Vyprávění o životě učitelů v pohraničí na severozápadní Moravě v době první republiky. Velkohubý šovinismus, sokolování, sbírková žebrota, lži o sociální spravedlnosti a hlavně bída, to vše formuje životy místních obyvatel. V takovém prostředí žije hrdina knihy, učitel Koukol. Celou duší věří v komunismus, ale je příliš mlád a nešťastný, aby nepropadl tehdy módnímu anarchismu alespoň způsobem svého života. Přestože originál byl napsán v roce 1933 k prvnímu vydání došlo teprve v roce 1961.
The narrative centers on Esther van Gobseck, a courtesan navigating the complexities of 19th-century Parisian society. Known as La Torpille, she rises to prominence despite a tumultuous past linked to the criminal underworld and rival courtesans vying for wealthy patrons. The story intricately weaves themes of love, power, and social hypocrisy, highlighting the double standards faced by women in a male-dominated world. Balzac's vivid prose and complex characters offer a profound exploration of human experience and societal critique in this timeless classic.
Prompted by his theories of heredity and environment, Zola set out to show Nana, "the golden fly," rising out of the underworld to feed on society—a predetermined product of her origins. Nana's latent destructiveness is mirrored in the Empire's, and they reflect each others' disintegration and final collapse in 1890. Built around the book's scientific skeleton is a powerful, sensual atmosphere, and a rich use of words which elevate the novel beyond the realistic platform into a "poem of male desires."
Complex psychological portrait of one woman's relentless search for the rapture of being alive. Emma Bovary, one of literature's first modern heroines, seeks escape in disastrous affairs. Flaubert, who brought watchmaker-like craftsmanship to writing, spent five years on this masterpiece.