We all know that sequels can be a problem. Especially if your first novel happens to have been "Catch-22", breathtaking and one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century. Millions of copies sold and a phrase added to the language! The Big Read by the BBC ranked Catch-22 as number 11 on a web poll of the UK's best-loved book. The Observer listed Catch-22 as one of the 100 greatest... Read More
“Catch-22” is a satirical novel by American author Joseph Heller, the son of poor Jewish parents. Heller wanted to be a writer from an early age. His experiences as a bombardier during World War II inspired Catch-22. While sitting at home one morning in 1953, Heller thought of the lines, "It was love at first sight. The first time he saw the chaplain, fell madly in love with him." Within the ne... Read More
There's a reason why Pygmalion's been turned into a movie, a musical, and a movie musical. Shaw wrote the play in early 1912 and read it to famed actress Mrs Patrick Campbell in June. She came on board almost immediately, but her mild nervous breakdown contributed to the delay of a London production. Pygmalion premiered at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913, in a German translatio... Read More
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. Since Shaw's death scholarly and critical opinion has varied about his works, but he has regularly been rated as second only to Shakespeare among British dramatists; analysts recognise his extensive influe... Read More
Thomas Hardy is one of Britain’s greatest authors. Considered a Victorian realist, Hardy examines the social constraints on the lives of those living in Victorian England. Wessex Tales, a collection of short stories including The Three Strangers, The Withered Arm and Fellow Townsmen, deal with a number of timeless themes seen so often in Hardy’s work, including marriage, class, revenge and disa... Read More
Jane Austen, for some, is simply the supreme English novelist, on any list. Some will say: she is the greatest. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Of... Read More
Walter Scott noted Austen's "resistance to the trashy sensationalism of much of modern fiction - 'the ephemeral productions which supply the regular demand of watering places and circulating libraries'". Yet her rejection of these genres is complex, as evidenced by Northanger Abbey and Emma. Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be completed for publication, in 1803. However... Read More
O. Henry's work is wide-ranging, and his characters can be found everywhere. The Cop and the Anthem has only one character who is given a name, the protagonist "Soapy." Furthermore, no last name is given. It is made clear that Soapy is homeless, a member of the substantial army of and women who flocked to New York City during the earliest years of the twentieth century. When it's warm, Soapy li... Read More
Few people are familiar with the name William Sydney Porter, but, just as many remember Mark Twain and not Samuel L. Clemens, Porter is well known by the pen name O. Henry. He was living the routine life of a young pharmacist who dazzled people with his artistic drawing ability, creativity that successfully translated into literature. During his most prolific years, O. Henry was compared to the... Read More
An American short story writer William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Porter used a number of pen names in the early part of his writing career. Nevertheless, the name "O. Henry" seemed to garner the most attention from editors and the public, and was used exclusively by Porter for his writing by about 1902. T... Read More
William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. His stories were distinguished for their witty approach, use of words, effects of coincidence on their characters and most often for their surprise endings. His tales often dramatized the commonplace, especially the life of commoners of New York City. O. Henry was also a music enthusiast and a good... Read More
O. Henry, pseudonym of William Sydney Porter, was American author of hundreds of short stories. His works are well known throughout the world, noted for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings. O. Henry chose to write as people spoke, with colloquialisms woven into the characters' voices. He uses normal, real-life situations and the key to their impact. Some of his best... Read More
O. Henry, a former convict, is best known for his witty short stories with unexpected endings. Born William Sydney Porter, this author decided to use a pen name for his writings while he was in prison and afterwards. Now known as O. Henry, it is quite clear that he was inspired by the twists and turns of his own life. In many of his pieces, O. Henry used his own life and wit as inspiration to... Read More
William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry, was an American short story writer. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. As a child, Porter was always reading, everything from classics to dime novels; his favourite works were Lane's translation of One Thousand and One Nights and Burton... Read More
O. Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter. O. Henry short stories are known for wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings. The reputation of O. Henry never accepted in serious literary criticism. But only he could write stories that could make people laugh as much as they do and feel speechless. Stories with gentle, warm-hearted characters and ironic... Read More
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish writer, poet, theatre director, and literary translator. He was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". Murphy, Samuel Beckett's first published novel, was written in English and published in London in 1938. Beckett himself subsequentl... Read More
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish novelist and playwright, who was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". Also, he was elected Saoi of Aosdána in 1984. During the 15 years following the WWII, Beckett produced four major full-length stage plays: En attendant Godot, Fin... Read More
John Steinbeck, the author of such classics as Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, and East of Eden, remains firmly planted in the souls of his readers today. In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America. The idea was that he, pretty much depleted as a novelist, would travel alone, stay at campgrounds and reconnect himself with the country by... Read More
John Ernst Steinbeck was an American author, who wrote 27 books, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row, and epic East of Eden. In the 1930s and 1940s, Ed Ricketts strongly influenced Steinbeck's writing. Steinbeck frequently took small trips with Ricketts along the California coast... Read More
Tom Sharpe was an English satirical novelist, best known for his Wilt series, as well as Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape. He was born in 1928 and educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge and did his National Service in the Marines before going to South Africa in 1951, where he did social work before teaching in Natal. His childhood was influenced by Nazi ideology,... Read More