Novelle per un Anno, vol. 16: Appendice

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(prima pubblicazione nella forma attuale nel 1938)
(first published in their present form in 1938)

Luigi Pirandello (1867 – 1936)
Language: Italiano

This book contains 27 novels from the Appendix of “Novelle per un anno”, a collection of novels written by Luigi Pirandello over the years.

Novelle per un anno è una raccolta di 241 novelle scritte da Luigi Pirandello. Originariamente sono state pubblicate sul Corriere della Sera, successivamente ripubblicate in 15 raccolte. Inizialmente erano previste 24 raccolte contenenti 365 novelle, tuttavia la prematura morte dell’autore ha impedito il raggiungimento del traguardo. Postume sono state pubblicate altre novelle scritte dall’autore. Le raccolte sono state pubblicate tra il 1922 e il 1937. L’appendice, edito nel 1938, contiene novelle pubblicate tra il 1884 ed il 1933. (Riassunto di Filippo Gioachin)

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Oscar Wilde Twice Defended

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Cover picture(first published 1934)

Robert Sherard (1861 – 1943)
Language: English

Robert Sherard was Oscar Wilde’s friend of 20 years and first biographer. The Life of Oscar Wilde was the last of the four books he wrote about the Irish playwright and wit. Oscar Wilde Twice Defended is a shorter work than his full length biographies (The Life of Oscar Wilde, and The Real Oscar Wilde), in which Sherard responds to other Wildean biographers, including André Gide and Frank Harris. (summary by Rob Marland)

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Green Grey Homestead

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(first published 1934)

Steele Rudd (1868-1935)
Language: English

This book describes the experiences of Dick Gall, a young Australian countryman, from the time of his first application for ‘a homestead selection’ to that of the birth of his ‘son an’ heir’ on the green-grey homestead. It also includes memories of his younger years, when he chased scrub cattle, hunted wild pigs on wild horses and played on the polo field. Steele Rudd knew what he was writing about, having grown up on a homestead selection at Emu Creek himself, and worked as a stockrider (or cowboy) as a teenager.
The book is written in a very lively style, and remarkably, in the second person singular – “you” will literally be Dick Gall himself. The opening sentence: “You’ll be single when the idea of taking up a homestead first gets you.” Or later: “You’ll be three years on the little grey homestead, working hard and becoming well-known and respected; you’ll receive kindly handturns from one and another, and be known to them all as Dick Gall.” (Summary by Anna Simon)

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The Mysterious Universe

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(first published 1930)

James Jeans (1877-1946)
Language: English

One of the earliest of the popular science book genre, it is a philosophical summary of the new physics of the era by a leading British physicist. Keeping technical references to a bare minimum, Jeans argues that physics has entered a new age in which mathematical representation has supplanted mechanical models.
(Summary by Peter Tucker)

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The Diary of a Provincial Lady

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(first published 1930)

E. M. Delafield (1890-1943)
Language: English

“Notice, and am gratified by, large clump of crocuses near the front gate. Should like to make whimsical and charming reference to these and try to fancy myself as ‘Elizabeth of the German Garden’, but am interrupted by Cook, saying that the Fish is here, but he’s only bought cod and haddock, and the haddock doesn’t smell any too fresh, so what about cod? Have often noticed that Life is like that.”

First published in 1930, this charming, funny book is a warm portrait of a middle-class English family and their village life. Our heroine recounts the mundane delights and disasters of her household, dealing with constant money worries, the challenges of finding & keeping a really good parlourmaid, and how best to retain grace towards her fellow humans in the face of their astonishing range of foibles. It’s also a wonderfully genuine description of a marriage, with all the little ups and downs of rubbing along with the same person for so many years.
(Summary by Cori Samuel)

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De wereld een dansfeest

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(first published 1938)

Arthur van Schendel (1874-1946)
Language: Dutch

De danser Daniel Walewijn, zoon van een Nederlandse vader en een moeder van Zuid-Europeese afkomst, heeft de dans in het lichaam, zodat er niets anders voor hem bestaat. Zelfs zijn verhouding tot de vrouwen wordt volkomen bepaald door deze ene hartstocht. Zowel Daniel Walewijn als de melancholieke Reynald houden, ieder op zijn manier, van Marion Ringelinck, die evenals Daniel door de roeping voor het dansen wordt meegezogen. Deze drie levens gaan lange tijd parallel. In een reeks verhalen, vanuit het perspectief van verschillende personen die bij de hoofdpersonen betrokken zijn, laat Arthur van Schendel aan ons oog de levens van drie mensen voorbijtrekken, wier noodlot het is met elkaar in aanraking te komen, op elkaar aangewezen te zijn en toch aan elkaar voorbij te gaan.
(Samenvatting door Anna Simon)

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To The Lighthouse

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(first published 1927)

Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941)
Language: English

The Ramsey family, with house guests, visit the Isle of Skye at least twice. The plot is not at all the point though, as this is a book about how people think and feel and relate. There’s insight into the world of childhood thought and emotion, and a variety of views of adult cares and perceptions.

I hope this doesn’t make it sound ‘difficult’, it doesn’t need to be – just let the sentences flow and make your own sense of the words. It’s perhaps as close as a novel can come to the highly individual experience of looking at a painting. … (summary by Cori Samuel)

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