Irish Literature Classic

L'Île du docteur Moreau est un roman de science-fiction écrit par H. G. Wells. Unique survivant d'un naufrage, Edward Prendick est secouru par Montgomery et son équipe, passagers d'un navire faisant route vers une île tropicale avec une cargaison d'animaux. Montgomery est l'assistant du docteur Moreau, un scientifique obsédé par la vivisection et la transfusion sanguine.

L'amour et l'indépendance de la jeune fille, les préséances sociales et les revanches sur le passé, l'attirance pour les idéaux généreux, les messages de la passion triomphant du temps et de l'espace, les flammes de la folie, tels sont quelques-uns des thèmes qui se détachent sur un fond d'observation à la Dickens et qui sont emportés par un grand souffle romanesque.

"A House of Pomegranates" (1891) is a collection of fairy tales, written by Oscar Wilde, that was published as a second collection for "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" (1888). Wilde once said that this collection was "intended neither for the British child nor the British public."

"Lord Jim" is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in "Blackwood's Magazine" from October 1899 to November 1900. An early and primary event is the abandonment of a ship in distress by its crew including the young British seaman Jim. He is publicly censured for this action and the novel follows his later attempts at coming to terms with his past. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked "Lord Jim" #85 on its list of the 100 best English language novels of the 20th century.

Amiable but stolid peer Bill, Lord Dawlish, possessor of a slender income and a querulous fiancée, resolves to seek his fortune in America. But before he can even get on the boat, he discovers that the eccentric American millionaire whom he cured of slicing his approach-shots on the links at Marvis Bay a few months earlier has unexpectedly left him five million dollars, as a reward for his altruistic action. But to Bill, noblesse more or less obliges him to share the fortune with the old man's disinherited niece, Elizabeth.

Emma Woodhouse, "belle, intelligente et riche" a vingt-et-un ans. Elle habite la belle demeure de Hartfield, près du gros bourg de Highbury, avec son père âgé, hypocondriaque et veuf, entourée d'amis fidèles, tel Mr. Knightley, son beau-frère, propriétaire du riche domaine voisin de Donwell Abbey. Son ancienne gouvernante, Miss Taylor, vient d'épouser un veuf fortuné, Mr. Weston, dont le fils a été adopté tout jeune par son oncle et sa tante, les Churchill, avec qui il vit à Enscombe, dans le Yorkshire.

"The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in 8 Fits" is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) in 1874, when he was 42 years old. It describes with infinite humour the impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature. The poem borrows occasionally from Carroll's short poem "Jabberwocky" in "Through the Looking Glass" (especially the poem's creatures and portmanteau words), but it is a stand-alone work, first published in 1876 by Macmillan.

Three Men on the Bummel, also titled Three Men on Wheels, is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome, published in 1900, 11 years after his best seller, Three Men in a Boat. This time, the three companions J, George, and Harris take a bicycle tour through the Black Forest in Germany. Besides the bicycling travelogue, humorous vignettes or "set pieces" are constructed by a gradual accumulation of detail, including commentary on German culture from the point of view of a British tourist, and sitcom-like scenarios of the interactions between the characters.

A Dublinesos, Jame Joyce reuneix quinze relats que recreen episodis de la seva ciutat. Les diverses històries s'encreuen i els personatges van i vénen, desapareixen i reapareixen, de manera que s'ha vist en aquest llibre una novel·la amb un únic personatge: Dublin.

Fifteen-year-old Esperance Darbois, the only daughter of philosophy professor François Darbois, is determined to become a woman of the stage. But becoming an actress will sully the respectability of the Darbois family, damage her marriage prospects, and harm her father’s distinguished reputation.

The mystery of the modern thriller pervades the twists in the plot of this remarkable Victorian novel about the disappearance of a young man and the lady who is haunted by more than one terrible secret.

Suite au décès de M. Dashwood, sa veuve et ses trois filles se voient contraintes de quitter le Sussex et le domaine familial de Norland. Elles se réfugient dans le Devon, à l'invitation d'un généreux parent, où une nouvelle vie, plus modeste les attend. Les sœurs aînées, Elinor et Maria, l'une plus raisonnable, l'autre plus sentimentale vont vivre leur premiers émois amoureux non sans quelques revers.

This collection brings together the best British writing of the 20th century, narrated by a trio of beloved voices from the stage and screen. From the ghost stories of M.R. James to the intensity of D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, as well as the intrigue of Joseph Conrad’s spy thriller, The Secret Agent, these enthralling modern classics will delight every listener. These classic stories are read by The Jewel in the Crown’s Tim Pigott-Smith; legendary Shakespearean actor Sir Michael Hordern; and Sir Ian McKellen.

En 1651, Robinson Crusoé quitte York, en Angleterre pour naviguer, contre la volonté de ses parents qui voulaient qu'il devienne avocat. Le navire est arraisonné par des pirates de Salé et Crusoé devient l'esclave d'un Maure. Il parvient à s'échapper sur un bateau et ne doit son salut qu'à un navire portugais qui passe au large de la côte ouest de l'Afrique. Arrivé au Brésil, Crusoé devient le propriétaire d'une plantation.

Mary Shelley's 1818 novel presents the Faustian story of a man who aspires to create life out of death, with disastrous results. The novel is constructed as a series of first-person narratives, delivered by Captain Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and his Creature, which makes it perfect for a dramatic reading presented by actor author Geoffrey Giuliano.

Les penúries econòmiques de Dickens van inspirar les seves millors novel·les (Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Temps difícils), de gran contingut i crítica social. Gràcies a una herència, Charles deixa la fàbrica on treballava i es posa a estudiar. Aprèn taquigrafia i amb 17 anys escriu als diaris. El 1836 escriu per a un editor una novel·la per fascicles setmanals, Oliver Twist, on mostra amb cruesa la difícil vida dels més pobres. Va tenir un enorme èxit.

"The Grand Babylon Hotel" is a novel by Arnold Bennett about the mysterious disappearance of a German prince. The protagonists are an American millionaire, Mr. Racksole, and his daughter Nella. While staying at the supremely exclusive Grand Babylon Hotel, Nella asks for a steak and Bass beer for dinner, but the order is refused. To get her what she wants, Racksole buys the entire hotel. Strange things are happening in the there.

James Hogg was an 19th century Scottish writer. Mary Burnet is a traditional Scottish ghost story which he retold.

A romantic adventure yarn of plotting and corruption largely set against the panorama of Imperialist Russia but with some of the skulduggery taking place in the major capitals of Europe. An old Etonian and half Russian, Prince Paul Alexis, inherits the Osterno estate in the Steppes. Naive and honest, but helped by experienced campaigner Steinmetz, he forms a progressive but illegal Charity League to succour the needs of the starving uneducated peasantry who are ravaged by cholera.

À Middlemarch, cité imaginaire de la province anglaise, vers 1830, la jeune et intelligente Dorothée aspire à de grandes réalisations. Elle épouse le pasteur Casaubon, beaucoup plus âgé qu'elle et espère aider son mari dans les travaux de recherche pour un livre qui devrait être son chef d'œuvre. Mais Casaubon ne la prend pas sérieux, la néglige. De plus, il prend ombrage de l'amitié qui rapproche Will Ladislaw, son cousin, et Dorothée. Ce mariage se révèle être une erreur.