Archiv der Kategorie: Classics of Fiction (English)

The Rise Of Silas Lapham – William Dean Howells

“The Rise of Silas Lapham” is a Bostonian novel. A Boston family of the strict Brahminical type, the Coreys, finds itself under obligations for help in a painful emergency to the Laphams, a family of crude manners, mushroom wealth, and sterling virtue. The Laphams, pricked to social ambition by the new acquaintance, build a house on the Back Bay. The contrast of the two social worlds is amusingly depicted in the chapters that record their intercourse; and the elder Lapham allows himself to become intoxicated at a dinner to which he and his family have been self-sacrificingly invited by the Coreys. Meanwhile, Tom Corey, only son of the distinguished family, has … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Minor Dramas – William Dean Howells

Apart from his many novels, William Dean Howells was a prolific author of plays, especially farces. This volume includes the following of his works: The Parlor-Car, The Sleeping Car, The Register, The Elevator, The Garotters, Five O’clock Tea, A Likely Story, The Albany Depot, A Letter Of Introduction, The Unexpected Guests, Evening Dress, Bride Roses.

The Minor Dramas.

Format: eBook.

The Minor Dramas.

ISBN: 9783849657420

Excerpt from the text:

THE PARLOR-CAR.

Scene: A Parlor-Car on the New York Central Railroad. It is late afternoon in the early autumn, with a cloudy sunset threatening rain. The car is unoccupied save by a gentleman, who sits fronting one of the windows, with his … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Tuscan Cities – William Dean Howells

To meet Mr. Howells again on his Italian rambles is like rejoining an old friend in the midst of scenes associated with the beginning of our friendship. This rich volume is a grateful recollection of the book which first gave him a place in our standard literature. Much of the old charm of ‘Venetian Life’ is certainly here. The daring disregard of conventionality, the happy discovery of aspects of life un noticed by previous travelers, the artistic and novel use of illustrative side-lights, the quick insight into the characteristics of places, the unforced flow of delicate humor, the fascination of a style distinguished more by natural grace than by laborious polish, and the genial … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Three Villages – William Dean Howells

In this volume Mr. Howells has collected three short pieces which show his power under various aspects. The pleasantest and in a literary sense the best of the three is the charming paper on ‘Lexington,’ originally contributed to Longman’s Magazine. It is distinguished by that happy faculty of description, that sure artistic eye, and that genial spirit which constitute so much of the fascination of his larger works; flashes of characteristic humor surprise us in its delicate pages; and it has all that strong individual flavor which makes the best writing of Mr. Howells so different from the rest of the good writing which is getting to be abundant in books. The second village … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

A Woman’s Reason – William Dean Howells

“A Woman’s Reason” is certainly one of the most ambitious novels Mr. Howells has written, not merely because it is so long, but because the author has reached out for effects which he neglected in his earlier books. It is not a radical departure from his established methods, but it indicates a larger and broader conception of the scope, the opportunities, and the resources of his art. The story of Helen Harkness’s struggles has an enduring claim upon every reader’s sympathy, the incidents of the book are spirited, and the movement is alert, vigorous, and at times highly dramatic in its surprises and suspended interest. The author is so loyal to his heroine … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

A Day’s Pleasure (And Other Sketches) – William Dean Howells

This volume includes the following stories by William Dean Howells: “A Day’s Pleasure”, “Buying a Horse”, “Flitting”, “The Mouse” and “A Year in a Venetian Palace.”

A Day’s Pleasure (And Other Sketches).

Format: eBook.

A Day’s Pleasure (And Other Sketches).

ISBN: 9783849657383

Excerpt from the text:

THEY were not a large family, and their pursuits and habits were very simple; yet the summer was lapsing toward the first pathos of autumn before they found themselves all in such case as to be able to take the day’s pleasure they had planned so long. They had agreed often and often that nothing could be more charming than an excursion … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Dr. Breen’s Practice – William Dean Howells

This work of Mr. Howells is similar in lightness of material and delicacy of workman ship to “A Fearful Responsibility” and other minor productions of his deft hand which hold a unique and ill-defined position between the novel and the short story. It is brief; it is free from the mysteries of a plot; it is perfectly simple in plan; and the characters are not elaborated, but rather sketched with a few strong touches, so quick and free that we hardly appreciate the excellence of the art until we close the book and find how its principal personages haunt the memory. In its motive, however, “Dr. Breen’s Practice” rises distinctly above the tales … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

A Fearful Responsibility (And Other Stories) – William Dean Howells

Mr. Howells’ refined humor is one of his most charming characteristics. It creeps out, however, on the most solemn occasions, and many a situation that might have been pathetic or commonplace is given a piquant turn by some deft touch of mellow satire which pleases and never wounds. This delicate, subdued humor, appealing to the finer sensibilities of the reader, is purely American. It is allied to the French in subtlety, but it has none of the Gallic dash and effervescence. It is a Puritan heritage, with a rich and mellow flavor. The average American combines the cynical penetration of the Frenchman with the mild contemplativeness of the Briton. The … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

A Modern Instance – William Dean Howells

“A Modern Instance” is among the most vigorous performances that Mr. Howells has given to the public. The fine humor of his previous writings is here; the descriptive power, which with a few words enables us to understand the visible surroundings of the characters, the close reading of character, analyzing without seeming to do so, and all that. But the book is a deeper one than most that Mr. Howells has written, not merely because it treats of a subject that has an element of the tragic in it, but because it treats a more important theme than has yet engaged its author’s attention, in a manner commensurate with its importance, and in … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Undiscovered Country – William Dean Howells

In “The Undiscovered Country”, Mr. Howells appears in a new phase, and adds somewhat of the definite moral purpose of the teacher to the grace and finish of the literary artist. From the opening of the first chapter it is evident that the author has this time a further object in mind than the mere portrayal of character. Half-page monologues and whole-page conversations on matters of speculative inquiry are not altogether in the line of Mr. Howell’s genius, which has always disclosed more of the artist than of the moralist; the lesson of his literary work being in its perfection and its correspondence to truth, rather than in any serious intent or design … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...