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Все книги издательства IngramKing Lear - The Original Classic Edition
Shakespeare at his best – King Lear was written at Shakespeares most prolific period, a time in which he rapidly composed Hamlest, Othello, and Macbeth. I believe, without a moments hesitation, that King Lear is his greatest work, and probably the greatest play ever written. <p> The plot moves quickly with excitement and action. The central themes of the play (among which are abandonment, unconditional love, and self-realization) are some of the most serious and important aspects of human nature. The play brings up many important quiestions: Why should we forgive others? Can we ever trust someone? All of these areanswered in this play. <p> I recently saw a professional production of the play, and found myself quickly moving from emotions of fear, to laughing, to wrath, and at the climactic end of the play, breaking down into tears, having been drained by the plays rapid motion and tension. <p> This play will live with you forever.
Woman: Her Sex And Love Life - The Original Classic Edition
By the Author: In the first chapter of this book I have shown, I believe convincingly, why sex knowledge is even more important for women than it is for men. I have examined carefully the books that have been written for girls and women, and I know that it is not bias, nor carping criticism, but strict honesty that forces me to say that I have not found one satisfactory girls or womans sex book. There are some excellent books for girls and women on general hygiene; but on sex hygiene, on the general manifestations of the sex instinct, on sex ethics?none. I have attempted to write such a book. Whether I have succeeded?fully, partially or not at all?is not for me to say, though I have my suspicions. But this I know: in writing this book I have been strictly honest with myself, from first page to last. Whether everything I have written is the truth, I do not know. But at least I believe that it is?or I would not have written it. And I can solemnly say that the book is free from any cant, hypocrisy, falsehood, exaggeration or compromise, nor has any attempt been made in any chapter to conciliate the stupid, the ignorant, the pervert, or the sexless. <p> As in all my other books I have used plain, honest English. Not any plainer than necessary, but plain enough to avoid obscurity and misconception. <p> Science and art are both necessary to human happiness. This is not the place to discuss the relative importance of the two. And, while I have no patience with art-for-arts-sake, I recognize that the scientist can not be put into a narrow channel and ordered to go into a certain definite direction. Scientific investigations which seemed aimless and useless have sometimes led to highly important results, and I would not disparage science for its own sake. It has its uses. Nevertheless I personally have no use for it. To me everything must have a direct human purpose, a definite human application. When the cup of human life is so overflowing with woe and pain and misery, it seems to me a narrow dilettanteism or downright charlatanism to devote ones self to petty or bizarre problems which can have no relation to human happiness, and to prate of self-satisfaction and self-expression. One can have all the self-expression one wants while doing useful work. <p> And working for humanity does not exclude a healthy hedonism; not the narrow Cyrenaic, but an enlightened altruistic hedonism. And in writing this book I have kept the human problem constantly before my eyes. It was not my ambition merely to impart interesting facts: my concern was the practical application of these facts, their relation to human happiness. <p> If this book should be instrumental, as I confidently trust it will, in destroying some medieval superstitions, in dissipating some hampering and cramping errors, in instilling some hope in the hearts of the hopeless, in bringing a little joy into the homes of the joyless, in increasing in however slight a degree the sum total of human happiness, its mission shall have been gloriously fulfilled. <p> For this is the mission of the book: to increase the sum total of human happiness.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - The Original Classic Edition
Anne is the Bronte we never read in school and most of us dont read afterwards, which is a big loss for those who dont, because shes at least as talented as her two older sisters. <p> The Tenant of Wildfell Hall can hold its own against Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights any day in the week, but it was panned in its own time, in large part because of its unladylike topic of alcoholism. Anne Bronte knew alcoholism first hand through her brother Bramwell who drank himself to death, and her revulsion of the alcoholic personality is central to this book. <p> The heroine of Tenant, Helen Graham, is a headstrong and independent young woman, who marries Arthur Huntington against the advice of her family. She is one of those who loves not wisely but too well, because Arthur, a selfish and irresponsible womanizer, cares about nothing but satisfying his own wishes and desires. <p> Helen wants to help Arthur turn his life around, which Arthur couldnt care less about, and his drinking and adultery right under her nose eventually repels her to the point where she despises him as much as she once loved him. <p> It is only when she sees him attempting to influence her young son to become a chip off the old block, that she realizes her responsibility as a mother to save her son from his father trumps her duty as a wife to stand by her husband. With the help of her brother, she runs away with her son to the anonymity of life in a small village. <p> Here she meets Gilbert Markham, who falls in love with her, but realizes that their relationship has no future as long as her husband is alive. Arthurs ultimate death from alcoholism not only frees Helen from an abusive and degrading marriage, it also leaves her free to find happiness with Gilbert. <p> Anne Bronte pulled no punches in writing this book and that is probably what so perturbed readers of her own era; too bad for them, because they were unable to appreciate this book for what it is, one of the unrecognized classics of English literature.
The Imitation of Christ - The Original Classic Edition
The way to happiness and peace – As a pastor I see so many people who are miserable. They are depressed, filled with worry and have so little joy in their lives. This book speaks specifically to those problems. <p> In a nutshell this book says that we are miserable because we are trying to find joy in other people and in other things and everything out there will fail us and let us down. The only thing that provides true happiness, peace and contentment is God. <p> The Imitation of Christ goes through exercises on how we can detach ourselves from worldly things to focus on God. Once we are focused solely on God and have the faith that God will provide everything we need, then we can really enjoy the world around us. <p> Enjoy it because once we receive true happiness from God we can see how beautiful the world is and enjoy it as the gift God created it to be, instead of something that we grab onto in the hopes that it will provide us our happiness and security. <p> Imitation of Christ is said to be the most influential spiritual work in Western Christendom other than the Bible itself. This fresh contemporary translation from the 15th Century Latin edition makes the timeless wisdom of this classic available to modern readers in easily understandable language, while retaining the austerity, simplicity and beauty of the original. <p> Meant to be read in small portions, the Imitation is truly a guide for discovering personal holiness. The Imitation speaks to ones heart, rather than ones mind, and provides one with strength, inspiration and fortitude to grow in ones interior spiritual life. <p> Written from the presepctive of a mideval monastic, The Imitation contains classic advice for every individual who wishes to develop and grow in faith and personal spirituality.
A Midsummer Night's Dream - The Original Classic Edition
A piece of magic on the stage or screen–or on paper! <p> This is probably Shakespeares most delightful comedy, and Im glad I have read it in several editions and seen various versions of the play on large screen, small screen, and stage. I wish schools would teach this instead of trying to get the kids to understand Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. Even if they dont understand this one, they can tell that its fun and somewhat vulgar, with Bottom running around in an asss head and the Queen of the Fairies falling in temporary love with him. Fairy might not yet have had its most recent meaning, but Bottom in an asss head suggested exactly the same thing then that it suggests now <p> While I was getting my doctorate in English, my Shakespeare teacher worshipped Shakespeare instead of enjoying it for what it was worth. She almost went ballistic when somebody pointed out vulgarities and slapstick in the plays, because we too were supposed to worship Shakespeare instead of analyzing him. Sorry, but I was right and she was wrong. Shakespeare was a very bawdy writer, and he enjoyed being bawdy. <p> I thought it was great. Characters like Bottom and Robin Goodfellow were hilarious. Shakespeare seems to know how to make a tangled mess of everyones lives very well. It amazes me his power to make that seem funny at times and then seem incredibly sad at others. I have to say, I really enjoyed this comedy better than his tragedy. <p> Youll read this, and will just fall in love with it.
The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights - The Original Classic Edition
Along with Robin Hood, these ancient legends are a must-read – Who hasnt heard of King Arthur and the knights of his Round Table? In this book you meet them all including the magician Merlin, and the brave knights Sir Lancelot, Sir Gareth, Sir Tristam, Sir Bors, Sir Key, and Sir Galahad. All the old favorites are included Arthur drawing the sword out of the stone, Arthur receiving the sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, Arthur becoming emperor, and Arthurs marriage to Guinevere. These events are recounted with surprising little drama. But dont give up too soon the best comes with all the quests and adventures of the knights that follow, including the Quest for the Holy Grail. This book is chock-full of entertaining adventures involving knights in shining armour, damsels in distress, fierce jousting and sword fights to the death, battles against hoards of enemies and giants, tournaments and miracles. <p> The medieval setting is painted in a rather idealized fashion, limited to the nobility and figures of the court, who embrace all that is beautiful, brave and noble. These virtues are sometimes portrayed rather simplistically, as unknown knights engage in mortal combat, and only after they have virtually killed each other do the introductions begin: What is your name? Behind this medieval mayhem is a heightened sense of chivalry more reflective of legend than fact, where knights battle to the death for the sake of a woman – even one they have only just met. But isnt that what the Arthurian legends are all about? Nobody is under the illusion that they are to be taken too seriously. Journeying to Arthurs Camelot is a form of escapism – suspend your sense of disbelief, watch the flashing swords and fearful battles, and enjoy. <p> How much truth there is behind the Arthurian tales will always be the subject of debate. The fact remains that there is an extensive and confusing body of legend to wade through. In this 1923 work, Knowles has essentially followed Malorys fifteenth century classic Morte dArthur. Even his language is antiquated and tedious, but persevere because you will soon find that this an enjoyable and essential addition that heightens the heroic atmosphere of the story and gives the legend a fittingly majestic touch. But it is doubtful that Malory or Knowles have been successful in making a great deal of sense out of the confusing mass of legend, because it is not unified in a plausible manner. Those looking for a more readable or easier introduction to king Arthur would be better served by the works by Roger Lancelyn Green or Howard Pyle. <p> This collection is primarily of historical value, in giving a true picture of the original legends as they have been transmitted across hundreds of years. Even if it is not always easy to read, it cannot be denied that Knowles has produced a very comprehensive collection of the Arthurian tales, and the unbelievable exploits of knights in shining armour will continue to entertain in the future just as they have done in the past. Along with the tales of Robin Hood, the tales of King Arthur are the most exciting tales that British history has produced. <p> This is the stuff of legend, and it is worth a read.
The Tales of Mother Goose - The Original Classic Edition
This fantastic book contains the original tales from 1696 of Cinderella (or the Little Glass Slipper), The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, Little Thumb, The Master Cat (or Puss in Boots), Riquet of the Tuft, Blue Beard, The Fairy and Little Red Riding-hood. <p> What virtues do these stories possess that have kept them alive for so long a time? They have to some degree stimulated and nourished qualities of supreme worth in individual and social life. <p> This is a high quality book of the original classic edition from 1696. <p> This is a freshly published edition of this culturally important work, which is now, at last, again available to you. <p> Enjoy this classic work. These few paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside: <p> Some said that it was an old haunted castle, others that all the witches of the country held their midnight revels there, but the common opinion was that it was an ogres dwelling, and that he carried to it all the little children he could catch, so as to eat them up at his leisure, without [Pg 20]any one being able to follow him, for he alone had the power to make his way through the wood. <p> …The King, his father, who was a good man, believed him; but his mother could not be persuaded that it was true; and seeing that he went almost every day a-hunting, and that he always had some excuse ready for so doing, though he had been out three or four nights together, she began to suspect that he was married; for he lived thus with the Princess above two whole years, during which they had two children, the elder, a daughter, was named Dawn, and the younger, a son, they called Day, because he was a great deal handsomer than his sister. <p> …The Ogress knew the voice of the Queen and her children at once, and being furious at having been thus deceived, she gave orders (in a most horrible voice which made everybody tremble) that, next morning by break of day, they should bring into the middle of the great court a large tub filled with toads, vipers, snakes, and all sorts of serpents, in order to have the Queen and her children, the chief cook, his wife and maid, thrown into it, all of whom were to be brought thither with their hands tied behind them. <p> …You see plainly that we no longer can give our children food, and I cannot bear to see them die of hunger before my eyes; I am resolved to lose them in the wood to-morrow, which may very easily be done, for, while they amuse themselves in tying up fagots, we have only to run away and leave them without their seeing us. <p> …Little Thumb, who had observed that the Ogres daughters had crowns of gold upon their heads, and was afraid lest the Ogre should repent his not killing them that evening, got up about midnight, and, taking his brothers bonnets and his own, went very softly and put them upon the heads of the seven little Ogresses, after having taken off their crowns of gold, which he put upon his own head and his brothers, so that the Ogre might take them for his daughters, and his daughters for the little boys whom he wanted to kill.
Carmilla - The Original Classic Edition
J. Sheridan LeFanus Carmilla stands as one of the richest, most literate and most enduring stories in the history of the vampire sub-genre. Many rate it higher than Bram Stokers Dracula, and while that estimation is at least debatable, there is no debate that Carmilla has exerted a mighty influence, consciously or not, on most vampire fiction to follow in its wake, Dracula not excepted. Indeed, Stokers original early chapter in his masterpiece, later published independently as Draculas Guest, is particularly indebted to LeFanus earlier work. As to which is better, let each reader decide for himself–and so enjoy them both! <p> The story is deceptively simple. A young girl, shaken up in a carriage accident, is left by her traveling mother in the care of the narrators father. Laura, the young woman in whose voice we are told the tale, becomes fast friends with her new acquaintance, a friendship that is put to a powerful test when a strange malady begins infesting the idyllic Styrian countryside with nightmares, fever, and death. <p> LeFanus style is unhurried, intelligent, and subtle, and the result is an eminently readable tale of mystery and the macabre that holds up remarkably well to repeated perusals. Though not as famous as Dracula, and certainly written on a much smaller scale than Stokers epic vampire opus, Carmilla is the more sustained and concentrated of the two. Many have traditionally argued that the novella, or short novel, is the ideal vehicle for a horror story, allowing for plenty of characterization and plot development without pushing the story itself beyond its dramtic limits. This reviewer tends to agree, and asserts that whereas Dracula, masterwork that it is, often flags and succumbs to the doldrums, Carmilla never wavers and holds interest to the bittersweet end. <p> Originally published in 1871, Carmilla was quite sensational in its day, but I know many will not judge it to have aged well. A far cry from many modern vampire tales, Carmilla is probably not for everyone, or even every vampire fan. The deliberate pace, old-world feel, delicate characterization, subtlety, and relative brevity of the story may be turn-offs to those who expect page after page of gory action and explicit sex from their horror. Be that as it may, discerning readers will find few indulgences better than LeFanus Carmilla, a gothic triumph which will endure as long as vampire tales are read.
Human Bondage - The Original Classic Edition
What Buddhist burst of contemplation led to this great novel written by that technician, W Somerset Maugham? Of all the great books of the 20th century, which one could compare with its raw nerve and sinew? Here are no word games, no playing with the chronology, no obfuscation. With the limpid prose that had become his trademark, Maugham took us by the most direct route into his own private inferno. <p> What in his hero Philip Carey was a clubfoot was for Maugham a painful stammer. What was Careys public school at Tercanbury was Maughams Canterbury. And, what is most interesting, what were Careys tortured amours with the opposite sex were Maughams tortured amours with the same sex. Yet with all the translation going on, the intensity of the feelings was transferred intact. The pain of Philips on-again off-again relationship with Mildred has few equals in the literature of self-torture and self-delusion, ranking with Swanns pursuit of Odette de Crecy. <p> OF HUMAN BONDAGE is a big book. There are hundreds of characters; and many of the lesser characters are memorable. The ineffectual dilettante Hayward, the skeptical poet Cronshaw, the icily bland Mildred, the despairing artist Fanny Price, the treacherous Griffiths – even the walk-on role of grumpy old Dr. South comes alive in the last few pages of the novel. <p> The settings are equally diffuse: London, the English countryside, Heidelberg, Paris, a Channel fishing village, and – an amusing canard – Toledo in Spain. (Carey is always dreaming of going there, but he never does.) <p> When one is young, life looks like a triumphant progress through love, fame, and wealth. There appears, however, to be an inherent weakness in the organism; and it tends to go astray more than it does forward. We give ourselves to uncaring people; we constantly meet with reverses; we see our childhood dreams trampled by money-grubbing and the quiet desperation of which Thoreau wrote. <p> And yet there is a spring that runs through us all. Even when it is dammed up, as Philip Careys so often is, it can break out and rush forward, carrying everything in its path. When it happens deus-ex-machina style in BONDAGE, we are exhilarated (if not convinced). Maugham lets us down easily. He is too great and generous a writer to leave us in despair. <p> Maughams own story turned out well: he died rich, at an advanced age, and full of honors. His books are still in print and read by millions. What is more, Maugham, particularly in OF HUMAN BONDAGE, showed us what lay beneath the unperturbable veneer: We saw the skull beneath the skin.