Kuprin is well-known to Russian readers and has been described as one of the last exponents of Russian critical realism. He first made a career as an officer in the army, but he left this work to take on employment as varied as journalist, hunter, fisherman, actor, and circus worker. His literary fame was launched with the publication in 1905 of Poyedinok (The Duel). Here are 12 short stories from Alexander Kuprin. – Summary by KevinS [chương_files]
Times are hard in Frankfort. Defeat in war, weak leadership, trade blockades and a starving population lead to a restive and unhappy citizenry. The one thing Frankfort does have is the best three sword-makers in the country, who form a guild to try and find solutions to the economic problems assailing the city. One day, a stranger appears: an instructor in swordsmanship and the craft of sword-making. Despite not being licensed to carry a sword in the city, he promises the guild he can help them make their fortunes and lead the city out of the recession. – Summary by Lynne Thompson [chương_files]
Can You Forgive Her was published over 2 years in serial form. It follows the life story of three women involved with courtship and marriage decisions. – Summary by Deon Gines [chương_files]
Val had come to Montana to marry a cowboy named Manley, envisioning a life of wedded bliss, freedom, and was anticipating happiness in her adopted part of the country. She would soon learn that the winters could be cruel and lonesome for a woman living on a ranch which was situated miles from the nearest neighbor. She would learn that her husband spent most of his time drinking. And she would learn that everybody has their own methods of dealing with the harshness and loneliness of the land she has come to call home. Val is determined to re-invent her notions about men and women, her new duties in life, and life as it existed in the relatively new West. At every turn, her will and her strength are tested. Would she find the strength within herself to overcome the hardships, or would she succumb to the reality of her surroundings? – Summary by Roger Melin [chương_files]
Editorials published in Volume 66 of The Dial magazine, a fortnightly political and literary review. The source available to us features issues from January 11 to June 28, 1919. This volume illustrates the pacifist and socialist viewpoint of Martyn Johnson (the owner) and the magazine’s staff. The magazine experience financial troubles in 1919 and was sold later that year. The magazine was re-directed by its new investors in a direction that was essentially literary in nature and it is this ‘re-creation’ of the magazine that is best known. (Summary by KevinS) [chương_files]
A lighthearted tale which revolves around old Peter Lane, who lives in a houseboat on the Mississippi River and mostly whiles away his time whittling with his jack-knife and not really doing much else. That is, until one night, a sickly woman knocks at his boat door holding her son in her arms. This encounter would change Peter’s life, as the old man befriends little Buddy and is determined to keep him and raise him as his own, provided he is able to keep a host of others from laying claim to the orphan. (Note – While the online text for this book appears that there is no chapter 7, no chapters have been omitted from this recording.) – Summary by Roger Melin [chương_files]
Pózdnyshev se había casado y tenía varios hijos pero su matrimonio no había ido bien. Durante un viaje en tren explica a un pasajero lo terrible de esta unión en la que él había vivido un infierno atormentado por los celos. Esta obra folosófica fue escrita por Tólstoi en una época de crisis existencial en la que se plantea y reafirma en los valores del espíritu como la castidad y en contra de las apariencias, las pasiones y la impureza. (Summary by Montse González) [chương_files]
A selection of short stories by Selma Lagerlöf. In Swedish, but with a short foreword in English. Edited by Jules Mauritzon. – Summary by AnnaSofia [chương_files]
The fictional small English country town of Roxton boasts two doctors. This tale focuses on the struggles of their wives: Katherine and the “good” Dr. James Murchison and Betty and the “bad” Dr. Parker Steele. But, of course, no one is all good or all bad and there are hurdles to overcome, in this case in the form of alcoholism. The cost of the war between the two women is greater than either woman imagined. Deeping draws on his experiences as the son of a doctor in portraying some of the less pleasant facts of physiological reality, maybe more than in many other fictional works in this engrossing and heart-wrenching tale. – Summary by Lynne Thompson [chương_files]
Arthur Vernon, member of the Athenian club and member of “society,” has a secret. His father has died and left him destitute, so he has begun a private investigation agency under the name “Nemo.” It would be disastrous if this were known among his associates at the club, and especially if his intended in-laws found out. But he is quite sure no one else knows, that is until his old college classmate, Constantine Maunders, visits him with a proposition he can’t refuse. Maunders knows all, and he wants to be made a partner in the agency, providing “Nemo” with black-mail worthy information on other people in society in return for a share of the financial rewards for their silence. Vernon is appalled, particularly as “Nemo” is engaged in solving a high profile blackmail case. These are the beginning of Vernons conundrums as the clues unfold. – Summary by Don W. Jenkins [chương_files]
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