Literary Essays

Marilynne Robinson has built a sterling reputation as a writer of sharp, subtly moving prose, not only as a major American novelist but also as a rigorous thinker and incisive essayist. In When I Was a Child I Read Books, she returns to and expands upon the themes that have preoccupied her work with renewed vigor.

Leslie Jamison erkundet die Tiefe von Verlangen, Intimität und Obsession und testet dabei auch die Grenzen ihrer eigenen Offenheit und ihres Mitgefühls für andere aus. Wie kann man empathisch über menschliche Erfahrung schreiben, ohne die kritische Distanz zu verlieren? Wie das Beteiligtsein verarbeiten, ohne der Selbstbezogenheit zu erliegen?

Louisa May Alcott´s Little Women is the author´s love song for German culture and literature. In the novel, there are many moments when the characters make references to German literature, and Jo's love interest professor Bhaer is also based on Alcott's favourite writer, the German poet Goethe. When Friedrich helps Jo when she struggles writing to Weekly Volcano, we can see her influences from Goethe, Friedrich recommends Jo read Shakespeare and study characters like Goethe would have done.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection

Thirty years have passed since Cornel West's book Race Matters rose to the top of the bestseller lists in 1993. Yet his book remains as relevant as ever to American culture-even more so, if one considers its influence on contemporary racial justice movements such as Black Lives Matter, prison justice, and the fight for police reform. Prophetic Leadership and Visionary Hope looks back to the original 1993 text and forward into the future of racial understanding and healing in our current century.

The End of the End of the Earth is a collection of Jonathan Franzen's essays and speeches from the past five years, in which he grapples with the most important and heated ethical subjects of the day: environmentalism, capitalism, wealth inequality, race, technology, and the role of art. He challenges us to ask difficult questions: What is our civic responsibility in the face of climate change, the greatest ever threat to our planet and species? Does technology give us a sense of control or community or is it stripping these from us?

Let's get one thing straight: Small, Broke, and Kind of Dirty: Affirmations for the Real World is not a book of advice. You're not going to find a step-by-step guide to meditation here, or even reminders to drink lots of water and get enough sleep. Those things are all good for you, but that's not what Hana Shafi wants to talk about. Instead, Small, Broke, and Kind of Dirty focuses on our common and never-ending journey of self-discovery. It explores the ways in which the world can all too often wear us down, and reminds us to remember our worth, even when it's hard to do so.

This collection brings together the best of Ruskin Bond's cameos, all beautifully imagined and crafted, inspired by people who have left a lasting impression on him. In addition, there are a host of characters culled from Bond's numerous short stories. Taken together, they constitute a magnificent evocation of the small-town India by one of the country's best storytellers.

Award-winning author Colm Tóibín turns his incisive gaze to three of the world's greatest writers, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, and James Joyce, and their earliest influences: their fathers. In Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know, Colm Tóibín illuminates not only the complex relationships between three of the greatest writers in the English language and their fathers, but also illustrates the surprising ways they surface in their work.

青春像泼了墨，那斑驳的痕迹是点点回忆，如梭的时光没有放过任何精彩花絮以及不动声色的故事。而我知道，我们总能在回首时找到痕迹……青春像潑了墨，那斑駁的痕跡是點點回憶，如梭的時光沒有放過任何精彩花絮以及不動聲色的故事。而我知道，我們總能在回首時找到痕跡……