The Cloven Viscount (Italian: Il visconte dimezzato) is a fantasy novel written by Italo Calvino. It was first published by Einaudi (Turin) in 1952 and in English in 1962 by William Collins Sons & Company (New York), with a translation by Archibald Colquhoun.
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　The Viscount Medardo of Terralba, and his squire Kurt, ride across the plague-ravaged plain of Bohemia en route to join the Christian army in the Turkish wars of the seventeenth century. On the first day of fighting, a Turkish swordsman unhorses the inexperienced Viscount. Fearless, he scrambles over the battlefield with sword bared, and is split in two by a cannonball hitting him square in the chest.
　　
　　As a result of the injury, Viscount Medardo becomes two people: Gramo (the Bad) and Buono (the Good). The army field doctors save Gramo through a stitching miracle, the Viscount is “alive and cloven.” [1] With one eye and a dilated single nostril, he returns to Terralba, twisting the half mouth of his half face into a scissors-like half smile. Meanwhile, a group of hermits find Buono in the midst of a pile of dead bodies. They tend to him and he recovers. After a long pilgrimage, Buono returns home.
　　
　　There are now two Viscounts in Terralba. Gramo lives in the castle, Buono lives in the forest. Gramo causes damage and pain, Buono does good deeds. Pietrochiodo, the carpenter, is more adept at building guillotines for Gramo than the machines requested by Buono. Eventually, the villagers dislike both viscounts, as Gramo's malevolence provokes hostility and Buono's altruism provokes uneasiness.
　　
　　Pamela, the peasant, prefers Buono to Gramo, but her parents want her to marry Gramo. She is ordered to consent to Gramo's marriage proposal. On the day of the wedding, Pamela marries Buono, because Gramo arrives late. Gramo challenges Buono to a duel to decide who shall be Pamela's husband. As a result, they are both severely wounded.
　　
　　Dr. Trelawney takes the two bodies and sews the two sides together. Viscount finally is whole. He and his wife Pamela (now the Viscontessa) live happily together until the end of their days.
　　Characters
　　
　　 * Medardo, the Viscount of Terralba
　　 * The narrator, Medardo’s young nephew
　　 * Dr. Trelawney, the English court physician
　　 * Pamela, the shepherdess
　　 * Sebastiana, faithful nurse to the Viscount
　　 * Pietrochiodo, the court carpenter
　　 * Ezekiel, leader of a Huguenot colony
　　 * Esau, Ezekiel’s son
　　 * Ariolfo, the former Viscount of Terralba, Medardo’s father
　　 * Kurt, Medardo’s squire
　　
　　Trivia
　　
　　In the name of the physician, Dr. Trelawney, you can see a tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson, author of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), perhaps the most famous tale of split personality between good and evil. Stevenson also wrote Treasure Island (1883), one of whose characters is a certain Squire Trelawney.

　　The Baron in the Trees (1957, Il Barone Rampante) is an Italian novel by Italo Calvino. A metaphor for independence, it tells the adventures of a boy who will spend the rest of his adventurous life up in trees.
　　
　　Characters
　　
　　 * Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo' (main character)
　　 * Baron Arminio (Cosimo's father)
　　 * Corradina (Cosimo's mother)
　　 * Battista (Cosimo's elder sister)
　　 * Biagio (Cosimo's younger brother)
　　 * Abbot Fauchefleur (Cosimo and Biago's care-taker)
　　 * Viola (the love of Cosimo's life)
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　The story is about a twelve-year-old boy named Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo', and is narrated by his younger brother, Biagio. It's set along the Ligurian Coast (the north-western coast of Italy, and commonly includes southern France because of the similarity in the scenery) in the eighteenth-century, in the town of Ombrosa. At the time, the regions of Italy haven't united yet, and the region along the Ligurian Coast isn't currently ruled by a legitimate king.
　　
　　Biagio, Cosimo's brother and the narrator, provides the history of their family. Cosimo's father, Baron Arminio, married the General of the War of Succession (his mother), Corradina. La Guerra di Successione (the War of Succession) is a war between the Baron Arminio and an opposing family whom has equal rights to the throne. The parents who both have identical interests in claiming the throne agree to marry (even though they don't love each other) to give their children more rights to the throne.
　　
　　The Baron, who is half-mad with a malicious streak, abuses his children constantly; and without the mother who is usually fighting in the war on horseback with the head general (Cosimo's grandfather), causes the children to run wild and misbehave.
　　
　　In fact, Battista, the eldest sister of the three, used to be coaxed by Arminio to get married at a young age, so she decides to become a priestess, thus avoiding premature marriage. Without Battista, Arminio focuses on Cosimo (only twelve-years-old) and contrives a plan to betroth him to a grand-duchess he might find.
　　
　　Battista is driven to insanity, and expresses this through her cooking. From toads to mice, rats to grasshoppers, Battista becomes the cook of the castle-like mansion in Ombrosa, and the Baron forces Cosimo and Biagio to eat the disgusting meals.
　　
　　One day, when the Baron invites the Courts of France to lunch at noon, Battista arrives with her French cuisine new meal, snails. At the point where Arminio forces Cosimo to eat the snails, it becomes the turning point for him - the point where he can no longer handle his father's abuse.
　　
　　Fleeing from the table, Cosimo uses his ability to climb up a live oak tree in the backyard - Cosimo and his eight-year-old brother Biagia often occupy their recreational time by climbing trees. Storming out of the house, with the other diners trailing behind, came the Baron scolding Cosimo for embarrassing him in front of the Court of France, who eats snails for a delicacy.
　　
　　Excerpt from p. 15:
　　
　　 "Quando sarai stanco di star li' cambierai idea!" gli grido'.
　　 "Non cambiero' mai idea," fece mio fratello, dal ramo.
　　 "Ti faro' vedere io , appena scendi!"
　　 "E io non scendero' piu'." E mantenne la parola.
　　
　　English translation:
　　
　　 "When you are tired of staying there you will change your mind!" he shouted.
　　 "I will never change my mind," said my brother, from the branch [of the live oak].
　　 "I'll show you, now get down here!"
　　 "And I will not come down, ever." And he kept his word.
　　
　　With a spadino (little sword) and tricorno (cocked hat), Cosimo travels from branch to branch, and eventually reaches the boundary of his backyard, bordered by an enormous brick wall. On the opposite side live the Marchese (Marquis) and his family, with an enormous garden, like the Piovasco's, although with exotic plants from Asia, America (newly founded at the time), and apparently, even Australia (an imagined country at the time). Cosimo jumps from one of his trees to a foreign tree, Magnolia, into the D'Ondariva's garden. Cosimo slowly descends from tree to tree to the lowest branch, when he finally sees a blonde-haired girl on a see-saw (appearing ten-years-old).
　　
　　From the branch, Cosimo uses his spadino (little sword) to pierce the apple in the girl's hand.
　　
　　Ultimately, Cosimo finds a way to stay in the trees for most of his life.
　　Reception
　　
　　While sometimes dismissed as a cute fable, this story finds its very strength in its ability to be read and analyzed on a number of levels: as a romance story, environmentally, narratologically, sociologically, and in questioning the role of the individual and the community. The novel received the Viareggio Prize in 1957. However, Calvino "refused the prize on the grounds that its acceptance simply helped shore up an outmoded institution, the literary prize!"

　　The Nonexistent Knight (Italian: Il cavaliere inesistente) is an allegorical fantasy novel by Italo Calvino, first published in Italian 1959 and in English translation in 1962. The novel tells the story of Agilulf, a medieval knight who perfectly exemplifies chivalry, piety, and faithfulness, but exists only as an empty suit of armor. It explores questions of identity, integration with society, and virtue.
　　
　　Plot
　　
　　The Nonexistent Knight is set in the time of Charlemagne, and draws material from the literary cycle known as the Matter of France, referencing Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. The knight Agilulf is a righteous, perfectionist, faithful and pious knight with only one shortcoming: he doesn't exist. Inside his armor there is no man, just an echoing voice that reverberates through the metal. Nevertheless, he serves the army of a Christian king out of "goodwill and faith in the holy cause".
　　Characters (In The English Version)
　　
　　 * Agilulf, the nonexistent knight.
　　 * Gurduloo, a deranged man who becomes Agilulf's squire.
　　 * Raimbaut, young noble who is obsessed with the idea of avenging his father by killing Argalif Isohar.
　　 * Torrismund, a young knight who plays as Raimbaut's literary foil.
　　 * Bradamante, a female knight, from Orlando Furioso.
　　 * The narrator, Sister Theodora, a nun who is spinning Sir Agilulf's tale.
　　
　　Themes
　　
　　Agilulf does not exist as a person, but only as the fulfillment of the rules and protocols of knighthood. This theme is strongly connected to modern conditions: Agilulf has been described as "the symbol of the 'robotized' man, who performs bureaucratic acts with near-absolute unconsciousness."[1] The romance is also a bit of a satire, playing with the fact that Agilulf is both the ideal of man and nonexistent, along with many suggestions that Sister Theodora is actually making up most of the story. In the end, she must face that such a perfect knight could only live in one's imagination.
　　
　　The idea of confusion of one's own identity with others and the outside world continued to be developed in Calvino's later works.[2]
　　Reception
　　
　　The Nonexistent Knight was collected together with The Cloven Viscount and The Baron in the Trees in a single volume, Our Ancestors, for which Calvino was awarded the Salento Prize in 1960.[3] The book was adapted to film by the Italian director Pino Zac in 1970.

　　Invisible Cities (Italian: Le città invisibili) is a novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino. It was published in Italy in 1972 by Giulio Einaudi Editore.
　　
　　Description
　　
　　The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by an explorer, Marco Polo. The book is framed as a conversation between the aging and busy emperor Kublai Khan, who constantly has merchants coming to describe the state of his expanding and vast empire, and Polo. The majority of the book consists of brief prose poems describing 55 cities, apparently narrated by Polo. Short dialogues between the two characters are interspersed every five to ten cities and are used to discuss various ideas presented by the cities on a wide range of topics including linguistics and human nature. The book structured around an interlocking pattern of numbered sections, while the length of each section's title graphically outlines a continuously oscillating sine wave, or perhaps a city skyline. The interludes between Khan and Polo are no less poetically constructed than the cities, and form a framing device, a story with a story, that plays with the natural complexity of language and stories.
　　
　　Marco Polo and Kublai Khan do not speak the same language. When Polo is explaining the various cities, he uses objects from the city to tell the story. The implication is that that each character understands the other through their own interpretation of what they are saying. They literally are not speaking the same language, which leaves many decisions for the individual reader.
　　
　　The book, because of its approach to the imaginative potentialities of cities, has been used by architects and artists to visualize how cities can be[1], their secret folds, where the human imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function.
　　
　　The book was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1975.
　　
　　The Travels of Marco Polo, Polo's travel diaries depicting his journeys through the Mongol Empire which were written in the 13th century, share with Invisible Cities the brief, often fantastic accounts of the cities Polo visits, accompanied by descriptions of the city's inhabitants, notable imports and exports, and whatever interesting tales Polo had heard about the region.

　　The Path to the Spiders' Nests (originally published in 1947 in Italian as Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno) was the first novel of Italian 20th century writer Italo Calvino and is a "coming of age" story, set against the backdrop of World War II.
　　
　　The book follows the antihero Pin, an orphaned cobbler's apprentice in a town on the Ligurian coast, where he lives with his sister, a prostitute. After stealing a pistol from a Nazi sailor, Pin searches for an identity with a partisan group. All the while, the people he meets mock him without his knowing. The title refers to Pin's secret hiding place, directions to which he touts as a prize to any adults who win his trust.
　　
　　Some critics view the work as unexceptional, on the grounds that it fails to address the issues other than from a very naive perspective; others credit it with being skillfully written and make a virtue of its portrayal of the complex emotions and politics of adults, as seen through the eyes of a child. However one passage about prisoners-of-war being made to dig their own grave before being shot is universally regarded as impressive.

　　Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド, Sekai no owari to hādo-boirudo wandārando?) is a 1985 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. The English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two bizarre narratives — the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' and 'The End of the World' parts.
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　The story is split between parallel narratives. The odd-numbered chapters take place in 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland', although the phrase is not used anywhere in the text, only in page headers. The narrator is a "Calcutec," a human data processor/encryption system who has been trained to use his subconscious as an encryption key. The Calcutecs work for the quasi-governmental System, as opposed to the criminal "Semiotecs" who work for the Factory and who are generally fallen Calcutecs. The relationship between the two groups is simple: the System protects data while the Semiotecs steal it, although it is suggested that one man might be behind both. The narrator completes an assignment for a mysterious scientist, who is exploring "sound reduction". He works in a laboratory hidden within an anachronistic version of Tokyo's sewer system.
　　
　　The even-numbered chapters deal with a newcomer to 'the End of the World', a strange, isolated walled Town depicted in the frontispiece map as being surrounded by a perfect and impenetrable wall. The narrator is in the process of being accepted into the Town. His shadow has been "cut off" and this shadow lives in the "shadow grounds" where he is not expected to survive the winter. Residents of the town are not allowed to have a shadow, and, it transpires, do not have a mind. Or is it only suppressed? The narrator is assigned quarters and a job as the current "dreamreader": a process intended to remove the traces of mind from the Town. He goes to the Library every evening where, assisted by the Librarian, he learns to read dreams from the skulls of unicorns. These "beasts" passively accept their role, sent out of the Town at night, to their enclosure where many die of cold during the winter.
　　
　　The two storylines converge, exploring concepts of consciousness, the subconscious and identity.
　　
　　In the original Japanese, the narrator uses the more formal first-person pronoun watashi to refer to himself in the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' narrative and the more intimate boku in the 'End of the World'. Translator Alfred Birnbaum achieved a similar effect in English by putting the 'End of the World' sections in the present tense.
　　Characters
　　
　　In both narratives, none of the characters are named. Each is instead referred to by occupation or a general description, such as "the librarian" or "the big guy."
　　Hard-boiled wonderland
　　
　　 * The narrator - a Calcutec in his mid-thirties (35) who, aside from his unusual profession, lives the life of a typical Tokyo yuppie. Although very observant, he gives little thought to the strangeness of the world around him.
　　 * The old man/the scientist - considered a great yet absent-minded scientist who hires the narrator to process information. He is researching "sound reduction". He has developed a way of reading the subconscious and actually recording it as comprehensible, if unrelated images. He had the inspiration of then editing these images to embed a fictional story into the subconscious of his subjects, one of whom is of course the narrator. He did this by working with the System due to the attractiveness of its facilities, though he disliked working for anyone. He later goes to Finland as said by his granddaughter to escape.
　　 * The granddaughter in pink - the old man’s seventeen year old assistant, caretaker and granddaughter, described as chubby but attractive, invariably dressed in all pink. She did not go to any school as her grandfather tells her it is useless and rather teaches her all she needs to know in life; and thus she knows a couple of languages, how to handle a gun, among other things. In the beginning of the novel, the old man "reduces" her sound, leaving her unable to speak. She tries, without any trace of subtlety, to convince the narrator to sleep with her.
　　 * The librarian - the always-hungry girl who helps the narrator research unicorns and becomes his 48-hour girlfriend.
　　 * Junior and Big Boy - two thugs who, on unknown orders, harass the narrator.
　　 * INKlings - sewer-dwelling people described as "Kappa" who have developed their own culture. They are so dangerous the scientist lives in their realm, protected by a repelling device, to keep away from those who want to steal his data. It is said that they worship a fish (and leeches). They also do not eat fresh flesh; rather, once they catch a human, they submerge him in water and wait for him to rot in a few days before eating him.
　　
　　End of the world
　　
　　 * The narrator - a newcomer to 'the End of the World'. As an initiation into the village, his shadow is cut off and his eyes pierced to make him averse to daylight and give him the ability to "read dreams", his allotted task. He cannot remember his former life nor understand what has happened to him.
　　 * The narrator's shadow - apparently human in form. He retains the narrator's memory of their former life together, but he is doomed to die, separated as he is, and is harshly (but not cruelly) treated by his custodian, the gatekeeper. Upon his death, the narrator would then cease to have a 'mind'.
　　 * The gatekeeper - the guardian and maintenance foreman of 'the End of the World.' He instructs the narrator in his duties, and keeps the narrator’s shadow effectively a prisoner, putting him to work - disposing of dead beasts who die during winter.
　　 * The librarian - the Town’s librarian who keeps the unicorn skulls in which the "dreams" reside. She assists the narrator in his work. She has no “mind” but her mother did, and the narrator becomes increasingly convinced that her mind is in fact only hidden, not irretrievably lost. The connection between this librarian and the other, in Hard Boiled Wonderland, is never made explicit.
　　 * The colonel - an old man, the narrator's neighbour provides advice and support, and nurses him when he falls sick.
　　 * The caretaker - a young man who tends the power station. An outsider who provides a miniature accordion, a possible key in the narrator's efforts to recover his mind and memories.
　　
　　Influences
　　
　　Murakami has often referred to his love of Western literature and particular admiration for hard-boiled pioneer Raymond Chandler. 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' owes much to American "hard-boiled" detective fiction, as well as to science fiction and cyberpunk, but the book does not belong in any of those categories.
　　
　　The 'end of the world' has much in common with The Castle by Franz Kafka. Both deal with newcomers to strange villages who are both intrigued and horrified by the behavior of the villagers. The image of losing one's shadow when approaching the end of the world is found in Knut Hamsun's 1898 novel Victoria. The same idea appeared earlier, in the 1814 story of "Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte" ("Peter Schlemihl's Remarkable Story") by Adelbert von Chamisso. The theme of the human brain storing encrypted data is found in William Gibson's short story Johnny Mnemonic, but in interviews Murakami says this was not an influence.
　　Critical acclaim
　　
　　Jay Rubin, who has translated many of Murakami's later works into English, said that Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is his favorite Murakami novel and that it "is just a shock after reading the black and white, autobiographical fiction that is such the norm in Japan."
　　
　　Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was awarded the prestigious Tanizaki Prize in 1985.
　　Book information
　　
　　Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (English edition) by Haruki Murakami; translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
　　
　　 * Hardcover ISBN 4-7700-1544-5, published in September 1991 by Kodansha International
　　 * Paperback ISBN 0-679-74346-4, published on March 2, 1993 by Vintage Press

　　The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (ねじまき鳥クロニクル, Nejimaki-dori Kuronikuru?) is a novel by Haruki Murakami. The first published translation was by Alfred Birnbaum. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" (English) are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997.
　　
　　Two chapters were originally published in The New Yorker under the titles The Zoo Attack on July 31, 1995, and Another Way to Die on January 20, 1997. A slightly different version of the first chapter translated by Alfred Birnbaum was published in the collection The Elephant Vanishes under the title The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women. In addition, the character name Noboru Wataya is used in Family Affair of The Elephant Vanishes, while having a similar personality and background, the character is not related to the one in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle of the same name. Noboru Wataya is also used in Jay Rubin's translation of The Elephant Vanishes in The Elephant Vanishes.
　　
　　The original Japanese edition was released in three parts, which make up the three "books" of the single volume English language version.
　　
　　 1. Dorobō kasasagi hen (泥棒かささぎ編?)
　　 2. Yogen suru tori hen (予言する鳥編?)
　　 3. Torisashi otoko hen (鳥刺し男編?)
　　
　　For this novel, Murakami received the Yomiuri Literary Award, which was awarded to him by one of his harshest former critics, Oe Kenzaburo.
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　The novel is about a low-key unemployed man, Toru Okada, whose cat runs away. A chain of events follow that prove that his seemingly mundane boring life is much more complicated than it appears.
　　Main characters
　　
　　While this book has many major and minor characters, these are among the most important:
　　
　　 * Toru Okada: The narrator and protagonist, Toru is a passive and often apathetic young man living in suburban Japan. He is Kumiko's husband and continually follows the orders or wishes of others. Currently unemployed, he is the embodiment of passivity.
　　 * Kumiko Okada: Kumiko is Toru's wife and, as the breadwinner of the couple, is the more autonomous of the two. She works in the publishing business.
　　 * Noboru Wataya: Noboru is Kumiko's older brother. He is presented as a mediagenic figure; the public loves him, but Toru cannot stand him. Noboru appears as an academic in the beginning, becomes a politician in the story, and has no apparent personal life. He is said to be hidden behind a façade — all style, and no substance. ("Noboru Wataya" is also the name Toru and Kumiko gave to their pet cat, whom Toru later renames Mackerel, like the fish; the character name also appeared in Family Affair, translated by Jay Rubin, of The Elephant Vanishes collection.)
　　 * May Kasahara: May is a middleteen girl who should be in school, but, by choice, is not. Toru and May carry on a fairly constant exchange throughout a good deal of the novel; when May is not present, she writes to him (though the reader can peruse them, her letters never reach him). Their conversations in person are often bizarre and revolve around death and the deterioration of human life. Even more bizarre is the cheerful and decidedly non-serious air with which these conversations take place.
　　 * Lieutenant Mamiya: Mamiya was an officer during the Japanese military efforts in Manchukuo, and meets Toru while carrying out the particulars of Mr. Honda's will. He has been emotionally scarred by witnessing the flaying of a superior officer and several nights spent in a dried-up well. He tells Toru his story both in person and in letters.
　　 * Malta Kano: Malta Kano is a medium of sorts who changed her name to "Malta" after performing some kind of "austerities" on the island of Malta for some time. She is enlisted by Kumiko to help the Okadas find their missing cat.
　　 * Creta Kano: Malta's younger sister and apprentice of sorts, she describes herself as a "prostitute of the mind." Disturbingly, for Toru, Creta has a nearly identical face and figure to Kumiko.
　　 * Nutmeg Akasaka: Nutmeg first meets Toru as he sits on a bench watching people's faces every day in Shinjuku. The second time they meet she is attracted to the blue-black mark on his right cheek. She and Toru share a few strange coincidences: the wind-up bird in Toru's yard and the blue-black cheek mark appear in Nutmeg's World War II-related stories, and also Nutmeg's father and Lieutenant Mamiya (an acquaintance of Toru's) are linked by World War II. "Nutmeg Akasaka" is a pseudonym she chose for herself after insisting to Toru that her "real" name is irrelevant. Her real name is never mentioned in the novel.
　　 * Cinnamon Akasaka: Cinnamon is Nutmeg's adult son who hasn't spoken since age 6. He communicates through a system of hand movements and mouthed words. Somehow, people who've just met him (who presumably have never lipread or used sign language) find him perfectly comprehensible. "Cinnamon," too, is a pseudonym created by Nutmeg.
　　
　　Missing chapters
　　
　　Two chapters from the third volume of the original three-volume Japanese paperback edition were not included in the English translation. In addition, one of the chapters near the excluded two was moved ahead of another chapter, taking it out of the context of the original order.
　　
　　The two missing chapters elaborate on the relationship between Toru Okada and Creta Kano, and a "hearing" of the wind-up bird as Toru burns a box of Kumiko's belongings.
　　Translation
　　
　　The English translation of the novel was carried out by Jay Rubin.
　　
　　It must also be noted that in addition to very notable differences between the Japanese and English versions, there are also differences between the original Japanese hardcover and paperback editions.
　　
　　Further differences exist between the American and British editions, but these are much more superficial.
　　
　　The German translation by Giovanni and Ditte Bandini is based on the English translation, not on the Japanese original.
　　Book information
　　
　　 * Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. translated by Jay Rubin. ISBN 0-679-77543-9.
　　 * Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. translated by Jay Rubin. ISBN 1-86046-581-1.

　　A Wild Sheep Chase (羊をめぐる冒険, Hitsuji o meguru bōken?) is a novel published in 1982 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It is the sequel to Pinball, 1973, and is the third book in Murakami's "Trilogy of the Rat".
　　
　　In A Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami blends elements of American and English literature with Japanese contexts, exploring post-WWII Japanese cultural identity. The book is part mystery and part fantasy with a postmodern twist.
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　This mock-detective tale follows an unnamed Japanese man through Tokyo and Hokkaidō in 1978. The passive, chain-smoking main character gets swept away on an adventure that leads him on a hunt for a sheep that hasn’t been seen for years. The apathetic protagonist meets a woman with magically seductive ears and a strange man who dresses as a sheep and talks in slurs; in this way there are elements of Japanese animism or Shinto. The manipulation of the narrator into the hunt and repeated references to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes raise connections to "The Red-Headed League."
　　Sequel
　　
　　Murakami wrote a sequel to this book, entitled Dance Dance Dance, which also follows the adventures of the unnamed protagonist and the Sheep Man. However, its plot, tone and the majority of the characters are sufficiently different that Dance Dance Dance can be seen as separate from the "Trilogy of the Rat."
　　Awards
　　
　　 * Noma Literary Newcomer's Prize

　　Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ, Umibe no Kafuka?) is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender". Since its 2005 English language release (2006 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize-winning translation by Philip Gabriel), the novel has received mostly positive reviews and critical acclaim, including a spot on The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2005 and the World Fantasy Award.
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between the two, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters.
　　
　　The odd chapters tell the 15 year old Kafka's story as he runs away from his father's house to escape an Oedipal curse and to embark upon a quest to find his mother and sister. After a series of adventures, he finds shelter in a quiet, private library in Takamatsu, run by the distant and aloof Miss Saeki and the androgynous Oshima. There he spends his days reading the unabridged Richard Francis Burton translation of A Thousand and One Nights and the collected works of Natsume Sōseki until the police begin inquiring after him in connection with a brutal murder.
　　
　　The even chapters tell Nakata's story. Due to his uncanny abilities, he has found part-time work in his old age as a finder of lost cats (a clear reference to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). The case of one particular lost cat puts him on a path that ultimately takes him far away from his home, ending up on the road for the first time in his life. He befriends a truck-driver named Hoshino. Hoshino takes him on as a passenger in his truck and soon becomes very attached to the old man.
　　
　　Nakata and Kafka are on a collision course throughout the novel, but their convergence takes place as much on a metaphysical plane as it does in reality and, in fact, that can be said of the novel itself. Due to the Oedipal theme running through much of the novel, Kafka on the Shore has been called a modern Greek tragedy.
　　Major themes
　　
　　Kafka on the Shore demonstrates Murakami's typical blend of popular culture, quotidian detail, magical realism, suspense, humor, an involved and at times confusing plot, and potent sexuality. It also features an increased emphasis on Japanese religious traditions, particularly Shinto. The main characters are significant departures from the typical protagonist of a Murakami novel, such as Toru Watanabe of Norwegian Wood and Toru Okada of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, who are typically in their 20s or 30s and have rather humdrum personalities. However, many of the same themes re-occur in Kafka on the Shore as were first developed in these and other previous novels.
　　
　　The power and beauty of music as a communicative medium is a central theme of the novel—the very title comes from a pop song Kafka is given on a record in the library. The music of Beethoven, specifically the Archduke Trio is also used as a redemptive metaphor. Among other prominent themes are: the virtues of self-sufficiency and efficiency, the relation of dreams and reality, the specter of the heritage of World War II, the threat of fate, the uncertain grip of prophecy, and the power of nature.
　　
　　G. W. F. Hegel has an influence on the book and is referenced directly at one point. Dialectics (Thesis, antithesis, synthesis) in particular play a role.
　　Characters
　　Humans
　　
　　 * Kafka Tamura: Clearly named in honor of the Czech writer Franz Kafka, Kafka is a "cool, tall, fifteen-year-old boy lugging a backpack and a bunch of obsessions" and the son of the famous sculptor Koichi Tamura. His mother and sister left the family almost before he became conscious of them. He occasionally interacts with a hectoring, exhortative alter ego "The boy named Crow" (as told in the story, although jackdaw is closer to Czech meaning). Crow tells himself throughout the novel that he must be "the toughest fifteen-year-old in the world."
　　 * Satoru Nakata: Nakata lost many of his mental faculties when, as one of sixteen schoolchildren out on a mushroom-gathering field-trip toward the end of World War II, he was rendered unconscious following a mysterious flash of light in the sky . Unlike the other children, who lost consciousness briefly, Nakata remained unconscious for many weeks, and, upon finally awakening, found that his memory and his ability to read had disappeared, as well as his higher intellectual functions. In their place, Nakata found he was able to communicate with cats. Nakata and Kafka may also be different parts of the same person.
　　 * Oshima: A 21-year-old, gay female-to-male transsexual. He is a librarian and an owner of a mountain retreat who becomes close to Kafka throughout the course of the novel; also a haemophiliac.
　　 * Hoshino: A truck driver in his mid-twenties. He befriends Nakata, due to his resemblance to his own grandfather, and transports and assists Nakata towards his uncertain goal.
　　 * Miss Saeki: The manager of a private library, where Oshima works and where Kafka lives through much of the novel. She was previously a singer, and performed the song "Kafka on the Shore", which unites many of the novel's themes and gives it its title. She may also be Kafka's mother.
　　 * Sakura: A young woman Kafka meets on the bus who helps him later on. She may be his sister.
　　 * Johnnie Walker: A cat killer who plans to make a flute out of cats' souls. He may also be Kafka's father, the renowned sculptor Koichi Tamura. His name is taken from Johnnie Walker, a brand of Scotch whisky, and he dresses to appear like the man featured in the brand's logo.
　　 * Colonel Sanders: A "concept" who takes the form of a pimp or hustler. He is named after, and appears similar to, Harland Sanders, the founder and face of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
　　
　　Cats
　　
　　 * Goma: A lost cat owned by Mrs. Koizumi.
　　 * Kawamura: A cat who was addled after being hit by a bicycle. Though they can communicate, Nakata is unable to understand Kawamura's repetitive and strange sentences.
　　 * Mimi: An intelligent Siamese cat.
　　 * Okawa: A tabby cat.
　　 * Toro: A black cat.
　　
　　Understanding the novel
　　
　　After the novel's release, Murakami's Japanese publisher set up a website allowing readers to submit questions regarding the meaning of the book. 8,000 questions were received and Murakami responded personally to about 1,200 of them. In an interview posted on his English language website, Murakami states that the secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it multiple times: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write".

　　For the Yumiko Cheng album, see Yumiko Cheng. For the Beach Boys song see Dance, Dance, Dance (song). For the Chic song see Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah). For the Earth Wind & Fire song see Rock & Rule. For the Steve Miller Band song see Fly Like An Eagle.
　　
　　Dance Dance Dance (ダンス・ダンス・ダンス, Dansu dansu dansu?) is the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. First published in 1988, the English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1994. The book is a sequel to Murakami's novel A Wild Sheep Chase, although the plot lines are not entirely contiguous. In 2001, Murakami said that writing Dance Dance Dance had been a healing act after his unexpected fame following the publication of Norwegian Wood and that, because of this, he had enjoyed writing Dance more than any other novel.
　　
　　Plot summary
　　
　　The novel follows the surreal misadventures of an unnamed protagonist who makes a living as a commercial writer. The protagonist is compelled to return to the Dolphin Hotel, a seedy establishment where he once spent the night with a woman he loved, despite the fact he never even knew her real name. She has since disappeared without a trace, the Dolphin Hotel has been purchased by a large corporation and converted into a slick, fashionable, western-style hotel.
　　
　　The protagonist begins experiencing dreams in which this woman and the Sheep Man — a strange individual dressed in an old sheep skin who speaks in a monotonous rush — appear to him and lead him to uncover two mysteries. The first is metaphysical in nature, viz. how to survive the unsurvivable. The second is the murder of a call-girl in which an old school friend of the protagonist, now a famous film actor, is a prime suspect. Along the way, the protagonist meets a clairvoyant and troubled 13-year-old girl, her equally troubled parents, a one-armed poet, and a sympathetic receptionist.
　　Major themes
　　
　　Several of the novel's themes are hallmarks of Murakami's writing. Dance Dance Dance deals with themes of loss and abandonment, as do many of Murakami's other novels. Often, the male protagonist in a Murakami novel will lose a mother, spouse, or girlfriend. Other common Murakami themes this novel includes are alienation, absurdity and the ultimate discovery of a human connection.
　　
　　There is a character in the story named Hiraku Makimura, which is an anagram of "Haruki Murakami." Makimura of the novel is also a best selling author.
　　Differences in English Translation
　　
　　The supernatural character known as the Sheep Man speaks differently between the two versions. The character speaks normal Japanese in the original work, but in the English translations, his speech is written without any spaces between words.

　　The Game of Contemporaneity or 'dojidai gemu' (同時代ゲーム) is a novel by Nobel prize winner Oe Kenzaburo, published in 1979.
　　
　　The Game of Contemporaneity was originally inspired on Diego Rivera’s mural 'Dream on a Sunday Afternoon in the Central Alameda'. Oe’s approach to history and story-telling, like in the mural, exposes the themes of simultaneity, ambiguity and thus complexity. The story centres itself around the alternative world of the dissident samurai, as opposed to that of the Emperor. The samurai turn into demons after having being chased into the forest. The story of the village serves as a microcosmic representation of the history of the nation as a whole. It has its own creation myth and fertility goddess, as well as having a composite healer/trickster called: The One Who Destroys. Although the novel exposes the themes of marginalisation and outsiderhood, it also provides hope for a new beginning. This emphasizes the central theme of the novel: simultaneous ambiguity, in the amalgamation of past and present, fact and dream, as well as history and myth. Oe uses satire, parody and black humour to describe the many deeds and events of the samurai. This culminates in the Fifty-Day War, in which the samurai and the imperial army battle one another, with The One Who Destroys leading the battle against the The No-Name Captain of the imperial guard. It ends in the samurai surrendering to avoid the destruction of the forest (mori). The word 'mori' in itself is ambivalent in that in Japanese it conjures an image of regeneration or rebirth and in Latin that of death.
　　
　　This novel has been considered as a main example of the current of Magic Realism in Japanese Literature. Other Japanese authors with considerable literary contributions to this genre are: Abe Kobo, Yasunari Kawabata and Yasushi Inoue.

　　作者是心理描写的专家，醉心于病态的心理描写，不仅写行为的结果，而且着重描述行为发生的心理活动过程，特别是那些自觉不自觉的反常行为、近乎昏迷与疯狂的反常状态。而人物的思想行为反常，恰恰又是他作品的特点。《普罗哈尔钦先生》中的普罗哈尔钦，《脆弱的心》中的舒姆科夫，《荒唐人的梦》、《拙劣的笑话》、《性格温和的女人》以及《白夜》中的主人公，都是“反常”的怪人。作者似乎想通过人物的乖张行为、幻想、作梦、昏迷、发疯等等来反映现实，造成别具一格的真实，因为他认为“按照现实的本来面目来表现现实是不可能的”。也许，这一点正是作者艺术的独特处。
　　　　作者笔下的人物，虽然地位低微，行为反常，荒唐可笑，但内心里却或多或少地保留着某些高尚的品质，比如《波尔袒科夫》中的主人公波尔袒科夫虽然是一个“货真价实的受苦受难者”，但却“心地善良”，是“世界上最最诚实、最最高尚的一个，”“甚至敢于舍己救人”，“有时他还甘冒风险，不惜牺牲自己的一切，几乎有点英雄气概”。就是“爱财如命”的普罗哈尔钦先生“虽然不是出身名门望族，为人却忠实可靠”，而且还是一个“性格温和的好人”。作者虽然写了他们不少荒唐可笑的行为，但却没有将他们丑化，所以这些苦命人的形象在读者心中激起的不是对他们的蔑视，而是深深的同情。对他们荒唐可笑的行为，我们可能禁不住发笑，但笑后一想，又往往觉得想哭，甚至情不自禁地洒下同情之泪。我以为这是作者艺术表现力的高明处。

　　L'après-midi de M. Andesmas, Gallimard, 1960 (tr. The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas, 1964)

　　Steppenwolf (orig. German Der Steppenwolf) is the tenth novel by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse. Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. Combining autobiographical and fantastic elements, the novel was named after the lonesome wolf of the steppes. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world in the 1920s while memorably portraying the protagonist's split between his humanity, and his wolf-like aggression and homelessness. The novel became an international success, although Hesse would later claim that the book was largely misunderstood.
　　
　　Background and publication history
　　
　　In 1924 Hermann Hesse remarried wedding singer Ruth Wenger. After several weeks however, he left Basel, only returning near the end of the year. Upon his return he rented a separate apartment, adding to his isolation. After a short trip to Germany with Wenger, Hesse stopped seeing her almost completely. The resulting feeling of isolation and inability to make lasting contact with the outside world, led to increasing despair and thoughts of suicide.
　　
　　Hesse began writing Steppenwolf in Basel, and finished it in Zürich. In 1926, a precursor to the book, a collection of poems titled The Crisis. From Hermann Hesse's Diary was published. The novel was later released in 1927. The first English edition was published in 1929 by Martin Secker in the United Kingdom and by Henry Holt and Company in the United States. This version was translated by Basil Creighton.
　　Plot summary
　　
　　The book is presented as a manuscript by its protagonist, a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, the nephew of his landlady. The acquaintance adds a short preface of his own and then has the manuscript published. The title of this "real" book-in-the-book is Harry Haller's Records (For Madmen Only).
　　
　　As it begins, the hero is beset by reflections on his being ill-suited for the world of everyday regular people, specifically for frivolous bourgeois society. In his aimless wanderings about the city he encounters a person carrying an advertisement for a magic theatre who gives him a small book, Treatise on the Steppenwolf. This treatise, cited in full in the novel's text as Harry reads it, addresses Harry by name and strikes him as describing himself uncannily. It is a discourse of a man who believes himself to be of two natures: one high, the spiritual nature of man; while the other is low, animalistic; a "wolf of the steppes". This man is entangled in an irresolvable struggle, never content with either nature because he cannot see beyond this self-made concept. The pamphlet gives an explanation of the multifaceted and indefinable nature of every man's soul, which Harry is either unable or unwilling to recognize. It also discusses his suicidal intentions, describing him as one of the "suicides"; people who, deep down, knew they would take their own life one day. But to counter this it hails his potential to be great, to be one of the "Immortals".
　　
　　The next day Harry meets a former academic friend with whom he had often discussed Indian mythology, and who invites Harry to his home. While there, Harry is disgusted by the nationalistic mentality of his friend, who inadvertently criticizes a column written by Harry, and offends the man and his wife by criticizing his wife's picture of Goethe, which Harry feels is too thickly sentimental and insulting to Goethe's true brilliance, reassuring the proposition that Harry is, and will always be a stranger to his society.
　　
　　Trying to postpone returning home (to where he has planned suicide), Harry walks aimlessly around the town for most of the night, finally stopping to rest at a dance hall where he happens on a young woman, Hermine, who quickly recognizes his desperation. They talk at length; Hermine alternately mocks Harry's self-pity and indulges him in his explanations regarding his view of life, to his astonished relief. Hermine promises a second meeting, and provides Harry with a reason to live (or at least a substantial excuse that justifies his decision to continue living) that he eagerly embraces.
　　
　　During the next few weeks, Hermine introduces Harry to the indulgences of what he calls the "bourgeois". She teaches Harry to dance, introduces him to the casual use of drugs, finds him a lover (Maria), and more importantly, forces him to accept these as legitimate and worthy aspects of a full life.
　　The Magic Theatre
　　
　　Hermine also introduces Harry to a mysterious saxophonist named Pablo, who appears to be the very opposite of what Harry considers a serious, thoughtful man. After attending a lavish masquerade ball, Pablo brings Harry to his metaphorical "magic theatre", where concerns and notions that plagued his soul disintegrate while he participates with the ethereal and phantasmal. The Magic Theatre is a place where he experiences the fantasies that exist in his mind. They are described as a long horseshoe-shaped corridor that is a mirror on one side and a great many doors on the other. Then, Harry enters five of these labeled doors, each of which symbolizes a fraction of his life.
　　Major characters
　　
　　 * Harry Haller – the protagonist, a middle-aged man
　　 * Pablo – a saxophonist
　　 * Hermine – a young woman Haller meets at a dance
　　 * Maria – Hermine's friend
　　
　　Character relationship diagram
　　Critical analysis
　　
　　In the preface to the novel's 1960 edition, Hesse wrote that Steppenwolf was "more often and more violently misunderstood" than any of his other books. Hesse felt that his readers focused only on the suffering and despair that are depicted in Harry Haller's life, thereby missing the possibility of transcendence and healing. This could be due to the fact that at that time Western readers were not familiar with Buddhist philosophy, and therefore missed the point when reading it, because the notion of a human being consisting of a myriad of fragments of different souls is in complete contradiction of Judeo-Christian theologies. Also in the novel, Pablo instructs Harry Haller to relinquish his personality at one point, or at least for the duration of his journey through the corridors of the Magic Theater. In order to do so Harry must learn to use laughter to overcome the tight grip of his personality, to literally laugh at his personality until it shatters into so many small pieces. This concept also ran counter to the egocentric Western culture.
　　Hermann Hesse in 1926
　　
　　Hesse is a master at blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy. In the moment of climax, it's debatable whether Haller actually kills Hermine or whether the "murder" is just another hallucination in the Magic Theater. It is argued that Hesse does not define reality based on what occurs in physical time and space; rather, reality is merely a function of metaphysical cause and effect. What matters is not whether the murder actually occurred, but rather that at that moment it was Haller's intention to kill Hermine. In that sense, Haller's various states of mind are of more significance than his actions.
　　
　　It is also notable that the very existence of Hermine in the novel is never confirmed; the manuscript left in Harry Haller's room reflects a story that completely revolves around his personal experiences. In fact when Harry asks Hermine what her name is, she turns the question around. When he is challenged to guess her name, he tells her that she reminds him of a childhood friend named Hermann, and therefore he concludes, her name must be Hermine. Metaphorically, Harry creates Hermine as if a fragment of his own soul has broken off to form a female counterpart.
　　
　　The underlying theme of transcendence is shown within group interaction and dynamics. Throughout the novel Harry concerns himself with being different, with separating himself from those he is around. Harry believes that he is better than his surroundings and fails to understand why he cannot be recognized as such, which raises the idea that in order to rise above a group one must first become one with a part of it.
　　
　　The multilayered soul of human nature is the major theme in the novel and its two main characters, Harry Haller and Hermine, illustrate this. Harry illustrates through an inner conflict and an outer conflict. Inwardly, he believes two opposing natures battle over possession of him, a man and a wolf, high and low, spirit and animal. While he actually longs to live as a wolf free of social convention, he lives as a bourgeois bachelor, but his opposing wolfish nature isolates him from others until he meets Hermine.
　　
　　Hermine represents the duality of human nature through an outer conflict. Hermine is a socialite, a foil to the isolated bachelor, and she coerces Harry to agree to subject himself to society, learning from her, in exchange for her murder. As Harry struggles through social interaction his isolation diminishes and he and Hermine grow closer to one another as the moment of her death approaches. The climax of the dualistic struggle culminates in the Magic Theater where Harry, seeing himself as a wolf, murders Hermine the socialite.
　　Critical reception
　　Later German Edition
　　
　　From the very beginning, reception was harsh. American novelist Jack Kerouac dismissed it in Big Sur (1962) and it has had a long history of mixed critical reception and opinion at large. Already upset with Hesse's novel Siddhartha, political activists and patriots railed against him, and against the book, seeing an opportunity to discredit Hesse. Even close friends and longtime readers criticized the novel for its perceived lack of morality in its open depiction of sex and drug use, a criticism that indeed remained the primary rebuff of the novel for many years. However as society changed and formerly taboo topics such as sex and drugs became more openly discussed, critics came to attack the book for other reasons; mainly that it was too pessimistic, and that it was a journey in the footsteps of a psychotic and showed humanity through his warped and unstable viewpoint, a fact that Hesse did not dispute, although he did respond to critics by noting the novel ends on a theme of new hope.
　　
　　Popular interest in the novel was renewed in the 1960s, primarily because it was seen as a counterculture book and because of its depiction of free love and frank drug usage. It was also introduced in many new colleges for study and interest in the book and in Hermann Hesse was feted in America for more than a decade afterwards.
　　"Treatise on the Steppenwolf"
　　
　　The "Treatise on the Steppenwolf" is a booklet given to Harry Haller which describes himself. It is a literary mirror and, from the outset, describes what Harry had not learned, namely "to find contentment in himself and his own life." The cause of his discontent was the perceived dualistic nature of a human and a wolf within Harry. The treatise describes, as earmarks of his life, a threefold manifestation of his discontent: one, isolation from others, two, suicidal tendencies, and three, relation to the bourgeois. Harry isolates himself from others socially and professionally, frequently resists the temptation to take his life, and experiences feelings of benevolence and malevolence for bourgeois notions. The booklet predicts Harry may come to terms with his state in the dawning light of humor.
　　References in popular culture
　　
　　Hesse's 1928 short story "Harry, the Steppenwolf" forms a companion piece to the novel. It is about a wolf named Harry who is kept in a zoo, and who entertains crowds by destroying images of German cultural icons like Goethe and Mozart.
　　
　　The name Steppenwolf has become notable in popular culture for various organizations and establishments. In 1967, the band Steppenwolf, headed by German-born singer John Kay, took their name from the novel. The Belgian band DAAU (die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) is named after one of the advertising slogans of the novel's magical theatre. The Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, which was founded in 1974 by actor Gary Sinise, also took its name from the novel. The 'lengthy track "Steppenwolf" appears on English rock band Hawkwind's album Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and is directly inspired by the novel, including references to the magic theatre and the dual nature of the wolfman-manwolf (lutocost). Robert Calvert had initially written and performed the lyrics on 'Distances Between Us' by Adrian Wagner in 1974. The song also appears on later, live Hawkwind CD's and DVDs.
　　
　　````
　　Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
　　
　　The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1974. Starring Max Von Sydow and Dominique Sanda, it was directed by Fred Haines.

　　米兰·昆德拉1975年流亡法国后创作了《生活在别处》这部充满了现代主义色彩的杰作，在作品中他把主人公——一个敏感的年轻诗人雅罗米尔的内心世界刻画的细致入微，在描写手法上也独具个性，尤其是一个梦境套着一个梦境的超现实主义手法使我们再次领略了现代派小说的精髓。其中还大量涉及了象征主义诗歌，虽然我们未曾接触到他的先锋电影，但从他作品中，我们无时不刻感到如同摄影机般捕捉着事件的运动感。
　　
　　简介 ······
　　　　《生活在别处》是一个年轻艺术家的肖像画。昆德拉以其独到的笔触塑造出雅罗米尔这样一个形象，描绘了这个年轻诗人充满激情而又短暂的一生，具有“发展小说”的许多特点。就其题材而言，表现一个艺术家（或知识分子）是本世纪文学的一个重要领域，因为展示我们这个复杂的时代也只有复杂的人物才能承担。在这部作品中，作者对诗人创作过程的分析是微妙而精细的。创作过程当然不仅指下笔写作的过程，而且更广义地指一个诗人的全部成长过程。用作者自己的话说，这部小说是“对我所称之为抒情态度的一个分析。”正是在这样的创作意图下，这部书最初曾被题名为《抒情时代》。作者所要表现和所要探究的是，人的心灵所具有的激情，它的产生和它的结果。因而这本书又是一本现代心理小说，表现了一个诗人的艺术感觉的成长。书中每一章　节的名称都展示了诗人生命历程的一个阶段。他的童年、少年和青年时代，他怎样读书，怎样恋爱，以及怎样做梦等等。关于时代的全貌和他人的活动都迟到了远处，一切观察的焦点都集中在主人公身上，并且与他的内心活动有关。有如激情的涧水，在时间的乱山碎石中流过，两岸的景致并不重要，重要的是溪流将流向沃野还是沙漠。换句话说，作者在这里所关心的是诗人心理和精神上的发育。为了潜入到人物意识中最隐秘的角落，作者采用了一种我们可以称之为客观意识流的叙述方式：时间与空间交织（不同时期不同地点所发生的事常常出现在同一段叙述中），现实与梦幻交织（第二章　《泽维尔》完全是一个梦套一个梦），情节的跳宏，思考的猝然与不连贯，故意模糊主语的陈述，这些都使此书更接近于诗歌而不是小说。假如我们把书中这些抒情性的因素去掉，这部作品的内容就剩不下什么了。这种形式使我们更能切近诗人的内心活动，感触到诗人的激情是怎样产生和燃烧的。

　　The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine. Wilde later revised this edition, making several alterations, and adding new chapters; the amended version was published by Ward, Lock, and Company in April 1891. The title is often translated The Portrait of Dorian Gray.
　　
　　The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.
　　
　　The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a work of classic gothic horror fiction with a strong Faustian theme.

　　acob's Room is the third novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on October 26th 1922.
　　
　　The novel centres, in a very ambiguous way, around the life story of the protagonist Jacob Flanders, and is presented entirely by the impressions other characters have of Jacob [except for those times when we do indeed get Jacob's perspective]. Thus, although it could be said that the book is primarily a character study and has little in the way of plot or background, the narrative is constructed as a void in place of the central character, if indeed the novel can be said to have a 'protagonist' in conventional terms. Motifs of emptiness and absence haunt the novel and establish its elegiac feel. Jacob is described to us, but in such indirect terms that it would seem better to view him as an amalgamation of the different perceptions of the characters and narrator. He does not exist as a concrete reality, but rather as a collection of memories and sensations.
　　Plot summary
　　
　　Set in pre-war England, the novel begins in Jacob's childhood and follows him through college at Cambridge, and then into adulthood. The story is told mainly through the perspectives of the women in Jacob's life, including the repressed upper-middle-class Clara Durrant and the uninhibited young art student Florinda, with whom he has an affair. His time in London forms a large part of the story, though towards the end of the novel he travels to Italy, then Greece. Jacob eventually dies in the war and in lieu of a description of the death scene, Woolf describes the empty room that he leaves behind.
　　Literary significance
　　
　　The novel is a departure from Woolf's earlier two novels, The Voyage Out (1915) and Night and Day (1919), which are more conventional in form. The work is seen as an important modernist text; its experimental form is viewed as a progression of the innovative writing style Woolf presented in her earlier collection of short fiction titled Monday or Tuesday (1919).

　　如果在冬夜，一个旅人
　　作者:塔洛·卡尔维诺
　　第1章
　　第2章
　　第3章
　　第4章
　　第5章
　　第6章
　　第7章
　　第8章
　　第9章
　　第10章
　　第11章
　　第12章

　　柏拉图，如同他那个时代的许多伟大的人，是个梦想家。在他的幻界之中，人本应是雌
　　雄同体的；只是为了人所犯下的罪，人就被分成了两部分，于是就有了男人和女人的分别。
　　
　　柏拉图还证明了：完美的世界不能多于五个，因为正则的数学体系只有五种。柏拉图的
　　“理想国”是他的最紧要的梦幻的体现。在柏拉图的幻境里，人先是睡觉，然后醒来张着眼
　　四下观看，然后又是睡觉；人也不应该把了肉眼去看日食，要弄桶水来看水中的倒影，不然
　　会变成瞎子的。梦幻，在柏拉图的时代，还有极好的名誉。
　　
　　今天，我要讲的就是柏拉图的一个梦，这个梦可不是一点趣味也没有的那种。在柏拉图
　　的这个梦里，伟大的地米古斯，那位留芳万世的几何家，那位在太空制造了无数圆球并在每
　　颗球上放了许许多人的，要看看妖怪们到底从他那学了多少东西。于是，地米古斯给了每一
　　位妖怪一些物质去发挥他们的想象，要是没人介意，打个比方吧，那就象菲底阿思和宙苛西
　　斯教他们的门徒那样：给个像，让他们照着画。
　　
　　魔王领了他那块物质，就是我们现在称为地球的。一阵忙碌之后，魔王把地球弄成了现
　　在的这个样子。魔王高兴极了，他觉着这是一件可以被称为杰作的上上品。魔王觉着他已成
　　功地让妒忌之神都闭上了她的嘴，他盘算着该如何欣赏即刻可至的其他妖怪的颂词。使魔王
　　大惑不解的是：兄弟们送给他的只是一阵不屑的嘘声。
　　
　　兄弟中那个最好挖苦人的家伙还凑上前来说了这样的话：
　　
　　“可不是吗，你倒真地干了件了不起的事呢！你把你那世界分成了两部分；又为了阻断
　　两边的来往，还那么小心地弄了那么些水在两个半球之间。要是有谁胆敢靠近你做的那两个
　　极地，谁就得给冻僵；谁胆敢靠近赤道，谁就得给烤焦了。你又是那样深谋远虑，造了那么
　　大片的沙漠，任何试图穿越它的不是得给饿毙就是得给渴死。我倒是没从你造的那些牛、
　　羊、公鸡、母鸡身上找出什么毛病来；可我觉着没法理解你为什么要弄出那么些毒蛇和蜘
　　蛛。你那些洋葱、洋蓟是好东西，可你干嘛又弄那么老些毒草种得到处都是？除非你想着去
　　毒一毒那些你造的人们。而且，我没数错的话，你大约造了三十几种猴子，还有更多种类的
　　狗，可你只造了四种或是五种人。你又给了这后一种动物一种本能，就是你唤它作推理的；
　　可实际上，那个什么推理不过是一种可笑的玩意儿，离那个你唤它作愚蠢的不会远于一寸。
　　除了上边提到的，你还一点也不尊重你造的那些两条腿的朋友们，你只给了他们少得可怜的
　　一点自卫；你把他们丢在那样一种混沌之中，只给他们那么星点补偿；你又给了他们那么多
　　情感、那样少的用来抵御感情的智慧与谨慎。你一准早就没想要这个球面上在任何时间有许
　　多的人可以生存；你又弄了那天花去日复一日地折磨他们，整得他们的数目每隔几年就要少
　　去十分之一，还给那余下的十分之九以疾病；你还嫌这些还不够，又让那幸存的人们不是对
　　簿公堂就是自相残杀。
　　
　　“为了你这所谓的杰作，人们还要对你终生顶礼膜拜。”
　　
　　听到这，魔王的脸红了。魔王觉察出这里面倒也是涉及了不但有实在的而且有精神上的
　　邪恶；可他还是坚称：他那杰作里边，基本上讲，是善多于恶的。
　　
　　“听着，好心肠的伙计，没有比到处去挑毛病更容易的了，”魔王说，“你不想想，造
　　一种动物，给了他们推理的本能不算，还搭上自由意志，又要想法不使他们滥用他们那自
　　由，容易吗？也不想想，养出一万种植物，出点有毒的算什么？你以为，那么多的水、沙
　　子、土，你就能造出个又没海又没沙漠的球来？
　　
　　“看看你自己吧，我的专出冷言冷语的朋友，你不是刚造完那个木星吗，也让咱来看看
　　你做得那条大带子、那长夜、那四颗月亮。看看，你造的那个世界，是不是上面的居民既不
　　生病也不愚蠢。”
　　
　　有跑得快的妖怪立刻去了趟木星，回来和哥几个说了说，于是，大伙又一块去笑那刚刚
　　还在猛挑刺的主儿。哥几个里做事最认真的那妖怪，这回他造得土星，可即使是他也没能免
　　受嘲讽。其他造了火星、水星、金星的也都给找出了好些特丢面子的错误。
　　
　　后来，好几大本书、无数小册子被制造了出来记述这造太阳系记；天底下想得出来的花
　　言巧语无所不用；老话说得好：言多有失。费了那么多纸写下那么多字，弄出老些个自相矛
　　盾处。
　　
　　后来，伟大的地米古斯对那几个妖怪说：
　　
　　“你们几个做的那几个球各有好的一面和不好的另一面，经过热烈的讨论，大伙都有了
　　不同程度的更进一步的理解。你们几个离完美还有好些距离。这样吧，你们的作品就留在这
　　一亿年好了。再过一亿年，你们都会知道更多，做起事来就会好许多了的。不要对你们自己
　　要求过高，要知道，这个宇宙里，只有我才能制造完美与永恒。”
　　
　　这就是柏拉图传给他的门徒的教条。柏拉图刚完成他的高谈阔论，有位门徒高叫道，
　　“您醒了吗？”

　　（意）马莱巴 沈萼梅/刘锡荣 译
　　
　　一只帕多瓦种的母鸡，在靠近帕尔马城的一所农庄里出生长大，它有个毛病：生出的鸡蛋的蛋壳很容易碎。原因在于其它的母鸡都吃小石子和石灰微粒，所以：它们生下的鸡蛋壳都结实；而它只吃小麦、高粱和玉米粒，或者吃小虫子，它吃的虫子有玫瑰色的、黑色的和其它各种颜色的，它从来不吃小石子和石灰微粒，因为它消化不了。要是偶然吃下去一颗石子，那石子就整天呆在它的胃里了，而且使它整夜合不上眼，所以，它生的鸡蛋壳很容易破碎。
　　一天帕多瓦母鸡听到一位卖鸡蛋的商人对农庄的女主人抱怨说，有一只母鸡生的蛋太容易破了，每次运输途中都得碎。母鸡听了十分担心，因为它知道，一旦女主人发现了那些蛋壳易破碎的鸡蛋都是它生的话，那么很可能就会把它宰了。农庄附近有一家大理石匠铺。一夭，母鸡试着去尝大理石粉末。石粉既不好吃也不难吃，但跟小石子和石灰微粒一样难消化。第二天，它生下的鸡蛋蛋壳呈大理石的颜色，外表十分好看，但还是很容易打碎。另有一天母鸡从石匠铺面前走过时，看到有一桶罐子打开着，上面写有“硬化剂”的字样。“但愿这东西没有毒。”可怜的母鸡自言自语道。母鸡在那白色的糊状物上啄了两三下，原来那是石匠用来粘大理石的粘胶。它随后跑回到鸡舍去，因为要是吃了那东西要死的话。它情愿死在自己的窝里也不能死在马路上。它久久地睁着眼睛等着肚子作疼，最后它睡着了，它一夜睡到大天亮。黎明时它生了蛋。
　　它不像往常那样啼叫以通知女主人来取蛋，它拿了鸡蛋到一片树丛后面去。母鸡先用嘴啄，然后拿一块石子敲：这一回，它生的蛋可真硬，于是，它就把鸡蛋放回鸡舍去。
　　帕多瓦母鸡生下的蛋在运输途中没有破碎，它被放在市场的货摊上，让一位工人的妻子煎鸡蛋吃。女人回到家，把所有鸡蛋都在碗边，她拿起帕多瓦母鸡生的这个鸡蛋在碗边一敲。但鸡醚有打碎，碗却打碎了。“咦，真怪！”女人自言自语，她拿起鸡蛋，在大理石做的桌子角上敲。大理石被敲掉了一角。她拿来了锤子，试着用锤子敲鸡蛋。还是敲不碎，于是她把那只蛋放在一边，因为她不好意思对丈夫和儿子说自己连一只鸡蛋也敲不碎。
　　丈夫与儿子吃了用三只鸡蛋煎的蛋，而不是四只。妻子说人家卖给她一只不新鲜的鸡蛋，也许已经坏了，所以她故意没煎进去。
　　第二天，她那个大学生儿子把几寅烂西红柿和那只鸡蛋放进包里，因为那天有部长来参观。那个部长诡计多端，他想与大学生们见面，让他们鼓掌欢迎。大学生们商议好给予他应有的欢迎。当那位部长一出现在学校门口时，烂西红柿和臭鸡蛋朝他劈头盖脑地扔过去，那个工人的儿子瞄准了部长，把那只敲不碎的鸡蛋朝他的前额扔过去。只听见“啪”，像是打过去一块石头似的，部长应声倒地。大家把他抬出去，用冰水袋敷在他的额头上，因为部长的前额正中长出一个大鼓包。尽管用冰水敷，他那个肿包越来越大，活像犀牛的角。
　　打从那天以后，部长再也不接见大学生了，也不再去参观什么开幕式了，因为不管怎么冷敷和治疗，部长额头上的那块包怎么也消不下去了。

　　I lay in bed, looking out the window illuminated by the _set_ting sun poplar tree leaves suddenly turned red from yellow, the sky has become like a dark blue ink. My mood became better. I crawled out of bed to go outside. Poplar tree leaves have become a child-like flame red silk, lightly fluttering in the branches. Many golden rivers flowing from the sun in the sky atop flowing secretly. Suddenly the whole street lamps lit up, a string of glowing balloons floating in the air. I feel happy, ride a bike to go under the overpass my girlfriend.
　　She stood there waiting for me, wearing a purple dress hair, head of a group of white radiance slight redness of the month. That little red is the color of a hurry. I jumped off the bicycle, said:. "You're a little anxious, in fact, is not the time to"
　　She did not speak, and a little light head hair green. I said: "Why am sorry here is very dark, others see us?."
　　Her erratic head light up. I said: "What makes you impatient of it?"
　　She categorically said: "! You what you know, like God, I hate!"
　　I do not speak, turned to look at those who ride. They filed through the shadow of the bridge, dragging colorful tail light, like a tropical aquarium fish swimming. Suddenly she stabbed me again, saying: "Let's go out for a walk, you see the things to say to me." We went to the bridge to go. Because I said she was embarrassed, then she took my arm, in fact, was the smell of urine from head to toe in green inside cover. I said: "You're good-looking, like, like carved jade."
　　She was shocked: "how is it?"
　　"You're shy it?"
　　She took down my arm and one said: "with you not even shy all harm, really terrible, you see, that person really terrible.!"
　　Came across a man squatting while a large toad on green crystal Liansai. I asked her how is it that people, she said, his face is a large pimple. I said no knots, a pair of frog resting on top. She says really interesting. Then came a big fat ride, opened the pot belly seemed like chaos ring, it is because he and his wife quarrel every day. After a while, opened a red car, which sat a dresser spinster, majestic like a general, after the earthquake cracks like wrinkles, thighs like chopsticks, pubic hair thick and long, like a steel sword as glitter. I've seen things to tell her, but did not tell her that I saw a porcupine on the belly bulge heads. She was laughing, and said these things to me to write my poems go.
　　I have a collection of poems, written at this moment all I saw and heard. In addition to her, I did not dare to anyone for fear of being sent to a mental hospital to go, but fell in love after she saw me. We have long marriages registered in the office, but also maintained a pure relationship. I am old, I wanted her to go there that day and I said: "! Night I was there to it."
　　"No, I do not like today."
　　"But when did you like it!"
　　She suddenly took my hand, moving their faces came over and said: "Are you really so Zhuomang it?" I kissed her, that instant incredibly hard, as if the whole world collapsed height, the original full exchange on the left to the right went. A man stood in front of me, I poured myself wearing a dress, heels down like a pair of long-trotters, and lightheadedness allowed to stumble forward. I exclaimed life, complain minor.
　　Cry a little so I _set_ to myself very dissatisfied. I rounded shoulders, chest plump, she has become so small, especially the foot like stilts, simply put hamstring snapped. So I shrill cried: "This is how is it?"
　　The man said: "I do not know, I do not know how it changed over the Hey, this is really interesting.."
　　The original is still the man for ten seconds before I do, now became her. I said: "What is the meaning of this may also change over yet terrible!!?"
　　Her voice is full of schadenfreude: "You ask me, I ask who go?"
　　I angrily said: "It's horrible this situation to continue for a long time yet!?"
　　"Who knows? May have been so sustained, when I do an old man in this life and I think it does not matter, anyway, you and I have to this extent, and also what each of them!"
　　I am anxious straight stamping, high heels issued hoof-like sound. I said: "I can not do what I called it quit Yeah!!!"
　　"Keep it down! Did you yell Yeah, this thing is not my shots. Speak here is not good, let's go to your house."
　　I do not go, not make things can not figure out:. "No, we two have to say clearly, if temporary, I can for you supported, for a long time, I can not do."
　　"Who can say for this kind of thing does your clothes are all an odor, shoes also flip it and I hate when a man, when two days fresh fresh can be. Let's go home."
　　I go back with her, she was his bicycle. I walked very hard, not only uncomfortable high heels, skirts still stumbling legs. Listen to my body does not handle large, walk a hundred steps out to me a sweat. I sat on the curb like to breathe a breath, she Guaishengguaiqi said: "! Deepened so you sit ah"
　　"I'm tired!"
　　"Yo, my skirt, but a new, nylon knit it! Get up, brush the soil good!"
　　I can barely stand up, full of hatred to stare at her. In order to express her contempt, I do not brush land, they move on. Took a few steps, wearing high heels too suffocating, put it off to put in his hand. Go for a while, I still can not be satisfied, he said: "how long your legs are so small though small stature, which disproportionately small feet to walk with you on this hoof it!.?"
　　She snorted: "Do not complain, point out machismo to!"
　　Manhood to do from there, my head covered with long hair, really stifling very, covered all awkward. We flees into my house, sitting on the bed I bought for the wedding, quite no lights. Later, she said: "Your feet stinks, I'm going to wash!."
　　I said: "Go!"
　　She went to the toilet and shower room to go up, there's Raining Cats splashing water for a long time. I lay in bed straight hair silly. Later, she came back, Guangzhuobangzi, whispered:. "Really scared me, hey, you seem like a nice guy like on the outside, took off his clothes and saw a pair of robbers phase you have to wash it, cool. "
　　I went to look in the mirror in the bathroom, not really individual system. Undress a look in the mirror, I almost fainted. Obediently, she looks really beautiful, but unfortunately does not give me any good. I washed up, the clothes they are wearing, on the lights, went to bed. She touched me in the Black Lands, said:. "How kind, but also satisfied with it, we look more handsome than you."
　　I am tearful, said:. "Handsome, handsome fuck, I hope tonight can change back, or how people see you tomorrow."
　　"Hey, I think it's kinda interesting. Tomorrow, make a call, say we break three days marriage."
　　That would be a good idea. "But three days later?"
　　"This is somewhat annoying, so, I on your class, you are on my classes, how? I hate the men's room, but at the last minute so the only thing to do."
　　I am opposed to this. I advocate the public security bureau surrender, surrender or court requests the Government to solve this problem. She laughed: "Who cares this thing go as people see nothing but a joke!."
　　Her words are not unreasonable. I thought and thought, what better way could not think. But she contentedly lay down, and said:. "There are problems tomorrow again, first to sleep today."
　　I also trapped to death, but do not like to sleep with her a bed. I said: "Well, we can say, lie down and who also do not mess up." She said:. "How Jiaohu, I will not do" So I assured her and head to sleep.
　　The next morning, I told her to call two working units, that we break marriage. She came back and said: "Today we do leave sighting Oh, you go to my dorm to bring my suitcase.?."
　　I said: "You are what you get."
　　"Nonsense! I was like this could get out of it? You love to go, anyway, bring with you."
　　I sat on the bed, suddenly nose acid, and cried. She came over and took my shoulder and said:. ".. That look like a woman like you and I like you go, all right."
　　I am forced to, I had to get something. Walked the streets, afraid to reveal his true I had to make a woman like, Niuniunienie walk. The way men dress Tsuzuki curve reveals too bad, really not as good as doing a dajin gown, and then the hair plate was the same as the old lady.
　　Her dorm nobody, I slipped like a thief to go put out the box. Back home, she saw the feet than hands to take the insurance plan knife to shave the beard did not shave down, kept scraped a lot of eyebrows. I shouted: "! Do not spoil my eyebrows so you should scrape" ....... After she learned very happy, they open the box, teach me how to use those tattered, really disgusting extreme.
　　After becoming a woman, I became thousand Diao evil morning for an hour and she quarreled eleven aircraft. I feel badly furnished house, so she moves about, she was not happy, I muttered incessantly. Later, do lunch, she bought food, I Xiangui too old. She bought a bottle of wine four dollars, a price I would shout themselves hoarse shriek up, she had to use two pillows to cover your ears. I am dissatisfied with everything in the kitchen throw beat fight, broke two or three dishes. She tried to stand at the beginning, then unbearable, then snapped my wrist. I immediately hit the roof, pulling her want to turn out, who knows not, and anti-she wrestled on the couch.
　　Her wickedly sneered: "! Do not nonsense, otherwise I hit your ass."
　　My teeth and said: "Let me up!"
　　She gently on my ass beat a little, I immediately screamed: "Help! Yeah beat it!" She immediately loose his hand, to get to one side, his face full of disdain for the color: "As for it? . hit so what "I sat up, crying and said:"! Hurrah get married on the first day on the beat, how can this day too ...... "I muttered a while, but she ignored me, I would not say anything.
　　After dinner, she suggested to get out. I'd rather stay at home. We watched some TV, and then I went to take a shower, getting ready for bed. I do not know why, I think her body is very annoying. In that graceful curve contains a kind of sickening smell, plump breasts and slender thighs are disgusted me. Long with such a despicable thing can cause feelings of erotic, so I should go out as little as possible.
　　Want to be a woman, you should stay away from pornographic. I hope his face covered with wrinkles, sagging breasts, belly sagged meat, this is the new image of Chinese women should have. Attract men's eyes, it must be a bitch. I think I'm on the image and bitch about.
　　When the two of us together in bed, she told me: "You behave like a woman of today compare this continues, you will be able to accommodate three or four days after the woman lives, you can go to work, and will not cloven hoof it.."
　　After I listened very happy, but she said:. "You can emotions and my past is not the same, look like a lady, but this is very suitable for work in the Federation."
　　I told her that her performance was like a man. We both talked up speculation. She confided to tell me: she wanted to "mess" look. I firmly refused. But after a while, I thought she might spur of the moment to go outside the mess, which is too bad. I told her, and I can "mess," but are not allowed to fool around with other women, and she agreed. I told her "mess" approach, she climbed on me, the touch neatly and very irritating. Suddenly I felt an odd pain unbearable, the butcher also like wailing cry, scared her even dared not move, after quite a while, said:. "Me down," I cried for a long time in the Black Lands , thinking she was not reported hurt the man I vow revenge.
　　The next morning, I woke up to find himself turned into the original image. She lay beside me, eyes wide open, apparently awake for a long time. That she was a beautiful woman, from any side, is a good wife. I reached out to touch her shoulder, and she shuddered, and then said: "? I'm not dreaming."
　　"What a dream?"
　　"Yesterday, I seem to be a man."
　　I think she was right, but this does not change the status quo. I reached her in his arms, her face flushed with shame, but the performance was pretty honest. Later, she got up, stood in the bed, said:. "So come and go can not stand, and now I really do not know the man standing on the position or the position of a woman standing on a"
　　This point was good. Between men and women and not natural, they are occasionally willing and men together, and after the start tossing them to vent their hatred of men. Until now, we have marital harmony, but I always proof of her hand.
　　Note: Original Untitled, heading the Department Editor