Vincenzo Mantovani Poradie kníh (chronologicky)

In una cittadina del "profondo" Sud degli Stati Uniti l'onesto avvocato Atticus Finch è incaricato della difesa d'ufficio di un "negro" accusato di violenza carnale; riuscirà a dimostrarne l'innocenza, ma l'uomo sarà ugualmente condannato a morte. La vicenda, che è solo l'episodio centrale del romanzo, è raccontata dalla piccola Scout, la figlia di Atticus, un Huckleberry in gonnella, che scandalizza le signore con un linguaggio non proprio ortodosso, testimone e protagonista di fatti che nella loro atrocità e violenza non riescono mai a essere più grandi di lei. Nel suo raccontare lieve e veloce, ironico e pietoso, rivive il mondo dell'infanzia che è un po' di tutti noi, con i suoi miti, le sue emozioni, le sue scoperte, in pagine di grande rigore stilistico e condotte con bravura eccezionale.

Kniha Joan Didion osciluje na pomedzí eseje, autobiografie a románu. Autorka v nej mapuje jeden rok od smrti svojho muža Johna Gregoryho Dunnea. Vťahuje nás do svojho „magického“ myslenia, ktoré sa pre jeho stratu stalo myslením vychýleným, odkloneným od reality. V období takmer štyridsiatich rokov s ním zdieľala nielen rodinu s adoptovanou dcérou (o ktorú prišla o dva roky po smrti Johna), povolanie spisovateľky a publicistky, ale predovšetkým spoločne prežitý čas života: „dvadsaťštyri hodín denne, čo zostávalo zdrojom bujarého veselia aj zlej predtuchy pre moju mamu a tety. ,V dobrom aj v zlom, ale nikdy nie celý deň, hovorievali mi v prvých rokoch manželstva. Nedokážem spočítať, koľkokrát za deň, celkom obyčajný deň, sa objavilo niečo, čo som mu nutne musela povedať. Toto nutkanie ma neprešlo ani po jeho smrti. Už mi však nemal kto odpovedať.“ So stratou sa nevyrovnáva, ale ju cez krátke spomienky vkladané do pradiva svojho života opätovne prežíva a zakomponováva do novej, nevyžiadanej etapy bytia bez Johna. Vťahuje nás do rozličných období a prostredí, sme svedkami veselých i smutnejších príhod i osudov rôznych ľudí. Text Joan Didion sa číta aj nečíta ľahko, je boľavý aj liečivý, môže byť návodom, porovnávacou štúdiou, odkazom z minulosti alebo prípravou na budúcnosť. Rok magického myslenia sa stal takmer okamžite klasikou a denník Guardian ho zaradil na 2. miesto v rebríčku 100 najlepších non-fiction kníh všetkých čias.

When talented young writer Nathan Zuckerman makes his pilgrimage to sit at the feet of his hero, the reclusive master of American Literature, E. I. Lonoff, he soon finds himself enmeshed in the great Jewish writer's domestic life, with all its complexity, artifice and drive for artistic truth. As Nathan sits in breathlessly awkward conversation with his idol, a glimpse of a dark-haired beauty through a closing doorway leaves him reeling. He soon learns that the entrancing vision is Amy Bellette, but her position in the Lonoff household - student? mistress? - remains tantalisingly unclear. Over a disturbed and confusing dinner, Nathan gleans snippets of Amy's haunting Jewish background, and begins to draw his own fantastical conclusions...

Azda nijaká kniha v poslednom čase nevyvolala toľko otáznikov ako román americkej spisovateľky Harper Leeovej Postav hliadku. Autorka, známa jedným z najpopulárnejších románov 20. storočia Nezabíjajte vtáčika (1960), sa po vydaní tejto knihy na dlhý čas odmlčala. Až v roku 2014 sa v jej trezore našiel rukopis druhého diela, ktoré bolo vlastne jej literárnou prvotinou. Napísala ho v päťdesiatych rokoch 20. storočia, ale vydali ho až v roku 2015. Dejová línia je takisto posunutá asi o dvadsať rokov. Hlavná detská postava z románu Nezabíjajte vtáčika Jean Louise Finchová (Scout) žije teraz v New Yorku a ako dvadsaťšesťročná prichádza do rodného mestečka Maycomb. S prekvapením zisťuje, že jej otec Atticus, ktorý sa kedysi nezištne ujal úlohy obhajcu v procese s mladým černochom, sa teraz angažuje v rasistickej Rade občanov. Vzťahy medzi miestnym belošským a černošským obyvateľstvom sa mimoriadne zhoršili. Dej sa odohráva na pozadí širšieho historického kontextu a spoločenské napätie sa prenáša aj do vzťahu Jean Louise k otcovi, príbuzným, rodine, niekdajším známym i dávnemu priateľovi Henrymu. Znova si uvedomuje, aké je dôležité – v súlade s biblickým odkazom – postaviť svoju hliadku, ktorou je predovšetkým svedomie.

Hailed in the US as a Native-American To Kill A Mockingbird, and winner of the US National Book Award, The Round House is Louise Erdrich's undeniable - and unmissable - masterpiece.

Mae Hollandová získa prácu v najsilnejšej internetovej spoločnosti na svete, ktorá má symbolický názov Kruh. Dostala tak skvelú životnú príležitosť pracovať v supermodernom kalifornskom sídle, kde všetci horúčkovito pracujú a stretávajú sa v luxusných kluboch, na vlastných športoviskách či skvelých reštauráciách. Kruh spája používateľov osobných e-mailov, sociálnych sietí, uskutočňuje podozrivé bankové operácie a nákupy svojím univerzálnym operačným systémom, ktorý napokon vyústi v jedinú on-line identitu na internete. Mae spočiatku nemôže uveriť svojmu šťastiu -- aj keď sa jej svet za hranicami areálu odcudzí, aj keď ňou otrasie čudné stretnutie s istým kolegom, a aj keď ju práca v Kruhu postupne okráda o vlastný život a súkromie. To, čo sa začalo ako úchvatný príbeh o ženských ambíciách a idealizme, sa čoskoro stane srdcervúcim románom plným napätia a frustrácie. Kde sú vlastne hranice ľudského poznania? Chceme to vôbec vedieť?

A portrayal of men and women both aroused and desensitized by an environment that disdains the individual and seeks control over the imagination.

Bellow's second novel features Asa Leventhal, sub-editor of a trade magazine, and he is a natural victim; a man uncertain of himself, never free from the nagging suspicion that the other guy might be right. So when he meets a down-at-hell stranger in the park one day and finds himself being accused of ruining the man's life...well, he half-believes it. And because he half-believes it, he can't shake the man loose, can't stop himself being trapped in a mire of self-doubt, can't help becoming...a victim. First published in the USA in 1947, and in the UK a year later. It first appeared in a Penguin edition in Britain in 1966.

Sillitoe's portrayal of the mind of an incorrigible rebel. By the author of "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", "Snowstop", "The Open Door", "Life Goes On", "The Storyteller" and "Last Loves".

Returning to New York after eleven years, Nathan Zuckerman finds a transformed city. Having lived in solitude on his New England mountain, he has focused solely on writing, free from distractions and the burdens of modern life. However, his re-entry into the city quickly disrupts his isolation. He forms a connection with a young couple, offering to swap homes: they will escape post-9/11 Manhattan for his rural retreat, while he returns to urban life. This arrangement awakens Zuckerman's desires, particularly for the young woman, Jaime, reigniting his longing for intimacy and passion. His second connection is with Amy Bellette, once his muse and companion to his literary idol, E.I. Lonoff. Now aged and frail, Amy clings to memories of Lonoff, the writer who inspired Zuckerman's solitary journey into literature. The third connection is with a young biographer eager to uncover Lonoff's "great secret," pulling Zuckerman into a web of love, loss, and rivalry that he had hoped to avoid. As he navigates these relationships, Zuckerman grapples with themes of desire, mourning, and the complexities of human connection. This narrative reflects Roth's signature style and thematic depth, marking a significant evolution in his exploration of fiction.

Il destino di scrittore di Budd Schulberg si intreccia con una scabra epopea dell’America amara. Figlio del tycoon della Paramount e prediletto di Hollywood, ha dato vita a capolavori come Il colosso d’argilla e Fronte del porto, ma è anche un comunista colpito dal maccartismo. Spesso ha scelto Hollywood come osservatorio ideale, esplorando i retrobottega degli studios, simboli di una leggenda americana frenetica e impietosa. In questo contesto, Schulberg ha dedicato due romanzi a questa dualità. Il primo, Perché corre Sammy?, narra la nascita della leggenda attraverso un piccolo fattorino ebreo che diventa un potente produttore, sacrificando la sua umanità per l’ambizione. Il secondo, I disincantati, esplora la morte di una leggenda. Qui, un grande scrittore dimenticato, travolto dalla crisi del ’29, si lascia umiliare in un ultimo misero lavoro da sceneggiatore. L’opera di Schulberg è intrisa di autobiografia, e I disincantati è segnato dall’incontro reale con Francis Scott Fitzgerald, osservato mentre si consuma. Nel 1939, un produttore avverte Schulberg che Fitzgerald sta lavorando sulla sua sceneggiatura, rivelando che la leggenda è ancora viva, ma in una condizione di decadimento.

The tragic impact of the Vietnam War on a relationship between father and daughter. The father is an upstanding individual who believes in the American Dream, but his daughter has a different dream, to get America out of Vietnam and she kills innocent people to achieve it. For the father it is the end of the world, he has lost his daughter. By the author of Sabbath's Theater

Ever since the first furore was created on its publication in 1929, The Sound and the Fury has been considered one of the key novels of this century. Depicting the gradual disintegration of the Compson family through four fractured narratives, T

David, white-haired & over 60, is a TV culture critic & lecturer at a New York college. He meets Consuela, a 24-year-old student, daughter of wealthy Cuban exiles, who puts his life into erotic disorder & haunts him for the next eight years.

Damage is the gripping story of a man’s desperate obsession and scandalous love affair. He is a man who appears to have everything: wealth, a beautiful wife and children, and a prestigious political career in Parliament. But his life lacks passion, and his aching emptiness drives him to an all-consuming, and ultimately catastrophic, relationship with his son’s fiancée. Chilling and brilliant, Damage is a masterpiece—a daring look at the dangers of obsession and the depth of its shattering consequences.

A corporate lawyer from the House of Single & Single is shot dead in cold blood on a Turkish hillside for crimes that he does not understand. A children's entertainer in Devon is hauled to his local bank late at night to explain a monumental influx of cash. A Russian freighter is arrested in the Black Sea. A celebrated London financier has disappeared into thin air. A British customs officer is on a trail of corruption and murder. SINGLE & SINGLE is a thrilling journey of the contemporary human heart - intimate, magical, riotous and subtly architected, showing us John le Carré at the height of his dramatic and creative powers.

V prvej časti autor opisuje život maliara Thomasa Hudsona na ostrove Bimini ležiacom v Golfskom prúde, kde jeho osamelosť naruší návšteva synov. Druhá časť sa odohráva o niekoľko rokov neskôr na Kube počas vojny, kde sa Hudson zúčastňuje na tajných akciách v boji proti nemeckým ponorkám. Záverečná časť je situovaná na palubu prieskumného člna pátrajúceho po stroskotancoch potopenej nemeckej ponorky.

Harry Trellman, hlavná postava Bellowovho príbehu, má nepreniknuteľnú tvár Číňana, zu ktorou sa však skrýva analytický um a vdačné srdce. Stávu sa členom mozgového trustu starého miliardára Adletského, zabáva i skľučuje ho svojimi bystrými pozorovaniami. V strede Harryho záujmu akoby vždy stála Amy, do ktorej bol zaľúbený už od školských čias. Po rokoch, keď sa vídali i nevídali, nastal čas bilancovania...

Classic / British English Edgar Allan Poe, 'the father of the detective story' and a master of horror, is one of the greatest American short story writers. In these stories we meet people struggling with fear, revenge, mental illness and death. Which of them will win -- and which will lose -- their battles?

Un episodio di guerriglia durante la guerra civile spagnola, un ponte che deve essere fatto saltare, un piccolo gruppo di partigiani uniti dall'unica speranza che "un giorno ogni pericolo sia vinto e il paese sia un posto dove si vive bene"; in mezzo a tutto questo, Robert Jordan, il dinamitardo, l'inglés giunto da Madrid per organizzare la distruzione del ponte. Robert è un irregolare nell'esercito repubblicano, un intellettuale votato a una causa che, tra mille dubbi, egli sente non meno sua degli altri: perché al di là di ogni errore e di ogni violenza ci sia pace e libertà per tutti.