Классическая проза
Различные книги в жанре Классическая прозаWhat Katy Did Next
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Likened to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, What Katy Did Next is a timeless classic for both children and adults to enjoy.The story of Katy Carr, the lanky, good-hearted tomboy who learns to be gentle and patient, is continued in this third instalment of Susan Coolidge’s popular Katy series. When Mrs Ashe, a widower, discovers that her visiting nephew has scarlet fever, she sends her only daughter Amy to stay with the Carr family. Amy finds a true friend in Katy Carr, and Mrs Ashe invites Katy to join them on a trip to Europe. After some initial reluctance, she agrees.We follow Katy as she is reunited with her old friends from Hillsover, including the mischievous Rose Red Browne. Katy’s journey takes her to rainy England, where she finds out what constitutes a ‘fine day’ for the English and what a Dickens-commended muffin tastes like. The Carr family from her most popular Katy series was modelled on Coolidge’s own family, with the protagonist Katy modelled on Coolidge herself.
The Sign of the Four
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.‘I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world…’In London, 1888, the razor-sharp detective skills of Sherlock Holmes are to be put to the test. Mary Morstan reports two seemingly unconnected and inexplicable events: the disappearance of her father, a British Indian Army Captain, and the arrival of pearls by post from an unknown sender. Driven on by its complexity, Holmes and Watson slowly begin to unravel an intricate web of exotic treasure, secret pacts and mysterious deaths.One of only four novels featuring Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Watson, ‘The Sign of the Four’ will delight those who have been captivated by Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories.
The Mystery of the Blue Train
The daughter of an American millionaire dies on a train en route for Nice…When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again – for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing.The prime suspect is Ruth’s estranged husband, Derek. Yet Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie re-enactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board…
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.‘There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land.’Featuring ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’, this collection of inspired essays, stories and sketches established Washington Irving’s reputation as one of America’s foremost authors. Irving’s timeless characters, including Ichabod Crane, Rip Van Winkle and the headless Hessian trooper, jostle for space alongside 31 equally atmospheric and lyrical works in this haunting anthology from one of America’s most distinctive literary voices.
The Island of Doctor Moreau
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.“That these man-like creatures were in truth only bestial monsters, mere grotesque travesties of men, filled me with a vague uncertainty of their possibilities far worse than any definite fear.”Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the South Pacific, is set ashore on an island where he meets the mysterious Doctor Moreau. Horrified by the discovery that Moreau is performing vivisection on animals to form monstrous human hybrids, Prendick flees into the jungle. But he soon realises that the island is populated with Moreau’s terrible creations, and not all are divested of their savage habits . . .H. G. Wells pioneered ideas of society, science and progress in his works, which are now considered modern classics. Written in 1896, The Island of Doctor Moreau is an imaginative exploration of the nature of cruelty and what it means to be human.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one-half his days and mad the other.’When Helen flees from her alcoholic husband in order to protect her son she defies societal convention. Earning a living as an artist, she becomes the mysterious tenant of Wildfell Hall as she hides herself away and uses her art to support her child. However, the beautiful and reclusive young woman soon begins to stir up malicious gossip and speculation. Captivated and drawn to Helen, Gilbert Markham becomes suspicious when he begins to hear these stories, however it is only when he reads Helen’s diary that he learns the full cruelty that her husband subjected her to in her previous life.Rejecting the societal norms surrounding marriage in Victorian Society, Anne Brontë’s novel, said to be based on the experiences of her own brother Branwell, shocked her readers at the time and still remains a scandalous read today.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
HarperCollins is pround to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.'My life looks as if it had been wasted for want of chances! When I see what you know, what you have read, and seen, and thought, I feel what a nothing I am!'Challenging the hypocrisy and social conventions of the rural Victorian world, Tess of the D'Urbervilles follows the story of Tess Durbeyfield as she attempts to escape the poverty of her background, seeking wealth by claiming connection with the aristocratic D'Urberville family. It is through Tess's relationships with two very different men that Hardy tells the story of his tragic heroine, and exposes the double standards of the world that she inhabits with searing pathos and heart-rending sentiment.
Billy Budd and Other Stories
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘Struck dead by an angel of God! Yet the angel must hang!’It is the end of the eighteenth century, and the navy recruits the eponymous hero – the ‘Handsome Sailor’ – to its fleet. Accused of mutinous behaviour, Billy Budd is forced to defend himself, but his fearful, silent response soon gives way to a terrible act of violence. The consequences are disastrous, and nothing can prevent the force of judgment and eventual justice upon him. Discovered among Melville’s papers after his death and published posthumously in 1924, ‘Billy Budd’ is a powerful tale of guilt and innocence, crime and punishment, and the cost of adhering to duty.From the author of ‘Moby Dick’, Melville’s allegorical tales are loaded with symbolism, and showcase his distinctive writing style and themes in shorter form.
Tales of the Jazz Age
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.In these eleven stories, Fitzgerald depicts the Roaring Twenties as he lived them. He masterfully blends accounts of flappers and the smart set with more fantastical visions of America, always imbuing his narratives with his trademark themes of money, class, ambition and love.In ‘May Day’, Fitzgerald weaves an account of a raucous Yale alumni party, the participants of which are oblivious to the violent socialist demonstration being acted out around them. ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is an unorthodox account of a man who ages backwards, and ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’ tells the story of a young man who discovers that his friend’s family possesses a diamond that is literally larger than the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.This 1922 collection confirmed Fitzgerald as the voice of his generation.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Originally published in 1903–1904, The Return of Sherlock Holmes is the thirteen-story collection of one of the greatest-ever fictional detectives. Three years after the supposed death of Sherlock Holmes and his archenemy Professor Moriarty in the torrent of Reichenbach Falls, Holmes makes a disguised reappearance to Baker Street and his good friend Dr Watson.Featuring one of Holmes’ greatest adversaries, Charles Augustus Milverton, as well as trademark astute logic, forensic science, murder, crytograms and magic, this collection retains all the hallmark brilliance of Arthur Conan Doyle’s best work.