Study guides - Page 4 | Just Great DataBase
Joseph Heller wrote his satirical “Catch-22” novel in 1961 under a very loyal and democratic President Kennedy leadership. Other ways it’s hard to imagine such a critical piece being published under the governance of Truman or Eisenhower. The plot is centered around the protagonist Captain John Yossarian during the Second World War. Location is at one of the American Air...
If you are into aliens and extraterrestrial life, then the “Childhood End” by Arthur Clarke is a must read for you. Unlike what the Hollywood tries to portray in its action movie production, the book talks about a peaceful invasion by the race called Overlords. The book is a relatively short story that comprises almost half the century of Earth history under the rule of Overlords. It...
The legendary Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” in 1981. It is a story about a murder told from a perspective of those who committed and observed it. The way the events are reconstructed creates a bit of literary chaos in the text and reminds absurd theatre genre. Imagine a small provincial town. A big and lavish wedding has just been celebrated and it...
One of the earliest comedies of William Shakespeare, “The Comedy of Errors” lacks the depth of the plotline that defines his later works, but it is still incredibly funny. The author makes use of the slapstick humour and mistaken identities, but also adds his trademark wordplay and the comedy of puns, generously provided by the servants and other people of low origin that serve as...
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that advocates the fight of the people of the Thirteen Colonies against the British egalitarian government. Short and plain, it had a great influence on the society. Thomas Paine, following the ideas of Enlightenment, made his statement based on pure logic, so that his pamphlet indeed looks like a product of simple common sense, not the...
“Crime and Punishment” is one of the most difficult literary works not only in the Fyodor Dostoyevsky portfolio but of the whole world literary heritage. In our times, when the majority of population learn about the books by the movies, quick read anything that is longer than ten pages and get an idea about the plot from the reviews, it’s not easy to take up a challenge of a...
“Cry, the Beloved Country” is written in 1948 by a South African author Alan Paton. The author has spent many years working in the reformatory institutions and it was on one of the trips abroad that he wrote this book. The novel deals with the racial inequality and segregation. It's important to understand that the novel was published before the segregation issue intensified in...
Edmond Rostand created “Cyrano de Bergerac”, that actually is not centered around the real life of this historic character. It is written in verse style, reminding the classical rhyme composition. The play drastically changed the landscape of realistic and dull theatrical production of the 19th century and was an immediate success. Cyrano is a poet who lived in France during the 17th...
Those of you who think that novellas are something that only TV production can offer will be surprised to read “Daisy Miller” by Henry James. It is a pretty love story about a man courting a woman. The text is full of flirting, adventure and fun, but it also has a lot of deep meaning behind the plot. The protagonists of the book are Annie Miller, who is also called Daisy, and...
The story of a neglected boy written by Charles Dickens breaks the hearts and glues them together for generations. The novel covers the life of David from early childhood to the middle age, when he reflects on his life, thinking about his biggest gains and losses and the dearest people life gave to him. The total unfairness of life and the complete recklessness of the adults who just throw David...
Despite the intriguing name, the Grim Reaper himself doesn’t feature in the book. It is the story based on the real biography of the Archbishop John-Baptiste Lamy and sheds light at his mid-to-later age and his legacy. The protagonist of the story, John Latour repeats the steps of his real-life counterpart, though maybe in a little bit more heroic way. John Latour leaves France to travel...
Who said that drama died together with Shakespeare? Arthur Miller proved that it’s still alive and kicking with his majestic play “Death Of A Salesman” that won numerous prizes and has been performed almost a thousand times. Reading this book is a tough thing to do – because you just can’t resist the temptation to be in the theatre among the spectators of this...
We all know the novel “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse, written in 1922, his interpretation of the journey of a young Indian Prince from his life of luxury to his ultimate enlightenment and becoming a Buddha. But only a few of the readers know that it wasn’t the first work of the author dedicated to the theme of search of self and one’s meaning. Demian, written in 1919 is...
“The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” or simply “Doctor Faustus” is a tragedy written by Christopher Marlowe. Mr. Marlowe lived in the same period as William Shakespeare and it’s hard to compete with the fame of the latter. But he was very famous in the circles of Queen Elizabeth and his works were widely popular. The idea of a person selling the soul to the...
“Don Juan” is traditionally portrayed as a satirical poem, but it also can be seen as a tragedy. The author presents the story of a legendary lover from the unusual angle, showing him not as a selfish seducer who breaks the hearts of the countless women and then forgets their names, but as a victim of his own love, passion and stunning appearance. We see Don Juan as a person capable...
One thing Spanish culture is famous for, after delicious food, is chivalric romances. And then comes the legendary “Don Quixote”. Written in the beginning of the 16th century, the book conquered its place among best literature fiction works and was referenced by numerous authors in later years. Inspired by the great novels and even greater stories, a middle-aged gentleman...
Bram Stoker wrote “Dracula” in 1897 turning folk myth into a literary character and it turned out one of those cases when the protagonist became way more famous than the author himself. The popularity of the book opened the floor to the abundance of the vampire fiction novels and films that followed in the 20th and 21st century. Count Dracula invites London lawyer Jonathan Harker to...
Those of you who think that reading James Joyce is a challenging endeavor should start with his early works, like “The Dubliners”. This collection of short stories was published at the beginning of the 19th century when the nationalist movement was intense in Dublin. The fifteen stories are narrated by different characters and have different themes. The first ones are told by...
Are you looking for a good Novel Prize winner book that is not too well known, but still impeccable? You found it! John Steinbeck wrote this novel for his two sons and didn’t expect in 1952, when the book was published, that it would be so widely acclaimed by the audience from all over the world. The story revolts around two American families of Samuel Hamilton and Adam Trask. They...