Following on from the huge success of the '44 Scotland Street' series, Alexander McCall Smith has 'moved house' to a crumbling four-storey mansion in Pimlico - Corduroy Mansions. It is inhabited by a glorious assortment of characters: among them, Oedipus Snark, the first every nasty Lib Dem MP, who is so detestable his own mother, Berthea, is writing an unauthorised biography about him; and one small vegetarian dog, Freddie de la Hay, who has the ability to fasten his own seatbelt. (Although Corduroy Mansions is a fictional name, the address is now registered by the Post Office).Alexander ...
Рассказ вошёл в сборники:A Medicine For Melancholy (Лекарство от меланхолии)R Is For Rocket (Р — значит ракета)Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales (Сборник ста лучших рассказов)
At fifty-six, Anatoly Sukhanov has everything a man could want. Nearly twenty-five years ago, he traded his precarious existence as a brilliant underground artist for the perks and comforts of a high-ranking Soviet . Once he created art; now he censors it.But a series of increasingly bizarre events transforms Sukhanov's perfect world into a nightmare. Buried dreams return to haunt him, long-repressed figures from his past surface to torment him, new political alignments threaten to undo him, and his once loving family and loyal comrades grow distant. As he stumbles through the dark corridors of memory, his life ...
Set in Provence during the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Black Death in the 14th century, and World War II, this novel follows the fortunes of three men — a Gallic aristocrat, a poet and an intellectual who joins the Vichy government.
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.
The Dwarf is the acrid journal of a court freak, a twenty-six-inch-tall misanthrope whose name, Piccoline, is mentioned only once, in passing, by another character. Thereafter called the Dwarf, he offers a distorted perspective on the fortunes of the Italian city-state whose prince he serves. Though generally slighted by them as an insignificant retainer, the Dwarf is able to observe important public figures and bear witness to actions that have dramatic consequences.After strangling Jehosophat, the Dwarf has become the only dwarf at court and…
Рассказ вошёл в сборники:The October Country (Октябрьская страна)The Vintage Bradbury (Классический Брэдбери)Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales (Сборник ста лучших рассказов)
After a problematic start, Andrei Makine is getting better with every new book. His earlier setbacks were partly due to the snobbery of the French, who did not believe that a Russian could write better than they could in their own language. When he pretended his novels had been translated, they began to earn high accolades and won a couple of prestigious prizes.Yet the tone of these earlier triumphs was sometimes too dependent on mystique, as if cashing in on the much-vaunted but dubious "Russian soul", a quality eminently exploitable by crass publishers like the one who ...
Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can't eat. First meat. Then eggs, vegetables, cake, pumpkin seeds-everything! Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she's being eaten. Marian ought to feel consumed with passion. But really she just feels…consumed. A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor, The Edible Woman is an unforgettable materpiece by a true master of contemporary literary fiction.
In 1551, King Jo?o III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. The elephant’s journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people. Out of this material, Jos? Saramago has spun a novel already heralded as “a triumph of language, imagination, and humor” ().Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro ...
Рассказ вошёл в сборники:Dark Carnival (Тёмный карнавал)The October Country (Октябрьская страна)The Stories of Ray Bradbury (И грянул гром: 100 рассказов)
Рассказ вошёл в сборники:A Medicine For Melancholy (Лекарство от меланхолии)R Is For Rocket (Р — значит ракета)The Stories of Ray Bradbury (И грянул гром: 100 рассказов)
Set in 1930s China, this is a true but tragic tale of romance, sexual desire, and untimely death. Beautiful, intelligent, and schooled in the Daoist arts of love, Lin is married to a provincial university professor. Julian Bell, son of Vanessa Bell, and darling of the Bloomsbury set, has arrived in China, hungry for experience. Their mutual attraction leads to a passionate phy-sical and spiritual sojourn in Beijing. Unable to realize their love in a society divided by cultural conflict and the threat of war, they eventually part: Julian to fight for the Loyalists in Spain and Lin to ...
“A stunning performance. Hugely enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down.” – Mordecai Richler“The canvas is broad, the writing is vivid, and the two story-lines are deftly interwoven to contrast cinematic ‘truth’ with history as it happened. An intense and original piece of writing.” – The Bookseller (U.K.)“A richly textured epic that passes with flying colors every test that could be applied for good storytelling.” – Saskatoon StarPhoenix“Characters and landscapes are inscribed on the mind’s eye in language both startling and lustrous.” – Globe and Mail“Vanderhaeghe succeeds at a daring act: he juggles ...
Рассказ вошёл в сборники:The Illustrated Man (Человек в картинках)R Is For Rocket (Р — значит ракета)Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales (Сборник ста лучших рассказов)Сборник редких рассказов (Замри, умри, воскресни!)
