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Dylan Kassman Murder at the Manoel Theatre: The Complete Bloody Collection

Includes Murder at the Manoel Theatre and The Culmination of the Manoel Theatre

Krimi
Englisch
8173 Wörter
Ab 18 Jahren
0
1

The Manoel Theatre, one of Malta's most beloved and cherished theatres However, all of that is about to change when a group of young aspiring actors and actresses set up a new play. A murderer is amidst the group and everyone must find this murderer before opening night, otherwise... it will be the end of the Manoel Theatre for good And what happened after the Manoel Theatre massacre? Was the murderer captured? Did the police manage to find any evidence? It's time to go back to the theatre... The culmination is about to begin [mehr]

Stichwörter: Black Comedy, Horror, Humour, Mystery, Play, Thriller

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Jonathan Swift A Modest Proposal

Satire
Englisch
3408 Wörter
Ab 12 Jahren
280
2

A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay written and published by Jonathan Swift. Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as Irish policy in general. In English writing, the phrase "a modest proposal" is now conventionally an allusion to this style of straight-faced satire. Swift goes to great lengths to support his argument, including a list of possible preparation styles for the children, and calculations showing the financial benefits of his suggestion. He uses methods of argument throughout his essay which lampoon the then-influential William Petty and the social engineering popular among followers of Francis Bacon. These lampoons include appealing to the authority of "a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London" and "the famous Psalmanazar, a native of the island Formosa." This essay is widely held to be one of the greatest examples of sustained irony in the history of the English language. Much of its shock value derives from the fact that the first portion of the essay describes the plight of starving beggars in Ireland, so that the reader is unprepared for the surprise of Swift's solution when he states, "A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout." Readers unacquainted with its reputation as a satirical work often do not immediately realize that Swift was not seriously proposing cannibalism and infanticide. The satirical element of the pamphlet is often only understood after the reader notes the allusions made by Swift to the attitudes of landlords, such as the following: "I grant this food may be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for Landlords, who as they have already devoured most of the Parents, seem to have the best Title to the Children." Swift extends the conceit to get in a few jibes at England’s mistreatment of Ireland, noting that "For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, and flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it." [mehr]

Stichwörter: a modest proposal, jonathan swift, classic literature, satire, dark humor, black comedy, satrical essay

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Charles Dickens Oliver Twist

Belletristik
Englisch
157177 Wörter
Ab 8 Jahren
263
2

Oliver Twist is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. The story is about an orphan, Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Naïvely unaware of their unlawful activities, Oliver is led to the lair of their elderly criminal trainer Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens's unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book exposed the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London during the Dickensian era. An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention to various contemporary evils, including child labor, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of his time by surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humor. Oliver Twist was born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse. Orphaned almost from his first breath by his mother's death in childbirth and his father's unexplained absence, Oliver is meagerly provided for under the terms of the Poor Law, and spends the first nine years of his life at a baby farm in the 'care' of a woman named Mrs. Mann. Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts. Around the time of Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, removes Oliver from the baby farm and puts him to work picking and weaving oakum at the main workhouse. Oliver, who toils with very little food, remains in the workhouse. [mehr]

Stichwörter: oliver twist, charles dickens, classic literature, satire, dark humor, black comedy, coming of age, social satire

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By Voltaire Candide

Satire
Englisch
36643 Wörter
Ab 16 Jahren
135
2

Candide is a French satire by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is characterized by its sarcastic tone, as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. As expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Today, Candide is recognized as Voltaire's magnum opus and is often listed as part of the Western canon; it is arguably taught more than any other work of French literature. It was listed as one of The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written. [mehr]

Stichwörter: candide, voltaire, satire, dark homur, black comedy, classic literature, french literature, philosophical fiction

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Edwin A. Abbott Flatland

Science Fiction
Englisch
33255 Wörter
Ab 6 Jahren
223
2

Flatland is a satirical novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions. The story is about a two-dimensional world referred to as Flatland which is occupied by geometric figures. Women are simple line-segments, while men are polygons with various numbers of sides. The narrator is a humble square, a member of the social caste of gentlemen and professionals in a society of geometric figures, who guides the readers through some of the implications of life in two dimensions. The Square has a dream about a visit to a one-dimensional world (Lineland) which is inhabited by "lustrous points". He attempts to convince the realm's ignorant monarch of a second dimension but finds that it is essentially impossible to make him see outside of his eternally straight line. He is then visited by a three-dimensional sphere, which he cannot comprehend until he sees Spaceland for himself. This Sphere (who remains nameless, like all characters in the novella) visits Flatland at the turn of each millennium to introduce a new apostle to the idea of a third dimension in the hopes of eventually educating the population of Flatland of the existence of Spaceland. From the safety of Spaceland, they are able to observe the leaders of Flatland secretly acknowledging the existence of the sphere and prescribing the silencing of anyone found preaching the truth of Spaceland and the third dimension. After this proclamation is made, many witnesses are massacred or imprisoned (according to caste). [mehr]

Stichwörter: flatland, edwin a abbott, classic science fiction, fantasy, mathematical fantasy, satire, black comedy, sci fi

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Dylan Kassman Protect and Survive

Have a Nuke-Clear Day!

Humor
Englisch
13087 Wörter
Ab 18 Jahren
0
1

Here's a reminder of what the air attack warning sounds like... Inspired by 'Protect and Survive', 'When the Wind Blows' and 'Threads' with a touch of 'Fleabag' In the late 1970s to early 1980s, the British government was preparing for nuclear war and prepared a set of pamphlets, radio broadcasts, and public information films which had originally been intended for distribution only in the event of dire national emergency, but provoked such intense public interest that the pamphlets were authorised for general release - it was called Protect and Survive HAVE A NUKE-CLEAR DAY! THREE YEARS IN THE MAKING! (Better be a bang...) [mehr]

Stichwörter: Black Comedy, Humour, Humor, Drama, Play, Theatre, Comedy, British Government, Protect and Survive, 1970s, 1980s, Politics, Government

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William Makepeace Thackeray Barry Lyndon

Belletristik
Englisch
125686 Wörter
Ab 12 Jahren
142
2

Barry Lyndon is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Redmond Barry of Bally Barry, born to a genteel but ruined Irish family, fancies himself a gentleman. He is a hot-tempered, passionate lad, and falls madly in love with his cousin, Nora. The lad tries to engage in a duel with Nora's suitor, an English officer named John Quinn. He is made to think that he has assassinated the man, though the pistols were actually loaded with dummy loads. Redmond flees to Dublin, where he quickly falls in with bad company in the way of con artists, and soon loses all his money. He goes on to experience a series of military adventures eventually descending into decadence. Redmond eventually bullies and seduces the Countess of Lyndon to marry him. Eventually Barry Lyndon is separated from his wife, and lodged in Fleet Prison. He spends the last nineteen years of his life in prison, dying of alcoholism-related illness. [mehr]

Stichwörter: the luck of, barry lyndon, thackeray, historical satire, action and adventure, war, duels, dark humor, black comedy

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Jim Yoakum The Banana Massacre

Belletristik
Englisch
36196 Wörter
Ab 16 Jahren
17
0

Wilt Fusarium, a clueless American ad executive, unwittingly finds himself in the middle of political intrigue, and revolution, on the tiny island of Costa San Rica while trying to save the ad agency's Choad banana account. Complications and misunderstandings abound, as the island's despot leader thinks Wilt is a revolutionary, the revolutionaries think he's a government agent, the banana company thinks he's CIA, and the CIA, well, they don't know what to think. As the dead bodies begin to pile up around him, and with his ad agency breathing down his neck, Wilt is forced to take extreme action to save his life, his job, and the Choad banana account. [mehr]

Stichwörter: Graham Greene, banana republic, comic novel, black comedy, satire, bananas, espionage, dark humor, advertising, CIA, Che, Castro, Bay of Pigs, Mad Men