Boris Leonidovich Pasternak
(29 January] 1890 – 30 May 1960)

On October 23, 1958, Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature for Doctor Zhivago, his romantic novel set
against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution.

The book was banned in the Soviet Union, and the Soviet
government forced the author to renounce the honor.

George Orwell’s novel of a dystopian future, 1984, was
published on June 8, 1949. The novel’s all-seeing leader,
known as “Big Brother,” became a universal symbol for
intrusive government and oppressive bureaucracy.

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
(25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950)    
    

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Book Cover First Edition.

Harried Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist 
who came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular
novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which depicts the harsh conditions experienced by enslaved African Americans.

The book reached an audience of millions as a novel and play,
and became influential in the United States and in Great Britain,
energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North, while
provoking widespread anger in the South. Stowe wrote 30
books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections
of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings
as well as for her public stances and debates on social issues
of the day.

Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe
(June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896)

Bust of Harriet Beecher Stowe at the hall
of fame for great Americans.

On December 19, 1843, English novelist Charles Dickens’ classic
story “A Christmas Carol”was published.

The first edition sold out by Christmas Eve; by the end of 1844
thirteen editions had been released. Most critics reviewed the
novella favorably.

Charles John Huffam Dickens
(7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)

"Marley’s Ghost", original illustration by John Leech
from the 1843 edition.

John Leech (August 29, 1817 – October 29, 1864)
illustrator of the first edition.

Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American
literature and contains one of the most famous opening
lines in fiction: “Call me Ishmael.” Initially, though, the
book about Captain Ahab and his quest to catch a giant
white whale was a flop.

Its author, Herman Melville was born in New York City in
1819. As a young man, he spent time in the merchant
marines, the U.S. Navy and on a whaling ship in the
South Seas.

Herman Melville
(August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)