Malvina G. Vogel Libros

[Penguin Readers Level 2]Robinson Crusoe is among the first novels written in English. Thanks to its extraordinary realism and drama, it is easily the longest-enduring work of popular fiction in the language. The story, probably based on the Pacific-island ordeal of castaway Alexander Selkirk, was presented by Daniel Defoe as a true account, and is utterly convincing in its topography, action, and character, even three hundred years after its first publication. Robinson Crusoe is a true page-turner: Dr. Samuel Johnson said it was one of only three books he had read that would have been better for being longer.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," published in 1886, became a bestseller with 40,000 copies sold in six months. The story is inspired by the true tale of Deacon Brodie, an Edinburgh carpenter who led a secret double life and ultimately faced execution. Stevenson had previously written a play about this case as a teenager, titled "Deacon Brodie, or The Double Life." The impetus for the novella came from a vivid dream in late September or early October 1885, after which Stevenson quickly drafted a version. While recovering in Bournemouth, he experienced a health crisis just before the dream and wrote feverishly. His wife criticized the initial draft, prompting Stevenson to burn it and produce an allegorical second version within a week. The narrative combines various stylistic levels, with a distinct tone in the narrator's voice compared to the inserted documents, showcasing Stevenson's stylistic virtuosity, which needed to be faithfully preserved in translation.

El capitán Gulliver viaja a fabulosos países, como Liliput, sin sospechar que le apresarán sus diminutos habitantes; y a Brobdingnag, poblado por gigantes que le exhiben como una rareza hasta que entra al servicio de la reina. Desembarca en la isla voladora Laputa, hábitat de sabios ridículos, y finaliza su aventura en el país de los houyhnhnms, donde el hombre -yahoo- vive sometido al poder del caballo.