Зарубежная классика
Различные книги в жанре Зарубежная классикаClassic Ghost Stories by Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, Charles Dickens and Others
Assembled from the works of the finest masters of the genre, these compelling narratives promise to raise gooseflesh and accelerate pulses with their supernatural scenarios.Featured stories include J. S. LeFanu's «An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street,» with a mysterious old mansion as the focal point; Mary E. Wilkins' «The Lost Ghost,» in which a strange child's disturbing presence instills fear and foreboding in all those she encounters; Robert Louis Stevenson's «The Body-Snatchers»; «Mrs. Zant and the Ghost,» by Wilkie Collins; and other gripping works by Charles Dickens, Henry James, Ralph Cram, Mrs. Henry Wood, Amelia B. Edwards, Fitz-James O'Brien, and M. R. James.Rich in detail and ghoulish incidents, this modestly priced collection will thrill readers who appreciate tales of terror as well as devotees of well-crafted literature.
The Country of the Pointed Firs
In scene after memorable scene of Sarah Orne Jewett's fictional masterpiece, The Country of Pointed Firs, the Maine-born author recorded what she felt were the rapidly disappearing traditions, manners, and dialect of Maine coast natives at the turn of the twentieth century. In luminous evocations of their lives — a happy family reunion, an old seaman's ghostly vision, a disappointed lover's self-imposed exile, and more — Jewett created startlingly real portraits of individual New Englanders and a warm, humorous, and compassionate vision of the New England character.No less a writer than Willa Cather ranked The Country of the Pointed Firs — with Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — as one of the three American works most likely to achieve permanent recognition. Long overlooked, Sarah Orne Jewett is today widely acknowledged as an American master and The Country of the Pointed Firs as a landmark in the defining of American character and the American experience.
Candide
Evergreen in its appeal, <I>Candide</I> makes us laugh at human folly and marvel at our reluctance to face reality and the truth. Voltaire's brilliant satire, first published in Paris in 1759, is relentless and unsparing. Virtue and vice, religion and romance, philosophy and science — all are fair game. <BR>Through the adventures of young Candide, his love Cunégonde, and his mentor Dr. Pangloss, we experience life's most crushing misfortunes. And we see the redeeming wisdom those misfortunes can bring — all the while enjoying Voltaire's witty burlesque of human excess. <BR>In this unique volume, readers who wish to follow every nuance of Voltaire's classic tale in the original French can do so with the aid of a new and exacting English translation on facing pages. Shane Weller's critical introduction illuminates the satire of <I>Candide</I> and the reasons for its enduring appeal.
The Castle of Otranto
In a faraway medieval realm, Manfred, an arrogant and evil prince, rules with an iron fist. Banishing his wife to the castle dungeon, he confines — and plans to wed — the lovely Isabella, fiancée of his recently deceased son. The prince's plans are foiled, however, when a well-meaning peasant helps the young woman escape through the castle's underground passages. Grisly, supernatural events further aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the prince and justice for Isabella's rescuer and rightful heir to the throne.One of the first and greatest of Gothic novels, this thrilling tale ranks among the most influential books in literary history. Serving as the model for plots, characterizations, settings, and tone for hundreds of successors, The Castle of Otranto abounds with colorful scenes, adventure, suspense, and inexplicable phenomena.
Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology
First published in 1855, Bulfinch's Mythology has introduced generations of readers to the great myths of Greece and Rome, as well as time-honored legends of Norse mythology, medieval, and chivalric tales, Oriental fables, and more. Readers have long admired Bulfinch's versions for the skill with which he wove various versions of a tale into a coherent whole, the vigor of his storytelling, and his abundant cross-references to poetry and painting, demonstrating the relationship of literature and art. Now The Age of Fable, the first section of the Mythology, is available in this inexpensive, highly readable edition. Drawing on the works of Homer, Ovid, Virgil, and other classical authors, as well as an immense trove of stories about the Norse gods and heroes, The Age of Fable offers lively retellings of the myths of the Greek and Roman gods: Venus and Adonis, Jupiter and Juno, Daphne and Apollo, and many others. The myths and legends so vividly retold in this volume underlie much of the art, literature, and culture of Western civilization. As Bulfinch put it, «Without a knowledge of mythology, much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated.» With this inexpensive edition of The Age of Fable, readers can immerse themselves in these seminal myths, increasing their appreciation and understanding of Western culture, while enjoying the myths purely as the great stories they are.
Babbitt
Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish: good health, a fine family, and a profitable business in a booming Midwestern city. But the middle-aged real estate agent is shaken from his self-satisfaction by a growing restlessness with the limitations of his life. When a personal crisis forces a reexamination of his values, Babbitt mounts a rebellion against social expectations — jeopardizing his reputation and business standing as well as his marriage.Widely considered Sinclair Lewis's greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for middle-class complacency, and the strictures of his existence revealed the emptiness of the mainstream vision of success. His story reflects the nature of a conformist society, in which the pressures of maintaining propriety can ultimately cause individuals to lose their place in the world.Babbitt ranks among the important 20th-century works addressing the struggles of people caught in the machinery of modern life, and it remains ever-relevant as a cautionary tale against clinging to conventional values.
The Body Snatcher and Other Tales
Renowned as the author of such popular adventure stories as Kidnapped and Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote gripping tales of terror and the supernatural. Stevenson's considerable gifts as a teller of tales shine brightly in this choice collection of three of his best short stories. The Gothic tale of «The Body Snatcher» concerns a young medical student's dealings with grave robbers who provide corpses to dissect and study — a practice that takes on increasingly sinister dimensions. Swirling seas, dangerous reefs, and inhospitable islanders provide the grim backdrop for a tale of greed, lunacy, and unbridled fear in «The Merry Men,» the name given by the inhabitants of Aros to the fearsome breakers that pound their tiny Scottish isle. «The Bottle Imp» — an intricately told tale of love and adventure, avarice and envy, and good and evil — centers on a magical bottle that provides its owner with all he desires, but at a great cost. This exceptional collection of tales will thrill admirers of the author's craft as well as aficionados of classic horror stories.
A Bottomless Grave
Preoccupied with death, and repressed in many areas of their lives, Victorians seem to have found an emotional outlet in ghost stories, eerie tales, and a fascination with the macabre. Writers of the era fed this appetite with a continuing feast of stories steeped in terror and the supernatural. This unique collection gathers together 21 of these Victorian-era spine-tinglers, but unlike most anthologies, which feature the same tired tales, this volume contains 21 outstanding, but neglected stories from that time period. The product of painstaking research in libraries, antique bookshops, and other out-of-the-way archives, these rare gems include the title story, a black comedy by Ambrose Bierce; «The Ship that Saw a Ghost,» a tale of seafaring mystery by Frank Norris; «The Tomb,» Guy de Maupassant's grotesque account of one man's incurable longing for his deceased lover; Richard Marsh's unsettling tale of «The Haunted Chair,» and 17 more. Compelling tales by such lesser-known writers as Dorothea Gerard, J. Keighley Snowden, Robert Barr, and Georgina C. Clark round out this collection of carefully chosen, hard-to-find narratives, sure to delight the most discerning reader of Victorian tales of terror and the supernatural.
The Ambassadors
"Live all you can; it's a mistake not to," declares the primary «ambassador» of this 1903 novel, adding, «It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that, what have you had?»In this complex tale of self-discovery, Henry James invokes his favorite theme: the clash of American innocence with European experience. It traces the path of an aging idealist, Lambert Strether, who arrives in Paris intending to persuade his young charge to abandon an obsession with a French woman and return home. Once abroad, however, Strether arrives at unexpected conclusions. Henry James regarded The Ambassadors as his finest work. Astute, humorous, and intelligent, this masterpiece from the pinnacle of the author's long and brilliant career remains ever vital.
The Beast in the Jungle and Other Stories
Here are three superb stories by one of America's finest writers of fiction. Henry James is best known for his many brilliant novels, among them The Bostonians, The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, and his masterpiece, Portrait of a Lady. But he is deeply admired for his stories as well, which perhaps even more pointedly reveal the extraordinary subtleties of his art.That art is nowhere more evident than in «The Beast in the Jungle,» regarded by many as James's greatest achievement in short fiction. It is a gripping portrait of a man alienated from life and love, haunted and obsessed by his fears. James's uncanny ability to communicate the inner lives of his characters is also richly evident in «The Jolly Corner» and «The Altar of the Dead,» two superbly crafted tales that explore the complex interlacings of loss, love, and the ever-present past in the lives of their protagonists.