(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed) If William Shakespeare hadnever written a single play, if his reputation rested entirely uponthe substantial and sterling body of nondramatic verse he leftbehind, he would still hold the position he does in the hierarchyof world literature. The strikingly modern ?sonnets-intimate,baroque, and expansive at once; the invigorating narratives drawnfrom classical subjects; and the flawless lyricism represented by apoem like "The Phoenix and the Turtle"-permanently deepen ourunderstanding of the multiplicity and extravagant energy of ourgreatest poet.
Edited with an Introduction by David Galloway.
Winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature. Jean-Paul Sartre, philosopher, critic, novelist and dramatist, holda position of singular eminence in the world of French letters.Among readers and critics familiar with the whole of Sartre's work,it is generally recognized that his earliest novel, LeNausée (first published in 1938), is his finest and mostsignificant. It is unquestionably a key novel of the TwentiethCentury and a landmark in Existentialist fiction.
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Shakespeare's four greatesttragedies were written in a remarkably short period of time,between 1598 and 1606. "Hamlet," "Othello," "Macbeth," and "KingLear" are each so singular an achievement that any rereading ofthem reinforces the awe and almost idolatrous worship that thismost uncanny of the world's great writers invariably inspires. Inthese four plays, Shakespeare engages the problem that is centralto tragedy and crucial to any human community--the problem ofviolence and revenge--on an unprecedented scale. No other literarytexts have been more instrumental in deepening our knowledge ofourselves as individuals and as a civilization. This authoritativeedition of the plays is supplemented with footnotes,bibliographies, a detailed chronology of Shakespeare's life andtimes, and a substantial introduction in which Tony Tannerdiscusses each play individually while setting each in context.
Gulliver's Travels is one of the most popular works of fiction published in England in the eighteenth century, and one of the best satires ever written. This new Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1726 text, the version that textual scholars now maintain should be the basis for all modern editions of the work. It is accompanied by extensive textual annotations and a dozen illustrations.
It begins with a curse,a son and a hanging,and it buildas into a magnificent adventure no reader will ever forger.At once a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the firerce spirit of a passionater age,THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH is without doubt Ken Follett's masterpiece,and a story for all time.
Since the original prewar translation, there has been nocompletely new rendering of the French original into English. Thistranslation brings to the fore a more sharply engaged, comic andlucid Proust. "In Search of Lost Time" is one of the greatest, mostentertaining reading experiences in any language. As the greatstory unfolds from its magical opening scenes to its devastatingend, it is the Penguin Proust that makes Proust accessible to a newgeneration. Each volume is translated by a different, superbtranslator working under the general editorship of ProfessorChristopher Prendergast, University of Cambridge.
The bestselling tale of Romanov intrigue from the author of"The Kitchen Boy" Book groups and historical fiction buffs havemade Robert Alexanderas two previous novels word-of-mouth favoritesand national bestsellers. Set against a backdrop of ImperialRussiaas twilight, "The Romanov Bride" has the same enduringappeal. The Grand Duchess Elisavyetaas story begins like a fairytaleaa German princess renowned for her beauty and kind heartmarries the Grand Duke Sergei of Russia and enters the Romanovaslavish court. Her husband, however, rules his wife as he doesMoscowawith a cold, hard fist. And, after a peaceful demonstrationbecomes a bloodbath, the fires of the revolution link Elisavyetaasdestiny to that of Pavelaa young Bolshevikaforever.
English crime novelist Charles Latimer is travelling in Istanbulwhen he makes the acquaintance of Turkish police inspector ColonelHaki. It is from him that he first hears of the mysteriousDimitrios - an infamous master criminal, long wanted by the law,whose body has just been fished out of the Bosphorus. Fascinated bythe story, Latimer decides to retrace Dimitrios' steps acrossEurope to gather material for a new book. But, as he graduallydiscovers more about his subject's shadowy history, fascinationtips over into obsession. And, in entering Dimitrios' criminalunderworld, Latimer realizes that his own life may be on theline.
For many people watching football is mere entertainment；to Some it’S more like a ritual：but to others，its highs and lows provide a narrative to life itself. For Nick Hornby his devotion to the game has provided one of the few constants in a life where the meaningful things-like growing up，Leaving home and forming relationships．both parental and romantic-have rarely been as simple or as uncomplicated as his love for Arsenal．
" A stranger could drive through Miguel Street and just say 'Slum ' because he could see no more." But to its residents thisderelict corner of Trinidad' s capital is a complete world, whereeverybody is quite different from everybody else. There' s Popo thecarpenter, who neglects his livelihood to build " the thing withouta name." There' s Man-man, who goes from running for public officeto staging his own crucifixion, and the dreaded Big Foot, the bullywith glass tear ducts. There' s the lovely Mrs. Hereira, in thrallto her monstrous husband. In this tender, funny early novel, V. S.Naipaul renders their lives (and the legends their neighborsconstruct around them) with Dickensian verve and Chekhoviancompassion.Set during World War II and narrated by an unnamed- butprecociously observant- neighborhood boy, Miguel Street is a workof mercurial mood shifts, by turns sweetly melancholy andanarchically funny. It overflows with life on every page.
"The Story of the Stone" (c. 1760), also known by the title of"The Dream of the Red Chamber", is the great novel of manners inChinese literature. Divided into five volumes, of which "The Debtof Tears" is the fourth, it charts the glory and decline of theillustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with thefortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters,Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour,realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects theritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and abovethe novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another planeof existence a theme, which affirms the Buddhist belief in asupernatural scheme of things.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, an intrepid and eccentric adventurer,transferred his passion for flying to the written word by writingseveral classics of aviation literature, including "Southern Mail"and "Night Flight". Based on Saint-Exupery's trail-blazing flightsfor the French airmail service over the Sahara and later, theAndes, these two novels evoke the tragic courage and nobility ofthe airborne pioneers who took enormous risks, flying in opencock-pits in planes that were often fragile and unstable.
Alessandra is not quite fifteen when her prosperous merchant father brings a young painter back with him from Holland to adorn the walls of the new family chapel. She is fascinated by his talents and envious of his abilities and opportunities to paint to the glory of God. Soon her love of art and her lively independence are luring her into closer involvement with all sorts of taboo areas of life. On excursions into the streets of night-time Florence she observes a terrible evil stalking the city and witnesses the rise of the fiery young priest, Savanarola, who has set out to rid the city of vice, richness, even art itself. Alessandra must make crucial decisions about the shape of her adult life, as Florence itself must choose between the old ways of the luxury-loving Medicis and the asceticism of Savanorola. And through it all, there is the painter, whose love will change everything.
Herzog is alone, now that Madeleine has left him for his bestfriend. Solitary, in a crumbling house which he shares with rats,he is buffeted by a whirlwind of mental activity. People rumouredthat his mind had collapsed. But was it true? Locked for days inthe custody of his rambling memories, Herzog scrawls franticletters which he never mails. His mind buzzes with conundrums andpolemics, writing in a spectacular intellectual labyrinth. Is hecrazy, or is he a genius?..
V. S. Naipaul’s legendary command of broad comedy and acutesocial observation is on abundant display in these classic works offiction–two novels and a collection of stories–that capture therhythms of life in the Caribbean and England with impressivesubtlety and humor. The Suffrage of Elvira is Naipaul’s hilarious take on anelectoral campaign in the back country of Trinidad, where thecandidates’ tactics include blatant vote-buying and supernaturalsabotage. The eponymous protagonist of Mr. Stone and the KnightsCompanion is an aging Englishman of ponderously regular habitswhose life is thrown into upheaval by a sudden marriage andunanticipated professional advancement. And the stories in AFlag on the Island take us from a Chinese bakery inTrinidad–whose black proprietor faces bankruptcy until he takes aChinese name–to a rooming house in London–where the genteellandlady plays a nasty Darwinian game with her budgerigars.Unfailingly stylish, filled with intelligence and feeling, here isthe wo
With passion, wit, and good common sense, the celebrated poetMary Oliver tells of the basic ways a poem is built-meter andrhyme, form and diction, sound and sense. Drawing on poems fromRobert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and others, Oliver imparts anextraordinary amount of information in a remarkably short space."Stunning" (Los Angeles Times). Index.
"The Story of the Stone (c. 1760)", also known by the title of"The Dream of the Red Chamber", is the great novel of manners inChinese literature. Divided into five volumes, of which "TheWarning Voice" is the third, it charts the glory and decline of theillustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with thefortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters,Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour,realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects theritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and abovethe novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another planeof existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in asupernatural scheme of things.
Nabokov's first novel. A tale of youth, first love andnostalgia. In a Berlin rooming house, a vigorous young officerpoised between his past and his future relives his first loveaffair.
A collection of the short stories of the Nobel Prize-winningauthor of Palace Walk represents thirty years of work andfeatures tales of the citizens of Cairo, who struggle to surviveamid the city's poverty. Reprint. PW. K.
A stunning novel by the widest-read Arab writer currentlypublished in the U.S. The age of Nasser has ushered in enormoussocial change, and most of the middle-aged and middle-class sonsand daughters of the old bourgeoisie find themselves trying torecreate the cozy, enchanted world they so dearly miss. One night,however, art and reality collide--with unforeseencircumstances.
The Gift is the last of the novels Nabokov wrote in his nativeRussian and the crowning achievement of that period in his literarycareer. It is also his ode to Russian literature, evoking the worksof Pushkin, Gogol, and others in the course of its narrative: thestory of Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, an impoverished e migre poetliving in Berlin, who dreams of the book he will someday write--abook very much like The Gift itself.
A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, thiscollection assembles Carson McCullers's best stories, including herbeloved novella The Ballad of the SadCaf . A haunting tale of a human triangle thatculminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readersto Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose caf serves as the town's gathering place. Among other fine works, thecollection also includes Wunderkind, McCullers's first published story written when she was onlyseventeen about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she willnot go on to become a great pianist.
