Paul Binding Knihy

The dramatic and moving reimagination of the characters from Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea, set in a 19th-century town that harbors many secrets After a ferocious storm shipwrecks young Norwegian sailor Hans Lyngstrand in the English Channel near Dengate, aspiring journalist Martin Bridges takes a job at the local newspaper. When Hans moves into Martin's boardinghouse to convalesce and Martin interviews the young sailor for the paper, it upends Martin's otherwise uneventful world. Hans tells him of the shipwreck--and of his encounter with a vicious sailor vowing to seek revenge, who Hans believes may still be alive. So begins a complex friendship between the two young men that will cause Martin to reexamine his relationships with everyone around him. In The Stranger from the Sea, the backstories Paul Binding creates for the characters of Ibsen's classic The Lady from the Sea unfold in tandem with the secret romances, rivalries, and heartaches of a seemingly unremarkable town. The result is a lyrical and quietly captivating novel that will mesmerize readers from its opening pages.

Zpověď masky (Kamen no kokuhaku, 1949) vypráví příběh chlapce Kóčana, který se od útlého dětství oddává bizarním snům o hrdinech, jejichž údělem je drastická smrt. Jeho slabé tělo v něm probouzí obdiv k maskulinní síle a mocnou přitažlivost k jejím nositelům. Ve snaze přizpůsobit se většině pokouší se sblížit s dívkou Sonoko. Maska normálnosti, již si Kóčan nasazuje, je prostředkem k jeho začlenění do společnosti, jež je podle něj založena na kolektivní maškarádě, v níž lidé skrývají své skutečné pocity a touhy. Román s výraznými autobiografickými prvky otevřel svému autorovi cestu k mezinárodnímu věhlasu; reflektuje Mišimův celoživotní obdiv k samurajským hodnotám a jeho vlastní pojetí ideální krásy, jež se mu nakonec stalo osudným.

Dulcie Mainwearing is always helping others, but never looks out for herself - especially in the realm of love. Her friend Viola is besotted by the alluring Dr Aylwin Forbes, so surely it isn't prying if Dulcie helps things along? Aylwin, however, is smitten by Dulcie's pretty young niece. And perhaps Dulcie herself, however ridiculous it may be, is falling, just a little, for Aylwin. Once life's little humiliations are played out, maybe love will be returned, and fondly, after all.