Bookbot

John Steinbeck

    27 februari 1902 – 20 december 1968

    John Steinbeck, Nobelprijswinnaar voor Literatuur, staat bekend om zijn portretten van het leven op het platteland van Californië en de strijd van de arbeidersklasse. Diep puttend uit zijn vormende jaren in de Salinas Valley, verkennen zijn verhalen de menselijke conditie en de veerkracht van gewone individuen. Steinbeck riep meesterlijk een uitgesproken gevoel voor plaats op, waarbij hij zijn verhalen doordrenkte met de authentieke geest van hun omgeving. Door middel van meeslepende personages en realistische weergaven van historische contexten zoals de Grote Depressie, onderzoekt zijn schrijven sociale onrechtvaardigheden en de blijvende kracht van de menselijke geest.

    John Steinbeck
    Tortilla Flat
    Van muizen en mensen
    Wintertij van Tegenzin
    De druiven der gramschap
    Goede Donderdag
    Ten oosten van Eden
    • Ten oosten van Eden

      • 582bladzijden
      • 21 uur lezen

      Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity; the inexplicability of love; and the murderous consequences of love’s absence.

      Ten oosten van Eden
      4,6
    • De druiven der gramschap

      • 400bladzijden
      • 14 uur lezen

      Sociale roman over het probleem van de seizoenarbeid tijdens de oogsttijd in Californië.

      De druiven der gramschap
      4,1
    • De laatste roman van een van Amerika's meest geliefde schrijvers vertelt een verhaal van degeneratie, corruptie en spirituele crisis. De protagonist, Ethan Allen Hawley, is een bediende in een kruidenierswinkel die ooit toebehoorde aan zijn familie. Nu verwijderd van de aristocratie van Long Island, wordt hij geconfronteerd met een onrustige vrouw en tienerkinderen die verlangen naar materiële genoegens die hij niet kan bieden. In een moment van morele crisis kiest Ethan ervoor zijn scrupuleuze normen op te geven. Gevestigd in het Amerika van de jaren zestig, verkent de roman de delicate balans tussen privé- en publieke eerlijkheid en staat zij naast Steinbecks meest geprezen werken die diepgaande inzichten bieden in de Amerikaanse ervaring.

      Wintertij van Tegenzin
      4,0
    • Steinbeck is een kunstenaar; hij vertelt de verhalen van deze geliefde dieven en overspeligen met een zachte en poëtische puurheid van hart en proza. In de geest van de Arthuriaanse legende creëerde Steinbeck een "Camelot" op een vervallen heuvel boven de stad Monterey, Californië, bevolkt door een kleurrijke groep ridders. Centraal in het verhaal staat Danny, wiens huis, net als het kasteel van Arthur, een ontmoetingsplaats wordt voor mannen die op zoek zijn naar avontuur, kameraadschap en een gevoel van erbij horen. Deze "ridders" zijn paisanos, mannen van gemengde afkomst, wiens voorouders honderden jaren geleden in Californië zijn neergestreken. Vrij van verplichtingen aan banen en andere complicaties van de Amerikaanse levensstijl, verzetten ze zich fel tegen de corrupte vloed van eerlijk werk in de omringende oceaan van burgerlijke rectitude. Terwijl Steinbeck hun daden chronicleert - hun vele liefdes, hun geweldige vechtpartijen, hun Rabelaisiaanse wijnconsumptie - weeft hij een verhaal dat even meeslepend is en uiteindelijk even door verdriet is aangeraakt als de beroemde legendes van de Ronde Tafel, die hem inspireerden.

      Tortilla Flat
      3,8
    • De parel

      • 156bladzijden
      • 6 uur lezen

      Kino is een arme, onontwikkelde Mexicaanse visser, die met zijn vrouw Juana en zoontje Coyotito een rustig en gelukkig bestaan leidt aan de rand van de oceaan. Op zekere dag vindt Kino een ongewoon grote en mooie parel. Dat betekent rijkdom maar tevens het einde van zijn gelukkig leven. Dit 'lied van menselijke hebzucht', dit ontroerende verhaal is een van Steinbecks grootste scheppingen. Het is een eenvoudige verhaal, maar Steinbeck heeft uit deze eenvoud zoveel algemene menselijkheid gedistilleerd, dat het eigenlijke verhaal ten slotte slechts het decor vormt waartegen de tragiek van het leven wordt geprojecteerd.

      De parel
      3,5
    • Vier scènes, vier mensen: de echtgenoot die verlangt naar een zoon, zich niet bewust van zijn eigen onvruchtbaarheid; de vrouw die vreemdgaat om de wens van haar man te vervullen; de vader van het kind; en de buitenstaander wiens daden hen allemaal zullen beïnvloeden.

      De felle gloed
      3,5
    • Het beloofde land

      • 191bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Zoals zo vaak beschrijft John Steinbeck ook in "Het beloofde land" het leven in een eenvoudige gemeenschap en zoals zo vaak laat hij ook hierin zijn figuren zien in hun verbondenheid met de aarde, haar dieren en haar vruchtbaarheid. Ditmaal verplaatst het verhaal ons naar de vruchtbare, groene weiden van het beloofde land, de 'pasturas del cielo'. Stuk voor stuk zet Steinbeck zijn mensen voor ons neer: Bert Monroe, achtervolgd door een vloek, waaraan hij niet kan ontkomen; Katherine Shark, het mooie, domme meisje, dat één moment aan grootsheid heeft; Helen, de rijke vrouw, die een afschuwelijk geheim met zich meedraagt; Raymond Banks, die alleen maar leeft als de dood in de nabijheid is.

      Het beloofde land
    • John Steinbeck Omnibus

      De druiven der gramschap; De Parel

      Twee markante hoogtepunten uit Steinbecks oeuvre die beide de Amerikaanse klassenstrijd in de jaren dertig markeren. De druiven der gramschap is het verhaal van door gronduitputting, roofbouw en uitbuiting verdreven boeren, die als landverhuizers naar Californië trekken voor de pluk van druiven, sinaasappelen en katoen. Maar in plaats van het 'beloofde land' dat ze er hadden verwacht, vinden ze er slechts pauperkampen, geregeerd door conservenfabrieken, bankkapitaal en gummiknuppels. In De parel speelt een arme, onontwikkelde parelvisser de hoofdrol, die op een dag een enorm grote en gave parel opduikt, waarmee hij fortuin maakt. Maar tegelijkertijd wordt hij hierdoor het doelwit van hebzucht en venijn. De parel, die hem rijkdom en geluk had moeten brengen, brengt hem uiteindelijk weer tot de bedelstaf.

      John Steinbeck Omnibus
    • Penguin Classics: Grapes of Wrath

      • 464bladzijden
      • 17 uur lezen

      The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized—and sometimes outraged—millions of readers. First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics.

      Penguin Classics: Grapes of Wrath
      4,5
    • Novels 1942–1952

      The Moon Is Down / Cannery Row / The Pearl / East of Eden

      • 983bladzijden
      • 35 uur lezen
      Novels 1942–1952
      4,5
    • Novels and Stories 1932-1937

      • 909bladzijden
      • 32 uur lezen

      Presents five works from American writer John Steinbeck, all portraying life in rural California

      Novels and Stories 1932-1937
      4,4
    • Steinbeck. A Life in Letters

      • 910bladzijden
      • 32 uur lezen

      For John Steinbeck, who hated the telephone, letter-writing was a preparation for work and a natural way for him to communicate his thoughts on people he liked and hated; on marriage, women, and children; on the condition of the world; and on his progress in learning his craft. Opening with letters written during Steinbeck's early years in California, and closing with a 1968 note written in Sag Harbor, New York, Steinbeck: A Life in Letters reveals the inner thoughts and rough character of this American author as nothing else has and as nothing else ever will.

      Steinbeck. A Life in Letters
      4,3
    • Collected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck's most widely read and beloved novels. From the tale of commitment, loneliness and hope in Of Mice and Men, to the tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society in Cannery Row, to The Pearl's examination of the fallacy of the American dream, Steinbeck stories of realism, that were imbued with energy and resilience.

      The Short Novels
      4,3
    • A collection of letters that forms a day-by-day account of the author's writing of East of Eden. It features many subjects such as textual discussion, trial flights of workmanship, and family matters and offer an illuminating perspective of the author. schovat popis

      Journal of a Novel
      4,2
    • A final installment of a four-part collection of the classic American writer's works features his later novels, including "The Wayward Bus," "Burning Bright," "Sweet Thursday," and "The Winter of Our Discontent," in a volume that is complemented by his final published account, "Travels with Charley."

      Travels with Charley and Later Novels 1947-1962
      4,2
    • Of mice and men ; Cannery Row

      • 270bladzijden
      • 10 uur lezen

      Of Mice And Men: Tells a story about the strange relationship of two migrant workers who are able to realize their dreams of an easy life until one of them succumbs to his weakness for soft, helpless creatures and strangles a farmer's wife.Cannery Row: Among the unforgettable denizens of Cannery Row are Lee Chong, the grocer; Doc, a young marine biologist who surprisingly finds love; and Dora Flood, the flamboyant proprietress of a bordello

      Of mice and men ; Cannery Row
      4,2
    • A Russian Journal

      • 220bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      In the late 1940s novelist John Steinbeck and photographer Robert Capra forged a travelling partnership that took them beyond the empty polemics of the Cold War into the real Soviet Union, where they reported on the everyday lives of ordinary citizens trying to rebuild their lives and hopes after the devastations of World War II. This book records, in words and pictures, the results of their journeys.

      A Russian Journal
      4,1
    • Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of Americas greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as blackspine Penguin Classics featuring eye-catching, newly commissioned art. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books "East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven," and "Tortilla Flat," Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readersand to the many who revisit them again and again.

      The Pastures of Heaven
      4,1
    • A man tries to cultivate a life from the harsh wilderness of a remote valley. He realises too late the power of nature and the futility of man's vanity.

      To a God Unknown
      4,1
    • John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath during an astonishing burst of activity between June and October of 1938. Throughout the time he was creating his greatest work, Steinbeck faithfully kept a journal revealing his arduous journey toward its completion.The journal, like the novel it chronicles, tells a tale of dramatic proportions—of dogged determination and inspiration, yet also of paranoia, self-doubt, and obstacles. It records in intimate detail the conception and genesis of The Grapes of Wrath and its huge though controversial success. It is a unique and penetrating portrait of an emblematic American writer creating an essential American masterpiece.

      Working Days: The Journals of the Grapes of Wrath
      4,1
    • Travels with Charley

      • 240bladzijden
      • 9 uur lezen

      A quest across America, from the northernmost tip of Maine to California’s Monterey Peninsula To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.

      Travels with Charley
      4,1
    • Cannery Row

      • 196bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Vividly depicts the colorful, sometimes disreputable, inhabitants of a run-down area in Monterey, California

      Cannery Row
      4,1
    • Of Mice And Men And Cannery Row

      • 224bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      Of Mice and Men revolves around two central characters: Lennie and George. Lennie is a man with the strength of two, but with it the mind of a child - simple, unaffected, and kindly. His whole world centres around George, who steers him through life and protects him when his superhuman strength and child's mind unwittingly entangle him in trouble. Of Cannery Row John Steinbeck said he just 'opened the pages and let the stories crawl in by themselves'. Cannery Row is a street bordered by houses, shacks, and boiler pipes, in which live all kinds of people, good and bad, kind and cruel, the industrious and the idle, who have one thing at least in common - their poverty.

      Of Mice And Men And Cannery Row
      4,0
    • Red Hot Reads: Animal Stories

      • 222bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      This is the perfect book for any wildlife enthusiast: a unique selection of over twenty stories and extracts about the animal kingdom, from the very finest writers of the genre. This carefully selected collection features writers as diverse as Rudyard Kipling, John Steinbeck, Charles Darwin, Ted Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, Dick King-Smith and Michael Morpurgo himself. Illustrated throughout with detailed etchings, this is a fantastic introduction to many great writers and a great present for any animal-loving child.

      Red Hot Reads: Animal Stories
      3,0
    • Both a fast-paced story of social unrest and strike, and the tale of one young man's struggle for identity, IN DUBIOUS BATTLE is a novel about the apocalyptic violence that breaks out when the masses become the mob. Set in California apple country, a strike by migrant workers spirals out of control, as principled defiance turns into blind fanaticism. Caught in this upheaval is Jim Nolan, a once aimless man who finds himself briefly becoming the leader of the strike before being crushed in its service. IN DUBIOUS BATTLE explores and dramatizes many of the ideas and themes key to Steinbeck's writing.

      In Dubious Battle
      3,9
    • The Log From The Sea Of Cortez

      • 320bladzijden
      • 12 uur lezen

      An alternate edition can be found here . In 1940 Steinbeck sailed in a sardine boat with his great friend the marine biologist, Ed Ricketts, to collect marine invertebrates from the beaches of the Gulf of California. The expedition was described by the two men in Sea of Cortez , published in 1941. The day-to-day story of the trip is told here in the Log, which combines science, philosophy and high-spirited adventure. Log from the Sea of Cortez includes the narrative of the journey and the essay “About Ed Ricketts.” It does not include pictures and detailed descriptions of the species collected by Steinbeck and Ricketts. (See also Sea of Cortez .)

      The Log From The Sea Of Cortez
      3,9
    • Photographs of Americans by various prominent photographers. Commentary by Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck.

      America and Americans
      3,8
    • The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

      From the Winchester Mss. of Thomas Malory and Other Sources

      • 451bladzijden
      • 16 uur lezen

      Synopsis Steinbeck's first posthumously published work, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is a reinterpretation of tales from Malory's Morte d'Arthur. In this highly successful attempt to render Malory into Modern English, Steinbeck recreated the rhythm and tone of the original Middle English.

      The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
      3,9
    • This story of crisis, passion, love and longing tells about the occupants of a wayward bus, which travels the backroads of the California countryside. There is the driver, hot-blooded and uninhibited, a girl who dances at stag parties, a travelling salesman, a young man and a college girl.

      The Wayward Bus
      3,9
    • A small Scandinavian town is invaded, and the inhabitants find themselves exhibiting the strength of character needed to cope, with dignity, courage and defiance, with their conquerors. A novel which poignantly describes the emotions of a small community placed under an ultimate stress.

      The Moon is Down
      3,8
    • Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of Americas greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as blackspine Penguin Classics featuring eye-catching, newly commissioned art. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books "East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven," and "Tortilla Flat," Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readersand to the many who revisit them again and again.

      The Long Valley
      3,7
    • A satire of French politics and American big business, this is the tale of the Frenchman who did not want to be king, of his film-mad daughter Clotilde, and of his chief adviser - a nun who learned about life as a nude in the Follie-Bergere.

      The Short Reign of Pippin IV
      3,7
    • The Red Pony ; The Pearl

      • 208bladzijden
      • 8 uur lezen

      The Pearl: When Kino, an Indian pearl-diver, finds 'the Pearl of the world' he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana in church and their little boy, Coyotito, will be able to attend school. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed, fear and even violence the pearl arouses in him and his neighbours. The Red Pony: Set on a ranch in the Calidornia mountains this is the story of the joy and sorrow a young boy finds in his responsibility for his horse.

      The Red Pony ; The Pearl
      3,7
    • The Vigilante

      • 64bladzijden
      • 3 uur lezen

      The papers all said he was a fiend. I read all the papers. That's what they all said.' One of America's greatest writers explores mob violence, voyeurism and betrayal in these unforgettable tales of Californian life.

      The Vigilante
      3,6
    • The Red Pony

      • 112bladzijden
      • 4 uur lezen

      Raised on a ranch in northern California, Jody is well-schooled in the hard work and demands of a rancher's life. He is used to the way of horses, too; but nothing has prepared him for the special connection he will forge with Gabilan, the hot-tempered pony his father gives him. With Billy Buck, the hired hand, Jody tends and trains his horse, restlessly anticipating the moment he will sit high upon Gabilan's saddle. But when Gabilan falls ill, Jody discovers there are still lessons he must learn about the ways of nature and, particularly, the ways of man.

      The Red Pony
      3,5
    • Cup of Gold

      The Amazing Career of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional References to History

      From the mid-1650s through the 1660s, Henry Morgan, a pirate and outlaw of legendary viciousness, ruled the Spanish Main. He ravaged the coasts of Cuba and America, striking terror wherever he went. Morgan was obsessive. He had two driving ambitions: to possess the beautiful woman called La Santa Roja and to conquer Panama, the “cup of gold.” Steinbeck’s first novel and sole work of historical fiction, Cup of Gold is a lush, lyrical swashbuckling pirate fantasy, and sure to add new dimensions to readers’ perceptions of this all-American writer. This edition features an introduction by Susan F. Beegel.

      Cup of Gold
      3,4
    • “There it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon.” Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their infant son with meager subsistence. Then, on a day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a sea gull's egg, as "perfect as the moon." With the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security.... A story of classic simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love.

      The Pearl. Die Perle, englische Ausgabe
      3,4
    • The Pearl. Stage 6

      • 95bladzijden
      • 4 uur lezen

      [Penguin Active Reading Level 3] "Kino finds a large pearl, which he thinks will save his family from poverty. But the pearl is what they think they want instead of what they need. The misfortune it brings changes the life of the family forever."--P. [4] of cover.

      The Pearl. Stage 6
    • A collection of 4 US novels, published in Steinbeck - Of men and miceJames Jones - The pistolReynolds Price - A long and lappy lifeJohn Updike - Of the farm

      American Short Novels. The 20th Century.
    • York Notes: The Grapes of Wrath

      Notes

      • 64bladzijden
      • 3 uur lezen

      Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation, "The Grapes of Wrath" is also the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, who are driven off their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisons against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots, Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its insistence on human dignity.

      York Notes: The Grapes of Wrath
    • Masters of the Macabre

      The Best of the Twentieth Century

      • 192bladzijden
      • 7 uur lezen

      Stories included: Man Overboard (Sir Winston Churchill) Timber (John Galsworthy) The Angry Street (G. K. Chesterton) The Call of Wings (Agatha Christie) The Cherries (Lawrence Durrell) A Man From Glasgow (Somerset Maugham) Earth to Earth (Robert Graves) The Grey Ones (J. B. Priestley) The Man Who Didn't Ask Why (C. S. Forester) All But Empty (Graham Greene) Animals or Human Beings (Angus Wilson) Something Strange (Kingsley Amis) The Post-Mortem Murder (Sinclair Lewis) The Dance (F. Scott Fitzgerald) A Rose for Emily (William Faulkner) The Bronze Door (Raymond Chandler) A Man Who Had No Eyes (MacKinlay Kantor) The Affair at 7 Rue de M-- (John Steinback) The Snail Watcher (Patricia Highsmith) Inferiority Complex (Evan Hunter) The Terrible Answer (Paul Gallico) Miriam (Truman Capote) Exterminator (William Burroughs) During the Jurassic (John Updike)

      Masters of the Macabre
    • Murder

      • 55bladzijden
      • 2 uur lezen

      Combining despair, determination and optimism, the writing of John Steinbeck gave a powerful voice to the suffering poor of America during the Depression and beyond, and Penguin have made the whole range of his most well-loved novels including The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men available to millions of readers. These four tales consider the struggle for survival in 1940s America, against a backdrop of majestic beauty.- The Chrysanthemums- Breakfast- The Vigilante- The Murder.

      Murder
    • Novela známého amerického autora líčí baladický příběh dvojice potulných zemědělských dělníků, jejich sen o malém hospodářství, na které si chtějí vydělat a ušetřit nádenickou prací na ranči...

      ...Jejich je království nebeské
      4,4
    • Dvě novely, v nichž se dokonale obráží spisovatelovo porozumění pro člověka a schopnost proniknout k jeho nejvlastnější lidské podstatě. První (O myších a lidech, 1937) vypráví o dvojici přátel, kteří putují za prací i nakonec za tragicky rozbitým životním snem, druhá (Na plechárně, 1945) je vlastně pestrým sledem obrázků ze života obyvatel ulice v konzervárenské čtvrti města na kalifornském pobřeží.

      O myších a lidech. Na plechárně
      4,5
    • Svazek obsahuje dvě Steinbeckovy novely (O myších lidech, 1937; Plameny zářivé, 1950). O myších a lidech: Dva nemajetní zemědělští dělníci přicházejí ve 30. letech 20. století pracovat na farmu do salinaského údolí. Každý z nich má jinou povahu, oba však spřádají sny a iluze, že jednou se jim podaří mít své vlastní hospodářství a budou tam chovat králíky. Doba je hodně zlá; a nejhorší se teprve rýsuje. Ochranářský a prozíravý George správně tuší, že slaboduchý silák Lennie by nechtě mohl způsobit katastrofu... Plameny zářivé: Joe Saul je muž v nejlepších letech, jemuž ke štěstí chybí jen to jediné dítě. Kvůli své neplodnosti prožívá hlubokou lidskou krizi. V době, kdy neexistovali anonymní dárcové a spermobanky, je pouze jedna možnost, jak se dočkat vysněného potomka náhradní partner. Je to cesta nejprostší, ale zároveň i nejtěžší. Jak se s nesnadnou situací vyrovnají Joe, jeho žena Mordeen a „plemenný býk“ Viktor?

      O myších a lidech. Plameny zářivé
      4,3
    • Ventisei avvincenti racconti di maestri del giallo come Lawrence Block, Agatha Christie, John Steinbeck e Ruth Rendell, tutti uniti da un tema comune: il gioco. Queste storie esplorano come il gioco influisca in modo determinante o "definitivo" sulle vite dei protagonisti, a volte persino mettendo in gioco la loro esistenza. Che si tratti di scacchi, bridge o poker, il risultato ha un costo, e il lettore è invitato a scoprire i finali sorprendenti. Gli intrecci coinvolgenti permettono di immedesimarsi nei personaggi, rendendo la lettura fluida e, in alcuni casi, inquietante, con brividi assicurati. In "La scelta del mazziere" di Forrest V. Perrin, si intrecciano diamanti e rischi; in "Il giocatore di dadi" di John Steinbeck, un uomo fortunato affronta un imprevisto; "Il Circolo dello Scarabeo" di J. P. Cohane gioca con fantasmi e rivelazioni inquietanti; "Il pedone avvelenato" di Henry Slesar presenta una sfida tra campioni; "Il nuovo padrone" di Lord Dunsany introduce una macchina da scacchi che si rivela mostruosa; infine, "Vita, morte e indovinelli" di Robert Loy coinvolge enigmi e scommesse. In "Il Circolo dei Giocatori d’azzardo" di Ellery Queen, un caso anomalo mette alla prova l'ingegno del detective.

      Vincere, perdere o morire. Ventisei avvincenti racconti firmati dai maestri del giallo
      4,0
    • Die ultimative Abrechnung mit dem menschenverachtenden US-Kapitalismus John Steinbecks letzter Roman ist ein bis heute gültiges Lehrstück über Geld und Moral: Sein Protagonist Ethan Hawley, Hätschelkind der Finanzaristokratie von Long Island, muss sich um materielle Dinge nicht sorgen – bis ihn die Pleite seines Vaters plötzlich zwingt, auf eigenen Beinen zu stehen. Um Frau und Kinder ernähren zu können, tritt er eine schlechtbezahlte Stelle als Verkäufer in einem Lebensmittelladen an. Rasch erkennt jedoch er, dass redliches Tagwerk einen Mann nicht weiterbringt. Unter dem Einfluss seiner Frau und dem seines Bankberaters entledigt er sich aller Menschlichkeit und steigt zum skrupellosen Geschäftsmann auf, der ohne Rücksicht auf andere nur den eigenen Vorteil sucht.

      Der Winter unseres Missvergnügens
      4,0
    • Dva romány, které prostředím, postavami i dějem na sebe těsně navazují, zachycují život ulice Na plechárně v kalifornském přímořském městě, život ulice, jíž vládne rybí konzervárna zvaná Plechárna a její pravidelný pracovní rytmus. Pestrý obraz života drobných lidiček, konzervárenských dělníků, vojáků, prostitutek, povalečů, obchodníka - příběhů veselých, vážných i tragikomických - je zde spojen postavou myslitelského doktora, postavou, v níž vstupuje do děje, jak se říká v doslovu, sám autor. V tomto doslovu se o knize říká: "V příbězích samotářského, přemýšlivého a citlivého doktora a jeho přátel z ulice Na plechárně ... vyznal se Steinbeck s jedinečnou přímočarostí a upřímností ze svého vztahu k prostému člověku a k stovkám ulic Na plechárně, v nichž zapadlé kouty Ameriky žijí.

      Na plechárně. Sladký čtvrtek
      4,0
    • Danny sa po návrate z vojny stáva dedičom dvoch domčekov, ktoré mu nechal jeho starý otec...

      Pod kalifornským slnkom
      4,2