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While most of W. Somerset Maugham's novels achieved high commercial sales and critical acclaim at the turn of the 20th century, Maugham was also an accomplished short story writer. His stories compiled in «Rain and Other South Sea Stories» describe the beauty and feelings of the South Pacific at a time of British colonization. The most popular short story, «Rain», describes the futile attempts of an English missionary to convert a certain prostitute on the Pacific isles. The prostitute's immorality bothers the missionary, but Maugham refused to «punish» his more depraved characters. He was less concerned about satisfying the principles of his time period and more interested in allowing his characters to live their lives free of judgment. Maugham's prose style in the stories varies; as he was writing during the conversion to modernism, Maugham tried his hand at both the typical prose style and the more avant-garde style. «Rain» falls under the first category, while the stories «Honolulu» and «Mackintosh» are more experimental in nature. Regardless, Maugham's works are a welcome addition to the early 20th century literature canon because of their inclusive nature, strong female characters, and well-rounded plot arcs. The tales combined within «Rain and Other South Sea Stories» tell more than their own stories, but they also tell the story of the changing world views of the time.
The Story of My Life (The Complete Memoirs of Giacomo Casanova, Volume 7 of 12)
A Venetian adventurer, author, and lifelong womanizer, the name of Casanova has become interchangeable with the art of seduction since the 18th century. In his most notable book, «Story of My Life,» Casanova narrates countless tales of the people with whom he interacted: lovers, European royalty, clergymen, and artists such as Goethe, Voltaire, and Mozart. His writing demonstrates his talent for dialogue, while his life seems an inadvertent testament to skill in plot development. Casanova gambled, spied, translated, dueled, schemed, traveled, and observed people of all levels of society, having been born of two actors and becoming a self-made gentleman. He writes of his life without regret, recalling his adventures, from necromancy to imprisonment, with general honesty and the occasional embellishment, and always with a good humor. In this remarkable celebration of the senses, Casanova proves his talent for storytelling by revealing a refreshingly authentic view of the customs and everyday life of social 18th century Europeans, ultimately proving his claim that «I can say I have lived.» In this edition you will find the seventh of twelve volumes of «The Complete Memoirs.»
The Law and the Word
The Law and the Word explores the connection between thought energy, scientific reasoning, and creative power.
Five Children and It
"Five Children and It" magically illustrates the wisdom of the saying «be careful what you wish for.» Edith Nesbit's classic children's fairy tale is the story of five children who while spending a summer at the house in the country discover Psammead, a sand fairy. Psammead, a strange looking creature, has the power to make wishes come true and promises to grant the children one magical wish per day. However, as the kids soon discover, the wishes don't turn out exactly as the kids envision. Each wish leads to unexpected mishaps and adventures in this classic tale of fantasy and adventure.
Henry IV, Part II
The third part of Shakespeare's impressive 'Henriad,' this play follows «Richard II» and «Henry IV, Part 1,» and precedes «Henry V.» In this portion of the tetralogy of history plays, Prince Hal is once again out of favor with his father the king, who is in his last months of life. Falstaff, the comical criminal, is further rejected by Prince Hal, who believes he must disassociate himself with the London underworld before becoming king. This is certainly a more somber play, for Henry IV dies, and Falstaff reflects on his own approaching death. A credible play worthy of the Shakespeare's early writings, «Henry IV, Part 2» is a work of conflict, reconciliation, and musings on life and death that attest to the universal nature of the Bard of Avon's canon.
Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter
William Wells Brown (1814-1884) is credited with being the first African American novelist. His 1853 work «Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter» is a groundbreaking piece of American fiction. The long untouched subject matter of mixed race identity during the antebellum South is here treated with great craft and bravery. William Wells Brown confronts the hypocrisy of slavery, examining the detrimental effects it has on society. Even more direct is Brown's confrontation of Thomas Jefferson's controversial intimacy with his slaves—a relationship which bore many mixed race children. In «Clotel», we follow the story of Clotel, a mixed-race daughter of Thomas Jefferson. The novel introduces the «tragic-mulatto» archetype into American fiction. With a split identity, this ill-fated soul is ruined by a racially divided society. Clotel wrestles with this existence as a mixed slave; as she vies for freedom we witness her struggle through life. This deft novel examines race relations in a troubled early America.
The Age of Innocence
"The Age of Innocence" is Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, which depicts the bygone era of 1870s New York upper class society. The novel is the story of Newland Archer, a lawyer and heir to one of New York's most prominent families. Newland is planning to marry the young, beautiful and sheltered May Welland, however when May's exotic thirty-year-old cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, appears on the scene he begins to question these plans. A classic and romantic story, «The Age of Innocence» depicts the demands of upper class society to maintain outward appearances and the reputation of the family, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Looking Backward, 2000 to 1887
"Looking Backward: 2000-1887" is considered to be one of the greatest and most widely read of the utopian novels. It is the story of a young gentleman from Boston who mysteriously wakes from a sleep of over a hundred years to find himself transplanted to a utopian futuristic world. This future world is one of prosperity, cooperation, and harmony. Edward Bellamy's classic novel inspired a rebirth of the utopian novel genre and has been an inspiration to the many forward-looking thinkers who have read it.
A Boy's Will and North of Boston
"A Boy's Will and North of Boston" is a collection of two early volumes of poetry by Robert Frost. «A Boy's Will» was first published in 1913 with «North of Boston» being first published the following year in 1914. Poetry readers will delight in this collection of poems from one of the great poets of the twentieth century.
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe (1517-1587) was an English historian and martyrologist. He early became a Protestant and, when Mary Tudor became queen, he fled from England to Strasbourg, France. There, he occupied himself with a Latin history of the Christian persecutions and he printed, in Latin, the first part of his history of the persecution of Protestant reformers. «Foxe's Book of Martyrs» is an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the reign of Mary I. The book helped mold British popular opinion about the Catholic Church for several centuries as it was widely owned and read by English Puritans. During Elizabeth's reign, this book was highly celebrated and even became required reading. It was placed in churches and reprinted in shorter editions so that many households possessed a copy.