“The snowstorm howled, the wind tore at the shutters, and I, a young doctor fresh from university, stood alone in the middle of the night, trembling before my […]
Russian literature
Youth
“I am convinced that there is no love so strong as that which is founded on repentance.” Chapter 1: The Beginning of Youth Nikolai Irtenev, now sixteen, reflects […]
Russian literature
Boyhood
“The whole difference between people lies in the process by which they arrive at truth.” Chapter 1: Departure from Childhood Nikolai (the protagonist) reflects on leaving his childhood […]
Russian literature
Childhood
“Happy, happy, never-returning time of childhood! How can one help loving and cherishing its memories?” Chapter 1: The Morning of Departure The story begins with ten-year-old Nikolenka Irtenev […]
French literature
W, or the Memory of Childhood
“I remember that my mother had beautiful hands. But I don’t remember my mother.” Part I: The Alternating Narratives The book alternates between two distinct narratives: one autobiographical, […]
French literature
Memoirs of Hadrian
“I have reached the age when life, for every man, is a defeat accepted.” Memoirs of Hadrian is a fictional autobiography of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, written as […]
French literature
The Lover
“It’s in the very depths of winter, at the instant when the sun touches the horizon, that I see the girl on the ferry again.” Early Memories The […]