English Literature

AGATHA CHRISTIE

Agatha Christie was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. Her works, particularly featuring detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre.
Christie has been called the best-selling writer of books of all time and the best-selling writer of any kind, along with William Shakespeare. Some of her most famous books are “Murder on the Orient Express”, “Death on the Nile”, “And then there were none” and “Nemesis”.

J. R. R. TOLKIEN

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English philologist J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), but eventually developed into a much larger work. The title of the book refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who creates a magic ring, the One Ring, in his desire to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth.

JAMES JOYCE

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish expatriate writer, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922) and its highly controversial successor Finnegan’s Wake (1939), as well as the short story collection Dubliners (1914) and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916).
Ulysses chronicles the passage through Dublin by its main character, Leopold Bloom, during an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. The title alludes to the hero of Homer's Odyssey (Latinised into Ulysses). It is acclaimed by many the last totally inedited novel (because all later works, in a way, use some of the techniques James Joyce’s used) and the best romance of English language.

STEPHEN KING

Stephen Edwin King is an American author, screenwriter, musician, columnist, actor, film producer and director. Having sold over 350 million copies of his books, King is best known for his work in horror fiction, in which he demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the genre's history. He has also written science fiction, fantasy, short-fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, teleplays and stageplays. Many of his stories have been adapted for other media, including movies, television series and comic books.

King has written a number of books using the pen name Richard Bachman and one short story where he was credited as John Swithen. In 2003 he received The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His most famous works are “The Green Mile (À espera de um Milagre)”, “The Shawshank Redemption (Um Sonho de Liberdade) ” and “Carrie”.

J. K. ROWLING

J. K. Rowling is a British author, best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived during a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies. Aside from writing the Potter novels, Rowling is equally famous for her "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years.
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his best friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The central story arc concerns Harry's struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents in his quest to conquer the Wizarding world, after which he seeks to subjugate the world to his rule.

C. S. LEWIS

Clive Staples "Jack" Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an Irish writer and scholar. Lewis most successful work is “The Chronicles of Narnia” a 7-part novel for children that was recently adapted to the movies. It presents the adventures of children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare (baptized 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwriter.

"All the world's a stage,
and all the men and women merely players

they have their exits and their entrances;
and one man in his time plays many parts..."

His greatest works are "Romeo and Juliet", "Midsummer Night Dream", "Hamlet" and "Macbeth", "King Lear", "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice".