“People are like rivers: the water is the same in all of them, but every river is narrow here, more rapid there, here slower, there broader, now clear, […]
French literature
Germinal
“Now the April sun, in the open sky, was shining in its glory, and warming the earth that nourished this terrible army of workers.” Part One The novel […]
French literature
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
“Great edifices, like great mountains, are the work of ages.” The story begins in 1482 Paris during the Festival of Fools. The gypsy dancer Esmeralda captivates the crowd, […]
French literature
Les Misérables
“The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details… a progress from evil to […]
American literature
Of Mice and Men
“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.” Chapter 1 George Milton and […]
American literature
The Grapes of Wrath
“And in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the […]
English literature
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
“Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Æschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess.” Phase the First: The Maiden Tess Durbeyfield, a poor country […]
English literature
A Tale of Two Cities
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Book One: Recalled to Life The novel opens in 1775, contrasting the turmoil in England and […]