Voltaire’s brilliant parody of the ideological notion that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds [1], ironically sub-titled "Optimism", that was written in three incredibly productive days(!) and has retained its charm, its venom and its Enlightenment message for mankind ever since.
This 34,000-word English translation was done by an unidentified translator for an edition of Candide that was printed in New York in 1908.
An e-book, with the original text in an annex, is (…)
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"Candide" by Voltaire (1759)
3 January 2022, by Voltaire -
"The Wonderful Story of Peter Schlemihl" by Adelbert von Chamisso (1814)
27 December 2021, by Adelbert von ChamissoAt the very beginning of this justly-famous story the young Peter Schlemihl becomes so alarmed by the amazing powers of a very strange man at a social gathering that he runs away, only to be pursued by the man in question, who insistently offers him an ever-renewable purse in exchange for his shadow.
When he finally succumbs to the insistency of the diabolical fellow he discovers that in spite of his unlimited supply of money he is an object of ridicule and abhorrence to one and all (…) -
"The Judgement (Das Urteil)" by Franz Kafka (1913)
6 December 2021, by Franz KafkaA subtle shocker written in Kafka’s detached, almost otherworldly way, where a man-to-man conversation between a father and son brings out long-suppressed thoughts and attitudes and hitherto-hidden facts, and quasi-instantaneously triggers off a final catastrophic conclusion to what had seemingly been a straightforward and even banal relationship.
A fictional counterpart to Kafka’s long, real-life letter to his own father that was published posthumously as Letter to Father.
(4,200 words) (…) -
"The Marble Statue" by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1819)
1 November 2021, by Joseph Freiherr von EichendorffFlorio is a young poet traveling through Italy who on coming to the ancient town of Lucca meets in rapid succession a boisterous fellow poet and singer, a beautiful young Greek maiden, a strange cavalier and a mysterious and somewhat evanescent lady who bears a strange resemblance to a lovely statue he comes across one night in the splendid countryside around that ancient centre of Renaissance civilisation.
All of these encounters are imbued with a sense of mystery and even (…) -
"A Country Doctor" by Franz Kafka (1918)
23 September 2021, by Franz KafkaAn elderly country doctor is called at night to come to the bedside of a suffering young man ten miles away, but the mission is surrounded by difficulties from the start: there’s a snowstorm raging outside and his only horse has just died from over-exertion in the freezing winter. But although powerful horses and a groom miraculously appear and the passage to the sick man’s hut mysteriously takes place quasi-instantaneously, things nevertheless go from bad to worse both for the sick youth (…)
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"Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" - 12 Tales by Stephen Leacock (1912)
13 September 2021, by Steven LeacockStephen Leacock (1869-1944), a distinguished university professor [1] brought up on a farm in central Ontario, Canada, was and no doubt remains the most-read and most-loved Canadian humorist, and this famous set of tales about life in a typical town in those there parts in the early part of the 19th century remains as amusing and enjoyable as when it first achieved international attention and acclaim a century ago. He’s still the funniest writer around!
(60,500 words)
An e-book of this (…) -
"A Hunger Artist" by Franz Kafka (1922)
10 September 2021, by Franz KafkaWritten in 1922 and published as the title story in the first collection of his stories to be published after his death two years later, this account of a man’s determined and obsessive drive to surpass himself in the art of fasting explores the theme of eating in a calmly compelling way tinged with Kafkaesque strangeness and intimations of the inutility of ambition, achievement and acclaim.
(3,900 words)
Translated specially for this site. An e-book of this story, with the original text (…) -
"Don Juan" by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1813)
5 August 2021, by E. T. A. HoffmannA traveling salesman discovers that his hotel room leads directly to a private lodge in the neighbouring theatre, where a performance of Mozart’s opera “Don Juan” is about to be given. Delighted, the music lover rushes over to the lodge, where not only is the performance exceptional, but where he also has a quasi-supernatural encounter with Donna Anna herself, the outraged and distressed victim of the infernal charmer Don Juan.
The story enables the future author of The Life and Opinions (…) -
"The Golden Pot" by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1819)
12 July 2021, by E. T. A. HoffmannAn extravagant fairy-tale for grown-ups, the story of how the student Anselmus blundered his way to eternal happiness through a maze of mysterious not to say magical water-snakes, elder-trees, a golden pot and fantastic events of all sorts – one of the most brilliant and successful stories of the celebrated master of German Romanticism.
A really terrific fable with a touch of the fantastic – you are just swept along, caught up by the author’s enthusiasm and irresistible charm and the way (…) -
"Little Zaches, called Zinnober" by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1819)
9 July 2021, by E. T. A. HoffmannLittle Zaches is a very small, misshapen, evil-tempered, utterly selfish and vainglorious little boy who’s a complete burden to his poverty-stricken mother, until one day the kindly Fräulein von Rosenschön — actually the Fairy Rosabelverde in the shape of the mistress of a convent — takes pity on him, so that somehow, once he’s sort-of grown up (in years but hardly in size or beauty) all of the outstanding acts and achievements of everyone in his surroundings are credited to him, and he is (…)