Eminent scientists, writers, actors and science popularizers speak every day at the Direct Speech Lecture Hall. Their assessments and opinions often do not coincide with the established point of view - ideas, thoughts and discoveries are born right before the eyes of the listeners. For ten years now, the calling card of “Direct Speech” has been Dmitry Bykov’s lectures on literature. Bykov teaches us to turn to familiar texts for advice and consolation, to seek and find in them answers to the challenges of the new day. His lectures are always events. Now they are also available in book format. “Foreign Literature: Secrets and Demons” is the third book of lectures by Dmitry Bykov. William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Guy de Maupassant, Erich Maria Remarque, Agatha Christie, JK Rowling, Stephen King...