Old Martin Chuzzlewit has a great fortune, but to whom can he leave it? He and his likable grandson, young Martin, have fallen out. Beyond that, a tangle of sly, grasping relatives coil about him. Throughout, the reader is rooting for the gentle Tom Pinch and his lovely sister, Mary. But before all can be decided, Dickens puts both Tom and young Martin through murder, mayhem and a brief purgatory in the United States. Reader Davidson quickly tunes into Dickens's ferocious irony, but his paramount strength is his uncanny ability to find and maintain the perfect voice for each of the vintage characters: drippy, insinuous, vicious, sly, bold American backwoods, or London Cheapside. Each is a distinct creation! Dickens lovers will treasure every tape in this two-volume masterpiece. P.E.F.An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
This comic novel describes the boating expedition on the Thames of three friends and their dog, Montmerency. The difficulties and vicissitudes of these innocents abroad are magnified to epic proportions, and give the book an air of fresh innocence.
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"' So begins the tale of Alice, following a curious White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole and falling into Wonderland. A fantastical place, where nothing is quite as it seems: animals talk, nonsensical characters confuse, Mad Hatter's throw tea parties and the Queen plays croquet. Alice's attempts to find her way home become increasingly bizarre, infuriating and amazing in turn. A beloved classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has continued to delight readers, young and old for over a century.
The Diary of a Nobody is so unassuming a work that even its author, George Grossmith, seemed unaware that he had produced a masterpiece. For more than a century this wonderfully comic portrayal of suburban life and values has remined in print, a source of delight to generations of readers, and a major literary influence, much imitated but never equalled. If you don't recognise yourself at some point in The Diary you are probably less than human. If you can read it without laughing aloud you have no sense of humour.
This novel is Lawrence’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece in which he explores emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers. Lawrence’s novels are perhaps the most powerful exploration in the genre in English of family, class, sexuality and relationships in youth and early adulthood.
A nineteenth-century American travels back in time to sixth-century England in this darkly comic social satire. THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to guide the reader's own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to the
It is among such communities as these that happiness will find her last refuge on earth..". Against this backdrop Hardy tells a vivid story of life in rural Wessex which centres on the independent and beautiful Bathsheba Everdene. She decides to manage the farm she has inherited and finds herself in a powerful position for a woman of the 1840s. But power brings tragic complications when she has to decide between three rival suitors.
With these words, Washington Irving expresses the dilemma ofevery American artist in the nineteenth century. The Sketch-Book(1820-1) looks simultaneously towards audiences on both sides ofthe Atlantic, as Irving explores the uneasy relationship of anAmerican writer to English literary traditions. He sketches aseries of encounters with the cultural shrines of the parentnation, and in two brilliant experiments with tales transplantedfrom Europe creates the first classic American short stories, 'RipVan Winkle' and 'The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow'. The result wasnot only a hugely successful travel book; it exerted a strongformative influence on American writers from Nathaniel Hawthorneand Edgar Allan Poe to Henry James, and is well worth rediscoveryin its own right today. Based on Irving's final revision of hismost popular work, this new edition includes comprehensiveexplanatory notes of The Sketch-Book's sources for the modernreader. In her introduction, Susan Manning suggests that the authorforged a new idiom
Epic historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865-69. This panoramic study of early 19th-century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis, is generally regarded as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace is primarily concerned with the histories of five aristocratic families--particularly the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs--the members of which are portrayed against a vivid background of Russian social life during the war against Napoleon (1805-14). The theme of war, however, is subordinate to the story of family existence, which involves Tolstoy's optimistic belief in the life-asserting pattern of human existence. The heroine, Natasha Rostova, for example, reaches her greatest fulfillment through her marriage to Pierre Bezukhov and her motherhood. The novel also sets forth a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; all is ruled by an inexorable historical determinism. --
The story of 'Little Nell' gripped the nation when it first appeared. Described as a 'tragedy of sorrows', it tells of Nell uprooted from a secure and innocent childhood and cast into a world where evil takes many shapes, the most fascinating of which is the stunted, lecherous Quilp. He is Nell's tormenter and destroyer, and it is his demonic energy that dominates the book.
Contains The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night.
Following the tremendous popular success of Jane Eyre, which earned her lifelong notoriety as a moral revolutionary, Charlotte Bront vowed to write a sweeping social chronicle that focused on "something real and unromantic as Monday morning." Set in the industrializing England of the Napoleonic wars and Luddite revolts of 1811-12, Shirley (1849) is the story of two contrasting heroines. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, who is trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory and whose bare life symbolizes the plight of single women in the nineteenth century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention. A work that combines social commentary with the more private preoccupations of Jane Eyre, Shirley demonstrates the full range of Bront 's literary talent. "Shirley is a revolutionary novel," wrote Bront biographer Lyndall Gordon. "Shirley follows Jane Eyre as a new exemplar--but so much a forerunner of the femini
The Call Of The Wild is the story of Buck, a dog stolen from his home and thrust into the merciless life of the Arctic north to endure hardship, bitter cold, and the savage lawlessness of man and beast. White Fang is the adventure of an animal -- part dog, part wolf --turned vicious by cruel abuse, then transformed by the patience and affection of one man. Jack London's superb ability as a storyteller and his uncanny understanding of animal and human natures give these tales a striking vitality and power, and have earned him a reputation as a distinguished American writer.
To the Lighthouse is the most autobiographical of Virginia Woolf's novels. It is based on her own early experiences, and while it touches on childhood and children's perceptions and desires, it is at its most trenchant when exploring adult relationships, marriage and the changing class-structure in the period spanning the Great War.
In the "Graphic Classics " version of this pioneering,nineteenth-century science fiction novel, the brilliant but strangeCaptain Nemo has designed a gigantic submarine, which he nowcaptains. With his crew, he uses his submarine, the "Nautilus, " asa weapon of vengeance against the civilization that has rejectedand exiled him. " Graphic Classics " are graphic novel versions ofimmortal novels and plays, presented in a way to help make greatliterary works accessible to students, and encourage boys and girlsto discover the joy of reading the masterworks in their originalform. Titles in this series tell absorbing, fast-paced storiesdramatized with high-quality color illustrations. Each "GraphicClassics " title includes a thumbnail biography of the author, alist of his or her important works, a timeline of historic eventsthat helped inspire the story, general notes, and an index. "Graphic Classics " titles are available in both paperback andhardcover editions.
Henry David Thoreau's masterwork, Walden, is a collection of hisreflections on life and society. His simple but profound musings-aswell as "Civil Disobedience," his protest against the government'sinterference with civil liberty-have inspired many to embrace hisphilosophy of individualism and love of nature.
With an Introduction and Notes by Adam Roberts Royal Holloway, University of London Homer's great epic describes the many adventures of Odysseus, Greek warrior, as he strives over many years to return to his home island of Ithaca after the Trojan War. His colourful adventures, his endurance, his love for his wife and son have the same power to move and inspire readers today as they did in Archaic Greece, 2800 years ago. This poem has been translated many times over the years, but Chapman's sinewy, gorgeous rendering (1616) stands in a class of its own. Chapman believed himself inspired by the spirit of Homer himself, and matches the breadth and power of the original with a complex and stunning idiom of his own. John Keats expressed his admiration for the resulting work in the famous sonnet, 'On first looking into Chapman's Homer': 'Much have I travelled in the realms of gold...'
The Dover volume collects 14 of Stoker's lesser-known horror stories such as "The Crystal Cup," "The Burial of the Rats," and "A Gipsey Prophecy." Though most of his other fiction has been overshadowed by Dracula, these offer some real chills and warrant reading. While editions of Dracula, which celebrated its centennial in 1997, are legion, Broadview's offers several extras, including a chronology of Stoker's life and appendixes on Transylvania, London, Mental Physiology, Reviews and Interviews, and more. That along with the full text make this one of the best editions available, especially at this remarkable price.
With an Introduction and Notes by Professor Emeritus John Chapple, University of Hull The sheer variety and accomplishment of Elizabeth Gaskell s shorter fiction is amazing. This new volume contains six of her finest stories that have been selected specifically to demonstrate this, and to trace the development of her art. As diverse in setting as in subject matter, these tales move from the gentle comedy of life in a small English country town in Dr Harrison s Confessions, to atmospheric horror in far north-west Wales with The Doom of the Griffiths. The story of Cousin Phillis, her masterly tale of love and loss, is a subtle, complex and perceptive analysis of changes in English national life during an industrial age, while the gripping Lois the Witch recreates the terrors of the Salem witchcraft trials in seventeenth-century New England, as Gaskell shrewdly shows the numerous roots of this furious outbreak of delusion. Whimsically modified fairy tales are set in a French chateau, while an engaging love story
Little Women is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It is the story of four sisters--Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth-- and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War.
Dickens' final novel, left unfinished at his death in 1870, is a mystery story much influenced by the 'Sensation Novel' as written by his friend Wilkie Collins. The action takes place in an ancient cathedral city and in some of the darkest places in Victorian London. Drugs, disappearances, sexual obsession, disguise and a possible murder are among the themes and motifs. A sombre and menacing atmosphere, a fascinating range of characters and Dickens' usual command of language combine to make this an exciting and tantalising story. Also included in this volume are a number of unjustly neglected stories and sketches, with subjects as different as murder , guilt and childhood romance.
Tom Jones isn't a bad guy, but boys just want to have fun. Nearly two and a half centuries after its publication, the adventures of the rambunctious and randy Tom Jones still makes for great reading. I'm not in the habit of using words like bawdy or rollicking, but if you look them up in the dictionary, you should see a picture of this book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book De*ionMowgli， the little "man-cub"， is raised by wolves in the jungle of India. His companions are Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther， and their enemy is the ferocious tiger Shere Khan. Mowgli's life is filled with adventure and a chance to become a hero of the jungle.From School Library JournalKindergarten-Grade 6 As well done as this retelling is， a substitute for The Jungle Book it isn't. McKinley retells "Mowgli's Brothers，" "Kaa's Hunting" and "Tiger！ Tiger！" in uncluttered prose， preserving much of Kipling's dialogue. The stories about Mowgli are readable， fast-moving and true to their original plots （although many digressions are eliminated）. Smith's full-color illustrations slightly anthropomorphize the animals' expressions and are most effective with Mowgli's adversaries， terrifying Shere Khan the tiger and Mowgli's menacing monkey captors. However， even this well-illustrated， well-written retelling should not pretend to be Kipling. Lost are the music， rhythm a
