Чортова дванадцятка — досить змстовна й влучна характеристика збрки жахв за редакцю неперевершеного Ствена Джонса! Пд одню обкладинкою збран 12 гостроцкавих оповдань менитих майстрв горору. Дж. Гаррс, К. Ньюман, М. рей, Р. Кемпбелл та нш гарантують вам безсонну нч в атмосфер тамничост й мстики… Подейкують, що в паризькому Театр Жаху влаштовують кривав вистави. Тридцятидвохрчна Кейт Рд пдбралася надто близько до розгадки… (Гньоль) Вдомий актор Даррен Ловр на пку популярност… був, аж доки не розгнвав вдьму! (Забуття)Chortova dvanadcjatka — dosit' zmstovna j vluchna harakteristika zbrki zhahv za redakcju neperevershenogo Stvena Dzhonsa! Pd odnju obkladinkoju zbran 12 gostrockavih opovdan' menitih majstrv gororu. Dzh. Garrs, K. N'juman, M. rej, R. Kempbell ta nsh garantujut' vam bezsonnu nch v atmosfer tamnichost j mstiki… Podejkujut', shho v pariz'komu Teatr Zhahu vlashtovujut' krivav vistavi. Tridcjatidvohrchna Kejt Rd pdbralasja nadto bliz'ko do rozgadki… (Gn'ol') Vdomij aktor Darren Lovr na pku populjarnost… buv, azh doki ne rozgnvav vd'mu! (Zabuttja)

In 1861 Captain Grant succeeded Captain Burgess on Matinicus, taking his son with him as assistant. The old keeper left Abby on the rock to instruct the newcomers in their duties, and she performed the task so well that young Grant fell in love with her, and asked her to become his wife. Soon after their marriage she was appointed an assistant keeper. A few years later the husband was made keeper and the wife assistant keeper of White Head, another light on the Maine coast. There they remained until the spring of 1890, when they removed to Middleborough, Mass., intending to pass the balance of their days beyond sight and hearing of the rocks and the waves. But the hunger which the sea breeds in its adopted children was still strong within them, and the fall of 1892 found them again on the coast of Maine, this time at Portland, where the husband again entered the lighthouse establishment, working in the engineers' department of the first lighthouse district. With them until his death lived Captain Grant, who in the closing months of 1890, being then aged eighty-five, retired from the position of keeper of Matinicus light, which he had held for nearly thirty years. Not less lonely, but far more perilous than the life of the keepers of a light like that on Matinicus is the lot of the crew of the South Shoal lightship, whose position twenty-six miles off Sankaty Head, Nantucket Island, makes it the most exposed light-station in the world. Anchored so far out at sea, it is only during the months of summer and autumn that the lighthouse tender ventures to visit it, and its crew from December to May of each year are wholly cut off from communication with the land. It is this, however, that makes the South Shoal lightship a veritable protecting angel of the deep, for it stands guard not only over the treacherous New South Shoal, near which it is anchored, but over twenty-six miles of rips and reefs between it and the Nantucket shore—a wide-reaching ocean graveyard, where bleach the bones of more than a half thousand wrecked and forgotten vessels. The lightship is a stanchly built two-hulled schooner of 275 tons burden, 103 feet long over all, equipped with fore-and-aft lantern masts 71 feet high, and with two masts for sails, each 42 feet high. The lanterns are octagons of glass in copper frames, so arranged that they can be lowered into houses built around the masts. In the forward part of the ship is a huge fog bell, swung ten feet above the deck, which, when foggy weather prevails, as it frequently does for weeks at a time, is kept tolling day and night. A two-inch chain fastened to a "mushroom" anchor weighing upward of three tons holds the vessel in eighteen fathoms of water, but this, so fiercely do the waves beat against it in winter, has not prevented her from going adrift many times. She was two weeks at sea on one of these occasions, and on another she came to anchor in New York Harbor. Life on the South Shoal lightship is at all times a hard and trying one, and, as a matter of fact, the crew are instructed not to expose themselves to danger outside their special line of duty. This, however, does not deter them from frequently risking their lives in rescuing others, and when, several years ago, the City of Newcastle went ashore on one of the shoals near the lightship, all hands, twenty-seven in number, were saved by the South Shoal crew and kept aboard of her over two weeks, until the story of the wreck was signalled to a passing vessel. Isaac H. Grant holds a silver medal given him by the Government for rescuing two men from drowning while he was keeper at White Head; while Frederick Hatch, keeper of the Breakwater station at Cleveland was awarded the gold bar. The last mentioned badge of honor is granted only to one who has twice distinguished himself by a special act of bravery. It was given Hatch in the winter of 1898.

Not many years ago the group Insecta was held even by Zoologists to include numberless small creatures—centipedes, spiders, mites, etc.—which further study has shown to present essential differences of structure, and in popular language any fairly minute animal is still an insect, just as any insect is popularly a “fly”—or, in the United States, a “bug.” Scientifically the use of the term Insect is now much restricted, though still extensive enough in all conscience, since it includes many more than a quarter of a million known species. Zoologists recognise a large group of animals characterised by having no internal skeleton but a more or less firm external coating of a peculiar substance called chitin, often strengthened by calcareous deposits, which necessitates the presence of joints in their bodies, and especially in their limbs if they are to move freely, just as medieval suits of armour required to be jointed. These are the Arthropoda. One subdivision of this group consists of aquatic animals, breathing by gills, and known as Crustacea. Crabs, lobsters, shrimps and “water-fleas” are familiar examples, and with the exception of the so-called land-crabs the only Crustaceans habitually found on land are wood-lice. The other Arthropoda are air-breathing, and since their characteristic breathing organs are branching tubes known as tracheae, the term Tracheata is sometimes used to include them all. They fall naturally into three divisions, the Myriapoda, the Insecta and the Arachnida, and it is in this last-named division that we shall find the spiders. The Myriapoda are the centipedes and millipedes, and having said this we may dismiss them, for insects and arachnids are strictly limited as to legs; and no myriapod can ever be mistaken for a spider. The Arachnida are so varied in structure that it is not easy to give characteristics common to them all, and to any general statement there are bound to be exceptions, but for practical purposes it may be said that while an insect, when mature, has only six legs, and a pair of feelers or antennae of quite different structure, Arachnids have normally eight legs, and their feeling organs are not antennae but leg-like “pedipalps.”

Жасмин, двадцатичетырехлетняя красавица-американка, приезжает в Англию на Рождество погостить у родственников. Герцог Харли подарил ей жеребца, и она решает прокатится верхом. Но из-за разыгравшейся метели ее едва не сбивает машина, за рулем которой сидел граф Сомертон. Через некоторое время, волею судьбы, Жасмин опять встретится с графом, который приютит ее в своем замке после падения с лошади… Эта встреча навсегда изменит их жизнь и подарит им настоящую любовь… Zhasmin, dvadcatichetyrehletnjaja krasavica-amerikanka, priezzhaet v Angliju na Rozhdestvo pogostit' u rodstvennikov. Gercog Harli podaril ej zherebca, i ona reshaet prokatitsja verhom. No iz-za razygravshejsja meteli ee edva ne sbivaet mashina, za rulem kotoroj sidel graf Somerton. Cherez nekotoroe vremja, voleju sud'by, Zhasmin opjat' vstretitsja s grafom, kotoryj prijutit ee v svoem zamke posle padenija s loshadi… Jeta vstrecha navsegda izmenit ih zhizn' i podarit im nastojashhuju ljubov'…

A NEW AND FACETIOUS INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH TONGUEBy Percival LeighEmbellished with upwards of forty-five Characteristic IllustrationsBy JOHN LEECH. Fashion requires, and like the rest of her sex, requires because she requires, that before a writer begins the business of his book, he should give an account to the world of his reasons for producing it; and therefore, to avoid singularity, we shall proceed with the statement of our own, excepting only a few private ones, which are neither here nor there. To advance the interests of mankind by promoting the cause of Education; to ameliorate the conversation of the masses; to cultivate Taste, and diffuse Refinement; these are the objects we have in view in submitting a Comic English Grammar to the patronage of a discerning Public. Few persons there are, whose ears are so extremely obtuse, as not to be frequently annoyed at the violations of Grammar by which they are so often assailed. It is really painful to be forced, in walking along the streets, to hear such phrases as, "That 'ere omnibus." "Where've you bin?" "Vot's the odds?" and the like. Very dreadful expressions are also used by cartmen and others in addressing their horses. What can possibly induce a human being to say "Gee woot!" "'Mather way!" or "Woa not to mention the atrocious "Kim aup!" of the barbarous butcher's boy. It is notorious that the above and greater enormities are perpetrated in spite of the number of Grammars already before the world. This fact sufficiently excuses the present addition to the stock; and as serious English Grammars have hitherto failed to effect the desired reformation, we are induced to attempt it by means of a Comic one. With regard to the moral tendency of our labors, we may be here permitted to remark, that they will tend, if successful, to the suppression of evil speaking ; and as the Spartans used to exhibit a tipsy slave to their children with a view to disgust them with drunkenness, and We will not allow a man to give an old woman a dose of rhubarb if he have not acquired at least half a dozen sciences; but we permit a quack to sell as much poison as he pleases. When one man runs away with another's wife, and, being on that account challenged to fight a duel, shoots the aggrieved party through the head, the latter is said to receive satisfaction. We never take a glass of wine at dinner without getting somebody else to do the same, as if we wanted encouragement; and then, before we venture to drink, we bow to each other across the table, preserving all the while a most wonderful gravity. This, however, it may be said, is the natural result of endeavoring to keep one another in countenance. The way in which we imitate foreign manners and customs is very amusing. Savages stick fish-bones through their noses; our fair countrywomen have hoops of metal poked through their ears. The Caribs flatten the forehead; the Chinese compress the foot; and we possess similar contrivances for reducing the figure of a young lady to a resemblance to an hour-glass or a devil-on-two-sticks. There being no other assignable motive for these and the like proceedings, it is reasonable to suppose that they are adopted, as schoolboys say, "for fun." We could go on, were it necessary, adducing facts to an almost unlimited extent; but we consider that enough has now been said in proof of the comic character of the national mind. And in conclusion, if any other than an English or American author can be produced, equal in point of wit, humor, and drollery, to Swift, Sterne, Dickens, or Paulding, we hereby engage to eat him; albeit we have no pretensions to the character of a "helluo librorum." "English Grammar," according to Lindley Murray, "is the art of speaking and writing the English language with propriety." The English language, written and spoken with propriety, is commonly called the King's English.

To my thinking, all modern English books on the Devil and his works are unsatisfactory. They all run in the same groove, give the same cases of witchcraft, and, moreover, not one of them is illustrated. I have endeavoured to remedy this by localizing my facts, and by reproducing all the engravings I could find suitable to my purpose. I have also tried to give a succinct account of demonology and witchcraft in England and America, by adducing authorities not usually given, and by a painstaking research into old cases, carefully taking everything from original sources, and bringing to light very many cases never before republished. For the benefit of students, I have given—as an Appendix—a list of the books consulted in the preparation of this work, which, however, the student must remember is not an exhaustive bibliography on the subject, but only applies to this book, whose raison d’être is its localization. The frontispiece is supposed to be the only specimen of Satanic caligraphy in existence, and is[Pg vi] taken from the ‘Introductio in Chaldaicam Linguam,’ etc., by Albonesi (Pavia, 1532). The author says that by the conjuration of Ludovico Spoletano the Devil was called up, and adjured to write a legible and clear answer to a question asked him. Some invisible power took the pen, which seemed suspended in the air, and rapidly wrote what is facsimiled. The writing was given to Albonesi (who, however, confesses that no one can decipher it), and his chief printer reproduced it very accurately. I am told by experts that in some of the characters may be found a trace of Amharic, a language spoken in its purity in the province of Amhara (Ethiopia), and which, according to a legend, was the primeval language spoken in Eden. JOHN ASHTON. CHAPTER IUniversal Belief in the Personality of the Devil, as portrayed by the British Artist—Arguments in Favour of his Personality—Ballad—‘Terrible and Seasonable Warning to Young Men.’ The belief in a good and evil influence has existed from the earliest ages, in every nation having a religion. The Egyptians had their Typho, the Assyrians their Ti-a-mat (the Serpent), the Hebrews their Beelzebub, or Prince of Flies,[1] and the Scandinavians their Loki. And many religions teach that the evil influence has a stronger hold upon mankind than the good influence—so great, indeed, as to nullify it in a large degree. Christianity especially teaches this: ‘Enter ye by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.’ This doctrine of the great power of the Devil, or evil influence over man, is preached from every pulpit, under every form of Christianity, throughout the world; and although at the present time it is only confined to the greater moral power of the Devil over man, at an earlier period it was an article of belief that he was able to exercise a greater physical power. This was coincident with a belief in his personality; and it is only in modern times that that personality takes an alluring form. In the olden days the Devil was always depicted as ugly and repulsive as the artist could represent him, and yet he could have learned a great deal from the modern Chinese and Japanese. The ‘great God Pan,’ although he was dead, was resuscitated in order to furnish a type for ‘the Prince of Darkness’; and, accordingly, he was portrayed with horns, tail and cloven feet, making him an animal, according to a mot attributed to Cuvier, ‘graminivorous, and decidedly ruminant’; while, to complete his classical ensemble, he was invested with the forked sceptre of Pluto, only supplemented with another tine.

Mon Agent Андрея М. Мелехова – третий роман об Аналитике. Как и предыдущие книги серии – Malaria и Analyste – Mon Agent представляет из себя необычную комбинацию приключенческого романа и мистического триллера. Он предлагает читателю не только получить удовольствие от весьма неожиданных поворотов нескольких сюжетных линий, но и задуматься над широким кругом философских, религиозных и мировоззренческих проблем, волнующих современного человека.Действие романа происходит в Лондоне и Москве, в Раю и в Преисподней. Его персонажами являются террористы и агенты спецслужб, герои Библии и герои тайных операций, великие пророки прошлого и политики настоящего, ангелы Божьи и слуги Сатаны, люди и говорящие животные. В произведении нашлось место большой любви и большой ненависти, острой политической сатире и тонкому юмору. Как и все книги Мелехова, Mon Agent написан для тех, кто способен подвергнуть сомнению догмы, стереотипы и предубеждения, кто может рассмеяться, говоря даже о весьма серьёзных вещах. Если вы хотите узнать, чем простые (и непростые!) смертные смогли помочь вдруг начавшим стареть и умирать обитателям Рая и как отнеслись бы сегодня люди к новому пришествию Христа – эта книга для вас, читатель! Вам предлагается новая редакция романа.

Daylight sometimes hides secrets that darkness will reveal—the Martian's glowing eyes, for instance. But darkness has other dangers.... Joseph Heidel looked slowly around the dinner table at the five men, hiding his examination by a thin screen of smoke from his cigar. He was a large man with thick blond-gray hair cut close to his head. In three more months he would be fifty-two, but his face and body had the vital look of a man fifteen years younger. He was the President of the Superior Council, and he had been in that post—the highest post on the occupied planet of Mars—four of the six years he had lived here. As his eyes flicked from one face to another his fingers unconsciously tapped the table, making a sound like a miniature drum roll. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five top officials, selected, tested, screened on Earth to form the nucleus of governmental rule on Mars.Heidel's bright narrow eyes flicked, his fingers drummed. Which one? Who was the imposter, the ringer? Who was the Martian?Sadler's dry voice cut through the silence: "This is not just an ordinary meeting then, Mr. President?" Heidel's cigar came up and was clamped between his teeth. He stared into Sadler's eyes. "No, Sadler, it isn't. This is a very special meeting." He grinned around the cigar. "This is where we take the clothes off the sheep and find the wolf."

нод дитяч мр збуваються. Дан Таарт керу найбльшою в кран залзницею. Генк Рарден запроваджу революцйну технологю в металург. Еллс Ваятт перетворю Богом забуту землю на промисловий рай. У хнх руках — наймогутнш корпорац, що вд них залежить доля крани. Вони — сучасн атланти. хня релгя — економка, хня вдповдальнсть — тягар усього свту. Колись вони мряли змнити життя суспльства, а тепер м доводиться чути, що вся хня праця лише помножу несправедливсть. Що всм людям потрбн однаков права можливост. Спершу атланти лише знизували плечима. Але настане той день, коли м остаточно набридне тримати цей свт на свох плечах. вони пдуть.

Mr. Hungerton, her father, really was the most tactless person upon earth,—a fluffy, feathery, untidy cockatoo of a man, perfectly good-natured, but absolutely centered upon his own silly self. If anything could have driven me from Gladys, it would have been the thought of such a father-in-law. I am convinced that he really believed in his heart that I came round to the Chestnuts three days a week for the pleasure of his company, and very especially to hear his views upon bimetallism, a subject upon which he was by way of being an authority. For an hour or more that evening I listened to his monotonous chirrup about bad money driving out good, the token value of silver, the depreciation of the rupee, and the true standards of exchange. "Suppose," he cried with feeble violence, "that all the debts in the world were called up simultaneously, and immediate payment insisted upon,—what under our present conditions would happen then?" I gave the self-evident answer that I should be a ruined man, upon which he jumped from his chair, reproved me for my habitual levity, which made it impossible for him to discuss any reasonable subject in my presence, and bounced off out of the room to dress for a Masonic meeting. At last I was alone with Gladys, and the moment of Fate had come! All that evening I had felt like the soldier who awaits the signal which will send him on a forlorn hope; hope of victory and fear of repulse alternating in his mind. She sat with that proud, delicate profile of hers outlined against the red curtain. How beautiful she was! And yet how aloof! We had been friends, quite good friends; but never could I get beyond the same comradeship which I might have established with one of my fellow-reporters upon the Gazette,—perfectly frank, perfectly kindly, and perfectly unsexual. My instincts are all against a woman being too frank and at her ease with me. It is no compliment to a man. Where the real sex feeling begins, timidity and distrust are its companions, heritage from old wicked days when love and violence went often hand in hand. The bent head, the averted eye, the faltering voice, the wincing figure—these, and not the unshrinking gaze and frank reply, are the true signals of passion. Even in my short life I had learned as much as that—or had inherited it in that race memory which we call instinct. Gladys was full of every womanly quality. Some judged her to be cold and hard; but such a thought was treason. That delicately bronzed skin, almost oriental in its coloring, that raven hair, the large liquid eyes, the full but exquisite lips,—all the stigmata of passion were there. But I was sadly conscious that up to now I had never found the secret of drawing it forth. However, come what might, I should have done with suspense and bring matters to a head to-night. She could but refuse me, and better be a repulsed lover than an accepted brother. So far my thoughts had carried me, and I was about to break the long and uneasy silence, when two critical, dark eyes looked round at me, and the proud head was shaken in smiling reproof. "I have a presentiment that you are going to propose, Ned. I do wish you wouldn't; for things are so much nicer as they are." I drew my chair a little nearer. "Now, how did you know that I was going to propose?" I asked in genuine wonder."Don't women always know? Do you suppose any woman in the world was ever taken unawares? But—oh, Ned, our friendship has been so good and so pleasant! What a pity to spoil it! Don't you feel how splendid it is that a young man and a young woman should be able to talk face to face as we have talked?" "I don't know, Gladys. You see, I can talk face to face with—with the station-master." I can't imagine how that official came into the matter; but in he trotted, and set us both laughing. "That does not satisfy me in the least. I want my arms round you, and your head on my breast, and—oh, Gladys, I want——"

Enigma unor crime sângeroase din secolul al XVII?lea, tradi?ii africane aduse de sclavi, o confrerie secret? – toate acestea se împletesc în firul unei pove?ti spuse de diferi?i protagoni?ti, într?un amestec de perspective ?i rase care red? îns??i esen?a Braziliei. Iar deasupra tuturor se profileaz? figura misterioasei regine Jinga.

Bipoláris érzelmi zavar – hangzik a kórházi pszichiáter diagnózisa… Gyógyíthatatlan mentális betegség. Péceli Rita megrémül: ezek szerint élete végéig ?bolond” marad? Rita kezdetben megpróbálja ott folytatni, ahol a diagnózis el?tt abbahagyta. ?m széls?séges érzelmi hullámzásai alatt rossz d?ntéseket hoz, rossz kapcsolatokat k?t, elveszíti szerelmét, és biztos állása, megélhetése is veszélybe kerül. Egy éven belül háromszor kell befeküdnie a pszichiátriára. Rita a sok szenvedés hatására végül úgy d?nt, felveszi a keszty?t, és szembenéz a betegséggel. Vajon siker koronázza-e az er?feszítéseit, és képes lesz-e együtt élni a betegséggel, ha megfogadja segít?i tanácsait? ?lhet-e majd ezután is teljes érték? életet? S ami talán a legfontosabb: megtalálja-e a boldogságot? A regény igaz t?rténet alapján íródott. ?– Talán én nem tettem meg mindent – vallottam be halkan. – ?s félek, nem is fogok tudni megtenni. Pedig nem akarok újra kórházba kerülni. – Látja, most megfogalmazta a célját – mosolygott a szem?ld?két felhúzva Kamilla. – Higgye el, sikerülni fog. Kételkedve sóhajtottam fel, de akkor és ott megmozdult bennem valami. Elt?kéltem: mindent meg fogok tenni, nehogy megint a pszichiátrián k?ssek ki. – Az els? lépés, hogy elfogadják magukat – folytatta a pszichológus. – ?gy, ahogy vannak. A betegségüket. Ne vádolják magukat érte, ne érezzék szégyenbélyegnek, ne tagadják el saját maguk el?l, ha baj van. Maguk ugyanolyan értékes emberek, mint bárki más.”

Egy vicces, olykor megható szerelmes k?nyvet tart a kezében az olvasó. A t?rténetekb?l megtudhatjuk, hányféleképpen lehet n?ként csalódni úgy, hogy annak még a távoli Amerikában, a Szex és New York-sorozat hazájában is híre menjen. S miért a sok koppanás? Mert az ember lánya gyakran minden szerencse és f?leg ?nismeret híján halászgat a zavarosban. Ilyenkor bizony el?fordul, hogy a kiszemelt férfi nem éppen álmaink hercege, csak mi képzeltük róla, hogy ? a nagy ?. Ismer?s a szituáció? Fel a fejjel, azaz talpra, és indulás tovább! A végállomás csakis a boldogság lehet. ?…az el?szoba fel?l kulcsz?rgés hallatszott, majd nevetés harsant, amire vékonyka hang felelt. Egy n? és egy gyerek léphetett be a lakásba. Zoltán egész testében lemerevedett, majd odasúgta Helgának: – Ez Rozi a fiammal. Egy nappal el?bb hazahozta. A francba! Bújj el gyorsan, nehogy meglásson, kül?nben kikaparja a szemedet. Menj ki az erkélyre, én majd behúzom a s?tétít? függ?nyt. – Neked barátn?d van? – tátotta el a száját Helga. – Exbarátn?m, de nem hagy békét. Minden n?t elüld?z mell?lem. Na, menj már ki! Helgának azonban esze ágában sem volt az erkélyen kuksolni, amíg az ismeretlen n? el nem hagyja a terepet. Nekid?lt a konyhapultnak, karjait keresztbe fonta. – T?lem aztán megláthat – mondta kimérten. – ?n nem félek senkit?l, és senki el?l nem fogok bujkálni. – Ha neked esik, magadra vess – vetette oda a férfi idegesen. – ?n el?re szóltam.”

National Book Critics Circle Award 2005 pentru carte de nonfic?iune. Premiul pentru Pace Erich-Maria-Remarque, 2001 Carte interzis? ?n Bielorusia ?Explozia reactorului num?rul 4 va deveni cel mai mare dezastru nuclear civil din istoria omenirii. Zona este o realitate ?n toat? monstruozitatea ei. La fel ca ?n cartea SF a fra?ilor Struga?ki, Picnic la marginea drumului, Zona este un infern pe p?m?nt, guvernat de propriile legi. Aici danseaz? lumini deasupra c?mpului, praful ridicat de v?nt are culori ciudate, se nasc copii cu muta?ii genetice, popula?ia a fost evacuat?, regiunea, interzis? ?i p?zit? de patrule militare, dar oameni stranii ?i-au f?cut din Zon? locul ?n care tr?iesc. Ei sunt C?l?uzele reale ?n Zona reactorului de la Cernob?l.“ – Ion M. Ioni?? C?nd fra?ii Arkadi ?i Boris Struga?ki publicau ?n 1972 celebrul lor roman SF Picnic la marginea drumului, nu ?i-ar fi putut imagina, nici ?n cele mai negre vise, c? Zona descris? ?n roman va deveni realitate paisprezece ani mai t?rziu, ?n ?ara lor, URSS. Conform ideologiei oficiale, Zona nu avea cum s? apar? ?n patria sovietelor. Doar URSS construia cele mai sigure reactoare nucleare din lume care ?ar fi putut fi instalate chiar ?n Pia?a Ro?ie, at?t de fiabile erau“. Nu a fost a?a. Pe 26 aprilie 1986, lumea avea s? intre ?n epoca Cernob?l. Explozia reactorului num?rul patru va deveni cel mai mare dezastru nuclear civil din istoria omenirii. Zona este o realitate ?n toat? monstruozitatea ei. La fel ca ?n cartea SF a fra?ilor Struga?ki, Zona este un infern pe p?m?nt, guvernat de propriile legi. Aici lumini danseaz? deasupra c?mpului, praful ridicat de v?nt are culori ciudate, se nasc copii cu muta?ii genetice, popula?ia a fost evacuat?, regiunea, interzis? ?i p?zit? de patrule militare, dar oameni stranii ?i-au f?cut din Zon? locul ?n care tr?iesc. ?O istorie oral? mi?c?toare a catastrofei din 1986 de la reactorul nuclear de la Cernob?l, ?n care curajul fatalist ?i stoic este dublat de un umor incredibil de negru. Jurnalista rus? Svetlana Aleksievici a ?nregistrat o serie de m?rturii pe care le-a prezentat sub forma unor ?monologuri?, ?n stil romanesc, care zugr?vesc imaginea vie a atmosferei generale de nemul?umire de la sf?r?itul perioadei comuniste, ?n care liderilor de partid agresivi, propagandei paranoice ?i mobiliz?rilor haotice li se opun sarcasmul deprimant, g?ndurile amare ?i abuzul de votc?. Rezultatul este o radiografie de neuitat a sufletului rus.“ – Publishers Weekly

Voltak olyan korok, amikor az azonos nem?ek szerelme elfogadott volt. Vajon hogy lehet, hogy most, a 21. században mégse tudunk mit kezdeni ezzel a dologgal? Miért van az, hogy sokan még ma is csak a kül?nbségeket akarják látni, legyen szó akár vallásról, b?rszínr?l vagy szexuális orientációról? Sokan óvtak attól, hogy megírjam ezt a k?nyvet. Azt mondták, nem olyan világban élünk, hogy ilyenekr?l beszélni lehessen. ?n mégis azt hiszem, hogy az emberi érzéseknek, az emberi életek tanulságainak, az ember drámáinak, dilemmáinak és ?r?meinek mindig és mindenkor helye van, mert talán ezek a legfontosabbak az életben. Remélem, hogy ez a k?nyv sokaknak jelent majd segítséget, kapaszkodót és ad er?t, hogy mindenb?l, a legnehezebb élethelyzetekb?l is van kiút. Fenntartásokkal vettem kezembe ezt a k?nyvet. Nem szeretem a klikkesedést, és vallom, hogy akkor lesz majd jó világ, ha nem kell olyan k?nyveknek születnie, mint ez a mostani. De sajnos még kell. ?rz?dik a hangomban a sértettség? Talán én is sebzett vagyok? Nem tagadom. Nem egyszer? mindennap úgy kimenni az utcára, hogy legalább egyszer ne azt halljad: ?Ott j?n az a buzi a tévéb?l!” ?n mégis mindenkinek azt tanácsolom, hogy inkább ugorjon ?ssze a gyomra egy beszólástól, minthogy egész életében ?k?lbe szoruljon a fel nem vállalt élete miatt… Amikor elkezdtem olvasni ezeket az interjúkat, beszippantott, s?t beindított a sok kül?nb?z? hang. Egyre inkább úgy éreztem, hogy az egész rólam szól. Mondatok, gondolatok, apák, anyák, hülye helyzetek, szorongások, szépségek, a vágy titokzatos tárgyai, szex, szemétség, szerelem, szatíra… Heterók, biszexek, melegek és egyéb állatfajták egyaránt megtalálják a saját mondataikat ezekben a sztorikban korra, nemre való tekintet nélkül. Leny?g?z?, hogy megismételhetetlen életeink mennyire ?sszeforrnak a t?bbiek sorsával, mások t?rténetével. Ez villanyozott fel igazán! Mert eszembe jutott az els? ?barin?m” az oviból, meg az ?ikern?vérem” a gimib?l, akivel csókolóztam, és megrémültem, mert tudtam, hogy egészen másra gondolunk csók k?zben. ?s bevillant a torna?lt?z?, ahol hideg verejtékben für?dtem k?vér kisfiúként, mik?zben a nyolcadikos srácok el?ttünk ?lt?ztek át, és disznó vicceket mesélve r?h?gtek. ?s persze el?bújt az emlékeim k?zül a jelenet, amikor Spanyolországba k?lt?ztem, és apám a gyorsforgalmi úton a reptér felé megkérdezte, hogy akkor végül is meleg vagyok-e. ?s persze az anyámnak írt levél Madridból, mert neki mégis inkább tartoztam ezzel a vallomással. Aztán az els? látogatásom a picike melegbárban, biológiak?nyvemmel a kezemben – másnap az ?t?sért feleltem… Meg a nagy csalódásom a ?legjobb barátomban”, akivel a gimiben el?sz?r lefeküdtem. ?s persze eszembe jutott a ?nagy szerelem”, ami ugyanúgy nem tudott normális lenni, ahogy az egész életem sem az. Ugye, hogy ezek a helyzetek nagyjából mindenki életébe behelyettesíthet?k? A melegek csak annyiból ?mások”, amennyiben a t?bbiek annak akarják tekinteni ?ket. Ez a k?nyv azért fontos, mert mindenki megtalálhatja benne azt, ami róla szól. Lakatos Márk

Gyermeknek és feln?tteknek szóló egyetlen mese A kis herceg, a második világháborúban elpusztult s már klasszikusnak számító francia író remekm?ve. Története úgy indul, mint minden Saint-Exupéry-regény, egy repül?kalanddal, de ezúttal a bonyodalom nem a valóságban, hanem a költ?i képzelet világában folytatódik. Egy kisfiú jelenik meg a szerencsétlenül járt pilóta mellett a Szahara magányában, egy kisfiú egy másik bolygóról. S vele együtt feltündököl egy másik világ is, melynek embersége, tisztasága és szépsége sajnos már csak a költészet világából való. És Saint-Exupéry úgy beszéli el kis hercege történetét a maga icipi bolygóján, hogy mindnyájan fájdalmasan megáhítjuk azt az igazabb bolygót, s szívünkbe zárjuk az emberségben nagy kis herceget.

Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory, 2 inches square. Readers of Persuasion will discover that neither her skill for delicate, ironic observations on social custom, love, and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus lens to English manners and morals has deserted her in her final finished work.

Káprázatos, borzongtató, lélegzetelállító. T?kéletes. - Meg Rossoff Sally Gardner megd?bbent? regénye egy kegyetlen világban játszódik. Standish Treadwell - akinek kül?nb?z? szín?ek a szemei, és diszlexiája miatt nem tud írni-olvasni sem - egyetlen barátjával, Hectorral átmászik a várost k?rülvev? fal túloldalára, és ráj?nnek, mit rejteget el?lük az Anyaf?ld. Attól a pillanattól kezdve, hogy a két kamasz ráj?n egy óriási titokra, ami kapcsolatban van a Holdra szállással, az életük veszélybe kerül. Száz nagyon r?vid fejezet, t?kéletesen egyedi elbeszélésmódban, mely szinte végighajszolja az olvasót a t?rténeten, mert egyszerre izgalmas és s?tét humorú, lakatlan és borzongtató, gy?ngéd és elragadó. A Hold legs?tétebb oldala eredeti és megindító t?rténet, melyben a barátság és a bizalom az igazi fegyver. Sally Gardner Londonban n?tt fel, ma is ott él. Gyerekként maga is megküzd?tt a diszlexiával, egészen 14 éves koráig nem tanult meg sem írni, sem olvasni. Ikrei születése után kezdett regényeket publikálni, melyek a mágikus és t?rténelmi realizmus egyedi keverékei, stílusuk és témájuk kihívás az olvasóknak, akiket beszippant az általa teremtett világ. Sally szenvedélyesen hiszi, hogy a fiatal olvasókat inspirálni és szórakoztatni kell a k?nyvekkel, mint ahogy azt A Hold legs?tétebb oldala is bizonyítja, melyet számos díjjal tüntettek ki.

As a dense yellow fog swirls through the streets of London, a deep melancholy has descended on Sherlock Holmes, who sits in a cocaine-induced haze at 221B Baker Street. His mood is only lifted by a visit from a beautiful but distressed young woman - Mary Morstan, whose father vanished ten years before. Four years later she began to receive an exquisite gift every year: a large, lustrous pearl. Now she has had an intriguing invitation to meet her unknown benefactor and urges Holmes and Watson to accompany her. And in the ensuing investigation - which involves a wronged woman, a stolen hoard of Indian treasure, a wooden-legged ruffian, a helpful dog and a love affair - even the jaded Holmes is moved to exclaim, 'Isn't it gorgeous!'For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700?titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the?series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date?translations by award-winning translators.

The Sherlock Holmes series read in unabridged form by David Timson is widely regarded as one of the finest. Here, Timson brings his remarkable performance skills to one of Doyle's full-length novels. Holmes and faithful Dr. Watson are summoned to a country house by a coded message. They arrive too late to save a life, but pursue the trail to unmasking the murderer.

Pali kilencéves. Magányos otthon és az iskolában is. Egyik téli reggel aztán a mogorva újságárus csodálatos üveggolyót ad neki. Délutánra a konyhában felt?nik egy Egér, az ablakban megtelepszik egy Pók, egy Légy és egy Katica. Kik ezek és mit akarnak Palitól? Talán a rejtélyekre is fény derül, mikor egy picike kislány magával rántja a fiút a tük?rbe…