Publisher: Brothers Grimm
Grimm's Fairy Tales are the most famous and enchanting collection of fairy tales ever written down and published. For the past two centuries, these delightful stories, gathered together by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, have entertained and frightened children and adults alike.
Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens in 1835, was a celebrated American author, humorist, and social critic. Twain's life and writings are deeply intertwined with American history, capturing the essence of the 19th century and the spirit of the American West. Through his iconic works such as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Twain crafted vivid narratives that examined the complexities of human nature, tackled social issues, and provided incisive commentary on the American experience. Twain's writings often drew inspiration from his own experiences and travels. As a young man, he worked as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, an experience that shaped his understanding of the culture and people of the American South. This firsthand knowledge of the region and its idiosyncrasies found its way into his writing, bringing a sense of authenticity and regional flavor to his stories. Twain's vivid descriptions, witty dialogues, and memorable characters made his works beloved by readers of all ages. Beyond his contributions to literature, Twain's legacy extends to his role as a keen observer of society and a master of satire. His sharp wit and social critiques exposed the flaws and hypocrisies of his time, challenging prevailing beliefs and prejudices. Twain's novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" remains a classic and a significant piece of American literature. It tackled issues of race and morality, presenting a scathing indictment of racism while showcasing the unlikely friendship between the white protagonist and the runaway slave, Jim. Mark Twain's life, art, and writings continue to captivate readers and provide insight into the American experience. His humorous storytelling, memorable characters, and biting social commentary have secured his place as one of the most important and influential figures in American literature.Show book
Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens's story of a powerful man whose callous neglect of his family triggers his professional and personal downfall, showcases the author's gift for vivid characterization and unfailingly realistic description. As Jonathan Lethem contends in his Introduction, Dickens's "genius . . . is at one with the genius of the form of the novel itself: Dickens willed into existence the most capacious and elastic and versatile kind of novel that could be, one big enough for his vast sentimental yearnings and for every impulse and fear and hesitation in him that countervailed those yearnings too. Never parsimonious and frequently contradictory, he always gives us everything he can, everything he's planned to give, and then moreShow book
From the olive trees of southern France to Gnostic cults in Egypt, a man and his lovers are invented and reinvented in this first volume of a great literary adventure. For British doctor Bruce Drexel, a return to Provence is bittersweet. Here, at a rustic chateau, he once fell in love with Sylvie, the Frenchwoman who would become his wife, and befriended her brother, Piers. The three made up a peculiar, potent ménage for years until Sylvie’s descent into madness and Piers’s suicide. As Drexel attends to Piers’s affairs, he becomes steeped in the memories of a spiritually transformational trip to Egypt; the band of intellectual confederates who used to be his intimate friends; and a three-sided love that became his reason for being. So begins Monsieur, the masterful first entry of Durrell’s Avignon Quintet, an infinite regress of memory and imagination that challenges the formal conventions of fiction.Show book
These charming Japanese Fairy Tales were translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki in 1908. Although taken from actual Japanese folk stories, these Westernized versions are not literal translations. These stories combine fictitious creatures and magical animals with the lives of normal humans and provide an insight into a piece of ancient Japan.The stories in this volume include: My Lord Bag of Rice, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher LadShow book
This Audiobook contains The Essential Collection of The Brontë Sisters.- Agnes Grey [Anne Brontë]The novel tells the story of Agnes Grey, the daughter of a minister, whose family comes to financial ruin. Desperate to earn the money to care for herself, she takes one of the few jobs allowed to respectable women in the early Victorian era – the role of governess to the children of the wealthy. In working with two different families (the Bloomfields and the Murrays), she comes to learn about the troubles that face a young woman who must try to rein in unruly, spoiled children for a living, and about the ability of wealth and status to destroy social values. After her father's death, Agnes opens a small school with her mother and finds happiness with a man who loves her for herself. They have three children at the end of the novel, Edward, Agnes and Mary - Jane Eyre [Charlotte Brontë]Jane Eyre is not your typical romance. It is a story of a woman who struggles with a world in which she doesn't quite fit. Once finished with her schooling, and with no family that really cares of her she strikes out on her own as a governess. Jane Eyre searches for love, someone to care for her, and someone to care for, and finds it in unexpected places.- Wuthering Heights [Emily Brontë]A tale of passion set in the bleak Yorkshire moors in mid 19thC, far from the Victorian uprightness, Wuthering Heights depicts the mutual love of Catherine and Heathcliff till destruction rends the narration; yet cruelty is only to be met with forgiveness in the following generations. Romantic, impassioned and wild, it is also a dark journey in the human soul.Show book
British author Kenneth Grahame, during his brief career, managed to create two of the world's most beloved children's stories: the classic tale "The Wind in the Willows" and the novella "The Reluctant Dragon," each one a magnificent addition to any collection. Here, these two famous stories are combined into one volume, presented in their original and unabridged format. First, Grahame's sprawling saga of life in the English countryside, "The Wind in the Willows," featuring the sensible and amiable Mole, the fiery and whip-smart Water Rat, the gruff and respectable Badger as well as the irrepressible and out-of-control Toad of Toad Hall, whose mad and impulsive behavior drives him to obsession, thievery, prison and escape! There are few more cherished children's books in the history of literature. As an added bonus, however, we also include Grahame's story of friendship, love and compassion, the beautiful and elegiac novella "The Reluctant Dragon," wherein the main character - the Boy - discovers a friendly dragon living outside his small village. When the villagers learn of the dragon's existence, they recruit St. George himself to slay the monster, prompting the Boy to intervene and try to save his friend. A beautiful fable of love and friendship for children of all ages.Show book
