“The Rocking Horse Winner”, one of Lawrence’s most popular short stories, is a parable about the corrupting effects of love of money. An unspoken anxiety about money permeates the home of a middle-class family whose lifestyle exceeds their income. When the very young son of the household discovers he has the gift of clairvoyance, he begins predicting the winners of the horse races. Before long, he has turned his pocket money into thousands of pounds; yet the family’s misfortunes are fated to continue. This volume also includes two more of Lawrence’s deeply insightful, atmospheric stories: “Smile”, in which a man journeys to an Italian convent where his wife has died, and experiences an unusual response to her lifeless presence; and “A Sick Collier”, which depicts the travails of a proud, injured Nottinghamshire coal miner and his new wife.

The Rocking Horse Winner

Literature & Fiction

LAWRENCE, D.H.

Short Stories & Anthologies

Paper + Ink

In this novella, widely considered one of the finest works of American literature, a lawyer hires the “incurably forlorn” Bartleby as a clerk in his small firm. Silent and enigmatic, Bartleby performs well at first. One day, however, when requested by his employer to assist with some routine proofreading, he declines, using his famous phrase. Perplexed and oddly intrigued, the lawyer―who narrates the story―attempts to get to the bottom of Bartleby’s refusals as the clerk more and more often states his preference “not to”, ultimately doing little work and much staring out the window. While the other clerks are contemptuous, the lawyer cannot bring himself to fire this strange, listless man, or to abandon his efforts to reason with him―even when he discovers that Bartleby has begun to live at the office … In the 160 years or so since this story first appeared, attempts to decode its meanings have never ceased; Bartleby, and the events that follow from his blank descent into pure torpor, defy precise interpretation. Yet the experience of reading and rereading the tale is as unforgettable as the narrator’s own impression of this quintessentially modern character.

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street

MELVILLE, HERMAN

Literary

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is one of the most beloved of Mark Twain’s tales. Notable for the shaggy-dog quality of the story-within-the-story, this early work of humorous short prose was Twain’s first big success as a writer.Seeking someone named Smiley, a man comes to a mining camp and meets a fellow who tells him of another Smiley, an inveterate betting man. One day, this Smiley caught a frog and trained it to out-jump any other frog; but when a stranger appeared at the camp, Smiley’s famed gambling skills were tested severely …This volume also includes two other Twain gems: “The Million-Pound Bank Note”, in which a down-and-out American in London is challenged by two rich men to survive with only a rare million-pound bill to his name; and “Luck”, which tells of both a great hero of the Crimean War and the only man who knows how he attained such a status.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County & Other Stories

TWAIN,MARK

In Katherine Mansfield's subtle and powerful story “The Garden Party”, a wealthy family prepares to host the titular event. When they learn that their working-class neighbour has died, their young daughter Laura protests that the party should be called off; yet no one else agrees. Afterward, she visits the home of the deceased. Her brother encounters her later, alone, and through her despair he understands that his sister has come to recognise her own mortality.\nThis volume also includes two more of Mansfield's most admired and incisive stories: “The Fly”, a quietly disturbing study of an older man who, after his dead son is suddenly evoked in conversation, still struggles to grieve; and “The Doll's House”, a disquieting consideration of children, class, social alienation and bigotry.

The Garden Party & Other Stories

MANSFIELD, KATHERINE

"The Necklace", a Maupassant masterpiece renowned for its pathos and shocking ending, tells of Mathilde, who aspires to high society despite being married to a low-paid clerk. When her husband manages to cadge an invitation to a grand ball at the Ministry of Education, Mathilde refuses to attend unless she can look the part. She obtains a splendid gown, but then demands a necklace to go with it. Thus she borrows a diamond necklace from a friend - and so their troubles begin.This volume also includes two more Maupassant classics: "The Piece of String", in which an indignant villager is wrongly accused of stealing a pocketbook, and "Mouche", a poignant portrait of five merry bargemen and the woman who joins them on their journeys up and down the Seine, loving each of them freely.

The Necklace & Other Stories

De Maupassant, Guy

The Gift of the Magi & Other Stories

Henry, O.

This story, by one of Europeâe(tm)s most skilful practitioners of the art of short fiction, has now been translated into English for the first time. ZosÄ--, a beautiful, diligent and innocent peasant girl, works as a maid in the service of a wealthy country estate. Courted by the local young men and resistant to the attentions of her master, who forces himself upon her, she is in fact wholly in love with Tofylis, the huntsman. But Tofylisâe(tm)s good looks and practised seduction manoeuvres have blinded her to his brutishness and faux sophistication. This simple tale from 1897 is made deeply complex by &#65533;½emaitÄ--âe(tm)s acute, compassionate eye and ear for the lives of the lower classes in Lithuania at the time. As a depiction of patriarchal attitudes, coercive control and the limited options facing poor women, it has remarkable contemporary resonance.

Tofylis, or The Marriage of Zosė

Žemaitė'

Rūdolfs Blaumanis’s 1899 short story masterpiece, based on a contemporary newspaper account, tells of several fishermen lost at sea after the ice floe on which they work calves off and drifts away rapidly. One by one, the thirteen men and a boy must deal with the creeping reality that they may not see the mainland ― or their loved ones ― again. There is fish to eat, and two horses if necessary, but the very surface of the floe is eroding steadily ... and the nights are cold and terrible. Without ever moralising or over-elaborating, Blaumanis coolly and efficiently observes the state of each of the main characters in turn, whether natural leaders, optimists, craven opportunists, terrified, stoic, compassionate or alienated. In the shadow of encroaching death, each must come to some kind of reckoning.

In The Shadow of Death

Blaumanis, Rūdolfs

In this volume are three stories by Vazha-Pshavela, a giant of modern Georgian literature, along with one of the epic poems for which he became renowned, All have been translated into English here for the first time. In "The Death of Bagrat Zakharych”, a highly sardonic account of the sudden demise of a chancellery official, Vazha-Pshavela’s ironic sense reaches its fullest pitch. The story invites comparison to classic works such as Melville’s "Bartleby, the Scrivener” and Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”. “Memories: A Christmas Tale” tells of a boy who returns from boarding school to his village for the winter holiday. As he reconnects with his family, an anxiety-filled hunting expedition with his uncle changes his perspective on life. “Batura’s Sword” features an enchanted weapon that haunts the people of Pshavi following the death of its owner. This transfixing story of honor on the battlefield evokes the magic of the Caucasus mountains. Finally, "Gogotur and Apshina", one of Vazha-Pshavela’s many legendary epic poems, is a moving rumination on the themes of military glory and courage. It was singled out for translation into Russian three times by three great poets (Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Nikolay Zabolotsky).

The Death of Bagrat Zakharych and Other Stories

Pshavela, Vazha

Classics

In these three warm and nuanced tales, Indonesia's supreme storyteller Pramoedya Ananta Toer gives us vivid, memorable characters caught between optimism and a darker place.A disabled veteran of his country's war of independence against the Dutch slowly succumbs to despair; a child bride's lost innocence is cherished by her observant younger neighbour; and a young boy views his impending circumcision with anxiety and excitement on account of its significance - and the gifts that will accompany it.

Independence Day & Other Stories

Toer, Pramoedya Ananta

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