“Time is a gift, but a dangerous one.” The Magic Mountain follows Hans Castorp, a young German engineer, who visits his cousin Joachim Ziemssen at a tuberculosis sanatorium […]
Russian literature
The Brothers Karamazov
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much […]
French literature
The Baron in the Trees
“On the fifteenth of June, 1767, Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, my brother, sat among us for the last time.” Chapter 1: The Rebellion The novel opens with twelve-year-old […]
French literature
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
“What if God were not the one we imagined?” Chapter 1: The Birth of Jesus The novel opens with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but Schmitt reimagines […]
French literature
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
“We think we are passing time, but time is passing us.” Part One: The Elegance of the Hedgehog The novel alternates between the perspectives of two protagonists: Renée […]
French literature
Candide
“All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” — Pangloss Chapter 1: Candide’s Youth in Westphalia Candide, a naive young man, lives in the […]
American literature
Blood Meridian
“War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” Chapter Summaries The Kid’s Early Life (Chapters 1-4) The novel […]
English literature
Under the Net
“All is to be dared, for a person of courage has no need of any other virtue.” Chapter 1: A Disrupted Life Jake Donaghue, a struggling writer and […]