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"With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion."–Edgar Allan Poe. Containing such famous works as «The Raven», «Lenore», «Annabel Lee», and «To Helen», this complete collection of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe encapsulates the career of one of the best-known and most read American writers. Laden with tones of loneliness, melancholy and despair, the poetry contained in this volume exerted great influence on the American Romantic and the French Symbolist Movements of the nineteenth century. Today, Poe's poetry is appreciated for its literary genius, not only because of his command of language, rhythms and dramatic imagery, but also because of its emotional insight into a beautiful and tormented mind. His propensity towards the mysterious and the macabre, as well as an ardent preoccupation with death, has led centuries of scholars and readers to enjoy these poems of love, death, and loneliness.
Indian Summer
William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was born in 1837 in Martins Ferry, Ohio, one of ten children to editor and printer, William Cooper Howells. William's early education in the printing office led him to a job as a compositor on the «Ohio State Journal» at age fourteen, and a successful career as an author by his early twenties. His notoriety comes largely from his fifteen years working at «The Atlantic Monthly» as assistant and chief editor, where he influenced the careers of writers like Mark Twain and Henry James. Howells wrote novels, plays, essays, poems, reviews and travel pieces that touched on every day people and their experiences. «Indian Summer» is about Theodore Colville, a young man who becomes involved with two woman, the younger of which is enamored with sentimental romance novels. This satirical novel reveals Howells' attitudes on the dangers of sentimentalism and the relationship between motive and consequences.
Bouvard and Pecuchet
The last work written by Flaubert that was not quite complete by his death in 1880, «Bouvard and Pecuchet» is his characteristically satirical work revolving around two Parisian copy-clerks. Though they meet on a park bench in the middle of a hot summer day, their friendship grows to a remarkable degree, so much so that when one receives an unexpected inheritance, they both decide to dedicate themselves to the exploration of ideas in the countryside. What follows is an episodic, picaresque-like pursuit of various subjects, in which Bouvard and Pecuchet are repeatedly disappointed. After the initial grief of each endeavor they move on to the next, demonstrating to perfection the weaknesses Flaubert himself saw in the sciences and arts of his day. Perpetual beginners who obtain no true achievement, even after years have elapsed, the tension builds in both their failing explorations and in their relations with the local villagers. Interwoven with the taut political situation of the nineteenth century, this work finally comes full circle when Bouvard and Pecuchet decide to return to the world of copying. Written with great deliberation in the hopes of creating his masterpiece, Flaubert poured all of his best writing into the remarkable and revealing «Bouvard and Pecuchet.»
The Best Short Stories of Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane, an American writer and journalist, is best known for his critically acclaimed Civil War novel «The Red Badge of Courage». In addition to this remarkable work, Crane also wrote many short stories about the Civil War, among other subjects. His best short stories are collected here in this volume and include the following tales: The Open Boat, The Blue Hotel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, The Monster, Death and the Child, The Pace of Youth, A Desertion, An Experiment in Misery, A Dark Brown Dog, The Men in the Storm, A Mystery of Heroism, One Dash-Horses, The Little Regiment, His New Mittens, The Price of the Harness, Virtue in War, An Episode of War, Shame, The Upturned Face, and The Knife.
Selected Poems
In the sphere of poets like Swift, Meredith and Kipling, Thomas Hardy is today becoming recognized as one of the greatest English poets of this century. As a young man with interests in journalism, art, and architecture, Hardy achieved greatness in the fiction genre early on, writing novels for a living until his mid-fifties. He then abandoned fiction entirely in order to devote himself to his true passion—poetry. This ample selection of poems demonstrates Hardy's experimentation with intricate stanza forms and rhyme schemes, as well as his genius for rhetorical ambiguity. Set in his native, rural Dorset, his «Selected Poems» include such well-known pieces as «During Wind and Rain,» «Afterwards,» «The Darkling Thrush,» and «The Oxen.» Although most of the acclaim for his poetry was received posthumously, Hardy's poetry evokes themes and ideas that transcend time. Readers today still enjoy these poems of love, nature, and life's little ironies.
The Financier
An unflinching examination of the corrupted American dream, «The Financier» tells a story revolving around a fiercely dishonest and motivated businessman, Frank Cowperwood. This protagonist relentlessly maneuvers for wealth without scruples or compassion, first marrying an affluent widow, then embezzling funds. When stock markets crash, his lies are exposed, and he is used as a scapegoat for the corruption of others. Both a betrayer and the betrayed, the brutal reality of his later success after rising and falling into jail is the embodiment of greed in the American success story. Dreiser relates this 1912 tale, the first volume of his 'Trilogy of Desire', with a masterful use of naturalism that provides an unapologetic social critique through the character of Frank, an overwhelming and even haunting American businessman.
Cranford
The most well-known and well-liked of Gaskell's works, this softly humorous picture of an English country village was first serialized in a magazine edited by Charles Dickens in 1851. Based on the village of Gaskell's childhood, «Cranford» is narrated by a young woman visiting the town who describes the genteel poverty of two middle-aged spinster sisters, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. Gaskell tells of their little adventures in a confidential and almost chatty tone, perfectly conveying their habits and standards of propriety, decency, and kindness in reduced circumstances. The colorful characters and subtle class distinctions of the village of Cranford are captured in this compassionate and hopeful portrayal of small-town English life.
Phineas Finn
The second work of the Palliser series, also called the Parliamentary Novels, «Phineas Finn» follows the unpredictable political career of a handsome young Irishman in London. Son of a doctor and himself an unsuccessful law student, the charming Finn becomes involved in both the elections of Parliament and a sequence of romantic struggles. Amidst the troughs and ridges of his chosen profession, Finn becomes involved in turn with first his patroness Lady Laura, then the lovely heiress Violet, then the urbane Madame Goesler, and then his enduring Irish sweetheart Mary Flood Jones. In setting his novel against the backdrop of the Reform Bill of 1867 and the rise of the politician Gladstone in England, Trollope paints a fictional narrative of life during the height of British prestige. In combining these historical circumstances with Finn's politics and romances, Trollope finds a perfect balance of public and personal life that is ultimately realistic and evocative of empathy.
Beowulf
Dating from between the 8th and 11th century Beowulf is the oldest known English epic poem. Beowulf is a narrative poem about the kings and heroes of Denmark and Geatland. It is a story of mythic creatures and medieval battles between men and monsters. Follow the adventures of Beowulf, the story's title character, as he battles the Grendel, the Grendel's mother, and a dragon. As you read imagine yourself in one of the taverns or royal courts of Old England hearing the great epic Beowulf, for the first time as you might well have then. Passed down by oral tradition Beowulf's author is to this day unknown. The original manuscript was written in Anglo-Saxon or Old English. Presented here is the faithful translation of Francis B. Gummere.
Our Island Story
Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall's «Our Island Story» is a history of England up to Queen Victoria's death, with some myths and legends mixed in. Marshall's work, which is aimed at a younger audience, was very popular when first published and is credited by historians as an inspiration. Beginning with the legends of Albion and Brutus «Our Island Story» chronicles numerous important English legends, kings, and queens, including King Arthur, Alfred the Great, Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, and Queen Victoria amongst many others. This classic historical work is a must read for any younger reader interested in English history or any parent who wants to educate their children on this fascinating and regal period in the history of Great Britain.