Robert Louis Stevenson, página 20 de 78

Of the nine essays collected in this volume, seven had appeared in the Cornhill Magazine. The whole set range in date from 1874 to 1881, and thus belong to the period of Stevensons life during which the papers in Virginibus Puerisque were written. The familiar studies are Victor Hugos Romances, Some Aspects Of Robert Burns, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Yoshido Torajiro, François Villon, Charles of Orleans, Samuel Pepys, and John Knox and Women. In arranging them for republication R. L. S. prefaced them by some notes of self-criticism, in which he is at much pains to show where, as he thought, he had accorded less than full justice to his subjects.

A story which shows Stevensons powder of vividly descriptive writing at perhaps its highest level, but one which, as a story, has been variously criticized. It was written in the Highlands in 1881, the year after his marriage, as one of a series of tales of horror ( crawlers, as he called them), planned in collaboration with his wife. Aros of the story is the tidal islet of Earraid, famous under its own name in Kidnapped ; the Ross of Grisapol is the Ross of Mull ; and Ben Ryan, Ben More. The name of the Merry Men is plainly taken from the Merry Men of Mey, as sailors call certain rocks in the dangerous channels of the Pentland Firth. In writing what he called a fantastic sonata of the sea and wrecks Stevenson seems to have adopted a more complex and subtle scheme than was commonly his plan of construction, which perhaps is the reason why the tale is pronounced good or bad by the critics according to their discernment of its motive.

This edition is one the most complete Stevensonia collections. It contains a wealth of his essays, memories and records. The essays brought together under this title are chiefly Stevensons reflections, ten years afterwards, on the experiences and friendships of his youth. They represent a proportion of his contributions of this kind to reviews and magazines, from 1882 to 1887. Some of the essays are : The Foreigner at Home, Old Mortality, Pastoral, The Manse, Thomas Stevenson, Talk and Talkers, The Character of Dogs and A Penny Plain.

This edition includes the most important travel writings by the famous author:The Silverado SquattersAcross The PlainsThe Amateur EmigrantCockermouth And Keswick - A FragmentAn Autumn EffectA Winters Walk In Carrick And Galloway - A FragmentA Mountain Town In France [175] - A FragmentRandom Memories: Rosa Quo LocorumThe Ideal HouseDavos In WinterHealth And MountainsAlpine DiversionsThe Stimulation Of The AlpsRoadsOn The Enjoyment Of Unpleasant PlacesFootnotesAn Inland VoyageTravels With A Donkey In The Cevennes

In his romance "The Master of Ballantrae" Stevenson has touched high-water mark. One is tempted to go beyond this and say that no modern work of fiction in the English language rises higher in the scale of literary merit than this. It is a story of human passion, of human weakness, of human love and hate. The scene of the tale, for the most part, is laid in and around the House of Durrisdeer, on the Solway shore. Four persons make up the dramatis persona, at the beginning of the story, and although others come into the drama as it wears on to its tragical close, it may be said that no greater number than this is called into the plot of the piece. An old lord overfond of his rascally elder son; that son, devilish in his selfishness and satanic in his powers of fascination; a young woman blindly in love with him; and a younger son, who is early taunted with being the Supplanter, and who has the only virtue in the family; these are the materials from which Mr. Stevenson has evolved one of the most admirable pieces of literary work that has been given to the world of readers in many a day.

Si bien la muerte sorprendió a ROBERT L. STEVENSON (1850-1894) antes de que pudiera haberla concluido, la mayor parte de los especialistas consideran EL WEIR DE HERMISTON, novela que habría de ser publicada de forma postuma en 1896, una obra maestra. Centrada en torno al antagonismo existente entre su protagonista, Archie Weir, y su padre, Lord Hermiston implacable representante de la justicia en quien se encarna, segun explica en su prologo Medardo Fraile, responsable tambien de la traduccion, la angustiosa incomprension que padecio el novelista en su juventud por parte de su padre, los casi nueve capitulos que nos dejo el autor de La isla del tesoro (BT 8009) compendian todas las cualidades de su genio creador. Acompaña al texto un apendice que expone el desarrollo argumental que Stevenson proyectaba dar al resto de la novela. Otras obras de Robert Louis Stevenson en esta misma coleccion: El Dr. Jekyll y Mr. Hyde (L 5525), El diablo de la botella y otros cuentos (L 5544), Virginibus puerisque y otros ensayos (L 5678), El dinamitero (LB 1242) y El club de los suicidas. El diamante del raja (LB 1418).

La vida d’en Jim Hawkins fa un tomb el dia que un vell pirata colèric s’instal•la a l'Almirall Benbow, l'hostal de la seva família. Fan amistat, però el vell llop de mar mor poc després. Aleshores en

Fettes and his friends meet for a drink in the local inn. Everything goes well, until the famous doctor Wolfe Macfarlane enters to treat a sick patient. Fettes gets very upset when he sees Macfarlane and a conflict arises between the two former medical students. Soon they will remember the bad decisions and crimes they have committed as students. Why is Fettes so worried about seeing his old schoolmate? What do they have in common besides medicine? They have definitely done something wrong, but what can that be?The characters in this horror story are inspired by the Edinburghs notorious Burke and Hare murders from 1828.

É esta unha das máis precisas e preciosas novelas de terror que se teñen publicado. Apareceu por primeira vez o ano 1886, e relátano-los experimentos do Dr. Jekyll, home preocupado desde a mocidade pola dualidad e que a alma de cada ser humano conten, abalando sempre entre os principios do ben e o mal, e que el consegue "separar" en si mesmo por medio dunha pocima, dandolle asi via libre a sua parte maligna, presente nel, mais agachada, na segunda personalidade que pala beberaxe adquire, personalidade que de continuo ameaza con apoderarselle da vida toda. A meticulosidade do estilo de Stevenson acada nesta narracion instantes de extraordinario poder de suxestion e dramatismo, creando algunhas das escenas mais terrorificas da literatura inglesa.

Conocido, especialmente como novelista, Robert L. Stevenson es, además, autor de una obra bastante amplia de poesía, ensayo, obras teatrales, narración de viajes que si no está a la altura de sus novelas no por eso carece de la magia e ilusion que hay, por ejemplo, en La isla del tesoro.Apologia de los ociosos y otras ociosidades y los otros ensayos que conforman este libro fueron escritos al principio de su labor literaria y ya tenemos en ellos esa sutil y encantadora frivolidad que como decia Chesterton es como la flor de cien graves filosofias.