A collection of 13 short stories which offer a humorous study of humanity. The subject matter ranges from a tale of adultery to an analysis of self-doubt and a story on the banality of existence.
Quando le cronache ufficiali descrissero l’impresa di Noè, sorvolarono su una serie di episodi poco edificanti che, se fossero stati rivelati, avrebbero potuto ridimensionare il valore mitico dell’epopea. Nessuno, però, sapeva che un animaletto, salito a bordo da clandestino, era stato testimone di quei retroscena non proprio eroici, e aveva deciso di raccontarli. Come si conclusero i processi ecclesiastici celebrati nella Francia medievale contro quei tarli accusati di avere rosicchiato gli arredi sacri? Che cosa capitò a Spike Tiggler, l’astronauta che, dopo aver portato un pallone sulla luna, svelò il mistero del Monte Ararat? E quale fine fece l’unicorno che godeva di cosí tante attenzioni da parte della moglie di Noè? Rimbalzando di continuo tra epoche e situazioni diverse, Julian Barnes ripercorre le grandezze e le follie dell’umanità, lanciando una sfida ambiziosa alla fantasia del lettore: immaginare un mondo completamente nuovo.
Born for Love: Reflections on Loving is a collection of short, poignant thoughts and inspirational quotes on love from New York Times bestselling author, professor, and PBS motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia. Filled with inspirational quotes and structured so each section can be read individually, Born for Love can be picked up at any point, allowing the reader to guide their own experience through Buscaglia’s reflections on love. This approach encourages personal philosophical thinking and contemplation, creating a highly individualized experience and encouraging students of love toward a better comprehension of the art of loving. Inspirational and thought-provoking, Born for Love: Reflections on Loving conveys Leo Buscaglia’s message through short, poignant chapters filled with memorable, uplifting quotes. Just as Buscaglia insisted that love lasts forever, his poignant words continue to have everlasting relevance with today’s audience.
Yukio Mishima’s The Decay of the Angel is the final novel in his masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility. It is the last installment of Shigekuni Honda’s pursuit of the successive reincarnations of his childhood friend Kiyoaki Matsugae. It is the late 1960s and Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, once more encounters a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki — this time restored to life as a teenage orphan, Tōru. Adopting the boy as his heir, Honda quickly finds that Tōru is a force to be reckoned with. The final novel of this celebrated tetralogy weaves together the dominant themes of the previous three novels in the series: the decay of Japan’s courtly tradition; the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics; and, underlying all, Mishima’s apocalyptic vision of the modern era.
Vzrušujúce dobrodružstvá najznámejšieho stroskotanca na svete! Prchký mladík Robinson Crusoe sa vzoprie rodičovským radám a utečie na more, kde ho stíhajú katastrofy. Po potopení lode počas búrky a smrti priateľa ho zajmú tureckí piráti a predajú do otroctva. Napriek ťažkostiam sa nevzdáva a dúfa v lepší život. Osud mu nakoniec prinesie slobodu, priateľstvo a bohatstvo, no jeho najväčšou skúškou je stroskotanie na opustenom ostrove. Robinson sa naučí postarať o seba a využíva miestne zdroje, pričom sa na ostrove cíti ako kráľ. Musí však čeliť skrytým nebezpečenstvám, ktoré ohrozujú jeho život a všetko, čo vybudoval. Tento príbeh, napísaný Danielom Defoeom a vydaný prvýkrát v roku 1719, fascinuje čitateľov už tri storočia. Aktuálne vydanie je špeciálne prispôsobené pre mladých čitateľov a obsahuje nádherné ilustrácie Roberta Ingpena, držiteľa Ceny Hansa Christiana Andersena. Defoe, anglický obchodník a spisovateľ, bol známy svojou kontroverznou osobnosťou a napísal viac než 300 diel. Robert Ingpen, austrálsky umelec, je autorom ilustrácií k mnohým klasickým knihám a jeho práca v oblasti detskej literatúry bola ocenená viacerými cenami.