Жанр: Зарубежная классика

The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka’s best-known works. Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a «monstrous vermin». He initially considers the transformation to be temporary and slowly ponders the consequences of this metamorphosis. Unable to get up and leave the bed, Gregor reflects on his job as a traveling salesman and cloth merchant, which he characterizes as an exhausting and never-ending traffic. He sees his employer as a despot and would quickly quit his job…

For a while, the famous writer Irving Washington was an employee of the American diplomatic mission in Spain. He spent three months in the famous Alhambra Palace. This acquaintance with the historical relic inspired him to write this book. In addition to historical descriptions and essays the book contains many magnificent legends that have become loved by millions of readers. By the way, Irving’s work is still called the Alhambra…

Notes from Underground also translated as Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underworld, is an 1864 novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Notes is considered by many to be one of the first existentialist novels. It presents itself as an excerpt from the rambling memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man), who is a retired civil servant living in St. Petersburg. The first part of the story is told in monologue form, or the underground man’s diary, and attacks emerging Western philosophy, especially Nikolay…

The Christmas Tree and the Wedding» is a short story written by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky published in 1848. The piece is narrated by an awkward outcast attending a Christmas party. He observes the party’s guest of honour and takes special interest in one of the children. The narrator begins by mentioning to the reader that he had just been to a wedding but recalls a Christmas party that he had found more interesting. The party was given with the pretext of being a children’s party, but its real purpose was for the wealthy host’s family to talk business with…

«The Dream of a Ridiculous Man» (Russian: Сон смешного человека, Son smeshnovo cheloveka) is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky written in 1877. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing of any value in the world. Slipping into nihilism with the “terrible anguish” he is determined to commit suicide. A chance encounter with a young girl, however, begins the man on a journey that re-instills a love for his fellow man. It was first published in A Writer’s Diary. The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St.…

«»«Rip Van Winkle»» is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up 20 years later, having missed the American Revolution. Irving wrote it while living in Birmingham, England, as part of the collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The story is set in New York’s Catskill Mountains, but Irving later admitted, «„When I wrote the story, I had never been on the Catskills.“» «»Rip…

«»«The Monkey’s Paw»» is a supernatural short story by author W. W. Jacobs, first published in England in the collection The Lady of the Barge in 1902. In the story, three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey’s Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate. It has been adapted many times in other media, including plays, films, TV series, operas, stories and comics, as early as 1903 and as recently as 2017. It was first adapted to film in 1915 as a British silent film directed by Sidney Northcote. The film (now lost) starred…

«Знаменитые преступления» Александра Дюма-отца, быть может, известны менее его романов, однако не менее значимы в его творчестве. Это собрание интригующих историй о знаменитых преступниках и преступлениях в европейской истории – от эпохи Возрождения до XIX столетия, от Англии до России – представляет читателю живописную и…