Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of Vanity Fair. Its no joke that its subtitled a novel without a hero – William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire. <p> It opens with two young women departing from a ladies academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentle ...
Historical and informative, this book offers an exploratory look at china through the examination of its myths and legends. Western myths and legends are juxtaposed with the eastern myths and legends which you will find entertaining. This is an educational book which will keep your interest the whole read. <p> The author is a an old school orientalist, writing in the days when the Chinese Empire still had an emperor and was thoroughly i ...
The Man in the Iron Mask tells a story based on historic facts. In 1661, King Louis XIV of France had his minister of finances – Nicolas Fouquet – arrested for embezzlement. Also in that year, Louis successfully wooed a young handmaiden named Louise, which caused some stir. In this novel, Dumas gives us the secret history behind these facts, and it is no surprise that the story involves his famous Four Musketeers. <p> More specifically, ...
This the first,the classic, novelized medieval Romance. Written the same year as Queen Victorias birth, it gave us much of our modern conception of medieval tournaments, King John, Robin Hood, Richard Coeur de Lion, etc. <p> If youve ever thought ok, that was cool as Robin Hood split an arrow with another arrow at the Great Archery Tournament, or wondered where the idea of Robin Hood as the defender of Saxon yeomanry against the Villaino ...
Edgar Rice Burroughs did not intended to write a trilogy, but his 1914 pulp novel The Warlord of Mars completes the story begun in A Princess of Mars and continued in The Gods of Mars and finally brings John Carter and his beloved Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium (i.e., no cliffhanger this time around, boys and girls). <p> The characters are all extremely likable. John Carter is the perfect southern gentleman. Honorable, loyal, incredib ...
In so many ways this novel is a treasure. Its not easy to write a political novel with a strong love story and good characterizations. Gaskell takes on quite a bit and mostly succeeds in her task of describing the changes industrialization brought to England. She balances her sympathy for the workers in the factories with the dilemmas posed to the mill owners by new machinery, competition from abroad, and the threats of potential workers strikes ...
This is certainly one of the greatest novels ever written. <p> TESS OF THE DURBERVILLES must be as close to a perfect novel as anyone has written in English. It is a genuine tragedy with a girl/woman as tragic hero. It is about life on earth in a way that transcends mere sociology. It has the grandeur of Milton but concerns itself with the lives of mortal beings on earth, as much with sex as with dirt, blood, milk, dung, animal and veget ...
An effortless adventure classic that spans the void between dime shocker and quality literature. The rapid elaboration of the plot, that is so well known that it has passed many images into popular conciousness, is still satisfying after many reads. <p> Richard Hannay returned to England, after making his fortune in South Africa, he is unwillingly ensnared in a tortured plot to assassinate Karolides the Greek premier and so plunge Europ ...
As many may know, Dante Alighieri was a man of great literary prowess, but was given drive by his single obsession to a small girl by the name of Beatrice. She rings true in this work, as the guiding angel, bringing Dante through the depths of hell, the wasteland of Purgatory, and finally, the glory of heaven. <p> His has been one of the most enduring works on the human spirit, and the concept of god as seen through Christianity. Full o ...