Wilkie Collins, página 11 de 33

«Basil» es la historia de un hombre débil, hipersensible, que se enamora de una jovencita a la que ve un día por casualidad y decide casarse con ella sin conocerla en absoluto. A partir de este momen

Fateli ridere, fateli piangere, ma soprattutto teneteli in sospeso, diceva Wilkie Collins parlando della trama che un buon libro deve avere. In Senza nome Collins tiene in sospeso il lettore per tutta la durata della vicenda: una messa in discussione sia dellamore familiare, sia della freddezza morale del contesto sociale che la circonda. Senza nome e un romanzo che resta, che pone interrogativi estremamente moderni e sempre attuali, con una struttura narrativa per lepoca senza dubbio rivoluzionaria. Allinterno - come in tutti i volumi Fermento - gli "Indicatori" per consentire al lettore un agevole viaggio dentro il libro.

A classic collaboration between two literary giants, The Perils of Certain English Prisoners is a gripping adventure story filled with murder, intrigue and strong female characters. Following on from the success of The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, Hesperus presents another collaboration from close friends and literary giants, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Their legendary friendship resulted in a number of joint literary ventures - in this case Collins wrote the second chapter under Dickens supervision. Inspired by events of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, but wishing to distance himself from the context of India itself, Dickens chose to set his novella in Central America. Fascinating in its use of female heroines, The Perils of Certain English Prisoners is an adventure story. On an island near the English colony of Belize, a silver mine is overrun by pirates, these in turn murder a number of English colonists and take the remaining prisoner. In the diverting narrative that follows, the initiative of intrepid women prisoners enables the captives to escape.

La pietra di Luna usci in Inghilterra nel 1868 a puntate sul periodico di Londra All the Year Round, il cui direttore era Charles Dickens. Viene considerato il primo romanzo giallo della storia. Come gia nel precedente La donna in bianco Collins usa una narrazione a piu voci, inventando sostanzialmente un nuovo genere letterario a cui si rifaranno in molti. Personaggi come Sherlock Holmes o Nero Wolfe nasceranno appunto ispirandosi a Collins. Allinterno - come in tutti i volumi Fermento - gli "Indicatori" per consentire al lettore un agevole viaggio dentro il libro.

One of the wildest of these stories related to a Yellow Diamonda famous gem in the native annals of India.The earliest known traditions describe the stone as having been set in the forehead of the four-handed Indian god who typifies the Moon. Partly from its peculiar colour, partly from a superstition which represented it as feeling the influence of the deity whom it adorned, and growing and lessening in lustre with the waxing and waning of the moon, it first gained the name by which it continues to be known in India to this daythe name of THE MOONSTONE. A similar superstition was once prevalent, as I have heard, in ancient Greece and Rome; not applying, however (as in India), to a diamond devoted to the service of a god, but to a semi-transparent stone of the inferior order of gems, supposed to be affected by the lunar influencesthe moon, in this latter case also, giving the name by which the stone is still known to collectors in our own time.The adventures of the Yellow Diamond begin with the eleventh century of the Christian era.At that date, the Mohammedan conqueror, Mahmoud of Ghizni, crossed India; seized on the holy city of Somnauth; and stripped of its treasures the famous temple, which had stood for centuriesthe shrine of Hindoo pilgrimage, and the wonder of the Eastern world.Of all the deities worshipped in the temple, the moon-god alone escaped the rapacity of the conquering Mohammedans. Preserved by three Brahmins, the inviolate deity, bearing the Yellow Diamond in its forehead, was removed by night, and was transported to the second of the sacred cities of Indiathe city of Benares.Here, in a new shrinein a hall inlaid with precious stones, under a roof supported by pillars of goldthe moon-god was set up and worshipped. Here, on the night when the shrine was completed, Vishnu the Preserver appeared to the three Brahmins in a dream.The deity breathed the breath of his divinity on the Diamond in the forehead of the god. And the Brahmins knelt and hid their faces in their robes. The deity commanded that the Moonstone should be watched, from that time forth, by three priests in turn, night and day, to the end of the generations of men. And the Brahmins heard, and bowed before his will. The deity predicted certain disaster to the presumptuous mortal who laid hands on the sacred gem, and to all of his house and name who received it after him. And the Brahmins caused the prophecy to be written over the gates of the shrine in letters of gold.

“Por puro genio, Collins no tenía rival. Si no has leído esta novela, te puedo prometer una de las historias más apasionantes de todos los tiempos."PHILIP PULLMAN“Thackeray se sentó toda una noche pa

Magdalen and Norah are two orphan sisters left without identity and holdings, because of an intricate story of usurped inheritance and dramatic events. They react differently: Norah works as governess, instead wild Magdalen takes the plunge into a series of dangerous and incredible adventures, carrying on with wars against tenacious enemies, trusting only herself and the help of a skilled crook, Mr Wragge. Lively characters create a drama that reveals a strong criticism to Victorian society, all depicted on a humorous tone. Wilkie Collins used to say, thinking of his readers, I make them cry, I make them laugh, but above all I keep them in suspense. No Name is quite relevant in the English Literature of the past century.

Il racconto si svolge in una misteriosa e bellissima Venezia del 1800, in uno stupendo ma sinistro albergo abitato da passate presenze, orrende visioni e allucinanti realta. Pubblicato a puntate dal giugno al novembre del 1878 ha in se tutti gli ingredienti del moderno giallo. Infatti da Collins prenderanno spunto tutti i piu grandi autori di romanzi gialli e polizieschi. Allinterno - come in tutti i volumi Fermento - gli "Indicatori" per consentire al lettore un agevole viaggio dentro il libro.

Las diferentes actitudes que adoptarán dos hermanas de buena posición cuando, al morir sus padres, son desposeídas de sus bienes al revelarse que son ilegítimas componen la compleja trama de esta obra. Nuevamente, Collins nos brinda una obra magistral.Wilkie Collins hijo del paisajista William Collins, nacio en Londres en 1824. Fue aprendiz en una compañia de comercio de te, estudio leyes e hizo sus pinitos como pintor y actor antes de conocer a Charles Dickens en 1851, cuyo encuentro fue decisivo para la trayectoria literaria de ambos. Murio en Londres en 1889, despues de una larga carrera de exitos.

In acknowledgment of the services which he has rendered to the cause of literature by his "Life of Goldsmith;" and in affectionate remembrance of a friendship which is associated with some of the happiest years of my life.Readers in generalon whose friendly reception experience has given me some reason to relywill, I venture to hope, appreciate whatever merit there may be in this story without any prefatory pleading for it on my part. They will, I think, see that it has not been hastily meditated or idly wrought out. They will judge it accordingly, and I ask no more.Readers in particular will, I have some reason to suppose, be here and there disturbed, perhaps even offended, by finding that "Armadale" oversteps, in more than one direction, the narrow limits within which they are disposed to restrict the development of modern fictionif they can.Nothing that I could say to these persons here would help me with them as Time will help me if my work lasts. I am not afraid of my design being permanently misunderstood, provided the execution has done it any sort of justice. Estimated by the clap-trap morality of the present day, this may be a very daring book. Judged by the Christian morality which is of all time, it is only a book that is daring enough to speak the truth.LONDON, April, 1866.

Con El secreto de Sarah Wilkie Collins inicia un género en el que demuestra un talento insuperable: la novela de intriga. Dotado de una refinada técnica, el autor de La piedra lunar y La dama de blanco es capaz de urdir tramas apasionantes que van mucho mas alla del clasico folletin romantico de la epoca o de la por entonce s balbuciente novela detectivesca.

En la trayectoria de Wilkie Collins, La ley y la dama constituye un hito destacado, y con frecuencia ha sido considerada la novela más fascinante de su última etapa, en perfecta sintonía con la tradicion de la gran literatura.Pocos dias despues de su boda, Valeria Woodville descubre un inconfesable secreto que empaña el pasado de su esposo y que ahora amenaza con serpararlos. Alentada por su amor, Valeria se dedicara por entero a investigar la verdad para restituir el honor de Eustace, su marido, y salvar su matrimonio. Su empeño la llevara a adentrarse en un laberinto de complicaciones, y a asumir riesgos inusitados para una mujer de la Inglaterra victoriana. De la mano de Valeria, el lector se sumerge rapidamente en la trama de la narracion y descubre las grandezas y miserias de un mundo que, sin ser el nuestro, ha dejado una profunda impronta en la sociedad actual.

La novela gira en torno a un misterioso lugar, un decadente palacio veneciano transformado en hotel. En este misterioso edificio convergen las vidas de los diferentes personajes que protagonizan la novela y en el interior de sus paredes seremos testigos de alucinaciones y pesadillas fantasmales que reflejan los rincones mas oscuros del alma humana.

Con sus ojos azules y su intenso pelo negro, Lewis Romayne es uno de los hombres más atractivos de Inglaterra, además de uno de los más ricos. Pero a la vez, es también un recluso entregado a la investigacion academica en su propia casa, una inmensa finca situada en el corazon de la campiña inglesa.A causa de unas tristes circunstancias, Romayne se ve acogido en casa de unos amigos donde conoce a la inteligente y bella Stella Eyrecourt. Entre ellos crece un afecto que parece ha de acabar en matrimonio, pero el padre Benvell se interpone en esta historia de amor conspirando por los intereses economicos de la Iglesia. Todo en esta obra rebosa oficio y el lector queda atrapado por una inquietante intriga desde la primera linea hasta la ultima pagina.