Washington Irving.

Many further authors, such as Poe, Brockden Brown, even Melville, were substantially influenced by this gothic-novelled author. Soon he became popular throughout the New England and in Europe either, although when he got started with writing, he used a nickname" knickerbocker " which are basically the stockings tied up to the knee used by those who live in the mountains. Anyway, he founded a literary magazine where he printed his tales, episode by episode, and  even took the chance to heavily criticize the Bondage whithin the Southern states, and the severe Puritanism within the Northern states. Gloomy villages haunted by ghosts, superstition, extreme believes, fancy valleys where time suddenly stops, funny dwarfish carachters playing with a ball and drinking some sort of alcoholics, careless Dutch governors peacefully smoking their pipes in circle, that's what his tales are mostly about. Most of his best tales are gathered within "THE SKETCH BOOK", tales such as "The headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle".

 

Needless to say anything about this book, I don't really think it was meant to be for kids, it's strongly ironic, it is sad, it tells how the humans are just the smallest part of a huge universe, or the biggest creature within a minuscle world. This irish writer actually knew how to criticize the 1700 English government's corruption through a tale apparently fancy, exposing the truth by descriptions of twisted realities.

Have you ever felt like being different, have you ever sensed that the thoughts you have at a certain moment don't belong to what you use to be? The tale deals with the unconsciousness, double-personality, unawareness of our evilish features, it isn't just a tale, but furthermore an introspective view within the deep boundaries of our mind.Any of us should take a look at this novel.

 

Here we go again with american novels. This tale dates back to the early twentieth century, when the movie industry was about to get started in Europe, where all the influences of the New Imaginary World of Hollywood were about to get spreaded all over. The novel, takes place within the Hollywood compund of Los Angeles, it pictures the outlines of all those who come to California to succeed in the movies..all those whose dreams are shattered and whose lives lack of any meaning all of a sudden. Basically it's a portrait of a society based upon outlooks and earthly things, headed to vanish, early or later it doesn't matter. Furthermore, the environment of a decaying Los Angeles is observed by the eyes of a brand new-graduated scenery designer from New York. While any of the people mentioned within this tale get somehow stuck in the city, he eventually manages how to get out of that awful and superficial bunch of fake buildings, masks in place of faces, and weirdness instead of simpleness.

It's actually a short story rather than a novel. It tells the story of a cross-bred hound, whose life is turned upside down when he gets kind of kidnapped and brought by train towards the Yukon region to get sold during the Gold Rush. Amazing how the author decribes Buck's feelings, fears, wishes, and will to survive among ruthless masters who care about nothing but gold. How a dog can be much worthier than a human, find it out!!

I'm not sure whether or not I should be the one to suggest you this reading; if you ever liked daydreaming and picturing your own world within your mind, if you ever wanted to turn your imagination loose but you never figured out how to write it down, you'd better get started by reading this novel. Alice is a kid girl...fanciful, bored, fascinated by the imaginary world of talking animals, of Sir Rabbit and his gloves and whiskers; by the Duchess and the lizard, constantly shrinking and shifting her shape by drinking ask-to-be-sipped bottles, or feeding from mushroom. The world Alice wanders around isn't merely a maze, it's much more, sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes she misses her former life, sometimes she gets so involved in what shows up around her to let definitely forget about any past sorrow. I could never tell whether it is Alice which creates Wonderland rather than Wonderland creating Alice...., it's up to you to find it out.

It is basically an autobiography focused on the author's childhood within the dumpy suburbs of Limerick, Ireland. The events themselves are dreadful, dramatic; an unemployed husband addicted to alcohol, who wastes the sustainment money in pubs rather than feeding his family. Out of five children, only two really make it, Frank and Malachy, while two twins die, a newborn girl dies few days after the delivery, and the mother, Angela, is the only person who really tries to work out a way to raise up her family. The point is that although many other tales about tragic childhoods show the negative side of that, this one keeps a witty tone, it suggestes us that no matter how hard it looks, there's always something to be happy about, always something to be laughing about. As the story unfolds, there comes another issue, a plague of the nowadays Ireland, the neverending hatred between Catholic and Protestant parties. This book is worth a look.

This is another tale which takes place in Ireland, and it's a part of a trilogy "The country girls trilogy". This novel tells the life of two irish girlmates, Kate and Baba, and all the events that happen within their lives; Kate's mother's disappearance, Baba's consumption, Kate's relationship with a married man, their isolation within a cloister for one year, their escape, and so on, until they eventually get in Dublin, trying to get a job and start a brand new life. This book actually shows the breathless beauty of the Irish countryside, and the sweetness of two very simple girls.

Little Red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb,  Snow-drop, The frog-prince, The goose-girl, Rumpel Stilts-kin, Hansel And Grettel, Ashputtel and many other fairy tales that have left an unerasable print within our European tradition. Most of these tales were scattered all across the 19th century Germany, and they were picked up by the Grimm brothers, linguists themselves. Any of us should keep an empty place within the shelf for those fables which tell about fear, happiness, cfraftiness, misery, love, and so forth.

How to miss such a story? Fortunately as far as I know they didn't shoot any movie about it, so that people may be still willing to get this book rather than see a 2hours stream of images and forget about it soon afterwards. Anyway, there's a crew of English schoolboys whose plane is wrecked on a lonesome island. They survive, and start helping each other in gathering food and all the stuff that may come useful. Were it not for Ralph, who leads these guys, they would rather spend their time playing, rolling on the ground, swimming and..so forth. As the story unfolds, all the shades of a civilized classroom are swept away..you just..find out what happens then. Forget about Robinson Crusoe, this novel is quite another thing.

This is another masterpiece within the anglo-american literature; Arthur is crazy about sailing, doesn't miss any chance to get on a ship headed towards the South Seas. Ship-wrecked, drifting with no direction, he and three more friends are starving, and getting insane as soon as they catch another vessel coming a little farther, apparently a ducth vessel provided with an ordinary crew...but hunger may play dreadful tricks to somebody's mind and sight. All the people are dead, even the pilot, though he seems he's still leading the ship because of his hands which got stuck to the steer.....a seagull devouring his guts and taking flight with a chop of bowels within his jaws; butchery, carnage, destinationless journeys, remote isles where a deadly ambush awaits......that's merely one episode among many even more involving within this tale, don't miss it.