Rock Crystal is an exquisite novella by a master, a writer of lucid serenity whose sublime tales have established themselves as classics of short fiction.As the story opens, it is the day before Christmas, and Conrad and Susanna (nicknamed Sanna) are paying a holiday visit to their grandmother in Millsdorf.Although the action takes place on Christmas Eve, (what Stifter's villagers call Holy Eve), and although the Christ-child and his kindness to children are duly m...

The first complete English translation of the nineteenth-century Austrian innovator's evocative, elemental cycle of novellas.For Kafka he was “my fat brother”; Thomas Mann called him “one of the most peculiar, enigmatic, secretly audacious and strangely gripping storytellers in world literature.” Often misunderstood as an idyllic poet of “beetles and buttercups,” the nineteenth-century Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter can now be seen as a radical experimenter with ...

Mein Vater war ein Kaufmann. Er bewohnte einen Teil des ersten Stockwerkes eines mäßig großen Hauses in der Stadt, in welchem er zur Miete war. In demselben Hause hatte er auch das Verkaufsgewölbe, die Schreibstube nebst den Warenbehältern und anderen Dingen, die er zu dem Betriebe seines Geschäftes bedurfte. In dem ersten Stockwerke wohnte außer uns nur noch eine Familie, die aus zwei alten Leuten bestand, einem Manne und seiner Frau, welche alle Jahre ein oder zwei Male bei uns speisten,...

If any prose-writer may be called a poet, none is more worthy of that name than Adalbert Stifter. And, unless it be a requirement that, to be ranked as classic, a writer must be dead for many years, Stifter is entitled to an honorable place among the classic writers of Germany. Not all he has written bears the stamp of beauty and genius, but at his best he is truly great, and of his best we have a great deal

Seemingly the simplest of stories—a passing anecdote of village life— Rock Crystal opens up into a tale of almost unendurable suspense. This jewel-like novella by the writer that Thomas Mann praised as "one of the most extraordinary, the most enigmatic, the most secretly daring and the most strangely gripping narrators in world literature" is among the most unusual, moving, and memorable of Christmas stories. Two children—Conrad and his little sister, Sanna—set out from their village high ...

Finally available, a high quality book of the original classic edition of Bunte Steine.This is a new and freshly published edition of this culturally important work by Adalbert Stifter, which is now, at last, again available to you.Enjoy this classic work today. These selected paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside Bunte Steine:Dort ließ sie mich nieder, nahm unter der Bodenstiege, wohin wir, weil es an einem andern Orte nicht erlaubt war, ...

Lovely story of two children who get lost in a hazardous winter crossing of an Alpine pass after visiting their grandparents in a neighboring village. Full of beautiful details about the lives of the hardy villagers, and their love for their families and their mountain home.

The story of a stranding alone, on an island off the coast of New Zealand, of an English Clergyman. His survival, despair, and joy at rescue.

Evan, den neuen Earl of Westfeld, plagen Schuldgefühle – durch sein Verhalten hat er Lady Elaine vor Jahren sehr wehgetan. Jetzt trifft er sie wieder und erkennt, dass es nur einen Weg für ihn geben kann: Er muss Wiedergutmachung leisten und hoffen, dass die liebreizende Elaine ihm verzeiht.  Elaine weiß nicht, was sie davon halten soll, dass ausgerechnet der Mann, der ihre erste Saison ruiniert hat, sich auf einmal derart um sie bemüht … oder darf si...

'A hymn to the wilderness of the the British Isles' Robert MacfarlaneFirst published in 1926, The Gentle Art of Tramping is as relevant now as then. Tramping is an approach: to nature, to humankind, to nations, to beauty, to life itself. This lost classic is a breath of fresh air for world-weary souls.It is a gentle art; know how to tramp and you know how to live. Know how to meet your fellow wanderer, how to be passive to the beauty of na...

With the publication of this book, Charles Tomlinson's edition of Williams's Selected Poems, New Directions has introduced a gathering larger and more comprehensive than the original 1963 edition.Opening with Professor Tomlinson's superbly clear and helpful introduction this selection reflects the most up-to-date Williams scholarship. In addition to including many more pieces, Tomlinson has organized the whole in chronological order."It isn't what ...