英语小说网

The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett's finest work, described by Henry James as her “beautiful little quantum of achievement.” Despite James's diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengths as a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but in character development. Indeed, she determined early in her career to preserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants who lived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.

 A fellow traveller -- On a famous sermon -- On pockets and things -- On a country platform -- On a distant view of a pig -- In defence of ignorance -- On a shiny night -- On giving up tobacco -- The great god gun...

Mr. Artur Sammler, Holocaust survivor, intellectual, and occasional lecturer at Columbia University in 1960s New York City, is a "registrar of madness," a refined and civilized being caught among people crazy with the promises of the future (moon landings, endless possibilities). His Cyclopean gaze reflects on the degradations of city life while looking deep into the sufferings of the human soul. "Sorry for all and sore at heart," he observes how greater luxury and leisure have only led to more human suffering. To Mr. Sammler—who by the end of this ferociously unsentimental novel has found the compassionate consciousness necessary to bridge the gap between himself and his fellow beings—a good life is one in which a person does what is "required of him." To know and to meet the "terms of the contract" was as true a life as one could live. At its heart, this novel is quintessential Bellow: moral, urbane, sublimely humane.

许多生活潦倒的作家一样，莫特·雷尼(强尼·戴普 饰)也走进了自己人生中最可怕的时候，相爱几十年的妻子爱上了别的男人要离开自己，正在创作的小说灵感顿失，曾经繁华潇洒的笔也变得枯涩。 雷尼努力想从妻子艾米(玛莉亚·贝洛 饰)离开的悲痛中走出来，却想不到她并不想善罢干休，与她现在的男友(查理斯·特顿 饰)勾结起来要害苦雷尼。律师更是纠缠不清，眼看着自己陷进了可怕的离婚案中，雷尼感到了从未有过的失落。 离开这座伤心的城市，来到自己的湖畔木屋，雷尼想忘记世俗烦人的一切......

An excerpt from the book - Alone in the night On a dark hill With pines around me Spicy and still, And a heaven full of stars Over my head, White and topaz And misty red; Myriads with beating Hearts of fire That aeons Cannot vex or tire; Up the dome of heaven Like a great hill, I watch them marching Stately and still, And I know that I Am honored to be Witness Of so much majesty. "What Do I Care?" What do I care, in the dreams and the languor of spring, That my songs do not show me at all? For they are a fragrance, and I am a flint and a fire, I am an answer, they are only a call. But what do I care, for love will be over so soon, Let my heart have its say and my mind stand idly by, For my mind is proud and strong enough to be silent, It is my heart that makes my songs, not I. Meadowlarks In the silver light after a storm, Under dripping boughs of bright new green, I take the low path to hear the meadowlarks Alone and high-hearted as if I were a queen. What have I to fear in life or death Who have known three things: the kiss in the night, The white flying joy when a song is born, And meadowlarks whistling in silver light.

《源氏物语》是日本的一部古典文学名著，对于日本文学的发展产生过巨大的影响，被誉为日本古典文学的高峰，在日本开启了“物哀”的时代。作品的成书年代一般认为是在1001年至1008年间，因此可以说，《源氏物语》是世界上最早的长篇写实小说，小说描写了平安京时期日本的风貌，揭露人性，宫中的斗争，反映了当时妇女的无权地位和苦难生活。

欧·亨利像一个有着丰富阅历的老水手，他的一生富于传奇性，当过药房学徒、牧牛人、会计员、土地局办事员、新闻记者、银行出纳员，甚至坐过监狱，并由此开始了他的写作生涯。这些故事如此贴近你的生活，让你以为就发生在自己身边。可是，在你忍不住对这种熟悉感到厌倦前，他又狠狠地给你一个出人意料的结局，然后在你的目瞪口呆中扬长而去，只留下你独自思索，独自流泪，独自微笑。

Father Sergius is a story written by Leo Tolstoy between 1890 and 1898, and first published (posthumously) in 1911.

Uncle Silas (1864) is a macabre mystery novel and classic of gothic horror. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814 ù1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the premier ghost story writer of the nineteenth century. In his stories the supernatural explanation is implied, but there is always a remote but possible natural explanation. Maud Ruthyn, the heroine of this classic Victorian novel, recalls her fear of death, her moody father, the grotesque Madame de la Rougierre, and the suspicions surrounding her Uncle Silas. Uncle Silas is an extended adaptation of his earlier short story "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess", with the locale switched from Ireland to England.