer, such stories would turn into dramas, detective stories and even thrillers.
Wisdom of the Heart (compilation)
Henry Miller foreign classics AbsentThe most prominent representative of the experimental trend in American prose of the 20th century, a daring innovator, whose best works were banned in his homeland for a long time, Henry Miller became famous not only for his confessional autobiographical novels, but also for his memoirs and journalistic essays, in which he continues to talk about many of his friends. and acquaintances, without which it is impossible to imagine contemporary art and literature.
Your attention is invited to one of the collections of his stories and essays, "The Wisdom of the Heart", translated into Russian for the first time. The book also includes the polemical story "The World of Sex", presented in a new edition, in which Miller proves that the contradiction between his "scandalous" and "philosophical" works is only apparent...
Little Princess. The Adventures of Sara Crewe
Francis Burnett Children's prose AbsentThe heroine of the story of the famous American writer Francis Burnett was orphaned early, she was excommunicated from home and generally deprived of human love. But against all odds, Sara Crewe easily endures the rough treatment of children in the boarding house. The girl thinks: "princess", as they derisively call her, "should be polite."
This “princess” forgives offenders a lot of things. Because she is courageous, endowed with a pure and generous heart, and besides, she dreams of her crystal slipper. Is her dream destined to come true? Read this wonderful book and then you will find out for yourself.
The Great Gatsby
Francis Scott Fitzgerald classical prose 100 main books (Eksmo)The Great Gatsby is the most famous novel by Francis Fitzgerald, which has become a symbol of the Jazz Age. America, 1925, the time of "dry law" and gangster showdowns, bright lights and bright life. But for Jay Gatsby, the realization of the American dream turned into a real tragedy.
And the way up, despite fame and fortune, led to a total collapse. After all, each of us, first of all, strives not for material goods, but for love, true and eternal ...
Moonlight
Michael Chabon big romanceFor the first time in Russian - the latest novel by the recognized master of modern American prose, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of such international bestsellers as The Incredible Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, The Union of Jewish Policemen, Pittsburgh Mysteries, Geeks, etc.
This is a novel about truth and lies, about great love, about family legends and about a big existential adventure. Chabon's hero pursues Wernher von Braun in the last days of World War II and hunts in Florida a giant python that ate the cat of a retired neighbor, mines a bridge near Washington, builds models of rockets and a lunar city, and hides from his wife, known to viewers as Nevermore the Night Witch, old tarot deck...
One Million Pound Bank Note
Mark Twain classical prose AbsentWe bring to your attention an audio recording of the book of the classic of world literature, the American writer Mark Twain (1835-1910) "Bank note of one million pounds" performed by the People's Artist of the Russian Federation Valery Garkalin. The young American Henry Adams, as a result of an unfortunate set of circumstances, found himself on the other side of the Atlantic without a penny in his pocket.
Wandering around London, he caught the eye of two eccentric brothers who had recently made a very unusual bet, and after feeding him, they gave him an envelope with money. That's just bad luck - what was in the envelope was not money in the usual sense, and it was impossible to exchange or buy anything for this bank note.
moon valley
Jack London classical prose AbsentThe novel by the famous American writer J. London (1876–1916) “Moon Valley” is the story of a young worker who is defeated by the “iron heel” of an industrial octopus city and finds peace and joy in life close to nature on a California ranch.
Tropic of Capricorn
Henry Miller Counterculture Alphabet PremiumHenry Miller is the most prominent representative of the experimental trend in American prose of the 20th century, a daring innovator whose best works were banned in his homeland for a long time, a master of the confessional-autobiographical genre. The trilogy, compiled by the novels Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring and Tropic of Capricorn, brought him scandalous fame: it was these books that went to the general reader for decades, overcoming court injunctions and censorship slingshots.
"Tropic of Capricorn" is a story of love and hate, the story of an incorrigible romantic, forever balancing between animal instinct and a powerful spiritual principle, it is a reflection of the philosophical quest of the writer, who, in his own words, was a "philosopher from the cradle" ...
Stories, humorous. Volume 1
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov classical prose AbsentThe first volume of the complete works of the great Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov included his early humorous stories and humoresques, published under the pseudonym Antosh Chekhonte. Contents In the car Meeting of spring (reasoning) Sinner from Toledo Additional questions to personal statistical census cards offered by Antosha Chekhonte Artists' wives Life in questions and exclamations You chase two hares, you won't catch one For apples Forgotten!!! Tasks of a crazy mathematician Green braid (to a drawing by the artist Chekhov) Both this and ce - letters and telegrams Both this and ce - poetry and prose Confession, or Olya, Zhenya, Zoya (letter) Alarm clock calendar for 1882.
March-April Vacation work of the schoolgirl Nadenka N Comic advertisements and announcements (Reported by Antosha Chekhonte) Antosha C's advertisement office My anniversary In the wolf cage Papa Before the wedding Petrov day Letter to a learned neighbor American-style Salon de variety show Temperaments Court Thousand and one passion What is most often found in novels, short stories, etc.
humor stories. humorous stories
Collective collections humorous prose AbsentThe collection includes humorous stories by famous English and American writers Robert Charles Benchley, James Grover TERBER, Alexander Humphreys WULLCOTT, Stephen Butler LICOK. The text of the stories was read in English and Russian.
The audiobook will be of interest to everyone who knows the basics of the English language and improves their skills in it. 1. Robert Charles Benchley - Kiddie-Kar Travel 2. James Grover Thurber - The Spreading "You Know" 3. Alexander Humphreys Woollcott - Capsule Criticism 4.
Stephen Butler Leacock - Mrs Newrich Buys Antiques 5. Robert Charles Benchley - No Childish Travel 6. James Grover Thurber - That Omnipresent Do You Know 7. Alexander Humphreys Woolcott - Mini Review 8. Stephen Butler Leacock - Mrs. Nouveau Riche Buys Antiques .
Adventures of the Little Lord
Francis Burnett Children's prose AbsentThe Adventures of a Little Lord is a remarkable work by one of America's greatest children's writers, Francis Eliza Burnet. We can repeat many times about the significance of the works of this famous writer, who, in her own words, tried with all her might to 'make the world a happier place', but let's just say that Burnet's works have been reprinted many dozens of times, repeatedly filmed, and exhibited in New York's Central Park statues of her children's book characters.
Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)
Ernest Miller Hemingway classical prose AbsentErnest Hemingway's debut novel Fiesta was first published in 1926 in the United States. And who knows, if Hemingway had not written his Fiesta, perhaps the feast of St. Fermin, which takes place from July 6 to 14 in Pamplona, would not have become such a popular event as it is today.
Paris in the 1920s. American journalist Jake Barnes spends every night in a bar on Boulevard Montparnasse with friends, hoping that alcohol will help him heal the mental and physical wounds inflicted by the First World War. This continues until he gets to the fiesta in Pamplona, Spain… Copyright © 1926 by Charles Scribner`s Sons Copyright renewed © 1954 by Ernest Hemingway ©
Toper (heirs) ©&℗ IP Vorobyov V. A. ©&℗ ID SOYUZ Producer of the publication: Vladimir Vorobyov.
Stringer. Russian forever. Action prose
Alexander Yarushkin Adventure: other Missing No dataThe owner of a car repair shop in San Francisco, Oleg Kupriyanov, worked in the criminal investigation department in his past, pre-American life. With the light hand of journalist-stringer Denis Grebsky, helping him in his investigations, Kupriyanov received a license as a private detective ... The kidnapped American husband of a young Russian woman, the kidnappers who suddenly spoke Russian, the missing 3 million dollars and the charge of stealing them.
Oleg, who has taken on his first major case as a detective, has to face this.
All new fairy tales (compilation)
Lawrence Block Horror and Mystery Missing No dataThese are not the kind Christmas stories that are so good to read to children at night. These are scary stories about the darkness that stands outside the threshold and is waiting for you to take one wrong step, about strange and creepy creatures that roam outside the window and sometimes look into your soul.
Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio have collected the best stories in the genre of horror and suspense, written by recognized masters of American prose (Chuck Palahniuk, Michael Moorcock, Walter Mosley, Michael Swanwick...). Before you is a collection of smart, subtle, exquisitely intellectual, exciting and truly scary stories: the door through which the Abyss peers into a person.
Binding
Pelam Woodhouse classical prose AbsentA young British gentleman decides to invest in staging a play whose success should surpass even Hollywood masterpieces... A rake and womanizer suddenly finds himself at the center of a sensational story of kidnapping and robbery... An American tycoon, tortured by a grumpy wife, tries to escape to England - but he is drawn into a maelstrom of intrigue and blackmail … For any other writer, such stories would turn into dramas, detective stories and even thrillers.
But if Pelam G. Woodhouse gets down to business, then we are talking about sparkling, unparalleled humor!
Responsible task
Vladimir Gorban humorous prose Missing No dataOn the instructions of the US leadership and the president personally, in the context of the outbreak of the global economic crisis, the famous American journalist Diana Rose is sent to Russia in order to find out what Russian indifference is. In the Russian outback, incredible events take place with her, in a remote province she meets very extraordinary people.
The main events unfold in the village of Bolshaya Lobotryasovka, famous for its desperate indifference...
Jim from Piccadilly
Pelam Woodhouse classical prose AbsentThe magnificent Jimmy Crocker, a young American heir obsessed with the desire to turn into a British aristocrat, is forced to admit that in elegant Piccadilly, unlike his native Broadway, only trouble awaits him ...
Gene Webster Children's prose Absent
Jean Webster (Alice Jane Chandler) is an American writer and great-niece of Mark Twain. She lived only forty years, died during childbirth. Her stories in letters brought her worldwide fame. Staged on Broadway based on these works, the performance created in different years of the film version was a resounding success.
In the first film adaptation, the role of the heroine was played by the famous silent film actress Mary Pickford. Uncle Long Legs is a very famous work by Jean Webster. Who is he, Long Legged Uncle? The young college student had only seen him once, from behind.
He got her into college on the condition that she write letters to him with no hope of a response. And he disappeared from her life ... Trying to unravel the mystery of the Long-legged Uncle, in reality, a teenage girl discovers the world and her own soul. This touching, full of humor work leaves a feeling of freshness and warmth.
The easy and accessible language of Webster makes the book attractive even for those who are just starting to learn English.
Women in love
David Herbert Lawrence classical prose AbsentDavid Herbert Lawrence (1885–1930) was an English novelist, poet, and essayist whose work evoked polar opinions from readers, critics, and the public. His novels Lady Chatterley's Lover, Sons and Lovers, Rainbow, and Women in Love were among the 100 best novels of the 20th century.
They were read and at the same time condemned as obscene. The novel "Women in Love" was published in 1920 in a limited edition. The story of two passion-hungry sisters Gudrun and Ursula and their beloved men Gerald and Rupert, disillusioned with life and love for women, caused a flurry of indignation among the conservative part of English society.
In 1922, a loud censorship process took place. Subsequently, the novel was filmed by the famous American director Ken Russell. The lead actress Glenda Jackson won an Oscar in 1970. The novel was first published in Russian in 2006 by the Institute of Soitology together with the Azbuka-classika publishing house.
Martin Eden
Jack London classical prose AbsentThe famous novel of the outstanding American writer Jack London (1876-1916) "Martin Eden". In many ways, autobiographical, which is one of the most widely read works of the writer, the novel tells about the life of a man from the very bottom, who became a famous writer.
Having achieved a lot in life, Martin Eden decides to die...
Stories of the Fairyland Mo and its Fairy King
Lyman Frank Baum Children's prose Missing No dataWe bring to the attention of young readers for the first time translated into Russian a book by the greatest American storyteller Layman Frank Baum, better known to us as the author of The Wizard of Oz. The book about the incredible land of Mo was written a year before The Magician and did not receive such great popularity.
It is known mainly in English-speaking countries. This happened because the book turned out to be too difficult to translate - it is full of puns, its characters are too phantasmagoric and too unreal to be taken seriously.
Martin Eden
Jack London classical prose AbsentThe twenty-first volume of The Complete Works of the eminent American writer Jack London (1876-1916) includes the novel Martin Eden. In many ways, the autobiographical novel, which is one of the most widely read works of the writer, tells about the life of a man from the bottom, who became a talented and even famous writer.
Having achieved a lot in life, Martin Eden decides to die... Martin struggled in the dark, without light, without approval, already beginning to experience despair. Even Gertrude began to look askance at him; at first she, like a good sister, encouraged that; which seemed to her childish foolishness; but then she, again like a kind sister, began to worry.
It began to seem to her that childish nonsense was already turning into madness. Martin, noticing her anxious glances, suffered even more from them than from Mr. Higginbotham's rude and frank mockery. He continued to believe in himself, but he was alone in his faith.
Books in my life (compilation)
Henry Miller foreign classics AbsentHenry Miller is the most prominent representative of the experimental trend in American prose of the 20th century, a daring innovator whose best works were banned in his homeland for a long time, a master of the confessional-autobiographical novel. All of his books are a kind of polemic, a conversation on an equal footing with those whom he considered his teachers, and nowhere is this more clearly felt than in the works included in this collection - "Books in my life" and "The time of the killers: Study of Rimbaud.
“This book … aims to complete the story of my life,” Miller writes in the preface. – Books are considered here as life experiences… In search of knowledge or wisdom, it is always better to go straight to the source. The source is not a scientist or a philosopher, not a master, a saint or a teacher, but life itself - the direct experience of life.
And even today, the novel has not lost its relevance: oligarchs, terrorists, secret agents ... They say that sooner or later the truth always comes out. I kind of doubt it. Nineteen years have now passed, and despite our best efforts, we have not been able to discover who dropped the bomb.
No doubt it was some kind of Iron Heel protege, but somehow he surprisingly managed to evade the search for our secret agents. They never set foot on his trail. And now, when so much time has passed, nothing remains but to classify this case among the unsolved mysteries of history.
Henry Miller Counterculture crucifixion rose
Henry Miller is the most prominent representative of the experimental trend in American prose of the 20th century, a daring innovator whose best works were banned in his homeland for a long time, a master of the confessional-autobiographical genre. Scandalous fame was brought to him by the "Paris Trilogy" - "Tropic of Cancer", "Black Spring", "Tropic of Capricorn"; these books went to the general reader for decades, overcoming injunctions and censorship slingshots.
Miller's next major work was the Crucifixion of the Rose trilogy, which began with Sexus, continued with Plexus, and ended with Nexus. Yes, before these books shocked, but now, when the scandal has long subsided, there remains the power of words, the power of genuine feeling, the power of insight, the power of great talent.
In the novel, which became Miller's last major work, the modern classic explores his favorite topics with new enthusiasm: friends and people as living books, Dostoevsky, Hamsun, Rimbaud, painting, criticism of the consumer society, the opposition of the USA and Europe, love and art on the eve of leaving for Paris... Contains foul language.
life on loan
Erich Maria Remarque classical prose AbsentThe novel was first published in 1959 in the illustrated edition of Crystal as a "novel with a sequel". In 1961, after editing and editing by the author, a more voluminous version of the novel was published in an American translation, but already under the title "Heaven has no favorites".
The German version of Der Himmel kennt keine Gunstlinge was a great reader success in Germany, but received negative reviews. Remarque was accused of sentimentality, lack of style. And yet, despite all the criticisms and comments, the same critics could not help but note that "the novel is exciting and impossible to tear oneself away from it."
Early 50s. Race car driver Clairfe comes to visit his old friend at the Montana Sanatorium. There he meets a terminally ill girl Lillian. Tired of the strict rules of the sanatorium, of routine and monotony, she decides to run away with Clairfe to where there is another life, a life that speaks the language of books, paintings and music, a life that beckons and wakes up alarm.
Both fugitives, despite all their dissimilarity, have one thing in common - the lack of confidence in the future. Clairefe lives from race to race, and Lillian knows that her illness is progressing, and she does not have long to live. Their romance develops very rapidly, they love each other on the verge of doom, as soon as people can love, each step of which is accompanied by the shadow of death ... The publication was carried out under an agreement with the Late Paulette Remarque Foundation c / o Morbux Literary Agency and Synopsis Literary Agency © E.
Edgar Allan Poe classical prose Missing No data
Edgar Alan Poe is a legend in American literature. It seems that all its genres and directions have grown out of his work. It is his gloomy mysterious figure that runs through all the masterpieces born in the New World. His own works are full of darkness and mysticism. Mysterious dead, mysterious beasts, the Sphinx, King Plague and the Devil himself - these are his favorite heroes.
But no, no, let his kind, sly smile peep through all this devilry. Such is the mysterious creator of the "Golden Bug"! Golden bug King Plague A few words with a mummy The thousand and second tale of Scheherazade The stolen letter Four beasts in one.
best american stories
Absent classical prose AbsentThe best stories by American writers Mark Twain, Jack London and O. Henry are read in English by native speakers. For ease of perception, the texts of the stories are presented on the disk: you can not only listen to the text, but also read it. Each story is accompanied by listening exercises that will help the listener check how well he perceives the text.
Texts and exercises are adapted for the Intermediate level. Mark Twain. The ?1,000,000 Bank-Note Mark Twain. Million Pound Bank Note A humorous account of the adventures of a poor young man with a million pounds in his pocket.
Jack London. Brown Wolf Jack London. Brown wolf The story of a dog that came from the vast expanses of Alaska to a rich house in California. O.Henry. While the Auto Waits O. Henry. While the car is waiting A story about love, illusions and desires, written in typical O.
Henry in a romantic-ironic manner.
Freeze Like a Hummingbird (Compilation)
Henry Miller Modern foreign literature Absent 1948, 1962The most prominent representative of the experimental trend in American prose of the 20th century, a daring innovator whose best works were banned in his homeland for a long time, Henry Miller became famous not only for his confessional autobiographical novels, but also for his memoirs and journalistic essays, in which he continues to talk about many of his friends. and acquaintances, without which it is impossible to imagine contemporary art and literature.
Your attention is invited to one of the collections of his documentary stories and artistic essays "Freeze like a hummingbird", translated into Russian for the first time. The book also includes two novellas presented in a new edition: "The Smile at the Foot of the Rope Ladder", commissioned by the famous artist Fernand Leger and designed to accompany a collection of his works on the theme of the circus, and "Insomnia, or the Devil at will" - a love story of an already elderly Miller to his last wife, a Japanese film actress and jazz singer.
Iron steam
Pavel Krusanov Modern Russian literature Prose of our time (AST)Pavel Krusanov - prose writer, a native Petersburger, played rock and roll in his youth, became one of the leaders of the "Petersburg fundamentalists" in his maturity, author of the books "Angel's Bite", "American Hole", "Bom-bom", "Dead Language" , "King of the Head". Finalist for the National Bestseller Award.
The heroes of the new novel "Iron Vapor" are twin brothers. One is a restorer of old books, obsessed with the idea of breeding a new, sinless, human breed. In order to interest the powerful of this world in his project, he needs to bind his treatise using miraculous material, the natural elements of which can be obtained only in Tajikistan, in the burning mines of the Yaghnob valley.
His brother will help him bring these ideas to life: he gathers an expedition and sets off on a journey that will change their destinies, and, perhaps, the whole of humanity ...
american short stories
Collective collections classical prose AbsentThe collection presents the works of three famous American writers who have made a significant contribution to world literature. It will be of interest to people who know the basics of the English language and improve their skills in it. Frank Norris. The ship that saw a ghost Jack London.
To build a fire Edgar Allan Poe. The pit and the pendulum NORRIS Benjamin Franklin was an American writer and journalist during the Progressive Era, one of the first to bring French naturalism to American literature. LONDON Jack is an American writer of adventure stories and novels.
The Son of the Wolf: Tales of the Far North
Jack London classical prose AbsentJack London (real name John Griffith) is an American writer. In his youth, he changed many random professions, traveled and even spent a month in prison for vagrancy. In the northern stories, London contrasts civilization with the world of untouched nature, but, believing in beneficent nature, does not cease to bow before the technical and cultural achievements of civilization.
In his works, life is simple and cruel, requiring endurance, courage, willpower and endurance from people. The writer poetizes the right of the strong, admires the manifestations of the anarchist principle in his heroes. Audiobook read by professional American actor Adam Maskin in English.
Sister Kerry
Theodore Dreiser classical prose AbsentTheodore Dreiser (1871–1945) was an outstanding American writer and public figure. The trilogy "Titan", "Stoic" and "Financier" brought him world fame, and "American Tragedy" became the pinnacle of creativity. Sister Carrie (1900) is Dreiser's first novel.
The book tells about how the notorious "American dream" is actually realized when a person from the bottom of society, overcoming obstacles, moves towards his goal and reaches the heights of success. The main character of the novel is Caroline (Kerry) Mieber, an eighteen-year-old provincial from a poor family.
Arriving to her older sister in Chicago, she is forced to take a hard, low-paid job in a factory: they don’t take her anywhere else. Exhausting poverty pushes a fragile girl onto the path of a kept woman - the mistress of successful men who manipulate her, seducing her with false promises.
Meanwhile, Kerry dreams of becoming an actress. Whether her dream will come true, you will find out by listening to the audio version of the novel. © & ℗ 1C-Publishing LLC Translation - Mark Volosov Music - Vyacheslav Tupichenko.
