NOVELS
1. Pride and Prejudice (1813)
- By Jane Austen
Set in England in the early 19th
century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's
five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his
status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. While
Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy
has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the
second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth.
2. THE DA VINCI CODE
(2003)
- By Dan Brown
The story follows symbologist Robert Langdonand cryptologist Sophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre Museum in Paris, when they become involved in a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to Mary Magdalene. The title
of the novel refers, among other things, to the finding of the first murder
victim in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, naked and posed like Leonardo da Vinci's
famous drawing, the Vitruvian
Man, with a cryptic message written beside his body and a pentagram drawn on his chest in his own blood.
3. Ender's Game (1985)
- By Orson Scott Card
Set in Earth's future,
the novel presents an imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the "buggers",
an insectoid alien
species. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including
the novel's protagonist, Ender Wiggin,
are trained from a very young age through increasingly difficult games
including some in zero gravity,
where Ender's tactical genius
is revealed.
4.
The Time Traveller’s Wife (2003)
- By Audrey
Niffenegger
It is a love story
about a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably, and about his wife, an artist, who has
to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences. Niffenegger,
frustrated in love when she began the work, wrote the story as a metaphor for
her failed relationships. The tale's central relationship came to her suddenly
and subsequently supplied the novel's title. The novel, which has been
classified as both science fiction and romance,
examines issues of love, loss, and free will.
In particular, it uses time travel to explore miscommunication and distance in
relationships, while also investigating deeper existential questions.
5.
AngelFall (2011)
- By Susan Ee
The angels attack the
human world as a revenge for shooting down Angel Gabriel. 17-Year-old
Penryn Young, her schizophrenic mother, and 7-year-old sister Paige struggle to
survive in their destroyed city, with the threat of street gangs and angels.
After witnessing a group of angels cutting off their fellow angel's wings while
trying to relocate to a safe place, Paige is kidnapped by the angels, who fly
off with her. Desperately, Penryn in turn, takes the injured angel and heals
him, determined to find out about her sister. She learns that the fallen angel
is Raffe, who agrees to take her to the aerie, the home of the angels, hoping
that they could help him get his wings back.
SHORT STORIES
- By T.S Arthur
The evil people try and shun
a motherless, poor and disabled girl. A man with a mean wife takes in the girl
to find that she’s an innocent, pure soul. They tend to her and care for her due
to her condition, physically, mentally and emotionally, and see that she’s an
angel in disguise.
- By O. Henry
It is a short story about a young married couple and how they
deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very
little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it
has been a popular one for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its "twist ending" are well-known, and the ending is generally
considered an example of comic irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.
- By Jack London
The 1908 "To Build a Fire" is an oft-cited example
of the naturalist
movement that
portrays the conflict of man vs. nature. It also reflects what London learned in the
Yukon Territory.
- By Kate Chopin
This is a
story about a fifty- year old Mamzelle Aurelie who unmarried women. She has
never had a man and lives alone on her farm with some animals and Negroes
working with her. One day, her nearest neighbor, Odile brought her four
children to her house and left them in Mamzelle Aurelie’s care because of a
dangerous illness of her mother. This is why Mamzelle Aurelie, who has never
ever has children before has to keep them. For the next two weeks, Mamzelle
Aurelie had to learn to care for the children and be accustomed to their
presence and noises. At the end of two weeks, Odlie came back and released
Mamzelle Aurelie from her responsibility, but Mamzelle Aurelie felt the
loneliness in the absence of the four children, and she cried “like a man, not
even noticing her dog liciking her hand.
- By Willa Cather
Another painter visits the narrator and he is mesmerised by
his painting of Alexandra Ebbling. The narrator then thinks back to how he met
her, on a ship from Genoa to the New York City, after living in Rome for work for two years.
They start talking, stop in Naples for a day, then sail by Sardinia. He moves on to
doing a portrait of her, and he gives her a bunch of magnolias he got in Gibraltar and she talks about her
ailment for the first time. Two days later when he sees her husband neglects
her just before going to a concert on the ship, he goes and tells her they
should run away together because they love each other. She explains she can't
because she is ill. She gives him a box that he shall only open sometime later,
when she tells him to by letter. She then takes a ship back to her father's in
Norway without her husband.
The following March, he receives a letter from him saying she has died. There
is also a letter from her, telling him he can open the box now. Inside, there
is a magnolia, strands of her hair, and two pink shells.
Plays
Macbeth
Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, and is considered one of his darkest and most powerful works.
First performance: April 1611
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Original language: English
Genre: Tragedy
Characters: Lady Macbeth, Banquo, King Duncan, Three Witches, more
Soundtrack: Macbeth
Hamlet
Published: 1603
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Original language: English
Genre: Tragedy
Adaptations: Haider (2014), Hamlet A.D.D. (2014), more
Characters: Ophelia, King Claudius, Polonius, Gertrude, Horatio, more
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families.
Published: 1597
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Lyricist: William Shakespeare
Characters: Juliet, Romeo, Tybalt, Mercutio, Benvolio, more
Adaptations: Romeo and Juliet (2013), Private Romeo (2011), more
Genres: Tragedy, Play
Play by William Shakespeare
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599.
First performance: September 21, 1599
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Characters: Marcus Junius Brutus, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, more
Adaptations: Julius Caesar (2012), Caesar Must Die (2012), more
Henry V
Play by William Shakespeare
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1599.
Original language: English
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Characters: Earl of Salisbury, Duke of Exeter, Duke of Bedford, more
Adaptations: Henry V (1989), Chimes at Midnight (1965), Henry V (1944)
Julius Caesar
Play by William Shakespeare
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599.
First performance: September 21, 1599
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Characters: Marcus Junius Brutus, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, more
Adaptations: Julius Caesar (2012), Caesar Must Die (2012), more
