The White Horse And Other Stories

"This is a collection of stories by Emilia Pardo Bazan (1851-1921), a Spanish author who often found the subject matter of her stories in the mysteries and vicissitudes of life. Some of her tales are fictional accounts of actual occurrences or people ("The Pardon," "A Galician Mother," and "The Lady Bandit"); others are a defense of women subjugated by a double standard ("The Guilty Woman" and "The Faithful Fiancee"); a number focus on the figure of the rural priest ("A Descendant of the Cid" and "Don Carmelo's Salvation," for example). One highly symbolic story - "The White Horse" - qualifies Pardo Bazan as the godmother of the Generation of 98, the group of writers who exhorted Spain to begin anew, ridding itself of inertia, apathy, and fixation on past glories. Several of the collected tales are like contemporary suspense thrillers (such as "The Cuff Link" and "The White Hair"), while many others reveal a keen psychological insight ("The Torn Lace," "The Substitute," "Scissors," "The Nurse," and "Rescue"). Pardo Bazan's themes are fear, love, hatred, forgiveness, cruelty, poverty, necrophilia, repentance, homesickness, and madness - that is, naked reality, bitter reality, and often an ugly, vicious reality." "One of the indisputable giants of the nineteenth-century short story is Guy de Maupassant. Pardo Bazan met him (along with Daudet and Zola) in France and considered him - author of "The Horla" - to be the master of short story writers. However, although Maupassant influenced her (most notably in psychological inquiry and careful attention to realistic detail), Pardo Bazan put her own stamp on her stories and developed a style sui generis, the most striking feature of which is brevity." "The essence of Pardo Bazan's approach is to engage the reader as quickly as possible, certainly in the first paragraph, frequently in the first few sentences. Some aspect of a character or an episode is brought to light and the story unfolds rapidly. There are third-person narratives in which the author occasionally injects herself or her point of view. Other narratives are presented wholly in the first person - some by an omniscient narrator, some by the "players"; and, from time to time, Pardo Bazan has someone else tell the story to her, and then as narrator she becomes the audience." "It is entirely plausible that some of her graphic descriptions were intended to blunt accusations of softness (i.e., femininity) that in her era would - foolishly, but automatically - have been associated with a woman writer. Still, when the time came to represent the plight of women - in terms of natural, understandable sexual needs and intellectual acceptance - Pardo Bazan captured the anguish and inferior status of her Spanish sisters."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Although written a century ago, the sixteen stories by Emilia Pardo Bazan collected in this volume are strikingly relevant to contemporary concerns. Noted for narrative complexity, stylistic variety, and feminist themes, Pardo Bazan's stories explore many aspects of the relationships between men and women. Both outspoken and witty, melancholy and humorous, these stories will interest general readers as well as students and scholars of Spanish literature.

A thrilling collection of myths, legends, and ghost stories about a mysterious and magical land. At the furthest edge of Britain, where the sea gently washes over the land and myths brush against reality, lies Zennor. Set in a churchtown where men become beasts and ghosts roam freely, are haunting and unforgettable tales where magic lies around every corner.

Meet some of the noblest horses in fiction--Cover.

A post-apocalyptic thriller chronicling one woman's quest to nurture those she holds dear against the backdrop of a shockingly changed world When I wake the world is gone. Only fragments remain. And then I remember . . . Before: Her life may have taken a couple of wrong turns but Zoe is trying to make the best of what she has. A part-time cleaning job to pay for college, a weekly appointment with her therapist to straighten out the problems in her life. The same problems that any thirty-year-old would have. Nothing major. Nothing life-threatening. A few bad dream, that's all. After: The only thought that remains is survival. Survival in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world. For herself. For her unborn baby. But help is scarce in a world where untold horrors exist around every corner, where food and water are in desperately short supply, and the only chance of happiness is half a world away. Adams has an excellent sense of timing, delivering gasp-inducing moments that punctuate her nightmare with verve. But it's Zoe's clear-eyed sense of self-preservation that will keep readers waiting for Adams' follow-up.- Kirkus

"Modern Chinese fiction . . . looks to have made a great leap towards the bookshelves of [Western] readers."—Guardian Hugely popular in China, flash fiction is poised to be the most exciting new development in contemporary Chinese literature in a decade. Integrating both vernacular and contemporary styles while embracing new technologies such as text messaging (SMS) and blogging, contemporary Chinese flash fiction represents the voice of a civilization at the brink of a startling and unprecedented transformation. This collection features 120 short-short stories (from 100 to 300 words each), written by some of China's most dynamic and versatile authors. Dong Rui's The Pearl Jacket offers a glimpse of the real and surreal in human evolution, Chen Qiyou's Butterfly Forever brings an ancient Chinese literary motif into a startling modern context, while Liu Jianchao's Concerned Departments mocks the staggering complexity of life in the new urban China. Traditional, experimental, and avant-garde, The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories will reinvigorate the position of young Chinese writers as a major presence in contemporary literature. Their voices breathe new energy into modern Chinese literature, leaving the literary and societal stagnation of the Cultural Revolution behind as a distant memory. Shouhua Qi is an associate professor of English at Western Connecticut State University. He is the author of Red Guard Fantasies and Other Stories and When the Purple Mountain Burns. He is one of the foremost experts (and translators) of the novels of Thomas Hardy.

In this book, eight stories written by Pedro Antonio de Alarcon have been brought together in English for the first time. The nail in "The Nail" is found driven into a disinterred skull, and if some of the events are implausible and others incredible, it is also true that there is considerable suspense and mystery. "The Cornet" draws more heavily on historical reality, with its depiction of the horror of civil war and factual detail. Noteworthy for its first-person narration and rapid-fire dialogue, "The Cornet" paints an episode of fraternal love and the power of the will. "The Orderly," although set against the same Carlist War background, has more to do with a military "attitude" than a Carlist "War", and describes the transformation effected in one officer by one orderly. The War of Independence (1808-14) was fought against Napoleon and his attempt to place his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. After years of horrendous carnage and the Duke of Wellington's victory at Vitoria, the "Little Corporal" renounced the Spanish crown. The War of Independence stories - "The French Sympathizer" and "The Mayor of Lapeza"--Have been known to generations of Spanish readers, especially for their theme of patriotism. These two, together with "Long Live the Pope!" and "The Guardian Angel," extol the heroism and courage of the Spanish people. "The Foreigner," the story of a young Pole who had been conscripted into Napoleon's army, looks at Spain and two of her soldiers through the eyes of a Spanish muleteer.