In the 1890's, many realists became naturalists, a term created by Emile Zola. For them realism was an ideology and the novel had the power to become a political weapon. Crane had the view that life and death are determined by fate. He wrote about a man who said to the Universe "Sir, I exist! … Continue reading A Synopsis of Us Literature: 1890 -1910.
A sinsopsis of US literature: 1854 – 1890
European observers, who take a close look at the characteristics that they qualify as typical for white Americans, discover soon that they were originally attributes of the American Indian. The liberation from a social hierarchy and the idea that “all men are born equal” is also an American Indigenous invention that crossed the Atlantic Ocean … Continue reading A sinsopsis of US literature: 1854 – 1890
A sinopsis of US literature: 1810 – 1854.
1810 - 1840 is known as the Knickerbockers’ Era of American literature. The name comes from "A History of New York" by Dietrich Knickerbocker, a pseudonym of Washington Irving. It was a humorous rather than a serious history of the city. He invented many of the events and legends he wrote about in the book. … Continue reading A sinopsis of US literature: 1810 – 1854.
A Brief Sinopsis of US literature: 1735 – 1810.
In the early days of independence, American novels served a useful purpose. They used realistic details to describe the reality of American life. But when some of the good American literature started to arise above the time and place where they were written; these works became universal. The oldest examples are the sketches and observations … Continue reading A Brief Sinopsis of US literature: 1735 – 1810.
Reading the Canon of World Literature
Chapter 18; Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes.May, 20th, 2015.Summary.The main character got introduced as Alonso Quixano, a financially independent old man who spends all his time on reading tales about medieval knights ‘s slaughtering dragons and saving princesses.He became so obsessed with this subject that one day he puts on his bet grandfather’s harness, changes … Continue reading Reading the Canon of World Literature
Reading and location: Shantaram’s Mumbai
Shantaram is another book that should be read while gathering impressions of a place. It is a 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict escapes from Pentridge Prison and flees to India. The novel is commended by many for its vivid portrayal of life in Bombay … Continue reading Reading and location: Shantaram’s Mumbai
Reading and Location. The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and Barcelona.
I came to the realization that there are certain novels wherein the authors elevate their settings almost to the level of a protagonist. Most of them are big cities and if, by chance of whim, you possess a more intimate knowledge of their layout, history, and inhabitants, it increases manifold the reading experience. Even more … Continue reading Reading and Location. The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and Barcelona.
Unlocking Finnegans Wake: Free Plain English Version
I invite everyone who has been putting Finnegans Wake aside as an unreadable Moloch, to have a look at this transcription in plain English that you can download for free during the weekend (from Friday May 23, 2025, 12:00 AM PDT till Saturday May 24, 2025, 11:59 PM PDT ) by following this link. You … Continue reading Unlocking Finnegans Wake: Free Plain English Version
Reshuffling my Art and Finding my own Style.
I decided to pause the report of my quest into the canon of the world literature because there was a similar hiatus in my exploration process back then in 2015 that actually lasted till May 20th, 2015. Instead I'm going to expand a little bit upon how I've recently developed my own artist's style or … Continue reading Reshuffling my Art and Finding my own Style.
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 19 – 22.
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky. 19-22 April 2015.Due to a glitch of the local internet that lasted for three days, I was confined to the books that I already downloaded. So after a small excursion to the early Indian literary space time continuum, I had to contend myself to be warped back into the 19th … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 19 – 22.
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 16 – 18
The Ramayana Volume six; The Book of War.The Monkey army under command of Sugriva and Rama marched up to the shores of the Southern Sea where they find Vibishana, the brother of Ravana. When they brought him as a prisoner to Rama he explained that he got exiled because he spoke in favor of a … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 16 – 18
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 14 – 15
The Ramayana by Valmiki. The title can be translated as the Journey of Rama (who was an avatar of Vishnu) and consisted of 24,000 verses in seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500 cantos (sargas) all good for more than 50.000 lines of scripture. It is the second pillar of Indian literature and luckily, just like with … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 14 – 15
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 10 – 11
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoi 10 April 2015Volume 3..Natasha started slowly to recover from her disastrous liaison with Anatole and its calumnious fall out thanks to her loving family, her cousin Sonya and some newly found religious believes. At the same time the whole country was gearing up for an imminent confrontation with the … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 10 – 11
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 7 – 9
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. April 7, 2015.Volume 1;The book started with a party given by Anna Pavlovna Scherer (the best friend of the Empress Dowager who was the most powerful woman at the court of her son, Tsar Alexander) in St. Petersburg in 1805 and introduced Pierre Bezukhov and his good friend Prince … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 7 – 9
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 4 – 6
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We’re halfway Semana Santa and our little rock is invaded by herds of drunk and pot smoking tourists. The part of the population that isn’t working into the tourism industry is either gleefully participating or went into lockdown with enough food and drink to survive for … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 4 – 6
Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 1 –
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann April 1, 2015.Part six.Tony decided to marry Alois Permeneder. Upon the moment he received his wife’s dowry, he retired with the intention to splash the money. She left him when he tried to rape a servant after an evening of drinking. Christian embarrassed Thomas by saying that businessmen are swindlers but … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature April 1 –
Reading the Canon of the World Literature: March 28 – 31
Buddenbrooks; The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann. March 28, 2015.Buddenbrooks is a voluminous; partially autobiographically novel that describes the relentless decline of a family living in the North German town of Lubeck between 1834 and 1877. At first sight, the ideas developed into this novel seem a little outdated and the style of … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature: March 28 – 31
Reading the Canon of the World Literature March 23 till 25.
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb SalihMarch 23, 2015.IntroductionThis Sudanese, Arab written novel was published for the first time in 1966 and plays during the early years of independence from British rule (1955 till early sixties). SummaryThe story is told by an unnamed narrator, who just came back from studying seven years poetry … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature March 23 till 25.
Reading the Canon of the World Literature. March 20 till 22
20 March 2015It was my intent to read the “The Diary of a Madman and other stories by Xun Lu” , but when I did a little research on this title I found out that “The Diary of a Madman” was the first short story of a book called “Call to Arms” written by Xun … Continue reading Reading the Canon of the World Literature. March 20 till 22
Reading the canon of the world literature Mar 17 till 19.
17 March 2015; finally finished the first volume of Tristam Shandi.We got also introduced to his father’s brother, uncle Toby, a battle maimed army officer and his man-servant, also a crippled veteran, corporal Trim. Further it seems that the author is giving away a lot of storylines; his nose being broken by dr. Slop’s forceps … Continue reading Reading the canon of the world literature Mar 17 till 19.
The Maharajagar 