The Violent Bear It Away is a novel by the American author Flannery O’Connor. The book, published in 1960, is a classic example of Southern Gothic literature. It tells the story of a young boy named Francis Marion Tarwater, who is trying to escape the destiny his uncle has prescribed for him. The novel is …
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Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play that has been regarded as one of his most significant works. The play was written in 1944 while Brecht was living in the United States, and it is an example of his epic theatre style. The play tells the story of a peasant girl who rescues …
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster is a novel that explores the complex relationships between the British colonizers and the Indian people during the early 20th century. The novel is set in the fictional city of Chandrapore in British India, and it centers around the experiences of Dr. Aziz, a young Indian Muslim physician, …
Macranthropy is an allegorical concept that has historical roots in several ancient civilizations. The idea portrays the universe as a giant human body, with various cosmic elements represented as body parts. In Ancient India, the concept of macranthropy is embodied in the mahant-ātman or “vast self” of the Early and Middle periods. This concept has …
Le livre du chemin de long estude by Christine de Pizan is a first-person dream allegory that presents a critique of the moral state of the world, particularly France, lamenting the results of warfare. Composed in 1402-03, the poem was dedicated to Charles VI of France. In the allegory, the author describes a dream in …
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes is a novel that has captured the attention of readers for decades. Published in 1936, it is one of the early prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality between women, and as such can be considered lesbian literature. The novel employs modernist techniques such as its unusual form or narrative and gothic …
“The Land of Green Plums” by Herta Müller is a novel that portrays the lives of four young individuals living in a totalitarian police state in Communist Romania. The book is an allegory that explores the themes of repression, injustice, and the human spirit’s resilience. The novel’s narrator is an unidentified young woman who belongs …
George Orwell’s 1984 is a dystopian novel that has become a classic in literature. The novel is set in a totalitarian society where the government has complete control over every aspect of people’s lives. The story follows the main character, Winston Smith, who rebels against the government’s control and tries to find a way to …
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff is a book that explains the Eastern philosophy of Taoism through the adventures of Winnie the Pooh and his friends. The book uses the characters and stories from A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories to explain the basic principles of Taoism in an easy-to-understand way for Westerners. The book was …
Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is a classic novel that has captivated readers for generations. Set in post-World War I Europe, the novel follows a group of disillusioned expatriates as they search for meaning and purpose in their lives. While the novel is often read as a straightforward story of love and loss, it …