Robert Prentice has spent all his life attempting to escape hismother's stifling presence. His mother, Alice, for her part,struggles with her own demons as she attempts to realize her dreamsof prosperity and success as a sculptor. As Robert goes off tofight in Europe, hoping to become his own man, Richard Yatesportrays a soldier in the depths of war striving to live up to hisheroic ideals. With haunting clarity, Yates crafts an unforgettableportrait of two people who cannot help but hope for more even aslife challenges them both.
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Though James Joyce began thesestories of Dublin life in 1904 when he was twenty-two and completedthem in 1907, their unconventional themes and language led torepeated rejections by publishers and delayed publication until1914. In the century since, his story "The Dead" has come to beseen as one of the most powerful evocations of human loss andlonging that the English language possesses; all the other storiesin "Dubliners" are as beautifully turned and as greatly admired.They remind us once again that James Joyce was not only modernism'schief innovator but also one of its most intimate and poeticwriters. In this edition the text has been revised in keeping withJoyce's wishes, and the original versions of "The Sisters,""Eveline," and "After the Race" have been made available in anappendix, along with Joyce's suppressed preface to the 1914 editionof "Dubliners."
Mild, harmless and ugly to behold, the impoverished Pons is anageing musician whose brief fame has fallen to nothing. Living aplacid Parisian life as a bachelor in a shared apartment with hisfriend Schmucke, he maintains only two passions: a devotion to finedining in the company of wealthy but disdainful relatives, and adedication to the collection of antiques. When these relativesbecome aware of the true value of his art collection, however,their sneering contempt for the parasitic Pons rapidly falls awayas they struggle to obtain a piece of the weakening man'sinheritance. Taking its place in the Human Comedy as a companion toCousin Bette, the darkly humorous "Cousin Pons" is among of thelast and greatest of Balzac's novels concerning French urbansociety: a cynical, pessimistic but never despairing considerationof human nature.
在线阅读本书 The original American satirist Cracked on the head by a crowbar in nineteenth-century Connecticut,Hank Morgan wakes to find himself in King Arthur's England. Brandedby Twain's aptitude for broad comedy and biting social satire, thegrim truths of Twain's Camelot-fear, injustice, ignorance-resoundas clearly now as when it was written
In this bestselling compilation of essays, written in theclear-eyed, uncompromising language for which he is famous, Orwelldiscusses with vigor such diverse subjects as his boyhoodschooling, the Spanish Civil War, Henry Miller, Britishimperialism, and the profession of writing.
After defeat at the Battle of Shrewsbury the rebels regroup. ButPrince Hal’s reluctance to inherit the crown threatens to destroythe ailing Henry IV’s dream of a lasting dynasty. Shakespeare’sportrait of the prodigal son’s journey from youth to maturityembraces the full panorama of society. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bateand Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespeareanscholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive textsand authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works.Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview ofShakespeare’s theatrical career; commentary on past and currentproductions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, anddesigners; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; achronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-whiteillustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, andgeneral readers, these modern and accessible editions from theRoyal Shakespeare Company
The adventures of Mowgli, a man-child raised by wolves in thejungle, have captured the imaginations not just of children, but ofall readers, for generations.
Spine-tingling and entertaining, "The Invisible Man" is ascience fiction classic-and a penetrating, unflinching look intothe heart of human nature. To its author, H. G. Wells, the novelwas as compelling as "a good gripping dream." But to generations ofreaders, the terrible and evil experiment of the dementedscientist, Griffin, has conveyed a chilling nightmare of believablehorror. An atmosphere of ever-increasing suspense begins with thearrival of a mysterious stranger at an English village inn andbuilds relentlessly to the stark terror of a victim pursued by amaniacal invisible man. The result is a masterwork: a dazzlingdisplay of the brilliant imagination, psychological insight, andliterary craftsmanship that made H. G. Wells one of the mostinfluential writers of his time.
The four plays selected for this collection--The Taming of theShrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and TheTempest--represent a significant stage in the development of theworld's greatest dramatist.
A dying man cautiously unravels the mysteries of memory and creation. Vadim is a Russian emigre who, like Nabokov, is a novelist, poet and critic. There are threads linking the fictional hero with his creator as he reconstructs the images of his past from young love to his serious illness.
Turgenev's masterpiece about the conflict between generations isas fresh, outspoken, and exciting today as it was in when it wasfirst published in 1862. The controversial portrait of Bazarov, theenergetic, cynical, and self-assured `nihilist' who repudiates theromanticism of his elders, shook Russian society. Indeed the imageof humanity liberated by science from age-old conformities andprejudices is one that can threaten establishments of any politicalor religious persuasion, and is especially potent in the modernera. This new translation, specially commissioned for the World'sClassics, is the first to draw on Turgenev's working manu*,which only came to light in 1988. --This text refers to an outof print or unavailable edition of this title.
Perhaps the greatest of all adventure stories for boys andgirls, Treasure Island began, a brave boy who finds himself amongpirates, and of the sinister pirate-cook Long John Silver holdschildren as entranced today as it did a century ago. It hasappeared with illustrations by many leading artists, but none soapt as Peake's--first published in 1949 and out of print untilnow.
Gathered together in one hardcover volume: three timeless novelsfrom the founding father of science fiction. The first great novelto imagine time travel, "The Time Machine" (1895) follows itsscientist narrator on an incredible journey that takes him finallyto Earth's last moments--and perhaps his own. The scientist whodiscovers how to transform himself in "The Invisible Man" (1897)will also discover, too late, that he has become unmoored fromsociety and from his own sanity. "The War of the Worlds"(1898)--the seminal masterpiece of alien invasion adapted by OrsonWelles for his notorious 1938 radio drama, and subsequently byseveral filmmakers--imagines a fierce race of Martians whodevastate Earth and feed on their human victims while theirvoracious vegetation, the red weed, spreads over the ruined planet.Here are three classic science fiction novels that, more than acentury after their original publication, show no sign of losingtheir grip on readers' imaginations.
A beautiful and hearty farm girl, Tess Durbeyfield is about tohave her life tragically changed by forces outside her control:lust, poverty, and hypocrisy. This controversial Victorian tale hascome to be recognized as a triumph of literary art.
From the inexhaustible imagination of Ian McEwan--a master ofcontemporary fiction and author of the Booker Prize-winningnational bestseller Amsterdam --an enchanting work of fictionthat appeals equally to children and adults. First published in England as a children's book, TheDaydreamer marks a delightful foray by one of our greatestnovelists into a new fictional domain. In these seven exquisitelyinterlinked episodes, the grown-up protagonist Peter Fortunereveals the secret journeys, metamorphoses, and adventures of hischildhood. Living somewhere between dream and reality, Peterexperiences fantastical transformations: he swaps bodies with thewise old family cat; exchanges existences with a cranky infant;encounters a very bad doll who has come to life and is out forrevenge; and rummages through a kitchen drawer filled with uselessobjects to discover some not-so-useless cream that actually makespeople vanish. Finally, he wakes up as an eleven-year-old inside agrown-up body and embarks on the truly fantast
From the exquisite lyric “ To Helen ,” to the immortalmasterpieces “ Annabel Lee,” “The Bells, ” and “ The Raven,”The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates theauthor’s gift for the form.
This 19th-century author created "some of the most colorful andhaunting fiction of his century" ( Kirkus Reviews ). And withhis special blend of comedy, social commentary, and fantasy, hepaved the way for Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.
To Build A Fire and Other Stories is the mostcomprehensive and wide-ranging collection of Jack London's shortstories available in paperback. This superb volume brings togethertwenty-five of London's finest, including a dozen of his greatKlondike stories, vivid tales of the Far North were ruggedindividuals, such as the Malemute Kid face the violence of man andnature during the Gold Rush Days. Also included are shortmasterpieces from his later writing, plus six stories unavailablein any ot her paperback edition. Here, along with London's famouswilderness adventures and fireband desperadoes, are portraits ofthe working man, the immigrant, and the exotic outcast: charactersrepresenting the entire span of the author's prolific imaginativecareer, in tales that have been acclaimed throughout the world assome of the most thrilling short stories ever written.
