Novels & Short Stories

There are 975 Novels and 163 Short Stories

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Conrad, JosephThe Shadow-Line
Language: English, Novel – Format: ePub

Dedicated to the author’s son who was wounded in World War 1, The Shadow-Line is a short novel based at sea by Joseph Conrad; it is one of his later works, being written from February to December 1915. It was first published in (More) 1916 as a serial and in book form in 1917. The novella depicts the development of a young man upon taking a captaincy in the Orient, with the shadow line of the title representing the threshold of this development. The novella is notable for its dual narrative structure. The full, subtitled title of the novel is The Shadow-Line, A Confession, which immediately alerts the reader to the retrospective nature of the novella. The ironic constructions following from the conflict between the ‘young’ protagonist (who is never named) and the ‘old’ drive much of the underlying points of the novella, namely the nature of wisdom, experience and maturity. Conrad also extensively uses irony by comparison in the work, with characters such as Captain Giles and the ship’s ‘factotum’ Ransome used to emphasise strengths and weaknesses of the protagonist. The novella has often been cited as a metaphor of the First World War, given its timing and references to a long struggle, the importance of camaraderie, etc. This viewpoint may also be reinforced by the knowledge that Conrad’s elder son, Borys, was wounded in the First World War. Others however see the novel as having a strong supernatural influence, referring to various plot-lines in the novella such as the ‘ghost’ of the previous captain potentially cursing the ship, and the madness of first mate Mr Burns. Conrad himself, however, denied this link in his ‘Author’s Note’ (1920), claiming that although critics had attempted to show this link, “The world of the living contains enough marvels and mysteries as it is.”

Sánchez Adalid, JesúsEl alma de la ciudad
Language: Spanish, Novel – Format: ePub

La Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago recomienda la lectura de la novela  El alma de la ciudad  de Jesús Sánchez Adalid, por estar en plena consonancia con el espíritu inherente a la peregrinación (More) por el Camino de Santiago y las enseñanzas humanas e históricas que en ella se ofrecen.
En plena Edad Media, cuatro peregrinos se unen para hacer juntos el camino de Santiago. Uno de ellos, de nombre Blasco Jiménez, se siente llamado a contar su historia a los demás. Siendo un niño de origen muy humilde, fue tutelado por don Bricio, un clérigo guerrero y sabio. Con él participó en la fundación de la ciudad de Ambrosía, la actual Plasencia, de la que llegaría a ser con el tiempo jefe militar y arcediano.Un dilema eterno se puede reconocer en el fondo de esta historia: los dos caminos; la difícil elección entre la fidelidad al deber o la propia libertad. Pero al mismo tiempo, en El alma de la ciudad se descubre la historia de la Humanidad a través de la gran metáfora del homo viator (el hombre en camino).
Con su estilo narrativo, descriptivo y encantador, Sánchez Adalid genera una tensión constante, fraguando una obra que se siente cercana y comprensible.

Lewis, Clive StaplesCrónicas de Narnia 2: El león, la bruja y el armario
Language: Spanish, Novel – Format: iSilo

Tolstoi, LevWar and Peace
Language: English, Novel – Format: ePub, iSilo

”War and Peace” is a panoramic novel: It is its own justification, and perhaps needs no introduction. It always reminds the translator of a broad and mighty river flowing onward with all the majesty of Fate. On its surface, float (More) swiftly by logs and stumps, cakes of ice, perhaps drowned cattle or men from regions far above. These floating straws, insignificant in themselves, tell the current. Once embark upon it, and it is impossible to escape the onward force that moves you so relentlessly. What landscapes you pass through, what populous towns, what gruesome defiles, what rapids, what cataracts! The water may be turbid, or it may flow translucent and pure, – but still it rushes on. Such to me is “War and Peace.”
“War and Peace,” like all of Count Tolstoi’s works, is a mighty protest against war. There is no arguing in it about the waste, and the demoralization, and the cruelty, and the unmanliness of it, but, like all Russian argument, it is by vivid pictures such as no one can resist.
The present translation has been made from the original Russian. Tolstoi has been felicitously called “the Russian Rembrandt.” It is not fair to reproduce Rembrandt as a Teniers. One may be sometimes tempted to substitute the curved line of beauty for the straight line of duty, or soften a harsh silhouette, but beyond certain unavoidable issues of the sort necessary for reproducing the impression given by the original, the translator ought to be as faithful as possible. Here the old law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, repudiated by Count Tolstoi, ought to have a new application.

Pérez Galdós, BenitoEpisodios Nacionales
Language: Spanish, Novel – Format: ePub

Los Episodios nacionales son una colección de cuarenta y seis novelas históricas escritas por Benito Pérez Galdós que fueron redactadas entre 1872 y 1912. Están divididas en cinco series y tratan la historia de España desde 1805 (More) hasta 1880, aproximadamente. Son novelas que insertan vivencias de personajes ficticios en los acontecimientos históricos de la España del XIX como, por ejemplo, la guerra de independencia española, con la que el autor se sentía muy próximo, puesto que en ella había combatido su padre. Hoy en día, además de por su calidad literaria, se valora esta obra como una importante referencia histórica.

Manzoni, AlessandroStoria della colonna infame
Language: Italian, Essay & Philosophy – Format: iSilo

Pirandello, LuigiCosì è (se vi pare)
Language: Italian, Theater Play – Format: iSilo

Sarah, Robert CardinalThe Power of Silence
Language: English, Spiritual – Format: ePub

In a time when technology penetrates our lives in so many ways and materialism exerts such a powerful influence over us, Cardinal Robert Sarah presents a bold book about the strength of silence. The modern world generates so much (More) noise, he says, that seeking moments of silence has become both harder and more necessary than ever before.
Silence is the indispensable doorway to the divine, explains the cardinal in this profound conversation with Nicolas Diat. Within the hushed and hallowed walls of the La Grande Chartreux, the famous Carthusian monastery in the French Alps, Cardinal Sarah addresses the following questions: Can those who do not know silence ever attain truth, beauty, or love? Do not wisdom, artistic vision, and devotion spring from silence, where the voice of God is heard in the depths of the human heart?
After the international success of God or Nothing, Cardinal Sarah seeks to restore to silence its place of honor and importance. “Silence is more important than any other human work,” he says, “for it expresses God. The true revolution comes from silence; it leads us toward God and others so as to place ourselves humbly and generously at their service.”

Gleitzman, MorrisAhora
Language: Spanish, Novel – Format: ePub

Una vez supe que mi abuelo Felix tuvo una infancia terrible. Entonces descubrí lo que los nazis hicieron a su mejor amiga Zelda. Ahora entiendo por qué Felix hace las cosas que hace. Al menos me tiene a mí. Yo también me llamo (More) Zelda. Ésta es nuestra historia. Ahora nos vuelve a sumergir en la vida de Felix pero con un inesperado punto de vista. Nuestro héroe recupera la sonrisa de la mano de su nieta, Zelda, con la que compartirá nuevas y emocionantes aventuras invadidas de ternura y humor.

Gilman, DavidMaster of War
Language: English, Novel – Format: ePub

England, 1346: For Thomas Blackstone the choice is easy – dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king’s invasion of France. As he fights his way across northern France, (More) Blackstone will learn the brutal lessons of war – from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare.
Vastly outnumbered, Edward III’s army will finally confront the armoured might of the French nobility on the field of Crécy. It is a battle that will change the history of warfare, a battle that will change the course of Blackstone’s life, a battle that is just the first chapter in a book of legend – Blackstone: Master of War.

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