Rete Bibliotecaria della Provincia di Como

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.

Abstract: The Purloined Letter is a detective story by Poe about the theft of a compromising letter that the French Minister has perpetuated before the eyes of the recipient, who was unable to avoid it in the presence of a third person, a very upperclass person, to whom this document was to remain hidden. What is written in this letter seriously compromises the honesty of a famous and powerful noblewoman, thereby giving the unlawful possessor a powerful chance to blackmail. He finally finds the letter in a conspicuous place and he tries, with a trick, to find it and solve the case…

Abstract: "The slaughter of the Philippines (Emilio Salgari, 1897) is a romance of the narrative series The Flower of the Pearls and it is the story of Romero Ruiz, a young half-caste planter, who is fighting, together with the rebels of Manila, to free the archipelago from the Spanish power. He loves the beautiful Spanish girl Teresita, called the Pearl of Manilla. She loves him, too, but she is the eldest daughter of the major of Alcazar, who is the boss of the Spanish troops in the capital city and who is a cruel repressor of the rebels. Hang-Tu, the boss of the rebels and of the secret societies of the White Lotus, the Water Lily and the Tien-Tai, is a big friend of Romero, and he understands that Teresita is a big danger for Romero ad for the insurrection's fate; for this reason he decides to nominee Romero the boss of the rebels and to entrust him to his beautiful sister Than-Kiù's cares. Than-Kiù, a valorous and sweet Chinese girl, called the Flower of the Pearls, is in love with Romero and Hang-Tu hopes that the young half-caste can fall in love with her as well, so that he can forget the Pearl of Manilla. But Romero, even if he is grateful to Than-Kiù because she saves his life more than once during the difficult war events, cannot forget his love for Teresita and he loves the Chinese girl only as a sister. When the young half-caste offers himself as a hostage to the Spanish soldiers in exchange of Than-Kiù's life, he does it not because he loves Than-Kiù, but because he is faithful to the cause of the insurrection and because he hopes this way to come together with the beloved Teresita again. The insurrection does not end well for the rebels, Romero and Teresita can be together again and forever, Hang-Tu is finally won; the valorous Chinese man makes the last sacrifice for his homeland throwing himself against the enemy columns' fire and finding his death this way.If you like to live a fantastic adventure in the savage islands of the Philippines, where you can meet strange animals and men ready to die for a cause they believe in; if you want to find out which woman an incredibly courageous man is going to choose, between the rich and beautiful daughter of his enemy and the equally beautiful and brave Chinese girl who saves his life more than once; if you like genuine and strong characters, like this half-caste man called Romero, who cannot forget his true love, even if he is one of the bosses of a big and bloody insurrection; if you like to feel part of what you are reading, because the writer is able to catch your attention and to keep you in suspense, so that you have to read as much as you can to find out what happens forward; if you like deep feelings and men who know what they want and what is right to do, this is a romance you cannot miss reading. You will be carried away by an exotic atmosphere, by beautiful landscapes and by incredible men, but you will also know the real historical developments of a bloody and cruel insurrection."

Abstract: Katherine Mansfield The Stranger This story by Katherine Mansfield, is set in Auckland, where Mr. Hammond is waiting for his wife, returning from Europe. After talking to other people waiting at the port, his wife arrives but she lingers, raising the question of whether her husband was ill during the trip. At the hotel, Hammond says he will spend the days visiting Auckland, before returning to Napier, where they live. She seems far away, and shw reveals that in the end she lingered because a man had died on board, and she was alone with him at that time.

Abstract: It is during a stormy evening in March, in the third decade of the '700 that Thomas Hardy's The Three Strangers begins. An English clergyman and his family are gathered together with some friends in their cottage, Higher Crowstairs, to celebrate the baptism of one of their daughters. During the evening three strangers knock on the door asking for shelter and they will eventually join the party, creating havoc and misunderstanding that will be resolved only at the end of the story.

Abstract: The Vital Message by Arthur Conan Doyle introduduces the reader to spiritualism and communication with the dead. Doyle began with the study of Emmanuel Swedenborg and his philosophy to land up to mediums and spiritists.