Penguin Italian Short Stories 2 Svevo Italo, Comisso Giovanni, Vittorini Elio

The eight stories in this collection, by Moravian, Pavese, Pratolina, and other modern writers, have been selected as being representative of contemporary Italian writing. The English translations provided are literal rather than literary, and there are notes and biographies to help the student of Italian. However, the volume can also be helpful to Italians, who can improve their English by studying a strict rendering of stories with which thet may already be familiar

Originally written to entertain, move or chill, the eight short stories in this collection accompanied by parallel English translations now also help students gain deeper insights into French literature and life • Arranged in approximate order of difficulty, the range of stories is wide, from the stylized wit of Raymond Queneau to the beautifully written ambiguities of Philippe Sollers, from Pierre Gascar’s exploration of childhood as a background to a tale of infidelity to Henri Thomas’s gentle, ironic look at war. All make wonderful reads in either language

One of the greatest French novelists, Balzac was also an accomplished writer of shorter fiction. This volume includes twelve of his finest short stories - many of which feature characters from his epic series of novels the Comedie Humaine. Compelling tales of acute social and psychological insight, they fully demonstrate the mastery of suspense and revelation that were the hallmarks of Balzac's genius. In The Atheist's Mass, we learn the true reason for a distinguished atheist surgeon's attendance at religious services; La Grande Breteche describes the horrific truth behind the locked doors of a decaying country mansion, while The Red Inn relates a brutal tale of murder and betrayal. A fascinating counterpoint to the renowned novels, all the stories collected here stand by themselves as mesmerizing works by one of the finest writers of nineteenth-century France

В своих коротких рассказах Вирджиния Вулф нередко выходила за рамки привычного художественного вымысла, используя новые способы выражения чувств и мыслей и воссоздавая в своих произведениях знакомую всем читателям жизненную суматоху. Истории, вошедшие в сборник, нельзя отнести к какому-то определенному жанру или направлению. Здесь есть как и более традиционные рассказы, такие как «Реальные предметы», так и более экспериментальные – от импрессионистских «Садов Кью» до абстрактного «Пятна на стене». Книга станет прекрасным подарком для поклонников творчества писательницы • Книга на английском языке • Virginia Woolf tested the boundaries of fiction in these short stories, developing a new language of sensation, feeling and thought, and recreating in words the 'swarm and confusion of life'

This 20th century masterpiece uses the traditional form of autobiography to explore some very untraditional themes. Under the guidance of a psychoanalyst an old man looks back over his life, exploring his motives and trying to make sense of things, but when he decides to abandon the treatment, his reminiscences are published by Doctor S as an act of revenge against the patient who has frustrated the doctor's own desire for complete understanding. In laying bare the disturbing power relations between therapist and subject, Svevo explores the dynamics of identity and self-knowledge in ways which link him with his great contemporaries, Joyce, Proust and Musil • The modern Italian classic discovered and championed by James Joyce, ZENO'S CONSCIENCE is a marvel of psychological insight, published here in a fine new translation by William Weaver - the first in more than seventy years

Much maligned in pre-war Germany, the short story enjoyed a creative rebirth in 1945. Initially imported by the Allies, the form also matched perfectly the prevailing mood of irony, objectivity and mistrust of the didactic • With the original German text running alongside English translations, this collection features stories from eight outstanding post-war authors including Heinrich Boll, Ilse Aichinger and Reinhard Lettau which students will find both educational and engrossing. Boll’s opening story 'Pale Anna' follows a soldier returning home, his situation comparable to that of the writer in the first months of peace: he knows no-one and has few words not linked to painful memories. This poignant narrative is followed by a variety of tales representing the diversity of the time and including satires, explorations of private obsessions and experiments in form and language

These eight stories by leading 20th century French writers offer fascinating insights into French life and literature and are accompanied by a parallel English text, making them valuable for both French and English language students • Among the diverse and entertaining stories in the collection are the wistful masterpiece ‘Green Tobacco’ by Clair Sainte-Soline; the exuberant tale of ‘The Ants’ by the post-war king of cafe society, Boris Vian, and a suspense in the nineteenth-century erotic tradition from Andre de Mandiargues

The eight stories in this volume offer a varied and representative collection of twentieth century German authors from a range of political and cultural backgrounds. Styles include the non-fictional manner of Kluge's montage technique and the contrasting classical storytelling of Penzoldt • With reading notes and parallel texts in German and English, this anthology is valuable to the German student of English as well as the English student of German. Reflecting trends in German literature, the stories have been selected for their quality as well as their readability, and will enhance the appreciation of both languages

From the reign of the Tsars in the early 19th century to the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond, the short story has long occupied a central place in Russian culture. Included are pieces from many of the acknowledged masters of Russian literature - including Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn - alongside tales by long-suppressed figures such as the subversive Kryzhanowsky and the surrealist Shalamov. Whether written in reaction to the cruelty of the bourgeoisie, the bureaucracy of communism or the torture of the prison camps, they offer a wonderfully wide-ranging and exciting representation of one of the most vital and enduring forms of Russian literature

Jhumpa Lahiri's landmark collection brings together forty writers that reflect over a hundred years of Italy's vibrant and diverse short story tradition, including well known authors such as Italo Calvino, Elsa Morante and Luigi Pirandello, alongside many captivating rediscoveries • Poets, journalists, visual artists, musicians, editors, critics, teachers, scientists, politicians, translators: the writers that inhabit these pages represent a dynamic cross section of Italian society

В этот сборник входят лучшие рассказы Фрэнсиса Скотта Фицджеральда, начиная с ранних рассказов эпохи джаза («Бриллиант размером с Ритц»), и заканчивая мрачными тридцатыми годами («Потерянное десятилетие») • В истории Американской литературы Фицджеральд стал почти мифологической фигурой, а его роман «Великий Гэтсби» многими считается величайшим американским романом. В 1920 году он женился на Зельде Сейр, звезде ранней американской эмансипации. Их нездоровый брак и прогрессирующее безумие жены оказали ключевое влияние на творчество писателя • Издание сборника «Flappers and Philosophers. The Collected Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald» выдающегося американского писателя Фрэнсиса Скотта Фицджеральда, входящее в серию «Penguin Modern Classics» от издательства Penguin, станет отличным подарком поклонникам творчества автора

The Collected Stories - a stunning volume of William Trevor's unforgettable short stories • William Trevor is one of the most renowned figures in contemporary literature, described as 'the greatest living writer of short stories in the English language' by the New Yorker and acclaimed for his haunting and profound insights into the human heart. Here is a collection of his short fiction, with dozens of tales spanning his career and ranging from the moving to the macabre, the humorous to the haunting. From the penetrating 'Memories of Youghal' to the bittersweet 'Bodily Secrets' and the elegiac 'Two More Gallants', here are masterpieces of insight, depth, drama and humanity, acutely rendered by a modern master