Rete Bibliotecaria della Provincia di Como

Abstract: Thomas De Quincey's The Avenger narrates a series of events that took place in Germany from the perspective of a university professor. In this chronicle the theme is that of revenge. The officer of the Russian guard, Whyndham, is a jew, his family died in prison (for torture or starvation) because of a conspiracy. Whyndham wants revenge against the corrupt judges of a German country, he is a man of good family, he is very rich and his wife is the niece of a judge. The Avenger knows he can lose everything by engaging in all his actions, but nothing can stop him and his full application of the law of retaliation. Assisted by other Jewish friends he will exterminate the enemy and their families with ferocity terrorizing the whole country.

Abstract: In Hermann Melville's The BellTower the architect Bannadonna wants to challenge the laws of nature, building the most beautiful tower of Italy, a new Tower of Babel, with a huge iron bell. The architect is the victim of his own obsession as he sees in man and in his technological knowledge the real God. His creations become the symbols of his crimes. While making the tower he kills one of his employees, his skull will be part of the surface of the bell. Every imperfection in the bell reminds that his project is wrong. At the end Bannadonna is crushed by the bell. He sees the world and its inhabitants as a puppet theater in which he is the puppeteer.

Abstract: In London's The Benefit of the Doubt Carter Watson, an eminent sociologist, has spent most of his life around the world studying the dynamics of society and human behavior. Twenty years later, he returns in his own hometown, and he cannot believe his eyes: the quiet and decent neighborhood of his childhood has given way to the degradation and squalor, becoming an infamous area. His curiosity as a scholar leads him, however, to venture among the shabby streets in search of new inspiration for his work, and it is while exploring the interior of an inn that he found himself involved in a fight. His opponent is the owner of the inn, Patsy Horan, a man of uncivilized ways and a regrettable reputation. Not even the intervention of a police officer will restore justice, because the system that governs the city is dominated by corruption and immorality. They will be judged in a courtroom, but since there is no sufficient evidence to establish who has started the fight, both are given the benefit of the doubt, and therefore the acquittal.

Abstract: "The Cabman's Story: The Mysteries of a London 'Growler'This is a very short story about a father taking his family for a vacation. They hire a cab to take them to the countryside. It's so crowded inside the cab that the father decides to sit up with the cabbie. The cabbie proceeds to tell tales about his long vocation as a cabman. The stories are fascinating."

Abstract: Wilkie Collins' The Dead Alive is based on the famous murder case of the Boorn brothers. Jesse and Stephen Boorn Boorn have been accused of killing a man who was later found alive. The brothers were imprisoned in 1819 in Manchester, Vermont. This is the first miscarriage of justice in U.S. history in which someone is unjustly accused and imprisoned.

Abstract: Washington Irving's main character in The Devil and Tom Walker is Tom, a greedy and selfish man who loves money more than his wife who is just as greedy as him. One day Tom, during a walk, begins a conversation with the devil incarnate, Old Scratch, described as a woodcutter. Scratch offers Tom riches in exchange for his soul and Tom accepts. When Tom mentions this secret to his wife, she decides make a secret deal with Scratch as well. When Tom goes in search of his wife he finds her heart and liver tied to a tree. Tom continues to deal with Scratch agreeing to become a money lender, until suddenly he becomes afraid of the afterlife. He then becomes very devoted to God, but is he really changed? Will he escape the devil's grasp?

Abstract: Benjamin's The End of New York (1881) was meant to warn of the navy's inadequacy, made quite an impression at the time. It features balloons which can float over targets and release bombs, an invention it seems he was quite worried about since he wrote an article warning about the dangers of balloon weapons the year before the story came out. This creative method of siege was used first by Austria against the rebellious Venetians in 1849. The balloon bombs were successful and their use was reported in Scientific American in 1849. Who knows why Benjamin saw it as a threat to New York thirty years later?

Abstract: Jack London's The Enemy of All the World is the story of Emil Gluck, which begins in 1895 in Syracuse, New York, and it is extremely different from that of any other child. Emil's parents both die when he is six years old. He lives with his aunt, a frivolous and heartless woman, who does nothing to hide her contempt. At school the boy proves to be really smart, but his excessive shyness prevents him from making friends, and condemn him to a life of loneliness and misunderstanding. At the age of twentyseven Emil publishes a book on marriage, totally misunderstood by the critics, and this event marks the beginning of a long and cruel persecution by the newspapers. Not even his extraordinary love for Irene Tackley will alleviate his sufferings. When the girl is found dead, he is the first to be suspected and he cannot do anything to avoid being arrested and jailed. All this and more makes his sensitivity turns into madness and his genius mind begins to work out a terrible plan of revenge against all humanity. Only the intuition of a secret service agent will be able to put an end to the relentless chain of destruction initiated by Gluck.

Abstract: Alice Dunbar's fisherman of Pass Christian is a mysterious man. Annette and Philip, two friends, when walking on the beach, observe him and are struck by his culture and kindness. They talk to him who tells them about his life; the fisherman and Annette are increasingly closed to each other until she, one romantic evening they spend on the beach, promises that she will never forget him. The fisherman leaves but when Annette goes to the opera she finds him on the stage! Annette finds out the dual nature of the man she loves, he is a fisherman and an opera singer. Annette is determined to go to Paris with him but one day she discovers that the fisherman has secretly married...

Abstract: Innovazione, creatività, attenzione alla persona: sono parole chiave che identificano il marketing, una disciplina che ha fatto della sensibilità alle esigenze del consumatore il suo indefettibile credo. Ora però l'eleganza, il risparmio energetico e il rispetto della natura sono le nuove linee guida che il Manifesto indica come indispensabili per il futuro. Con un saggio di Alex Giordano e Mirko Pallera, NInjamarketing.it.

Abstract: Charles Dickens' The Haunted House was published in 1859 for a weekly periodical. The story was written after the great success of A Christmas Carol. On Christmas Eve a group of friends arrive to a house which is probably haunted with the aim of discovering evidence of the supernatural. What will they find? Who will they meet? The text examines typically Victorian issues such as sex and desire, longing and loss that continue to resonate today.

Abstract: The Middle Toe of the Right Foot is a story by Ambrose Bierce about a house haunted by strange ghosts: in fact, there is clear evidence about the fact that Manton house is haunted. One day, four men decide to stay a few nights in the house and during the evening conversations they learn that, apparently, Ms. Manton was slaughtered by her husband because he discovered a physical defect on her body: the middle toe of the right foot. How are the nights in the haunted house? Will they have the chance to meet the restless spirits of the woman and the husband and Mrs. Manton bad foot?

Abstract: The Indo-Malay-cycle is a made up of interconnected novels written by Emilio Salgari, the most famous Italian writer of adventure novels. They are generally set in India, in the region of Assam, Malaysia and Borneo.

Abstract: The plot focuses on the disappearance of Edwin, a wealthy young man who is about to marry Rose. Edwin disappears under mysterious circumstances, his uncle John Jasper and his girlfriend want to know the truth. Doubts arise about Jasper, who once had a double life as a drug addict and loved Rose...

Abstract: "Francis Bacon (1561-1626) ranks among history's greatest scientific and philosophical minds. He was a famous lawyer, statesmen, historian, and one of history's greatest defenders of modern science. Bacon's stated goal in his philosophical life was to destroy the then dominant philosophy of Scholasticism or the philosophy of the followers of 13th century Roman Catholic philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, which Bacon believed led intellectuals to debate pointless matters, ignore the importance of observation for learning and, in general, not contribute to the progress of science.New Atlantis and The Great Instauration are two of Bacon's great historical works aimed at achieving his goal. The New Atlantis is a fictional narrative that demonstrates much of Bacon's high place in English literature's history and the development of English prose in the 17th century, whereas The Great Instauration is an explicitly philosophical and scientific, non-fiction work. The two are combined in the present book."

Abstract: John Oakhurst, the protagonist of Harte's story, is a gambler. One day he is in the main street of Poker Flat, which had recently suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two horses and a citizen. Some are banned after this episode and others are threatened with hanging, then John, the strongest outcast of Poker Flat, flee with other people to hide themselves and certain truths they know. John can no longer stand the situation, so that he wants to commit suicide ...

Abstract: Six friends get together to Königsberg where they meet an old gentleman, very similar to the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who talks with them. For a joke, a dream, or maybe just because the universe is the result of our perceptions, they start a strange journey into their past. The gentleman offers them an opportunity not to miss, will they exploit it and reap the maximum benefits of it?

Abstract: In Hermann Melville's The Piazza a retired man moves to the countryside. The farm life is not easy and disappointments are described from the veranda of his remote cottage, situated on the edge of a forest, where it seems there is a young woman living in an idyllic setting. The protagonist will dream this image, the chimera that is the place of the fairies, where you can find happiness, paradise. This is the story of a dreamer who dreams of becoming someone else.

Abstract: The poet's mystery by Antonio Fogazzaro was published in 1888 and it is set in a totally unreal Nuremberg. The novel tells of the love between a poet and a sweet and delicate English girl, Violet Yves. After a number of obstacles, they marry but Violet dies during the honeymoon. The artificiality of the event, the exaggerated sentimentality and the themes Fogazzaro wanted to express the impossibility of love on this earth that is meaningful only in another life, the necessity of renunciation give the novel an aura of improbability.In this short novel, we find patterns and themes typical of Fogazzaro: a taste for aristocratic backgrounds in which they refined and sensitive characters act, the tendency to create ambiguous situations, erotic, religious, and spiritualistic theories.

Abstract: Twelve years have passed since Josiah Childs decided to leave the Connecticut, the house where he grew up, his job and, above all, his wife and their child. Since then he has not come back again. He moved in a populous metropolis in the west and there he built his empire. He arrived in California with only a few coins in his pocket and he became in a few years a prosperous businessman, respected by all and with undisputed authority in the economic field. Now it's time to think about the past and take back what belongs to him. He wants to play the part of the prodigal father, without a penny to test Agatha, his wife. When he arrives to East Fallsthe he suddenly feels the burden of his past on his shoulders. The first impulse is to turn around and leave, but a glimmer of pride still shines within him and prevents him from abandoning his son again. He is a man now, he should be assertive, whatever the cost.