Résumé
Résumé de Le Troisième Cercle
Go deeper: the whole of Le Troisième Cercle
About 3 h 30 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
You will love this if you enjoy short stories with a sharp edge, old San Francisco atmosphere, mysteries left open, grim humor, tales of far places and sudden shocks.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
What lies in the part of Chinatown that no guide ever shows? Frank Norris opens this collection with a young couple, a butterfly tattoo and a restaurant on Waverly Place. From there he moves through sixteen tales of San Francisco and farther afield, among gamblers, beggars, explorers, art students, an Icelandic outlaw and a lonely dinner host. You get a quick map of the whole book, starting with the first tale and the third circle of Chinatown.
Dans ce résumé
- 1Chinatown has a third circle few ever seeFree
- 2Some mysteries in this city never get answered
- 3A steady man can break without any warning
- 4Kindness and loyalty are tested in public places
- 5A diplomat debates the meaning of patriotism
- 6An explorer faces competing loyalties
- 7Boasts, duels and borrowed praise lead people astray
- 8An outlaw on a rock waits for his enemies
- 9A last man at a table meets his fear
Point clé 1 sur 9
Chinatown has a third circle few ever see
The title story begins with a warning. Chinatown, the narrator says, has three parts: the one the guides show, the one they hide, and the one nobody hears about. This tale belongs to the last.
Twenty years earlier, young Hillegas and his fiancée Harriett Ten Eyck, both from the East, wander into the Seventy Moons restaurant on Waverly Place. She loves the lanterns and lacquer. A fortune-teller who is part Chinese and part Hawaiian tattoos a little butterfly on her left little finger, and Hillegas jokes that it will always identify her. While he goes downstairs to hurry the tea, he meets a splendid merchant with fine manners.
The narrator also knows Manning, a former pearl diver who sleeps in the Plaza. Manning spends his nights in Chinatown and knows its hidden life. His knowledge offers another way into the dark heart of the book.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of Le Troisième Cercle
About 3 h 30 min to read.Questions about Le Troisième Cercle
What is The Third Circle by Frank Norris about?
It is a collection of sixteen short stories, many set in San Francisco. They include crime mysteries, comic tales, street scenes, a desert story, an Icelandic outlaw story and a ghostly dinner, all with sharp surprises.
What does the third circle of Chinatown mean?
In the opening story, Chinatown has three parts. The guides show the first, hide the second, and the third is the hidden world of slavery, crime and opium that outsiders almost never see.
Is The Third Circle a true story?
No, the stories are fiction, though they draw on real places such as Chinatown, Telegraph Hill, Iowa Hill and Julien's art school in Paris.
Who is Grettir in Grettir at Drangey?
Grettir Asmundson, called the Strong, is an Icelandic outlaw. In this tale he lives on the island of Drangey with his brother Illugi and fights off enemies who want the island.
Is The Third Circle easy to read?
The stories have vivid scenes, brisk dialogue and a lively storyteller's voice, so you can read one at a sitting.