Prodavnica
ŠTEFAN CVAJG – BALZAK
Ako biste nekom istoričaru književnosti, pasioniranom čitaocu ili prosto frankofilu postavili pitanje koji je pisac bio najslikovitija, najgrotesknija i istovremeno po mnogo čemu najtragičnija ličnost u Francuskoj XIX veka – dobili biste isti odgovor: Onore de Balzak. Napisati dobru biografiju takve osobe – nekonvencionalnu, punu kontradiktornosti – nije lak zadatak, ali Štefan Cvajg je to izveo vrhunski. Napisao je veličanstvenu biografiju briljantnog stvaraoca. Opisao je život čoveka koji živi u svetu sopstvene neobuzdane mašte, prenoseći svoje snove, planove i ljubavi u stvarnost. Ali kako to biva u životu, stvarni svet ne ispunjava naše fantazije. Balzak je bio stvarniji u svetu svojih romana nego u svakodnevnom životu. Večiti gubitnik, siromašan biznismen i nesrećno zaljubljen u žene koje su ga tretirale kao budalu. U ovoj biografiji Balzak je živ, stvaran u svakom detalju, a njegova sudbina budi brojne emocije: od sažaljenja i simpatije prema tužnom detinjstvu, preko podsmeha njegovom snobizmu, „aristokratomaniji“ i čudnim ljubavnim avanturama, neverice da je tako nisko pao, besa što nije uspeo da izađe iz začaranog kruga dugova i zavisnosti, do divljenja za titanski rad kom se svim srcem posvetio.
Štefan Cvajg je stvorio delo koje dira srce i omogućava vam da doživite uspone i padove majstora književnosti. Na Balzakovoj biografiji radio je deset godina, smatrajući je „magnum opusom” svojih književnih ostvarenja. Ne sasvim završen rukopis – čudom preživeo ratna bombardovanja – objavljen je nakon autorove smrti, zahvaljujući naporima njegovog prijatelja Riharda Fridentala. Knjiga Štefana Cvajga je velika pohvala stvaralačkoj moći i spisateljskom talentu, divna panorama epohe, a pre svega fascinantna priča o neotesanom francuskom skorojeviću koji je ušao u istoriju kao jedan od najvećih književnih stvaralaca. Nakon čitanja poželećete da obnovite svoje znanje o Balzakovim romanima.
ŠTEFAN CVAJG – MARIJA STJUART
Na srednjovekovnoj pozornici intriga, dvoličnosti pa i krvavih ubistava Štefan Cvajg u ovom maestralnom biografskom romanu opisuje psihološke portrete dveju snažnih žena. Jedna od njih, škotska kraljica Marija Stjuart, rastrzana između strasti i ništa manje strastvene borbe za svoju veru, stoji nasuprot engleske kraljice, dvolične i proračunate Elizabete I. Svoj fascinantni životni put, strastvena i lepa Marija Stjuart okončava najpre u skoro dvodecenijskom zatočeništvu engleske kraljice i na kraju smrću odsecanjem glave, ni u jednom momentu ne pomislivši da se odrekne sopstvene vere.
„Moral i politika idu zasebnim putevima. Stoga se jedan događaj prosuđuje sa potpuno različitih stanovišta, već prema tome da li se ocenjuje sa stanovišta čovečnosti, ili pak sa stanovišta političke koristi. Moralno, pogubljenje Marije Stjuart ostaje kao potpuno neoprostiv čin: protiv svakog međunarodnog prava zadržali su u zatočenju usred mira kraljicu susedne zemlje, ispotaje spleli zamku i na najperfidniji način je njoj poturili. Ali, isto tako, ne može se osporiti da je, gledano sa državno-političkog stanovništva, odstranjenje Marije Stjuart za Englesku bila ispravna mera. Jer u politici ne odlučuje – nažalost! – pravo u jednoj meri, nego njen uspeh… Istorija često ide mračnim i krivudavim stazama, ali se na kraju uvek ispunjava istorijski smisao, uvek nužnosti konačno izvojuju svoje pravo“, objašnjava Cvajg pred kraj svoje pripovesti o tragičnoj sudbini kraljice Škotske.
Stepa – Anton Pavlovič Čehov
Stepa, koju je Čehov napisao 1887. godine, neposredno pre čuvenog pozorišnog komada „Ivanov“, izdvaja se u njegovom opusu kao duža novela o putovanju jednog dečaka kroz stepu. taj simbol beskraja Rusije. U ovom delu ima mnogo autobiografskog. Stepa za
uzima posebno mesto u očaravajućim romanima o inicijaciji u svetskoj književnosti (kao što su, na primer, Puškinova „Kapetanova kći“, „Prva ljubav“ Turgenjeva, Konradova „Mladost“, „Dnevnik o Čarnojeviću“ Miloša Crnjanskog, Floberov „Novembar“, „Avanture pod pločnikom“ Dilana Tomasa, Selindžerov „Lovac u žitu“, Fanteov „Put za Los Anđeles“, Bolanjovi „Divlji detektivi“, Pelevinov „Omon Ra“, „Zona“ Sergeja Dovlatova, Hamsunova „Glad“. . . Često su to prvi romani jednog pisca, a ponekad ostaju jedino njegovo delo.
Stepa je leksikon poetike A. P. Čehova, knjiga koju mogu da čitaju sve generacije, i kojoj uvek mogu da se vrate.
„Putuješ sat, dva. . . Na putu te susreće ćutljivi starachum ili kamena žena, koju je postavio bogzna ko i kada, bez šuma preleti nad zemljom noćna ptica, i ti se, malo-pomalo, prisećaš stepskih legendi, priča namernika, bajki dadilja, i svega onog što si i sam video i dušom osetio. I tada, u cvrčanju insekata, u sablasnim obličjima i humovima, u tamnoplavom nebu, u mesečevoj svetlosti, u lepršanju noćne ptice, u svemu što vidiš i čuješ, počinješ da slutiš veličanstvo lepote, mladost, procvat svih moći i strasnu žeđ za životom; duša se odaziva prekrasnom, divljem zavičaju, i poželiš da zajedno s noćnom pticom poletiš nad stepom. U veličanstvenom zanosu lepote, u višku sreće, osećaš neku napregnutost i tugu, kao da stepa uviđa da je usamljena, da su njeno bogatstvo i duša za svet izgubljeni, da ih niko nije opevao, da nikome nisu potrebni, i kroz radosnu graju čuješ kako tužno, očajnički doziva: pesnika! pesnika!. . .“
STEPH CAMPBELL – DELICATE
With a thriving gymnastics career, Trevor her loving boyfriend and a stellar academic record, anyone would assume that Sydney Pierce has it all. But beneath the pretence of perfection, Sydney's life is crumbling around her and she's terrified that everyone will find out that she's living a lie and is desperate to try and keep the world from discovering the truth.
Then the gorgeous and charming new boy, Grant, starts paying her attention, and Sydney's carefully crafted life is thrown into chaos and confusion; why is he the only one who seems to be able to break down her barriers and care for her becauseof her imperfections? Sydney knows she should stay away from Grant, but she can't deny the attraction between them, and, as their connection grows deeper, Trevor's jealousy takes an intense and dark turn, forcing Sydney into a position in which not only her happiness, but her safety is at stake.
Can Sydney learn to let go of everything she is clinging to in order to gain everything she has ever wanted or will she realize her breaking point too late?
STEPHEN BAKER – THEY’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER…
STEPHEN BAXTER – STONE SPRING
8,000 years ago Europe was a very different place. England was linked to Holland by a massive swathe of land. Where the North Sea is now lay the landmass of Northland. And then came a period of global warming, a shifting of continents and, over a few short years, the sea rushed in and our history was set. But what if the sea had been kept at bay? Brythony is a young girl who lives in Northland. Like all her people she is a hunter gatherer, her simple tools fashioned from flint cutting edges lodged in wood and animal bone. When the sea first encroaches on her land her people simply move. Brythony moves further travelling to Asia. Where she sees mankind's first walled cities. And gets an idea. What if you could build a wall to keep the sea out? And so begins a colossal engineering project that will take decades, a wall that stretches for hundreds of miles, a wall that becomes an act of defiance, and containing the bones of the dead, an act of devotion. A wall that will change the geography of the world. And it's history. Stephen Baxter has become expert at embedding human stories into the grandest sweeps of history and the most mind-blowing of concepts. STONE SPRING begins a trilogy that will tell the story of a changed world. It begins in 8,000 BC with an idea and ends in 1500 in a world that never saw the Roman Empire, Christianity or Islam. It is an eye-opening look at what history could so easily have been and an inspiring tale of how we control our future.
STEPHEN HUNTER – PALE HORSE COMING
Pale Horse Coming, featuring Stephen Hunter’s beloved sniper heroes Earl and Bob Lee Swagger, the first Swagger thriller from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author.
The time is 1951. A smooth-talking Chicago lawyer comes to chat with Sam Vincent, the former prosecutor of Polk County, Arkansas, about a dangerous subject—a big prison for violent black convicts near Thebes, Mississippi, up the Yaxahatchee River from Pasagoula. Thebes seems to have dropped out of the Union—letters and phone calls go unanswered, and the lawyer has questions that need answers. Would Sam—an ex-lawman, a white man and a Southerner—agree to go up there and find out what he can?
The ex-prosecutor takes on the job, but first he goes to see his old friend Earl Swagger, and tells him that if he isn’t back in a week, Earl is to come looking for him. When Sam vanishes into the mists and swamps around Thebes, Mississippi, Earl packs his gun, explains to a distraught Junie that duty is duty and a promise is a promise, and sets off for Thebes, Mississippi to track his friend down.
Soon enough, Earl—who approaches Thebes and its sinister prison with the stealth of a good Marine on a recon mission—realizes that something very strange indeed is going on there, that the prison is more than just a place that chills the blood of even the most hardened convict, that in fact the whole town of Thebes is hiding a secret—and it’s a place where people disappear all too easily, particularly inquisitive strangers, for whom burial in the swamps follows torture.
STEPHEN HUNTER – TAPESTRY OF SPIES
Stephen Hunter has chosen the backdrop of the chaotic and cruel Spanish Civil War to weave a classic tale of espionage and counterespionage. Julian Raines was one of the first Englishmen to volunteer for the international brigade in Spain. The British Secret Service suspect that the flamboyant Raines was recruited for the KGB by the Bolsheviks during his student days at Oxford and send Robert Florry, a struggling young writer to Spain after Raines with orders to eliminate him. Florry was an old school chum to Raines and had every reason to hate him. The British are not alone on Raines' trail. The ruthless Communist leader in Barcelona believes that the identity of the double agent conceals a powerful and profitable secret. It is a novel that constantly surprises.
STEPHEN LEATHER – SOFT TARGET
The second book in the bestselling Dan 'Spider' Shepherd series.
There's only one thing more dangerous than a corrupt cop . . . and that's a corrupt cop with a gun.
When a group of armed police in an elite unit turn maverick and start to rip off drug dealers at gunpoint, undercover cop Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is given his most dangerous mission so far.
Shepherd is ordered to infiltrate the tight-knit team, to gain their confidence and to ultimately betray them.
Facing men with guns is nothing new for the former SAS trooper, but it's the first time he's had to investigate his own. And the job couldn't have come at a worse time for him.
As Shepherd finds himself in the firing line, he has to decide exactly where his loyalties lie.
STEPHENSON DONALDSON – THE LAST DARK
The bestselling fantasy series from one of the biggest names in the genre comes to an unforgettable conclusion. This is the final volume of the epic Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - one of the keynote works of modern fantasy.
Compelled step by step to actions whose consequences they could neither see nor prevent, Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery have fought for what they love in the magical reality known only as 'the Land'. Now they face their final crisis. Reunited after their separate struggles, they discover in each other their true power - and yet they cannot imagine how to stop the Worm of the World's End from unmaking Time. Nevertheless they must resist the ruin of all things, giving their last strength in the service of the world's continuance.
STEVAN SREMAC – KATIL
Autor: Stevan Sremac, Miltojević, Stevanović
Stevan Sremac je jedan od najpoznatijih domaćih pisaca, čuven po humorističnim delima kao što su Zona Zamfirova, Pop Ćira i pop Spira, Ivkova slava... Ono što je manje poznato jeste da se oprobao i u horor pripovetci, koju, nažalost, nije završio, ali je i u nedovršenom obliku interesantna za čitanje - Katil.
Rukopis ove pripovetke, kao i prateća dokumenta (novinski članci, jedno pismo, neke fotografije) pronašli su na niškom buvljaku, Branislav Miltojević, koji je delo kasnije priredio, i Ivica Stevanović, koji ga je ilustrovao. Reč je o horor pripovesti čiji naziv znači "krvnik" ili "ubica"; neka vas ne zbuni to što kažemo da je nedovršena - ima početak, sredinu i kraj, drži se kao dramaturška celina, samo joj nedostaje završna dorada.
Katil počinje opisom slučajnog otkrivanja rukopisa, podacima o Stevanu Sremcu; zatim slede dokumenti o prvoj osobi kojoj je rukopis predat na čuvanje (bravar Jovan Đorđević, inspiracija za lik Smuka iz Ivkove slave), pismo Stevana Sremca tetki; sledi i sama pripovest, malo priređena i uređena, ali dobrim delom u izvornom izdanju. Neki delovi nedostaju, sam autor je neke stvari prepravljao, no uprkos tome, pripovest je sasvim čitljiva.
Glavni junak "Katila" (priča se zasniva na postojećim sudskim dokumentima) je Nikodim Prodak, berberin iz Niša, uz to stručnjak za lekove, ali i za raznorazne bajalice. Nikodim je bio naklonjen natprirodnom, uživao je u pripovestima o neobičnom, kriminalnom, zastrašujućem, iako su ga takve stvari istovremeno veoma plašile, i moguće je da je ta naklonost dovela do njegovog prokletstva. Nakon izvesnog vremena, strahovi su počeli sve više da ga proganjaju, imao je užasna priviđenja, ni sam više nije bio siguran u to šta je stvarno, šta ne, šta je sanjao, šta mu se pričinilo, šta se stvarno desilo... Istovremeno, u Nišu i okolini počela su da se dešavaju strahovita zverstva, za koja Nikodim nije bio siguran da li ih je, možda, počinio baš on.
Nakon završene pripovesti o Nikodimu, slede članci iz novina koji se bave strahom od vampira i verovanjima nekih ljudi iz blizine Niša u to da su se izvesne nedavno preminule osobe povampirile i počele da uznemiravaju pošten svet, kao i narodnim merama preduzetim da se vampiri zaustave - a sve se to dešavalo neposredno nakon događaja sa Nikodimom.
Cela knjiga Katil bogato je ilustrovana (ilustrator je, kao što smo rekli, Ivica Stevanović), i te ilustracije su od velike pomoći, tačnije, knjigu čine zanimljivijom i pomažu čitaocu da bolje "uroni" u priču. Naime, zbog nedostatka rada na rukopisu, neki opisi palanke bezrazložno su predugački (duhoviti su, ali su predugački), postoje predugačke digresije koje imaju labave veze sa "Katilom", ali je moguće da su predviđene za neka druga dela. Cela priča je neujednačena, što se najviše primećuje na atmosferi kojom delo odiše - ima zastrašujućih delova, ali i mnogo humorističnih, i to od uobičajenog Sremčevog humora, kome nije mesto u pripovesti o zastrašujućim i neobičnim stvarima koje su se desile u Nišu krajem 19. veka.
Sve u svemu, Katil je interesantno delo koje vredi pročitati (i uživati u bogatim ilustracijama!), neujednačeno jer pisac nije stigao više da radi na njemu, ali se ipak vidi da je reč o delu pravog majstora.
STEVE ALTEN – THE MAYAN RESURRECTION
After sacrificing himself to preserve the human race, Michael Gabriel is imprisoned in a torturous, purgatory-like dimension in the Mayan netherworld.
The Mayan prophecy states that the Hero Twins - Michael's sons Jacob and Immanuel, born to his wife Dominique the year after his entrapment - must travel to the Mayan realm in their twentieth year to free and resurrect him.
Yet it also heeds a warning. Born the same day as the twins is a dark force that threatens their destiny. This, The Abomination - the female yin to their yang - represents evil in its purest form, and will not yield until they succumb to its temptation.
STEVE HOCKENSMITH – DREADFULLY EVER AFTER
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and its prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, were both New York Times best sellers, with a combined 1.3 million copies in print. Now the PPZ trilogy comes to a thrilling conclusion with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After.
The story opens with our newly married protagonists, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, defending their village from an army of flesh-eating “unmentionables.” But the honeymoon has barely begun when poor Mr. Darcy is nipped by a rampaging dreadful. Elizabeth knows the proper course of action is to promptly behead her husband (and then burn the corpse, just to be safe). But when she learns of a miracle antidote under development in London, she realizes there may be one last chance to save her true love—and for everyone to live happily ever after.
Complete with romance, heartbreak, martial arts, cannibalism, and an army of shambling corpses. Dreadfully Ever After brings the story of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to a thrilling conclusion.
STEVE JACKSON – APPOINTMENT WITH F.E.A.R ( FIGHTING FANTASY)
STEVE JONES – DARWINS ISLAND ( THE GALAGOS IN THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND)
The Origin of Species may be the most famous book in science but its stature tends to obscure much of Charles Darwin's other works. His visit to the Galapagos lasted just five weeks and on his return he never left Britain again. Darwin spent forty years working on the plants, animals and people of his native land and wrote over six million words on topics as different as dogs, insect-eating plants, orchids, earthworms, apes and human emotion. Together they laid the foundations of modern biology.
In this beautifully written, witty and illuminating book, Steve Jones explores the domestic Darwin, tracing the great naturalist's journey across Britain: a voyage not of the body, but of the mind.
