LITMIR.BIZ

Merriment abounds in these beloved comedies by the Bard, in forms that range from magical mischief to rollicking farce. Five of Shakespeare's most popular comedies appear here, in one convenient and economical volume. Contents include:Much Ado About Nothing, in which a betrothed couple set a lover's trap for a confirmed bachelor and his sharp-tongued sparring partnerTwelfth Night; or What You Will, the tale of a shipwrecked maiden who disguises herself as a boy and assists a duke in wooing a recalcitrant sweetheartA Midsummer Night's Dream, in which the fairies of an enchanted forest employ a love potion to sport with four young loversAs You Like It, concerning the retreat of banished royalty to a greenwood, where the constraints of everyday life are loosened and the characters free to reinvent themselvesThe Merry Wives of Windsor, starring the jolly old rogue Sir John Falstaff in a madcap romp that gives his greed and vanity a humorous comeuppance.

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Of the enormous body of work produced by H. G. Wells — more than a book a year over the course of half a century — the early science fiction novels that first made him famous have proved to be the most enduring and have earned him the sobriquet «the father of modern science fiction.»In the 1901 classic The First Men in the Moon, Wells reveals not only a fertile imagination at ease with biological and astronomical phenomena, but also a passionate concern for man and society. His «first men in the moon» prove to be the eccentric Mr. Cavor and his traveling companion, Mr. Bedford, who navigate a gravity-defying sphere through space before executing a rough landing on the moon. As castaways from earth, they practice lunar locomotion, get lost in the wilds of a moon jungle, and confront intelligent life forms living in lunar caverns. Through the adventures of these two earthlings, the author is able to look at mankind from a distance and, in his words, «burlesque the effects of specialization.» The result is a delightful tale filled with adventure, romance, and fantasy that is still capable of stirring the imagination of readers in the 21st century."[Wells's science-fiction novels] achieve a near poetry which makes them part of the popular mythology of their age … the best of his work has a vitality, a verve, an imaginative compulsion unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries." — N. C. Nicholson, author of H. G. Wells.

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This collection, spanning four centuries of English wit, wisdom, and common sense, contains the thoughts of a number of renowned masters of the essay. From Francis Bacon–the English author who reputedly imported the genre from France, to literary critic, mystery writer, and social commentator G. K. Chesterton, more than twenty writers express their views on such subjects as walking, writing, traveling, sleeping, pets, friends, and childhood. Included among the literary offerings are «Sir Roger de Coverley at Spring-Garden» by Joseph Addison, «A Meditation Upon a Broomstick» by Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson's «Dick Minim the Critic,» as well as compositions by Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Lamb, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw, and other noted authors.The works are presented chronologically and original publication dates are given where available.

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"To buy books would be a good thing," observed Arthur Schopenhauer, «if we also could buy the time to read them.» All devoted readers long for more time to spend with their books, and the next best thing to buying time is making the most of the available moments. Great Short Short Stories: Quick Reads by Great Writers offers that opportunity. An outstanding collection of 30 brilliant short stories, each just six or fewer pages in length, it provides the chance to absorb an entire story (or two or three) in just one sitting.Well-known tales from masters of the short-story genre include: Mark Twain, «The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County»; Franz Kafka, «A Country Doctor»; Edgar Allan Poe, «The Cask of Amontillado»; Guy de Maupassant, «A Piece of String»; Stephen Crane, «The Veteran»; Kate Chopin, «A Pair of Silk Stockings»; plus works by Dickens, O. Henry, Chekhov, Wilde, and many others. Includes 2 selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: «A White Heron» and «Cask of Amontillado.»

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Aficionados of supernatural fiction will take perverse pleasure in the hair-raising horrors recounted in these outstanding examples of the genre. Featuring a gallery of ghostly characters, forbidding landscapes, gloomy country manors, and occult occurrences, this spine-tingling collection features works by such masters of the macabre as Bram Stoker (the creator of Dracula), J. S. LeFanu, Ambrose Bierce, and M. R. James.The ten classics included in this volume are: «The Monkey's Paw» by W. W. Jacobs, E. G. Swain's «Bone to His Bone,» «The Rose Garden» by M. R. James, Dickens's «To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt,» LeFanu's «Dickon the Devil,» Stoker's «The Judge's Salt,» «The Moonlit Road» by Ambrose Bierce, Amelia B. Edwards's «The Phantom Coach,» «A Ghost Story» by Jerome K. Jerome, and E. F. Benson's «The Confession of Charles Linkworth.»

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Two major works by one of history's best known and most widely read and studied philosophers. In Gorgias, an exploration of the proposition that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong, Socrates debates with an amoral young sophist and assets that it is preferable to endure someone else's bad conduct than to be the source of bad behavior.Timaeus relates a creation myth that concludes with the birth of humanity, in which Socrates demonstrates that morality is based on cosmic order. True morality, he maintains, is neither the product of human evolution nor an exercise of will, but an external manifestation of the soul's order and harmony. B. Jowett translation

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"Hafiz has no peer." — GoethePoetry is the greatest literary form of ancient Persia and modern Iran, and the fourteenth-century poet known as Hafiz is its preeminent master. Little is known about the poet's life, and there are more legends than facts relating to the particulars of his existence. This mythic quality is entirely appropriate for the man known as «The Interpreter of Mysteries» and «The Tongue of the Hidden,» whose verse is regarded as oracular by those seeking guidance and attempting to realize wishes.A mere fraction of what is presumed to have been an extensive body of work survives. This collection is derived from Hafiz's Divan (collected poems), a classic of Sufism. The short poems, called ghazals, are sonnet-like arrangements of varied numbers of couplets. In the tradition of Persian poetry and Sufi philosophy, each poem corresponds to two interpretations, sensual and mystic.This outstanding translation of Hafiz's poetry was created by historian and Arabic scholar Gertrude Bell, who observed, «These are the utterances of a great poet, the imaginative interpreter of the heart of man; they are not of one age, or of another, but for all time.»

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Now a major motion picture! The tale of a passionate, independent woman and her three suitors, Far from the Madding Crowd tells the story of Bathsheba Everdene and her relationships with the devoted Gabriel Oak, the dashing Sergeant Troy, and the reclusive gentleman farmer, Mr. Boldwood. Through her wayward nature and a winding path of events propelled by Thomas Hardy's recurring feminist themes, Bathsheba is led to tragedy and, finally, true love.Written in 1874, Far from the Madding Crowd was Hardy's first masterpiece. Alive with lush, idyllic settings that exert profound influences on the novel's characters, it is an unforgettable narrative of both beauty and devastation. Its portrait of rural life, and compelling examination of social conventions, has made it one of English literature's greatest works.

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In a faraway land, a traveler encounters a peculiar, topsy-turvy society in which sickness is a punishable crime and crime is an illness for which criminals receive compassionate medical treatment. The English church is ridiculed as a «musical bank,» which deals with a currency nobody believes in but which everyone pretends to value. University instructors teach courses on how to take a long time to say nothing, and machines are banned for fear they will evolve and be the masters of man.First published in 1872, Erewhon (an anagram for «nowhere») is perhaps the most brilliant example of Utopian novels, taking aim at the humbug, hypocrisy, and absurdities surrounding such hallowed institutions as family, church, mechanical progress, advances in scientific theory, and legal systems.Intelligent, inventive, and wickedly humorous, the classic novel protests the blind acceptance of ideas and attitudes, an aspect of Samuel Butler's work that made his fiction enduring, entertaining, and thought-provoking. His remarkable prescience in anticipating future sociological trends adds a special relevance for today's readers.

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It has been said that a copy of Longfellow's narrative poem Evangeline could be found in every literate household in America in the nineteenth century. Certainly its poignant romance touched many hearts and stirred deepening interest in the Maine-born Harvard educator who, in his lifetime, would become America's most famous poet. This book contains the complete Evangeline and a number of other widely admired Longfellow poems.Included are the memorable «The Skeleton in Armor,» «The Arsenal at Springfield,» «Mezzo Cammin,» and «Aftermath.» Here, too, is Divina Commedia, the six sonnets on Dante that are among the poet's finest works. All have been reprinted from an authoritative edition of Longfellow's poems.

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