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  The Moon And Sixpence

  Somerset Maugham

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  "The Moon and Sixpence" is a captivating novel by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1919. Loosely inspired by the life of the renowned French artist Paul Gauguin, the story delves into the life of Charles Strickland, a middle-aged Englishman leading a seemingly ordinary life as a stockbroker in London. However, Strickland's life takes a drastic turn when he abruptly abandons his family and career to pursue his burning passion for art in the bohemian world of early 20th-century Paris. 
   
  As Strickland immerses himself in the world of painting, he undergoes a profound transformation, shedding his societal constraints and embracing an unconventional and often controversial lifestyle. His single-minded devotion to his art takes him to far-flung places, including the South Pacific, where he seeks inspiration amidst primitive cultures. Through Strickland's relentless pursuit of artistic expression, Maugham explores themes of artistic genius, the clash between societal norms and individual desires, and the sacrifices an artist may make in the name of their craft. 
   
  "The Moon and Sixpence" is a thought-provoking exploration of the tension between conformity and the pursuit of one's true calling. Maugham's narrative skillfully captures Strickland's enigmatic character and the turbulent emotions that drive him. The novel challenges readers to contemplate the price of artistic freedom and the complexities of the human spirit in the face of unconventional choices, making it a timeless work that continues to resonate with those who seek to understand the nature of artistic genius and the sacrifices it may entail.

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  Songs of Enchantment - A Novel

  Ben Okri

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  Set in an African village, this follow-up to the Man Booker Prize–winning novel is “sometimes whimsical, sometimes bawdy . . . Fraught with wild visions” (The Times).   “All is not well in the African village where Azaro lives. The child narrator of poet and novelist Okri’s The Famished Road, who had outwitted death in the previous book, again relates the oppressive events that continue to plague his village and his family. While political factionalization shatters the community's cohesiveness, the prodigious bar owner Madame Koto, chief exponent of the ‘Party of the Rich,’ alternately exudes portentous metaphysical malaise and miraculous erotic force. Little Azaro, himself touched and distracted by a series of animuses, follows the heels of ‘dad,’ who is a resounding vessel, by turns, of cantankerous egotism and abased self-sacrifice. This Nigerian epic reveals a violent provincial world, opaque with magical spirits which place horrendous ethical demands on fragile and fickle humanity, as if to test each individual for a thread of virtuous constancy at the core. Events drench the essentially linear narrative with all the ruthless sensuousness of a tropical storm, and Okri’s prose is lucid and deft.” —Publishers Weekly   “Okri conjures up the fabulous with the same ease as he affectingly details the ways of the human spirit in a lovingly evoked African setting teeming with life—both real and mythic . . . Stunning.” —Kirkus Reviews   “Once again we’re bedazzled and bedeviled by Okri’s phantasmagoric prose and the strange and wondrous sensibility of Azaro, a spirit-child living in a poor African village.” —Booklist   “Both a love story and an account of the political turmoil between the parties of Rich and Poor.” —The Independent   “Passages of extraordinary beauty . . . Okri paints a convincing surrealist picture.” —The Sunday Times

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  Pains of Marriage The (Unabridged)

  H. G. Wells

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  Herbert George "H. G." Wells (1866 - 1946) was an English writer.He was prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, social commentary, and textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a "father of science fiction"THE PAINS OF MARRIAGE: My uncle came to a stop outside a stationer's shop in Oxford-street. When I saw what had caught his attention I reproached myself for my thoughtlessness.

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  The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll...

  Robert Louis Stevenson

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  This recording is presented by AudioWhale Classics and has been digitally produced, by DeepZen Limited, using a synthesized version of an audiobook narrator’s voice under license. DeepZen uses Emotive Speech Technology to create digital narrations that offer a similar listening experience to human narration.Idealistic young scientist Henry Jekyll struggles to unlock the secrets of the soul. Testing chemicals in his lab, he drinks a mixture he hopes will isolate—and eliminate—human evil. Instead it unleashes the dark forces within him, transforming him into the hideous and murderous Mr. Hyde.The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dramatically brings to life a science-fiction case study of the nature of good and evil and the duality that can exist within one person. Resonant with psychological perception and ethical insight, the work has literary roots in Dostoevsky's "The Double" and Crime and Punishment. Today Stevenson's novella is recognized as an incisive study of Victorian morality and sexual repression, as well as a great thriller.

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  Cleopatra

  Jacob Abbott

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  Cleopatra is probably one of the most well-known women in history, right alongside Joan of Arc and many other prominent ladies who have changed the face of history as we know it. The lesser known details of her reign, as well as her methods of seduction, philosophies and involvement in world politics, however, are seldom discussed at length. Jacob Abbott's Cleopatra is probably one of the few books that truly discusses these matters in great detail, and it is still considered accurate and well-written, despite being just about two centuries old. Cleopatra is the story of the great ruler of Egypt, who has oftentimes instilled inspiration, respect and even fear in the hearts of her political opponents. Considered by many to be a brilliant strategist, an unscrupulous ruler, a philosopher queen, and a woman who wasn't afraid to use her unique qualities and talents to seduce her male opponents, Cleopatra's life was complex and intricate, while still many of the facts associated with her political moves and their true extent are not fully understood.

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  Gulliver's Travels

  Jonathan Swift

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  Shipwrecked and cast adrift, Lemuel Gulliver wakes to find himself on Lilliput, an island inhabited by little people, whose height makes their quarrels over fashion and fame seem ridiculous. His subsequent encounters - with the crude giants of Brobdingnag, the philosophical Houyhnhnm and the brutish Yahoos - give Gulliver new, bitter insights into human behavior. Swift's savage satire view mankind in a distorted hall of mirrors as a diminished, magnified and finally bestial species, presenting us with an uncompromising reflection of ourselves. 
   It is widely considered Swift's magnum opus and is his most celebrated work, as well as one of the indisputable classics of English literature

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