“But the heavenly ones, they always send the youth forth into life, and smile upon him, and give him companions, and soon he is alone, and goes his […]
German literature
Elective Affinities
“One cannot escape the world more certainly than through art, and one cannot bind oneself to it more certainly than through art.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Part […]
German literature
The Sorrows of Young Werther
“And you, good soul, who suffer the same distress as he endured once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be your friend, if, owing […]
Russian literature
First Love
“First love is a revolution… The monotonous and correct order of established life is broken down and destroyed in one instant…” — Ivan Turgenev Chapter 1 The story […]
Russian literature
The Bronze Horseman
“Where wilt thou gallop, haughty steed, And where wilt thou plant thy foot?” — Alexander Pushkin, The Bronze Horseman The Bronze Horseman is a narrative poem divided into […]
Russian literature
Eugene Onegin
“Whose life is but a novel’s dreary page, Where all is told, and nothing hid away?” Chapter 1 Eugene Onegin, a young, jaded aristocrat from St. Petersburg, inherits […]
French literature
The Charterhouse of Parma
“To the happy few.” — Stendhal, dedication in The Charterhouse of Parma Part 1: Early Life and Napoleon’s War The novel opens with Fabrizio del Dongo, a young […]
French literature
The Red and the Black
“The truth, the harsh truth.” — Stendhal, The Red and the Black The Red and the Black follows Julien Sorel, a young, ambitious man from a provincial French […]