Study guides: books, letter h

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

“To be or not to be?” Who hasn’t used this iconic phrase at least once in their lifetime? Not many of us have actually read the whole book. Which is a pity – the language of the greatest poet on Earth, William Shakespeare, is a must to experience. He was greatly acknowledged as well as staged already during his lifetime and even managed to please two monarchs of the...

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

“Hard Times” is the shortest novel that Charles Dickens has written. It was composed in 1854 in an attempt to boost the declining sales the author was experiencing at that time. The book is also often called the most “Victorian” of all his other creations. The original book didn’t have any illustrations, but the language of the story is full of detailed...

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

“Hatchet” is an amazing adventure novel written by American writer Gary Paulsen. This novel tells the story about Brian, a young 13-year-old boy whose parents are divorced. Brian survived a plane crash that left him alone in a desert in Canada. Through internal conflict, external forces acting against him, and with the help of his ax (a recent gift from his mother), Brian learns to...

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad is a perfectly suitable candidate to write about heroism and government relations with its subjects. Born in Ukraine to a polish nobleman, he experienced all kinds of state influence on his destiny: his father was sent to Siberia by the Russian government for treason, under the influence of French and English novel he fell in love with the sailor profession and had to make it...

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

“Hedda Gabler” is an outstanding play by the greatest Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. This play can be called one of Ibsen’s most extreme and mysterious dramas. The mystery lies in the image of Hedda - a gorgeous, beautiful woman who has destructive energy influencing her surroundings. The actions took place in 1890. Hedda Gabler is an intelligent young woman, who is able...

Henry V by William Shakespeare

“Henry V” is a play by a great English author devoted to the life and personality of a great King Henry the Fifth. It is a historical text of an author who has been close to royal families and made his career thanks to that fact. Normally historical books don’t begin with the characters. But this is a unique play both in terms of language and style. The book is devoted to life...

Herzog by Saul Bellow

Herzog by Saul Bellow is a novel that features an original narrative style - mostly it consists of the letters of the protagonist, a Jewish man in his forties named Herzog, who survives through the midlife crisis. His two marriages were unlucky ones, with the second one ending in a very humiliating and devastating fashion with his wife openly cheating on him and even making him arrange her move...

Hiroshima by John Hersey

This novel by John Hersey tells us the six stories of the rare survivors of Hiroshima bombardment. They are different people, not connected to each other by anything except the mere fact that they were the luckiest people who managed to survive the atomic explosion. They are two doctors, two priestesses and two women - a factory worker and a widowed seamstress. Despite each of them tells the...

Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo created many literary works, but “Hunchback Of Notre Dame” is surely considered to be his best one. If you or anyone shall want to read just one book in your life – then this is it! You won’t be tempted to take another book in our hands for a long time after finishing this novel. The novel saw the world in 1831. It is hard to call it a Gothic novel or a...