Barracoon: the Story of the Last Slave by Zora Neale Hurston

$19.99 AUD

Category: Classics

Abducted from Africa, sold in America. "A deeply affecting record of an extraordinary life"- Daily Telegraph A major literary event: a newly published work from the author of the American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, with a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker. The true s tory of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade. In August 1931, famed anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston travelled to Alabama to visit ninety-year-old Cudjo Lewis, a former slave. Over three months, Cudjo shared heart-rending memories of his childhood in Africa; the horrors of being captured - fifty years after slavery was outlawed - and held in the Ouidah barracoons for selection by American slavers; the harrowing ordeal of the Middle Passage aboard the Clotilda with over one hundred other souls; and the years he spent in slavery. Barracoon brings to life Cudjo's singular voice in an invaluable contribution to history and culture, a work as poignant as it is profound. Passage aboard the Clotilda with over one hundred other souls; and the years he spent in slavery. Barracoon brings to life Cudjo's singular voice in an invaluable contribution to history and culture, a work as poignant as it is profound. ...Show more

Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo; William Weaver (Translator)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Classics

Known for inspiring James Joyce's Leopold Bloom from Ulysses, Zeno Cosini is the bumbling yet charming alter ego of Italo Svevo, who here lays bare a hilarious litany of neuroticisms about his health, friendships, family and women. Having submitted himself to Freudian psychoanalysis, the narrator keeps a diary with the aim of conquering his addiction to smoking. He describes his marriage to the woman he didn't want to marry, how he drives his business partner to despair, and how his 'last cigarette' turns out to be one of many. Zeno is the classic 'schlemiel'; his erratic foibles, his questionable logic and his curious inclination to self sabotage help shine a light on human behaviour in general, and reveal the many subtle half-truths people may tell themselves in order to defend their own actions and egos. ...Show more

The Years (Penguin Classics) by Virginia Woolf; Jeri Johnson (Introduction by, Notes by, Editor)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Classics | Series: Penguin Modern Classics

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SUSAN HILL The Yearsfollows the lives of the Pargiters, a large middle-class London family, from an uncertain spring in 1880 to a party on a summer evening in the 1930s. We see them each endure and remember heart-break, loss, radical change and stifling conformity, marriage and regret. Written in 1937, this was the most popular of Virginia Woolf's novels during her lifetime, and is a powerful indictment of 'Victorianism' and its values. ...Show more

Persuasion by Jane Austen

$9.99 AUD

Category: Classics | Series: Collins Classics

Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans; Theo Cuffe (Translator); Luc Sante (Contribution by)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Classics | Series: RIVERRUN EDITION

The cult novel of fin de siècle decadence that inspired Oscar Wilde 'It will be biggest fiasco of the year - but I don't give a damn! It will be something nobody has ever done before.' The title page of the first complete English translation of Against Nature (published in the French as À ; Rebours) included the caption 'the book that Dorian Gray loved and inspired Oscar Wilde.' It was, declared Wilde, one of the best novels he had ever read. It is the story of Jean des Esseintes, the last of a proud and noble family, who retreats from the world in disgust at bourgeois society and leads a life based on cultivation of the senses through art. Des Esseintes distills perfumes from the rarest oils and essences, he creates a garden of poisonous flowers, sets gemstones in a tortoise's gold-painted shell and plans to corrupt a street urchin until he is degraded enough to commit murder. Des Esseintes' aesthetic pilgrimage is described in minutely documented realistic detail and was widely regarded as the guidebook of decadence. This influential novel is now available in a new translation by Theo Cuffe and includes a preface by Luc Sante. ...Show more

La Bete Humaine by Émile Zola; Roger Pearson (Translator)

$22.95 AUD

Category: Classics | Series: Oxford World's Classics Ser.

Extrait: ...Ce n'etait, certes, pas le moment de se quereller. La neige redoublait, le rideau s'epaississait a l'horizon. On continuait de monter, lorsque le chauffeur, a son tour, crut voir etinceler un feu rouge, au loin. D'un mot, il avertit son chef. Mais deja il ne le retrouvait plus, ses yeux avai ent reve, comme il disait parfois. Et le mecanicien, qui n'avait rien vu, restait le coeur battant, trouble par cette hallucination d'un autre, perdant confiance en lui-meme. Ce qu'il s'imaginait distinguer, au-dela du pullulement pale des flocons, c'etaient d'immenses formes noires, des masses considerables, comme des morceaux geants de la nuit, qui semblaient se deplacer et venir au-devant de la machine. etaient-ce donc des coteaux eboules, des montagnes barrant la voie, ou allait se briser le train? Alors, pris de peur, il tira la tringle du sifflet, il siffla longuement, desesperement; et cette lamentation trainait, lugubre, au travers de la tempete. Puis, il fut tout etonne d'avoir siffle a propos, car le train traversait a grande vitesse la gare de Saint-Romain, dont il se croyait eloigne de deux kilometres. Cependant, la Lison, qui avait franchi la terrible rampe, se mit a rouler plus a l'aise, et Jacques put respirer un moment. De Saint-Romain a Bolbec, la ligne monte d'une facon insensible, tout irait bien sans doute jusqu'a l'autre bout du plateau. Quand il fut a Beuzeville, pendant l'arret de trois minutes, il n'en appela pas moins le chef de gare qu'il apercut sur le quai, tenant a lui dire ses craintes, en face de cette neige dont la couche augmentait toujours: jamais il n'arriverait a Rouen, le mieux serait de doubler l'attelage, en ajoutant une seconde machine, tandis qu'on se trouvait a un depot, ou des machines a disposition etaient toujours pretes. Mais le chef de gare repondit qu'il n'avait pas d'ordre et qu'il ne croyait pas devoir prendre cette mesure sur lui. Tout ce qu'il offrit, ce fut de... ...Show more

Original Folk/Fairy Tales ... Grimm by Jacob Grimm; Wilhelm Grimm; Jack Zipes; Andrea Dezsö

$34.99 AUD

Category: Classics

When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that such stories as "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Cinderella" would become the most celebrated in the world. Yet few people today are familiar with the majo rity of tales from the two early volumes, since in the next four decades the Grimms would publish six other editions, each extensively revised in content and style. For the very first time, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm makes available in English all 156 stories from the 1812 and 1815 editions. These narrative gems, newly translated and brought together in one beautiful book, are accompanied by sumptuous new illustrations from award-winning artist Andrea Dezs . From "The Frog King" to "The Golden Key," wondrous worlds unfold--heroes and heroines are rewarded, weaker animals triumph over the strong, and simple bumpkins prove themselves not so simple after all. Esteemed fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes offers accessible translations that retain the spare description and engaging storytelling style of the originals. Indeed, this is what makes the tales from the 1812 and 1815 editions unique--they reflect diverse voices, rooted in oral traditions, that are absent from the Grimms' later, more embellished collections of tales. Zipes's introduction gives important historical context, and the book includes the Grimms' prefaces and notes. A delight to read, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm presents these peerless stories to a whole new generation of readers. ...Show more

Dream of the Red Chamber by Xueqin Cao

$34.99 AUD

Category: Classics

"The Dream of the Red Chamber" is one of the "Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature." It is renowned for its huge scope, large cast of characters and telling observations on the life and social structures of 18th century China and is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the classical Chi nese novel. The "Red Chamber" is an expression used for the sheltered area where the daughters of wealthy Chinese families lived. Believed to be based on the author's own life and intended as a memorial to the women that he knew in his youth, "The Dream of the Red Chamber" is a multilayered story that offers up key insights into Chinese culture. ...Show more

Heart of Darkness (Penguin English Library) by Joseph Conrad

$14.99 AUD

Category: Classics | Series: The Penguin English Library

The Penguin English Library Edition of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 'The mind of man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, rage - who can tell? - but truth - truth stripped of its cloak o f time. Let the fool gape and shudder - the man knows, and can look on without a wink' Marlow, a seaman, tells of a journey up the Congo. His goal is the troubled European and ivory trader Kurtz. Worshipped and feared by invaders as well as natives, Kurtz has become a godlike figure, his presence pervading the jungle like a thick, obscuring mist. As his boat labours further upstream, closer and closer to Kurtz's extraordinary and terrible domain, so Marlow finds his faith in himself and civilization crumbling. Conrad's Heart of Darkness has been considered the most important indictment of the evils of imperialism written to date. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War. ...Show more

Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings by Jean-Jacques Rousseau; Quintin Hoare (Translator); Christopher Bertram (Notes by, Introduction by)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Classics

A lively new translation of Rousseau's best-known work, accompanied by additional political writings   "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains" are the famous opening words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract, a work of political philosophy that has stirred vigorous debate ever s ince its publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to sovereignty, Rousseau argues instead for a pact--a "social contract"--that should exist among all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of governing power. From this premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.   For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. ...Show more

The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso by Dante Alighieri (Translated by Robin Kirkpatrick)

$19.99 AUD

Category: Classics | Series: Divine Comedy Ser.

A stunning 3-in-1 edition of one of the great works of Western literatureAn epic masterpiece and a foundational work of the Western canon, The Divine Comedy describes Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as his guide; his ascent of Mount Purgatory and reunion with his dead love, Beatrice; and, finally, his arrival in Heaven. Examining questions of faith, desire, and enlightenment and furnished with semiautobiographical details, Dante's poem is a brilliantly nuanced and moving allegory of human redemption. Robin Kirkpatrick's masterful verse translation of The Divine Comedy, tracing Dante's journey from Hell to Purgatory and finally Paradise, is published here for the first time in a single volume. The volume includes a new introduction, notes, maps and diagrams, and is the ideal edition for students as well as the general reader who is coming to the great masterpiece of Italian literature for the first time.  The Divine Comedy describes Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as a guide; his ascent of Mount Purgatory and encounter with his dead love, Beatrice; and finally, his arrival in Heaven. Examining questions of faith, desire and enlightenment, the poem is a brilliantly nuanced and moving allegory of human redemption.   ...Show more

The Turn of the Screw (Penguin Black Classics) by Henry James

$14.99 AUD

Category: Classics

'The apparition had reached the landing half-way up and was therefore on the spot nearest the window where, at the sight of me, it stopped short.' "The Turn of the Screw" tells the story of a young governess sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans. Unsettled by a sense of intense evil in t he house, she soon becomes obsessed with the idea that something malevolent is stalking the children in her care. ...Show more