Other books that might interest you

• 

  His Last Bow

  Arthur Conan Doyle

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In His Last Bow, Conan Doyle's notorious literary detective reminisces on his life as an investigator with the help of his trusty companion Dr John Watson. This collection features 8 classic mysteries such as 'The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge' and 'The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans', as well as the title story, a gripping spy thriller and epilogue on the wartime service of Sherlock Holmes. 
  This collection of stories, published together for the first time in 1917, is an essential addition for collectors and fans of the escapades of Holmes and Watson, known and loved the world over.

  Show book

• 

  Lover's Complaint & The Phoenix...

  William Shakespeare

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. 
  ‘In thee hath neither sting, knot, nor confine, For thou art all, and all things else are thine.’ 
  Two of Shakespeare’s most revered and elegiac poems. 
  In The Phoenix and the Turtle, the mythical phoenix consumes itself in fire, from the ashes of which another phoenix is born. In Shakespeare's poem, the phoenix is female and the turtle (that is, a turtledove) is male. 
  In A Lover’s Complaint, originally published with the sonnets, a young woman is overheard lamenting her betrayal by a heartless seducer. 
  All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations. 
  Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production. 
  The full cast includes: Joan Hart and William Squire. 
  This top-notch production, short in length but rich in content, brings the best of European theatre to the comfort of your home. The performing prowess of the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players is evident, making each verse resonate with emotion. 
  For fans of Richard Parsons (GCSE English Shakespeare Text Guide), and Arthur Miller (Incident at Vichy).

  Show book

• 

  The Divine Comedy

  Alighieri Dante

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia) is a long Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered to be the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.The narrative takes as its literal subject the state of souls after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward, and describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, while allegorically the poem represents the soul's journey towards God, beginning with the recognition and rejection of sin (Inferno), followed by the penitent Christian life (Purgatorio), which is then followed by the soul's ascent to God (Paradiso). Dante draws on medieval Roman Catholic theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy derived from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse". In Dante's work, the pilgrim Dante is accompanied by three guides: Virgil (who represents human reason), Beatrice (who represents divine revelation, theology, faith, and grace), and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (who represents contemplative mysticism and devotion to Mary). Erich Auerbach said Dante was the first writer to depict human beings as the products of a specific time, place and circumstance as opposed to mythic archetypes or a collection of vices and virtues; this along with the fully imagined world of The Divine Comedy, different from our own but fully visualized, suggests that the Divine Comedy could be said to have inaugurated modern fiction.

  Show book

• 

  Mansfield Park

  Jane Austen

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  We have all been more or less to blame ... every one of us, excepting Fanny' Taken from the poverty of her parents' home, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with only her cousin Edmund as an ally. When Fanny's uncle is absent in Antigua, Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them London glamour and a reckless taste for flirtation. As her female cousins vie for Henry's attention, and even Edmund falls for Mary's dazzling charms, only Fanny remains doubtful about the Crawfords' influence and finds herself more isolated than ever. A subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, Mansfield Park is one of Jane Austen's most profound works

  Show book

• 

  Home Again

  George MacDonald

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A son’s spiritual journey reunites him with his father in this novel of redemption from the 19th-century Scottish author of The Elect Lady. One of MacDonald’s smaller novels in length, and neither so ambitious of scope or depth, Home Again from 1887 is loosely based on the prodigal son parable. It is the oft-told tale of an ambitious young man who thinks too highly of himself, falls under the spell of a duplicitous young woman, and must find his way “home.” Though less complex than MacDonald’s lengthier novels, everything he wrote radiated light. Even in its simplicity, this story of a young poet and his return to his father and his roots has many touching moments, with MacDonald’s wisdom woven throughout the characters and relationships.

  Show book

• 

  The Avignon Quintet - Monsieur...

  Lawrence Durrell

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

   From the visionary author of the Alexandria Quartet comes a landmark five-part series hailed by the Sunday Times as “one of the great novels of our time.” One of the most celebrated English writers ever, Lawrence Durrell was a bestselling author whose vivid metafictions pushed the boundaries of modern literature. The cosmopolitan provocateur transcended borders, ideologies, and time in his work, and he’s at the height of his powers in the Avignon Quintet.   More formally daring than the Alexandria Quartet, these sweeping and stylish novels set before, during, and after World War II loosely center on the race to uncover a treasure buried by the Knights Templar. Each reveals a seemingly disparate piece of the puzzle. In Monsieur, it’s the bittersweet return to southern France by a British doctor; in Livia, it’s two sisters driven apart by the rise of Nazism in Europe. In Constance, a Freudian analyst struggles for clarity in a world on fire; in Sebastian, she reconnects with the charismatic cult leader she knew in the deserts of Egypt. And in Quinx, long-buried plots reemerge as the past and future are funneled into the present.   Durrell himself described the Avignon Quintet as a “quincunx,” a series of novels “roped together like climbers on a rockface, but all independent.” Together they form a powerful meditation on the search for meaning in a world of chaos and brutality.  

  Show book