Shortly before his death at the age of twenty, the young literary sensation Raymond Radiguet compiled a volume of his poetry, composed between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Presented here, this prodigious oeuvre is notable as much for its homage to classical style as it is for its risqué and even licentious undertones: it is, by Radiguet's own admission, an interpretation of ''the birth of Venus'', a depiction of the awakening of the senses. Based on the authoritative 1925 text, this dual-language edition also contains Radiguet's foreword to the collection, providing an invaluable insight into the history and interpretation of the works.

Cheeks on Fire

Literature & Fiction

Radiguet, Raymond

Poetry

Alma Classics

In the title piece of this collection a party of guests wonder at the great comet which has appeared in the sky, and give their predictions of what this ill omen portends for the Earth. Mixing elements of the Gothic with fantasy, this piece marks the dawn of Russian science fiction, and constitutes a prime example of the creativity and imagination of Odoevsky's storytelling. Including the much-loved children's story 'The Little Town in the Snuffbox', the mysteries 'Imbroglio' and 'The Black Glove', and the artistic portrait 'Beethoven's Last Quartet', this volume of Odoevsky's short stories represents some of the finest of early-nineteenth-century Russian short fiction.

Two Days in the Life of the Terrestrial Globe and Other Stories

Odoevsky, Vladimir

Classics

The Blind Owl and Other Stories

Sadegh Hedayat

Genre Fiction

The adventures of Mowgli, the young man raised by wolves in the jungles of Central India, and his friends Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther and Kaa the python, as they face the arch villain Shere Khan the tiger, have become so popular that they have achieved an almost mythical status throughout the world. They were collected by Kipling in The Jungle Book and its sequel, The Second Jungle Book, which also contain other stories set in India which prominently feature animals, such as the well-known 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi', which describes the struggles of a mongoose against venomous cobras. Here presented with brand-new illustrations by Ian Beck, these hugely popular tales, inspired by ancient fables and Kipling's own experiences in India, form a vivid account of the relationship between humans and nature, and will continue to inspire readers young and old. Originally told by Rudyard Kipling to his children at bedtime, The Just-So Stories, a compendium of witty tales imagines how animals came to be as they are now. Discover how the massive whale got a tiny throat by swallowing a mariner, how the lazy camel got a hump so that he had no excuse not to work, and why the leopard's spots were painted on.Kipling's imagination runs wild as he creates charming origin stories that still enchant and delight children to this day. This edition featuresKipling's iconic original illustrations. Kimball O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier, spends his childhood on the bustling streets of Lahore, begging and running errands in order to survive. One day he meets an old Tibetan lama, and he decides to accompany him on his travels across the Indian subcontinent. After falling into the hands of his father's old regiment, however, Kim is separated from the lama and sent away to school. There, his natural flair for espionage is spotted, and he is soon catapulted among the majestic peaks of the Himalayas to play his part in the secret service's confrontation with Russia, the so-called "Great Game". With its peerless evocation of the teeming cities, breathtaking landscapes and diverse cultures of late-nineteenth-century India, Kim is widely considered to be Kipling's masterpiece and one of the greatest novels written in the English language.

Illustrated Kipling Classics

Children's Books

Kipling., Rudyard

Animals

Following a disjointed, vision-like structure, The Blind Owl is the nightmarish exploration of the psyche of a madman. The narrator is an ailing, solitary misanthrope who suffers from hallucinations, and his dreamlike tale is layered, circular, driven by its own demented logic, and punctuated with macabre and surreal episodes such as the discovery of a mutilated corpse, and a bizarre competition in which two men are locked in a dungeon-like room with a cobra. Initially banned in the author's native Iran, the novel first appeared in Tehran in 1941 and became a bestseller. Full of powerful symbolism and terrifying imagery, this dark novella is Hedayat's masterpiece.

The Blind Owl

Hedayat, Sadeq

World Literature

A secret terrorist group infiltrates the household of a government official's son, with a view to spying on the father and, ultimately, assassinating him. But the young man entrusted with the task – an ailing, world-weary “nobody” – seized with the purposelessness of life and a sense of his own impending death, gradually becomes disillusioned with his mission, and decides to embark on a new path which will lead him to tragedy.Combining psychological detail with a strong sense of place and time, The Story of a Nobody bears all the hallmarks of Chekhov's genius, and perfectly captures the political and social tensions of its day.

The Story of a Nobody

Chekhov,Anton

Literary

Alexander Pope was, at one time, the world's most celebrated poet. His trenchant satirical works – in which the foibles of all the critics, hacks and bad poets of his day are exploded – and his masterful heroi-comic poem The Rape of the Lock continue to inspire generations of writers and readers to this day. Alongside his more prominent poetical production, Pope engaged with some of the sharpest wits of his era – including Jonathan Swift and John Gay, the author of The Beggar's Opera – in writing a number of satirical prose works, of which Scriblerus is perhaps the greatest achievement.
As he prepares to become a father for the first time, the scholar Cornelius is determined to settle on nothing less than a child of the “learned sex” – a boy – and give him the most thorough education so that he can become the greatest critic who ever lived. An account of the birth, the infancy, the schooling, the diet-planning, the unconventional love affairs and the attainments of this child prodigy, The Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus is surely the funniest imaginary biography ever written.

Scriblerus

Pope, Alexander

Humor & Satire

Guignol's Band

Céline, Louis-Ferdinand

Fitzgerald's second novel, based on his relationship with Zelda, explores New York café society "The idea that to make a man work you’ve got to hold gold in front of his eyes is a growth, not an axiom. We’ve done that for so long that we've forgotten there's any other way." The heir to his grandfather's considerable fortune, Anthony Patch is led astray from the path to gainful employment by the temptations and distractions of the 1920s Jazz Age. His descent into dissolution and profligacy is accelerated by his marriage to the attractive but turbulent Gloria, and the couple soon discover the dangerous flip side of a life of glamour and debauchery. Containing obvious parallels with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's own lives, the novel is a tragic examination of the pitfalls of greed and materialism and the transience of youth and beauty.

The Beautiful and Damned (Evergreens)

Fitzgerald,F.Scott

United States

Winesburg, Ohio

Portraying the characters and events of a small Midwestern town at the end of the nineteenth century, Winesburg, Ohio is a cycle of stories which reads like an episodic novel. Centring on George Willard, a young local reporter with big-city aspirations, and his interactions with fellow inhabitants, the book gives voice to a disparate cast of figures and lays bare the constraints and struggles of life in a small community. A landmark work of American naturalism and a priceless chronicle of rural life, Winesburg, Ohio has been compared to the writings of Turgenev, Chekhov, Dreiser and Twain, and hugely influenced authors such as Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner.

ANDERSON, SHERWOOD

Short Stories & Anthologies

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