I have read Howards End two or three times and listened to it once on tape and it remains one of my favorite novels. Many people were introduced to it by the film, which, good though it was, does not begin to capture the subtle wisdom Forster put into this book. <p> Howards End can be seen as a quaint period piece about British culture in the early Twentieth Century. On another level, however, its a brilliant exploration of the human so ...
Nietzsche is often said to have entered a new period with the publication of Human All Too Human and the book is considerably more positivistic than his earlier writings. It aims at debunking unwarranted assumptions more than at defending a grand interpretation of its own, and it marks the high point of Nietzsches interest in, and applause for, natural science. <p> Nietzsche describes what he means by free spirits in the preface to the s ...
Probably one of the first examples of journalistic fiction, Defoes A Journal of the Plague Year is a pseudo-eyewitness account of the London plague of 1665. Writing this in 1722, Defoe casts himself into the role of his uncle whom he calls H.F. and who recounts the events in grisly detail but with magnanimous compassion. Aside from the prose, the book has a surprisingly modern edge in the way it combines facts about a sensationally dire historic ...
This translation, which incorporates the original vernacular seamlessly into a contemporary translation, is by FAR the finest translation of Chekhovs plays (especially *Uncle Vanya*) I have ever read, or am likely to. As a professor of dramatic literature, I will never again teach Chekhov without assigning my students this fine edition–may it long stay in print. <p> Chekhov had his own unique style in that his plays were usually mere ve ...
As a lover of great rhyme poetry, and in particular, a fan of Henry Wadsworth Longfellows poetry – I was glad to finally find that a Complete Works volume was available. If (like me) you are a lover of Longfellows classy and distinctive verse style, then of course there is no faulting the actual content of this book – from his most famous works to his most obscure..its all here! <p> Another fine feature of this book is the brief introdu ...
This is a perfect collection for fans of Victorian horror stories, I cannot recommend the first story: The Empty House – enough. It is my go to example of creepy, well told ghost stories! <p> It reminds me of being young and telling ghost stories around a campfire with my cousins. Not bloody or frightening, just more of a G rated collection of spooky ghost story you hear and tell when you are young. <p> This is a high quality ...
It has been noted many times that artists are usually not the most pleasant human beings to be around; Maughams novel is, among other things, a compelling examination of why this is so. The obsessed artist who dominates this book, Charles Strickland (based on the notorious Paul Gauguin), walks away from his cushy middle-class existence in England to pursue his dream to paint, amid frightful poverty, in France. Strickland is an unforgettable char ...
William Blake is one of the giants of poetry. He is often overlooked because of the obliqueness of many of his poems. But this affordable (read: cheap) collection of poems is well worth the price of admission. Most of Blakes most famous and well loved poems are included in this volume. Most of us had to read at least a couple of these poems in school. The Tyger still stands as one of the great poems of the English language. The Fly, The Lamb, Ch ...
As he himself affirmed, Chesterton was criticized on numerous occasions for maintaining a seemingly irreverent or flippant tone and attitude while writing about subjects that inherently demand the utmost sincerity. To superficially read Heretics might be to understand the apparent validity of such criticism. On the surface it seems as if Chesterton could not have cared much less about the philosophies of the prominent individuals that he attacks ...
