Зарубежная классика
Различные книги в жанре Зарубежная классикаThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
A forerunner of psychological fiction, and considered a landmark work for its innovative use of narrative devices, Tristram Shandy was both celebrated and vilified when first published in 1759. While the narrative's endless digressions drew criticism, the novel's bawdy humor made it a cause for celebration in eighteenth-century London. Originally released in nine separate volumes, it is literature's famed «cock and bull» story, reveling in parody and satire.Laurence Sterne's topsy-turvy masterpiece is, in effect, a novel about writing a novel—producing a fictional world that is as strange and wonderful as the process of its creation. Impulsive, addictive, and absurd, it begins at the moment of Tristram Shandy's conception and shifts relentlessly into a hilarious series of disconnected episodes starring the hero's family, friends, and neighbors. The memorable cast of characters wanders in and out of the playful web of Sterne's deliberately visual text treatment, which includes endless dashes and asterisks, one-sentence chapters, unusual graphic renderings, and blank pages that invite the reader to interact with the book. Impossible to categorize—and absorbing and surprising even today—Tristram Shandy is a rare celebration of the art of fiction. It remains a beguiling milestone in the history of literature.
Lilacs and Other Stories
Before she wrote The Awakening — a powerful novel that has illuminated generations of readers with its strikingly honest and controversial themes of female sexuality and miscegenation–Kate Chopin penned many well-received short stories of Creole and Acadian life. Infused with «local color,» these tales are filled with fascinating characters, idiosyncratic customs, and sometimes shocking details.Reflecting the influences of the French writers Guy de Maupassant and George Sand, «Lilacs» is a heartfelt and simple tale of love, life, and devotion. The compelling work is accompanied by 23 other distinctive tales of southern life, among them «A No-Account Creole» and «Love on the Bon-Dieu,» from Bayou Folk, and «A Matter of Prejudice,» «The Lilies,» and «Dead Men's Shoes» from A Night in Acadie.
Macbeth Thrift Study Edition
Ambition overpowers loyalty in this drama of a Scottish noble's rise to power. Goaded by his scheming wife, Macbeth realizes too late that «blood will have blood,» as each monstrous crime demands the reinforcement of another, sending him further and further down the path to his own destruction. Shakespeare's drama of treason and doom features a fast-paced plot, tumultuous action, and a cast of compelling characters, including a trio of fortune-telling witches. A definitive survey, this Dover Thrift Study Edition offers the drama's complete and unabridged text, plus a comprehensive study guide. Created to help readers gain a thorough understanding of Macbeth's content and context, the guide includes: • Scene-by-scene summaries• Explanations and discussions of the plot• Question-and-answer sections• Shakespeare biography• List of characters and more Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
The Mabinogion
Composed in a golden age of Celtic storytelling in the thirteenth century or earlier, this collection of 12 Welsh prose tales is a masterpiece of European literature. Though written down in the Middle Ages, these stories are thought by scholars to be probably much older, perhaps going back to the dawn of Celtic civilization.They fall naturally into several groups: the Mabinogion (stories) proper, composed of the four tales of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawyddan, and Math; the two short pieces The Dream of Maxen Wledig and Lludd and Llevelys; the incomparable Kilhwch and Olwen, one of the earliest Arthurian tales in Welsh; The Dream of Rhonabwy, a romantic look back to the heroic age of Britain; and the three Arthurian romances proper: The Lady of the Fountain, Peredur the Son of Evrawc, and Geraint the Son of Erbin, with their abundant evidence of Norman-French influences. Also included is Lady Guest's translation of Taliesin, the story of the famous bard. Destiny, magic, chance, knightly feats of arms, love, and betrayal — all are here in these ancient, beautifully crafted stories, sure to delight scholars, students, general readers, and any lover of myth and legend.
King Lear Thrift Study Edition
Includes the unabridged text of Shakespeare's classic play plus a complete study guide that helps readers gain a thorough understanding of the work's content and context. The comprehensive guide includes scene-by-scene summaries, explanations and discussions of the plot, question-and-answer sections, author biography, analytical paper topics, list of characters, bibliography, and more.
Lady Chatterley's Lover
One of the major works of fiction written during the twentieth century, D. H. Lawrence's last novel is an erotic celebration of life. Described by <I>The</I> <I>New York Times</I> as «our time's most significant romance,» the controversial book was banned, burned, and the subject of a landmark obscenity trial. Printed privately in Florence in 1928, it was not published in Great Britain until 1960, after having long scandalized society with its sexually explicit descriptions of lovemaking, its bold use of four-letter words that were considered vulgar, and a storyline in which the lovers were of different social stations.<BR>Lawrence's classic tale of love and discovery pits the paralyzed and callous Clifford Chatterley against two major characters: Constance, his wife — a lonely, indecisive woman trapped in a sterile marriage — and her persuasive lover, Oliver Mellors, the robust and blunt-spoken gamekeeper of her husband's estate. The lyrical tale of their passionate, adulterous love affair has transported generations of readers into a world filled with natural beauty and seething with human emotion. A masterfully written opus, this extraordinary love story is essential reading for any study of twentieth-century literature.
Jane Eyre
Determined to make her heroine «as poor and plain as myself,» Charlotte Brontë made a daring choice for her 1847 novel. Jane Eyre possesses neither the great beauty nor entrancing charm that her fictional predecessors used to make their way in the world. Instead, Jane relies upon her powers of diligence and perception, conducting herself with dignity animated by passion.The instant and lasting success of Jane Eyre proved Brontë's instincts correct. Readers of her era and ever after have taken the impoverished orphan girl into their hearts, following her from the custody of cruel relatives to a dangerously oppressive boarding school and onward through a troubled career as a governess. Jane's first assignment at Thorn field, where the proud and cynical master of the house harbors a scandalous secret, draws readers ever deeper into a compelling exploration of the mysteries of the human heart.A banquet of food for thought, this many-faceted tale invites a splendid variety of interpretations. The heroine's insistence upon emotional equality with her lover suggests a feminist viewpoint, while her solitary status invokes a consideration of the problems of growing up as a social outsider. Some regard Jane's attempts to reconcile her need for love with her search for moral rectitude as the story's primary message, and lovers of gothic romance find the tale's social and religious aspects secondary to its gripping elements of mystery and horror. This classic of English literature truly features something for every reader.
Madame Bovary
At convent school, a girl acquires romantic notions of a lover who will live for her alone. She marries a kind but dull country doctor and discovers that «This life of hers was as cold as an attic that looks north; and boredom, quiet as the spider, was spinning its web in the shadowy places of her heart.» Emma Bovary's quest for escape from the emptiness of her bourgeois existence leads to infidelity and financial extravagance, and Gustave Flaubert's powerful and deeply moving examination of her moral degeneration is universally regarded as a landmark of nineteenth-century fiction.<BR>Flaubert was brought to trial by the French government on the grounds of this novel's alleged immorality but narrowly escaped conviction. <I>Madame Bovary</I> remains a touchstone for literary discussions of provincial life and adultery as well as a summit of prose art, a pioneering work of realism that forever changed the way novels are written. This complete and unabridged edition features the classic translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling.
Ivanhoe
"Take heed to yourself for the Devil is unchained!" the King of France warns his treacherous co-conspirator, Prince John of England. The «Devil» is none other than Richard the Lion-Hearted, headed home from the Third Crusade to reclaim his throne. Amid the heat of a tournament, King Richard comes to the aid of another Crusader who has returned in disguise. Wilfred of Ivanhoe also seeks to recover a lost heritage — and the hand of Lady Rowena, «a rose of loveliness, and a jewel of wealth; the fairest among a thousand.»Sir Walter Scott's historical romance was published in 1819 and has reigned supreme ever since as the epitome of chivalric novels. Set at the close of the 12th century, it unfolds in a kingdom torn asunder by the hatred between Saxons and Normans. Cedric the Saxon, a powerful lord attempting to restore the Saxon nobility, disinherits Ivanhoe because of his son's fealty to the Norman king. Prince John, assisted by the scheming knights of the Templar Order, clings to the crown by having his brother imprisoned. The dispossessed heroes, Ivanhoe and King Richard, face an uphill battle against firmly entrenched adversaries. The success of their fight rests upon the support of an unlikely crew of outsiders: Rebecca, a Jew accused of sorcery for her skill in the healing arts; Gurth, a swineherd slave; Wamba, a wise fool; and England's most famous outlaw, the legendary Robin Hood.Ivanhoe crackles with adventure, from a hostage drama inside a besieged castle to a trial by combat to determine the fate of an innocent maiden. A master storyteller's greatest tale, it brings the Middle Ages to life.
Joseph Andrews
Joseph Andrews refuses Lady Booby's advances, she discharges him, and Joseph — in the company of his old tutor, Parson Adams (one of the great comic figures of literature) — sets out from London to visit his sweetheart, Fanny. Along the way, the two travelers meet with a series of adventures — some hilarious, some heartstopping — in which through their own innocence and honesty they expose the hypocrisy and affectation of others. Joseph Andrews started out as a parody of Richardson's Pamela, but soon left that purpose behind and now is regarded as the first English realistic novel.