Clavis Libri
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Works

Thomas Mann · 1924 The Magic Mountain A young engineer climbs to the Alps to visit his cousin in a sanatorium and stays seven years. 7 chapters · 10 characters · 8 symbols · 7 themes
Stendhal · 1830 The Red and the Black The son of a carpenter wants to rise in the France of the Restoration, and he chooses the cassock because the uniform no longer does him any good. 75 chapters · 10 characters · 6 symbols · 7 themes
Gustave Flaubert · 1857 Madame Bovary The wife of a country doctor trades the life she has for the one she read about in novels, and pays for it in money. 35 chapters · 10 characters · 4 symbols · 7 themes
Mikhail Bulgakov · 1967 The Master and Margarita The devil arrives in Moscow in the 1930s, and a novel about Pontius Pilate decides the fate of a writer and of the woman who loves him. 32 chapters and an epilogue · 18 characters · 8 symbols · 7 themes
Virgil · 19 BC Aeneid A Trojan prince flees the burning city and, by the order of fate, crosses the sea to Italy to found the lineage of Rome. 12 books · 18 characters · 6 symbols · 6 themes
Homer · VIII century BC The Iliad In the tenth year of the Trojan War, the greatest Greek warrior withdraws from the fighting over an offense to his honor, and his wrath costs the lives of many. 24 books · 18 characters · 6 symbols · 6 themes
Homer · VIII century BC The Odyssey Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus still tries to return home, while suitors occupy the palace and court his wife. 24 books · 18 characters · 6 symbols · 6 themes
Machado de Assis · 1891 Quincas Borba A schoolteacher from Barbacena inherits the fortune and the philosophy of an eccentric philosopher, moves to Rio de Janeiro, and is devoured by the friends who surround him. 17 sections · 9 characters · 4 symbols · 6 themes

How to read a guide

What happens

Each chapter starts with the plot, told in a few lines, so you can get your bearings before, during, or after reading.

Passages and analysis

Next to the plot are the passages that decide the chapter, with commentary showing why they matter.

Characters, symbols, and themes

Each character and each symbol has its own page, and themes use the same list across all works, so you can compare one book with another.

Authors

Thomas MannLübeck, 1875 · Zurich, 1955StendhalGrenoble, 1783 · Paris, 1842Gustave FlaubertRouen, 1821 · Croisset, 1880Mikhail BulgakovKiev, 1891 · Moscow, 1940VirgilAndes, near Mantua, 70 BC · Brindisi, 19 BCHomer8th century BC (uncertain)Machado de AssisRio de Janeiro, 1839 · Rio de Janeiro, 1908Fyodor Mikhailovich DostoevskyMoscow, 1821 · St. Petersburg, 1881Dante AlighieriFlorence, 1265 · Ravenna, 1321Miguel de CervantesAlcalá de Henares, 1547 · Madrid, 1616Luigi PirandelloCaos, Sicily, 1867 · Rome, 1936Leo TolstoyYasnaya Polyana, 1828 · Astapovo, 1910William ShakespeareStratford-upon-Avon, 1564 · Stratford-upon-Avon, 1616