"This chatty biography, written with the cooperation of the late actor's family, is crammed with anecdotes, personal opinions, and warm humor," said our reviewer (LJ 2/15/76) of this portrait of the horror star, who played every baddie from Frankenstein's monster to Dr. Seuss's Grinch. The text is buttressed with 150 photos and a complete filmography. This should still be "popular in public library collections." Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
War and Peace is regarded as one of the central works of world literature. The novel charts the history of the French invasion of Russia, the period in the beginning of the 19th century that leads to the invasion, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society. The story is told through the relationships and histories of five Russian aristocratic families.
Ms. MacLean's debut novel illuminates the difficulty of racial identity and the chaos it can create. The narrative deftly investigates racism beyond simple black and white figures (Angela proves not "dark" enough for her black relatives, though most of the white world view her as black). Dotted with ghosts, sex scenes and ramblings in New Orleans and abroad, the story can be thrilling... an endless string of docile servants round out this astutely delicate dramatization of race relations. The story provides a worthwhile glimpse at how startling the answers to questions of heredity can be Kirkus review . With a fluid and truly elegant style and the controversial subjects of Races as well as "reincarnation", the talented Marie-Madeleine MacLean has brilliantly created a sinfully entertaining novel with the full force of intelligence behind a frightening drama." Race .The colour of shame" is indeed a brilliant debut novel and certainly an instant classic... Literary and creative artists This highly thought provoking exceptional novel about "racism and reincarnation" and the terrible chaos it can create, brilliantly defines the unique style as well as the perfect punctuation of its stylish French author. Crisp, with intelligent dialogues and richly detailed with an undeniable sharp "designer's eye", with a string of colorful characters who elegantly "dress to kill", the seemingly aloof Ms. M-M MacLean has certainly achieved an absolutely seductive and brilliant debut novel; certainly as brilliant as its beautiful and extremely stylish author... A must read!!! Jacques Bruyas. Author.
WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy BOOK ONE: 1805 CHAPTER I "Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my 'faithful slave,' as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see I have frightened you- sit down and tell me all the news." It was in July, 1805, and the speaker was the well-known Anna Pavlovna Scherer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Marya Fedorovna. With these words she greeted Prince Vasili Kuragin, a man of high rank and importance, who was the first to arrive at her reception. Anna Pavlovna had had a cough for some days. She was, as she said, suffering from la grippe; grippe being then a new word in St. Petersburg, used only by the elite. All her invitations without exception, written in French, and delivered by a scarlet-liveried footman that morning, ran as follows: "If you have nothing better to do, Count [or Prince], and if the prospect of spending an evening with a poor invalid is not too terrible, I shall be very charmed to see you tonight between 7 and 10- Annette Scherer." "Heavens! what a virulent attack!" replied the prince, not in the least disconcerted by this reception. He had just entered, wearing an embroidered court uniform, knee breeches, and shoes, and had stars on his breast and a serene expression on his flat face. He spoke in that refined French in which our grandfathers not only spoke but thought, and with the gentle, patronizing intonation natural to a man of importance who had grown old in society and at court. He went up to Anna Pavlovna, kissed her hand, presenting to her his bald, scented, and shining head, and complacently seated himself on the sofa. "First of all, dear friend, tell me how you are. Set your friend's mind at rest," said he without altering his tone, beneath the politeness and affected sympathy of which indifference and even irony could be discerned. "Can one be well while suffering morally? Can one be calm in times like these if one has any feeling?" said Anna Pavlovna. "You are staying the whole evening, I hope?" "And the fete at the English ambassador's? Today is Wednesday. I must put in an appearance there," said the prince. "My daughter is coming for me to take me there." "I thought today's fete had been canceled. I confess all these festivities and fireworks are becoming wearisome." "If they had known that you wished it, the entertainment would have been put off," said the prince, who, like a wound-up clock, by force of habit said things he did not even wish to be believed. "Don't tease! Well, and what has been decided about Novosiltsev's dispatch? You know everything." "What can one say about it?" replied the prince in a cold, listless tone. "What has been decided? They have decided that Buonaparte has burnt his boats, and I believe that we are ready to burn ours."
Often called the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is at once an epic of the Napoleonic Wars, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Tolstoy's genius is seen clearly in the multitude of characters in this massive chronicle--all of them fully realized and equally memorable. Out of this complex narrative emerges a profound examination of the individual's place in the historical process, one that makes it clear why Thomas Mann praised Tolstoy for his Homeric powers and placed War and Peace in the same category as the Iliad" " "To read him . . . is to find one's way home . . . to everything within us that is fundamental and sane."
This unique collection of the greatest novesl, short stories & plays in Russian literature has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards: Introduction: The Rise of the Russian Empire Novels & Novellas: Dead Souls Oblomov Fathers and Sons Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment The Idiot The Brothers Karamazov Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace Anna Karenina The Death of Ivan Ilych The Kreutzer Sonata Anton Chekhov: The Steppe: The Story of a Journey Ward No. 6 Mother (Maxim Gorky) Satan's Diary (Leonid Andreyev) Plays: The Inspector General; or, The Government Inspector (Nikolai Gogol) Anton Chekhov: On the High Road Swan Song, A Play in one Act Ivanoff The Anniversary; or, the Festivities The Three Sisters The Cherry Orchard… Leo Tolstoy: The Power of Darkness The First Distiller Fruits of Culture The Live Corpse The Cause of it All The Light Shines in Darkness Leonid Andreyev: Savva The Life of Man Short Stories: The Queen of Spades The Cloak The District Doctor The Christmas Tree and the Wedding God Sees the Truth, but Waits How A Muzhik Fed Two Officials The Shades, a Phantasy The Heavenly Christmas Tree The Peasant Marey The Crocodile Bobok The Dream of a Ridiculous Man Mumu The Viy Knock, Knock, Knock The Inn Lieutenant Yergunov's Story The Dog The Watch… Russian Folk Tales & Legends: The Fiend The Dead Mother The Dead Witch The Treasure The Cross-Surety The Awful Drunkard The Bad Wife The Golovikha The Three Copecks The Miser The Fool and the Birch-Tree The Mizgir The Smith and the Demon Ivan Popyalof The Norka Marya Morevna Koshchei the Deathless The Water Snake The Water King and Vasilissa the Wise The Baba Yaga Vasilissa the Fair The Witch The Witch and the Sun's Sister One-Eyed Likho Woe… Essays: On Russian Novelists Lectures on Russian Novelists
