James Branch Cabell born on 14 April1879 was an American author of fantasy fiction Since his surname was often mispronounced, he composed this rhyme: “Tell the rabble my name is Cabell” to clear up pronunciation issues.His works were considered escapist: according to him truthfulness was “the one unpardonable sin, not merely against art, but against… Read More Fantasy & Optimism
Anna Sewell (born on 30 March 1820, in Norfolk, England) is a famous English novelist renowned for her best-selling novel ‘Black Beauty’ , considered as a children’s classic. Her concern with horses began early in life. At fourteen, she slipped in the rain on her way home from school and broke both her ankles. Unfortunately,… Read More Anna Sewell & Black Beauty
Please scroll down for the English version All’inizio arrivò quasi in punta di piedi e si insinuò nelle nostre vite prima che ce ne accorgessimo.Poi divenne più prepotente e divelse ogni barriera rubandoci la serenità, la salute, ma soprattutto chi era nei nostri cuori.Smettemmo di cantare dai balconi come avevamo preso a fare per sentirci… Read More LA PANDEMIA
“It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say.”Primo Levi: “The Drowned and the Saved” Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day in commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust,It was on 27 January 1945, that Soviet soldiers liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland) , the largest Nazi concentration and extermination… Read More International Holocaust Remembrance Day
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens was first published on 19 December 1843. The first run of 6,000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve. Chapman and Hall issued second and third editions before the new year, and by the end of 1844 eleven more editions had been released. It is a morality tale of an… Read More A Christmas Carol
Besides being a distinguished writer and critic, Samuel Butler was also a painter. From the late 1880s onwards, photography became his primary passion and his “snapshots” show his keen talent for finding extraordinary qualities in scenes of ordinary life. After deciding life as an Anglican minister (the occupation for which he was trained) was not… Read More Samuel Butler and Italy (“My Second Country”)
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”George Eliot aka Mary Ann Evans In 1857, when she was 37 years old , Mary Ann Evans started to use her pen name George Eliot when she published in Blackwood’s Magazine the three stories later included in “Scenes of Clerical Life”.In a letter… Read More The Man Who Claimed To Be George Eliot
Two Lovers Two lovers by a moss-grown spring:They leaned soft cheeks together there,Mingled the dark and sunny hair,And heard the wooing thrushes sing.O budding time!O love’s blest prime! Two wedded from the portal stept:The bells made happy carolings,The air was soft as fanning wings,White petals on the pathway slept.O pure-eyed bride!O tender pride! Two faces… Read More True Love
Sunday Afternoon in Italyby D. H. Lawrence The man and the maid go side by side With an interval of space between; And his hands are awkward and want to hide, She braves it out since she must be seen. When some one passes he drops his head Shading his face in his black felt… Read More Sunday Afternoon in Italy
Irish author Abraham Stoker was born on 8 November 1847.He wrote novels and short stories under the name Bram Stoker. The most famous of his works is the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Here are three quotes from that novel: 🦇 “No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear… Read More Bram Stoker
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