Great Nineteenth-century French Short Stories


Book Description

Seventeen imaginative selections by lesser-known writers: "Adolphe," Benjamin Constant; "Salome," Jules Laforgue; "The Anatomist," Petrus Borel, 14 more. Trends toward the fantastic, expressionism, surrealism. Introductory notes.




Great French Short Stories


Book Description

Featurestwelve classic tales, including "The Necklace"(Maupassant); "The Unknown Masterpiece" (Balzac); "The Attack on the Mill" (Zola); plus works by Gide, Daudet, andseven other authors."




Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan


Book Description

Because women in ancient Japan enjoyed high status, they were well-educated and reasonably independent. They also produced much of the country's best literature. Three of these amazing ladies wrote these diaries, among them the highly skilled writer Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 973-1025 a.d.). A lady-in-waiting to the Japanese Empress, she became very adept at observing the daily activities and attitudes of the upper classes. Her diary is a remarkable record of events staged with rare and exquisite taste. The Sarashina Diary, filled with an appreciation of nature, begins with a nine-year-old girl's dreams and ends with the grown woman's account of her husband's funeral (1009-1059 a.d.). Izumi Shikibu's diary is a delicately written work, with poetic thoughts characteristic of the lady's shy reserve. Brimming with poetry and understated social observations, all three provide an extraordinary glimpse of court life in old Japan. Unabridged republication of the edition originally published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1920. 2 color illustrations. 12 black-and-white illustrations. Appendix.




McTeague


Book Description

Inspired by an actual crime, this riveting tale of avarice, degeneration, and death chronicles the demise of an ignorant charlatan and his avaricious wife as they descend into moral corruption.




Songs of Kabir


Book Description

The 15th-century poet Kabir created timeless works of enlightenment that combine the philosophies of Sufism, Hinduism, and the Kabbala. Kabir's poems possess a simplicity and cover a wide emotional range. Features 100 songs translated by Rabindranath Tagore.




The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde


Book Description

More than 1,000 ripostes, paradoxes, wisecracks: "Work is the curse of the drinking classes," "I can resist everything except temptation," etc.




The English and Scottish Popular Ballads


Book Description

This definitive 19th-century collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features Child's commentary for each work. Volume II includes Parts III & IV of the original set — ballads 54–113.




News from Nowhere


Book Description

One of the most literary of utopian fantasies, this 1890 novel distills the author's attitudes toward politics, art, and society. A resonant critique of state socialism, it offers remarkably modern proposals for an alternative, idyllic society.




Nordic Gods and Heroes


Book Description

Simple, dramatic tales of gods and goddesses who dwell in Asgard: exploits of Odin and Thor, winning of Brynhild, twilight of the gods, more. Over 40 illustrations.




The Octopus


Book Description

Based on an actual bloody dispute in 1880 between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad, this tale of greed, betrayal, and a lust for power is played out during the waning days of the western frontier.