Literature professor Thomas Foster talks in a lively and witty manner about how to understand the special language of literature, filled with symbols, parallels and relationships. Using the example of the works of classics known to everyone - Shakespeare, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Orwell, Hemingway, Nabokov and many others - he teaches you to see what is hidden between the lines. This book is indispensable for all book lovers who want to better understand the works of their favorite writers. And also for everyone who is professionally associated with literature - aspiring writers, journalists, teachers, literary critics. Published in Russian for the first time.