A Cuckoo's Masterpiece


Book Description

'A Cuckoo's Masterpiece' is an intriguing story about a religious old man spending his last days in an asylum. He starts to go crazy and imagines writing letters to his atheistic nephew, Thomas, a psychiatrist of international repute. He wants an approval for his forthcoming masterpiece. He 'writes' about panaceas for some of the world's ills. However, he cannot fathom a Utopia without religion which is extremely important to him. Although muddled for the most part, his 'letters' at times offer insightful observations about life in general and a purposeful life in particular, but they always fall short of his inner feelings. In the end he becomes delirious and dies of a massive heart attack. Review by Prof. Susannah Robbins, Ph.D. (Eng. Lit.), former Vassar professor







One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest


Book Description

An international bestseller and the basis for the hugely successful film, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the defining works of the 1960s. In this classic novel, Ken Kesey’s hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, brawling, fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over. A lusty, life-affirming fighter, McMurphy rallies the other patients around him by challenging the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. He promotes gambling in the ward, smuggles in wine and women, and openly defies the rules at every turn. But this defiance, which starts as a sport, soon develops into a grim struggle, an all-out war between two relentless opponents: Nurse Ratched, backed by the full power of authority, and McMurphy, who has only his own indomitable will. What happens when Nurse Ratched uses her ultimate weapon against McMurphy provides the story’s shocking climax. “BRILLIANT!”—Time “A SMASHING ACHIEVEMENT...A TRULY ORIGINAL NOVEL!”—Mark Schorer “Mr. Kesey has created a world that is convincing, alive and glowing within its own boundaries...His is a large, robust talent, and he has written a large, robust book.”—Saturday Review




Cloud Cuckoo Land


Book Description

On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more “If you’re looking for a superb novel, look no further.” —The Washington Post From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a “wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences” (The New York Times Book Review). Among the most celebrated and beloved novels of recent times, Cloud Cuckoo Land is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope, and a book. In the 15th century, an orphan named Anna lives inside the formidable walls of Constantinople. She learns to read, and in this ancient city, famous for its libraries, she finds what might be the last copy of a centuries-old book, the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky. Outside the walls is Omeir, a village boy, conscripted with his beloved oxen into the army that will lay siege to the city. His path and Anna’s will cross. In the present day, in a library in Idaho, octogenarian Zeno rehearses children in a play adaptation of Aethon’s story, preserved against all odds through centuries. Tucked among the library shelves is a bomb, planted by a troubled, idealistic teenager, Seymour. This is another siege. And in a not-so-distant future, on the interstellar ship Argos, Konstance is alone in a vault, copying on scraps of sacking the story of Aethon, told to her by her father. Anna, Omeir, Seymour, Zeno, and Konstance are dreamers and outsiders whose lives are gloriously intertwined. Doerr’s dazzling imagination transports us to worlds so dramatic and immersive that we forget, for a time, our own.




33 Masterpieces of Philosophy and Science to Read Before You Die (Illustrated)


Book Description

We live in an era rife with cultural conflict. The 21st century is by no means free of wars, terrorism, riots, famine, nor epidemics. We may attempt to solve the challenges of our times by uniting the humanistic disciplines of philosophy, science, and technology. Our modern reality requires a fundamental understanding of the problems beleaguering our existence. Science and literature are key tools for gaining this insight. The wisdom accumulated throughout the centuries by scientists, philosophers, and writers is a solid foundation on which modern man can build the future. Our ability to learn from those who have come before is precisely what led Protagoras to declare that “Man is the measure of all things.” The 33 works in this book possess foundational importance and continue to influence our modern world. The reader of these texts is well-positioned to understand causes and plot new paths away from the problems that plague us. Edwin A. Abbott. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Aristotle. The Basic Works Dale Breckenridge Carnegie. The Art of Public Speaking Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Eugenics and Other Evils Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Orthodoxy René Descartes. Discourse on the Method Epictetus. The Golden Sayings of Epictetus Sigmund Freud. Dream Psychology Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha David Hume. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching David Herbert Lawrence. Fantasia of the Unconscious Niccolò Machiavelli. The Art of War Niccolò Machiavelli. The Prince John Mill. On Liberty John Mill. Utilitarianism Prentice Mulford. Thoughts are Things Thomas More. Utopia The Meditations Of The Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Friedrich Nietzsche. Thus Spake Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche. Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche. The Antichrist Plato. The Republic Plato. The Apology Of Socrates Plato. Symposium Bertrand Russell. Proposed Roads to Freedom Bertrand Russell. The Problems of Philosophy Bertrand Russell. Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays Sun Tzu. The Art of War Vatsyayana. The Kama Sutra Voltaire. Candide H. G. Wells. A Modern Utopia Frances Bacon. The New Atlantis







The Dramatist


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The Dramatist


Book Description