Princess Irene lives in a castle in a wild and lonely mountainous region. One day she discovers a steep and winding stairway leading to a bewildering labyrinth of unused passages with closed doors - and a further stairway. What lies at the top?

At the same time, Curdie, a miner's son, overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins who live below the mountain. But it will take all their wit and courage, and the help of Irene's magic ring, to make sense of their separate knowledge and foil the goblins' schemes.

This classic story is about courage and overcoming evil, intended for children but captivating for readers of all ages. From the mind that influenced C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L’Engle, it is a tale that transcends time.

De jonge Tiuri verbreekt de regels die bepalen dat hij met niemand mag praten in de nacht voordat hij tot ridder zal worden geslagen. Hij opent de deur en het verzoek dat hem wordt gedaan blijkt een heel gevaarlijke opdracht.

Tiuri wordt achtervolgd door boosaardige Rode Ruiters, die hem met de dood bedreigen. Maar hij is vast van plan de uiterst belangrijke brief bij koning Unauwen te bezorgen. De Zwarte Ridder met het Witte Schild heeft niet voor niets zijn leven gegeven...

Five Dialogues contains the distinguished translations of G. M. A. Grube, as revised by John Cooper for Plato, Complete Works (Hacket, 1997). This edition includes a number of new or expanded footnotes and updated Suggestions for Further Reading.

Dive into the world of ancient Greek philosophy with Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, and Phaedo. These dialogues explore profound questions of ethics, justice, virtue, and the immortality of the soul.

Ostap Bender is an unemployed con artist living by his wits in post-revolutionary Soviet Russia. He joins forces with Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, a former nobleman who has returned to his hometown to find a cache of missing jewels hidden in some chairs appropriated by the Soviet authorities.

The search for the bejeweled chairs takes these unlikely heroes from the provinces to Moscow and into the wilds of Soviet Georgia and the Trans-Caucasus mountains. On their quest, they encounter a wide variety of characters: from opportunistic Soviet bureaucrats to aging survivors of the pre-revolutionary propertied classes, each one more selfish, venal, and ineffective than the one before.

Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits is a remarkable collection of almost 1,400 aphorisms penned by the renowned philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This collection was first published in three installments, with the first volume appearing in 1878, just before Nietzsche left academic life due to health issues. It was later republished in a two-volume edition in 1886.

This work marks a significant shift in Nietzsche's philosophical approach, showcasing his new "positivism" and skepticism. Here, Nietzsche challenges his earlier metaphysical and psychological assumptions with characteristic perceptiveness and honesty, not to mention suspicion and irony.

In this wide-ranging work, Nietzsche first employed his celebrated aphoristic style, perfectly suited to his iconoclastic, penetrating, and multi-faceted thought. Many themes of his later works make their initial appearance here, expressed with unforgettable liveliness and subtlety. This book well deserves its subtitle, "A Book for Free Spirits," and its original dedication to Voltaire, whose project of radical enlightenment found a new champion in Nietzsche.

"Niebla" es una de las obras más representativas de Miguel de Unamuno y un ejemplo clásico de la novela moderna. En esta obra, la ficción deja de ser un mero vehículo narrativo para convertirse en un universo textual lleno de sugerencias fecundas.

El título, Niebla, refleja el propósito de desdibujar lo visible y materializar lo impalpable. En este ambiente, encontramos a Augusto Pérez, un hombre esencialmente frustrado, cuya muerte nos obliga a reflexionar profundamente.

Esta edición, facilitada por Germán Gullón, ofrece una pauta de lectura que conduce a una comprensión más profunda de la novela y su importancia en la narrativa española.

Set amid Indiana's vast Limberlost Swamp, this treasured children's classic mixes astute observations on nature with the struggles of growing up in the early 20th century. Harassed by her mother and scorned by her peers, Elnora Comstock finds solace in natural beauty along with friendship, independence, and romance.

Indiana has long been seen as an agricultural plain. To make it a lucrative farming state, much of the land had to be deforested, leaving behind devastated habitats. The Limberlost, a wetland in northern Indiana, was mostly destroyed by drainage, logging, and oil production. Gene Stratton-Porter, an early 20th-century naturalist and novelist, captured the fading beauty of the swamp in books like A Girl of the Limberlost, a novel about a smart, ambitious girl who lives in the dwindling wetland with her mother and pays for school by collecting local moth specimens to sell to naturalists.

The book celebrates the beauty and richness of the swampland, while showing how easily economic forces push landowners to strip it away.

Agnes Grey, written by Anne Brontë, draws heavily from personal experience to represent the many 19th Century women who worked as governesses and suffered daily abuse as a result of their position.

After losing the family savings, Richard Grey withdraws from family life, leaving his youngest daughter, Agnes, feeling helpless and frustrated. Determined to take control and gain freedom, Agnes applies for a job as a governess to the children of a wealthy English family. Arriving at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose, she soon faces the harsh reality of her position.

The cruelty of the family slowly strips Agnes of her dignity and belief in humanity. This tale of female bravery in the face of isolation and subjugation is a masterpiece, with a simple prosaic style that propels the narrative forward in a gentle yet rhythmic manner.

Anne Brontë, the somewhat lesser-known Brontë sister, was the first to publish her work under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Her brave voice resonates during one of the most prejudiced and patriarchal times of English history.

Alice Walker's iconic modern classic, The Color Purple, is a powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature that depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence.

Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sofia and their experiences. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery.

Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker's epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is a semi-autobiographical novel by Robert Tressell, following the struggle of a house painter to find employment in the fictional town of Mugsborough, based on Hastings. Originally published after Tressell's death, the novel tells a compelling tale of a working-class family trying to avoid the workhouse.

The book captures the desperation and misery of a twelve-month struggle to survive, offering a unique insight into the lives of the working poor during the early 20th century. A remarkable and poignant work of social commentary that remains relevant to this day.

Through its emblematic characters, the novel argues for a socialist politics as the only hope for a civilized and humane life for all. It is a timeless work whose political message is as relevant today as it was in Tressell's time.

One of E. M. Forster's most celebrated novels, A Room With a View is the story of a young English middle-class girl, Lucy Honeychurch. While vacationing in Italy, Lucy meets and is wooed by two gentlemen, George Emerson and Cecil Vyse. After turning down Cecil Vyse's marriage proposals twice, Lucy finally accepts. Upon hearing of the engagement, George protests and confesses his true love for Lucy.

Lucy is torn between the choice of marrying Cecil, who is a more socially acceptable mate, and George, who she knows will bring her true happiness. A Room With a View is a tale of classic human struggles such as the choice between social acceptance or true love.

Oscar Wilde's tale of the American family moved into a British mansion, Canterville Chase, much to the annoyance of its tired ghost. The family -- which refuses to believe in him -- is in Wilde's way a commentary on the British nobility of the day -- and on the Americans, too. The tale, like many of Wilde's, is rich with allusion, but ends as sentimental romance...

The Four Quartets is a series of four poems by T.S. Eliot, published individually from 1936 to 1942, and in book form in 1943. It was considered by Eliot himself to be his finest work.

Each of the quartets has five "movements" and each is titled by a place name:

• BURNT NORTON (1936)
• EAST COKER (1940)
• THE DRY SALVAGES (1941)
• LITTLE GIDDING (1942)

Eliot's insights into the cyclical nature of life are revealed through themes and images woven throughout the four poems. Spiritual, philosophical, and personal themes emerge through symbolic allusions and literary and religious references from both Eastern and Western thought.

The work addresses the connections of the personal and historical present and past, spiritual renewal, and the very nature of experience. It is considered the poet's clearest exposition of his Christian beliefs.

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, unfolds the darkly compelling story of Gilead more than fifteen years after Offred's ambiguous end. With The Testaments, Atwood opens the innermost workings of Gilead and brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion through the voices of three female narrators.

Two of the narrators, Daisy and Agnes, have grown up as part of the first generation in the new order of Gilead. They are joined by a third voice, Aunt Lydia, who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets. Each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

As the regime of Gilead begins to rot from within, these three women's lives converge in a potentially explosive manner. The Testaments answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades, offering a harrowing and exhilarating exploration of resistance against oppression.

Barchester Towers, published in 1857, is the sequel to Trollope’s The Warden and continues the story of the clerical doings in the fictional cathedral town of Barchester. As this novel opens, the old Bishop of Barchester lies dying, and there is considerable doubt as to who will replace him. The Bishop’s son Dr. Grantly, the Archdeacon, has high hopes of succeeding him, but these hopes are dashed and a new Bishop, Dr. Proudie, is appointed.

Along with Dr. Proudie comes his domineering wife and their ambitious chaplain the Reverend Mr. Slope. The old clerical party headed by Dr. Grantly and the new, championed by Mrs. Proudie and Mr. Slope, are soon in contention over Church matters. These two parties represent a then-significant struggle between different evangelical approaches in the Church of England.

One local issue in particular is fought over—the appointment of a new Warden for Hiram’s Hospital, the focus of the preceding book. Mrs. Eleanor Bold is the daughter of Mr. Harding, the prior Warden. She has recently been widowed. The wealth she inherited from her late husband makes her an attractive match, and her affections are in contention from several prospective suitors, including the oily Mr. Slope. All of this lends itself to considerable humor and interest.

Though not well received by critics on its initial publication, Barchester Towers is now regarded as one of Trollope’s most popular novels.

Watchmen, the Hugo Award-winning graphic novel, is a groundbreaking deconstruction of the superhero concept, set in an alternate history where the existence of superheroes has dramatically altered the course of events. This seminal work by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons follows a group of former heroes as they grapple with their past glories and present failings, all while an ominous threat looms over them.

The narrative unfolds from a simple murder mystery into a complex commentary on power, corruption, and what it means to be human. The series has been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, serving as a gateway to other iconic graphic novels and influencing the medium of comics as a whole.

Watchmen remains a perennial favorite, continuing to captivate readers with its rich storytelling and intricate artwork. Its impact is evident in its lasting presence in academic discussions, pop culture, and the hearts of fans around the world.

A Hero of Our Time is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839, published in 1840, and revised in 1841. It is an example of the superfluous man novel, noted for its compelling Byronic hero (or antihero) Pechorin and for the beautiful descriptions of the Caucasus.

Pechorin treats women as an incentive for endless conquests and does not consider them worthy of any particular respect. He considers women such as Princess Mary to be little more than pawns in his games of romantic conquest, which in effect hold no meaning in his listless pursuit of pleasure. This is shown in his comment on Princess Mary: "I often wonder why I'm trying so hard to win the love of a girl I have no desire to seduce and whom I'd never marry." The only contradiction in Pechorin's attitude to women are his genuine feelings for Vera, who loves him despite, and perhaps due to, all his faults.

At the end of "Princess Mary" one is presented with a moment of hope as Pechorin gallops after Vera. The reader almost assumes that a meaning to his existence may be attained and that Pechorin can finally realize that true feelings are possible. Yet a lifetime of superficiality and cynicism cannot be so easily eradicated and when fate intervenes and Pechorin's horse collapses, he undertakes no further effort to reach his one hope of redemption: "I saw how futile and senseless it was to pursue lost happiness. What more did I want? To see her again? For what?"

Pechorin's chronologically last adventure, was first described in the book, showing the events that explain his upcoming fall into depression and retreat from society, resulting in his self-predicted death. The narrator is Maxim Maximytch telling the story of a beautiful Circassian princess 'Bela', whom Azamat abducts for Pechorin in exchange for Kazbich's horse. Maxim describes Pechorin's exemplary persistence to convince Bela to give herself sexually to him, in which she with time reciprocates. After living with Bela for some time, Pechorin starts explicating his need for freedom, which Bela starts noticing, fearing he might leave her. Though Bela is completely devoted to Pechorin, she says she's not his slave, rather a daughter of a Circassian tribal Chieftain, also showing the intention of leaving if he 'doesn't love her'. Maxim's sympathy for Bela makes him question Pechorin's intentions. Pechorin admits he loves her and is ready to die for her, but 'he has a restless fancy and insatiable heart, and that his life is emptier day by day'. He thinks his only remedy is to travel, to keep his spirit alive.

Alone and lost—on the North Slope of Alaska, Miyax rebels against a home situation she finds intolerable. She runs away toward San Francisco, toward her pen pal, who calls her Julie. But soon Miyax is lost in the Alaskan wilderness, without food, without even a compass.

Slowly she is accepted by a pack of Arctic wolves, and she comes to love them as though they were her brothers. With their help, and drawing on her father’s training, she struggles day by day to survive. In the process, she is forced to rethink her past, and to define for herself the traditional riches of Eskimo life: intelligence, fearlessness, and love.

Jeanne, fille de Simon-Jacques et d'Adélaïde des Vauds, est une aristocrate qui, à ses dix-sept ans, quitte le couvent. Elle s'en va donc de chez elle ; ses parents lui lèguent un château pour y vivre. Elle rencontre Julien de Lamare quelques jours après sa sortie du couvent. Ce dernier trompe Jeanne avec sa domestique, qui tombe enceinte, puis avec une voisine qui se disait amie de Jeanne.

Elle accouche prématurément de son premier enfant, Paul, qui connaît des problèmes de santé. Paul part suivre des études au collège du Havre. Jeanne se retrouve ainsi seule après la mort du baron, de la baronne et de sa tante. Alors qu'elle est rongée par la tristesse et qu'elle tombe dans une dépression que la solitude n'adoucit pas, Jeanne retrouve par hasard Rosalie, son ancienne domestique.

À cause des dépenses abusives de son fils qui ne cesse de s'endetter, Jeanne se trouve en difficultés financières. Elle vend alors le château, qui pourtant lui tient énormément à cœur, et emménage ailleurs avec Rosalie.

The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. Now, the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune's power, have colonized a green world and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile.

Here is the last book Frank Herbert wrote before his death. A stunning climax to the epic Dune legend that will live on forever.

Book three in Frank Herbert's magnificent Dune Chronicles—one of the most significant sagas in the history of literary science fiction.

The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, disappeared in the desert wastelands of Arrakis nine years ago. Like their father, the twins possess supernormal abilities—making them valuable to their manipulative aunt Alia, who rules the Empire in the name of House Atreides.

Facing treason and rebellion on two fronts, Alia's rule is not absolute. The displaced House Corrino is plotting to regain the throne while the fanatical Fremen are being provoked into open revolt by the enigmatic figure known only as The Preacher. Alia believes that by obtaining the secrets of the twins' prophetic visions, she can maintain control over her dynasty.

But Leto and Ghanima have their own plans for their visions—and their destinies....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert.

Ein Liebesbrief erreicht den Romancier und Lebemann R. an seinem einundvierzigsten Geburtstag – die leidenschaftliche Lebensbeichte einer Frau, deren Lebensmittelpunkt er war. Doch sie ist für ihn nur eine belanglose Geliebte unter vielen geblieben, letztlich eine Unbekannte.

"Ich klage Dich nicht an, mein Geliebter, nein, ich klage Dich nicht an", verspricht sie, und doch stellen ihre glühenden Worten das Leben dieses Mannes, der "nur das Leichte, das Spielende, das Gewichtlose" lieben kann und vor Bindungen zurückscheut aus "Angst, in ein Schicksal einzugreifen", vollständig in Frage.

Stefan Zweig versteht es meisterhaft, starke Emotionen in eindringliche Worte zu übersetzen, die lange nachhallen.

At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a young slave woman, fearing for her infant son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's. From this rather simple premise, Mark Twain fashioned one of his most entertaining, funny, yet biting novels.

On its surface, Pudd'nhead Wilson possesses all the elements of an engrossing nineteenth-century mystery: reversed identities, a horrible crime, an eccentric detective, a suspenseful courtroom drama, and a surprising, unusual solution. Yet, it is not a mystery novel.

Seething with the undercurrents of antebellum southern culture, the book is a savage indictment in which the real criminal is society, and racial prejudice and slavery are the crimes.

Written in 1894, Pudd'nhead Wilson glistens with characteristic Twain humor, with suspense, and with pointed irony: a gem among the author's later works.

La Bête humaine is a gripping tale where the instinct of death looms large over the protagonist, Jacques Lantier, a locomotive mechanic. He is acutely aware of how this instinct disguises itself under various appetites, and how the Idea of Death lurks beneath all fixed ideas.

Jacques, a young man, distances himself from women, wine, money, and ambitions, having renounced his instincts. His sole focus is his machine. He understands that the cerebral fissure introduces death into all instincts, working through them. At the origin or end of every instinct, it is about killing, and perhaps also being killed.

Zola, in this novel, powerfully evokes life at the end of the Second Empire in France, where society seemed to be hurtling into the future like the new locomotives and railways it was building. While expressing hope that human nature evolves through education and gradually frees itself of inherited evil, he constantly reminds us of the beast within.

First published in 1922, The Beautiful and the Damned followed Fitzgerald's impeccable debut, This Side of Paradise, thus securing his place in the tradition of great American novelists. Embellished with the author's lyrical prose, here is the story of Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete Anthony Patch and his beautiful wife, Gloria. As they await the inheritance of his grandfather's fortune, their reckless marriage sways under the influence of alcohol and avarice.

A devastating look at the nouveau riche, and the New York nightlife, as well as the ruinous effects of wild ambition, The Beautiful and the Damned achieved stature as one of Fitzgerald's most accomplished novels. Its distinction as a classic endures to this day.

When an unidentified “monster” threatens international shipping, French oceanographer Pierre Aronnax and his unflappable assistant Conseil join an expedition organized by the US Navy to hunt down and destroy the menace. After months of fruitless searching, they finally grapple with their quarry, but Aronnax, Conseil, and the brash Canadian harpooner Ned Land are thrown overboard in the attack, only to find that the “monster” is actually a futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by a shadowy, mystical, preternaturally imposing man who calls himself Captain Nemo.

Thus begins a journey of 20,000 leagues—nearly 50,000 miles—that will take Captain Nemo, his crew, and these three adventurers on a journey of discovery through undersea forests, coral graveyards, miles-deep trenches, and even the sunken ruins of Atlantis. Jules Verne’s novel of undersea exploration has been captivating readers ever since its first publication in 1870, and Frederick Paul Walter’s reader-friendly, scientifically meticulous translation of this visionary science fiction classic is complete and unabridged down to the smallest substantive detail.

The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust, that was first performed sometime between 1588 and Marlowe's death in 1593. Two different versions of the play were published in the Jacobean era, several years later.

The powerful effect of early productions of the play is indicated by the legends that quickly accrued around them—that actual devils once appeared on the stage during a performance, to the great amazement of both the actors and spectators, a sight that was said to have driven some spectators mad.

The Diary of a Nobody began as a serial in Punch and the book which followed in 1892 has never been out of print. The Grossmith brothers not only created an immortal comic character but produced a clever satire of their society. Mr. Pooter is an office clerk and upright family man in a dull 1880s suburb. His diary is a wonderful portrait of the class system and the inherent snobbishness of the suburban middle classes. It sends up contemporary crazes for Aestheticism, spiritualism, and bicycling, as well as the fashion for publishing diaries by anybody and everybody.

Weedon Grossmith's illustrations add to the humor and depth of the story, making it both a celebration and critique of the mundane yet decent suburban life. The hilarious and painfully familiar world of Charles Pooter is a testament to the timeless nature of English suburban life.

White Fang is part dog, part wolf, and the lone survivor of his family. In his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the harsh law of the North—kill or be killed. But nothing in White Fang's life can prepare him for the cruel owner who turns him into a vicious killer. Will White Fang ever know the kindness of a gentle master?

A classic tale of mischance and mischief based on the original adventures.

A naughty wooden puppet gets into trouble, disobeys his father, forgets his promises, and skips through life looking for fun. Just like a "real boy." Until he learns that to become truly real, he must open his heart and think of others.

THE INVISIBLE MAN lets loose a reign of terror! He assaults people, damages property and creates utter chaos. In a blind burst of fire, he gets injured, but manages to escape. He takes shelter at the house of Dr. Kemp, a scientist, who turns out to be an old college fellow.

The Invisible Man unfolds before Dr. Kemp, an incredible tale about the amazing powers of Science, by revealing the secret of his invisibility. How does Dr. Kemp react to the story? H. G. Wells, a master of science fiction, brings you this gripping tale, guaranteed to hold your attention till the very end.

The Wall, the lead story in this collection, introduces three political prisoners on the night prior to their execution. Through the gaze of an impartial doctor—seemingly there for the men's solace—their mental descent is charted in exquisite, often harrowing detail. And as the morning draws inexorably closer, the men cross the psychological wall between life and death, long before the first shot rings out.

This brilliant snapshot of life in anguish is the perfect introduction to a collection of stories where the neurosis of the modern world is mirrored in the lives of the people that inhabit it.

When penniless businessman Mr. Bedford retreats to the Kent coast to write a play, he meets by chance the brilliant Dr. Cavor, an absent-minded scientist on the brink of developing a material that blocks gravity. Cavor soon succeeds in his experiments, only to tell a stunned Bedford that the invention makes possible one of the oldest dreams of humanity: a journey to the moon.

With Bedford motivated by money, and Cavor by the desire for knowledge, the two embark on the expedition. But neither are prepared for what they find—a world of freezing nights, boiling days, and sinister alien life, on which they may be trapped forever.

In 1845, runaway slave Frederick Douglass became, almost overnight, the most celebrated African American author in history with the publication of his Narrative. In stark, powerful prose, he conveyed his observations of owners and overseers, the demoralizing effects of slavery on both slave and slaveholder, and his own triumph over oppression.

In the latter part of the century, Douglass became a public figure of enormous stature: an orator, a newspaper publisher, and a statesman. But he is perhaps best remembered as America's first major African American writer, a man whose work still makes a powerful impact on both our minds and hearts.

For a new perspective on Douglass' narrative, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s, introduction examines its literary and social importance, and considers the issues Douglass raised as the foundation for today's field of African American studies. Gates's illuminating insights, and an extensive bibliography, make this edition essential reading for scholars, historians, and students of African American literature.

A Doll's House (1879), is a masterpiece of theatrical craft which, for the first time portrayed the tragic hypocrisy of Victorian middle class marriage on the stage. The play ushered in a new social era and "exploded like a bomb into contemporary life".

The Student Edition contains these exclusive features:

• A chronology of the playwright's life and work
• An introduction giving the background of the play
• Commentary on themes, characters. language and style
• Notes on individual words and phrases in the text
• Questions for further study
• Bibliography for further reading.

When the Moomin family members need a change of scenery, they decide to take up residence in a lighthouse. Leave Moominvalley? Is it possible? Yes, even the Moomin family need a change of scenery sometimes, so they're off to live in a lighthouse on a tiny island.

Here they find space to grow, and to do things they couldn't in their comfortable, cluttered valley home. As they discover their new home, the family also discover surprising, and wonderfully funny, new things about themselves.

When a flood sweeps through the valley, the Moomins must find a new house. And with their typical Moomin good luck, one just happens to be floating by. It looks normal enough, but there are curtains where one wall should be, strange rows of lights, and other odd amenities.

Then Moomintroll and the Snork Maiden disappear, and the family realizes that the house may hold the answers to more than they ever dreamed.

The Moomins and the Great Flood is the first book about the Moomins, originally published in 1945. It tells the story of Moominmamma and Moomintroll as they embark on a quest to find the missing Moominpappa and eventually discover the beautiful Moominvalley.

As they journey through a dark and mysterious forest, they encounter a flood of epic proportions, testing their resilience and courage. The story is set against the backdrop of a natural catastrophe, which adds an element of suspense and adventure to their journey.

With Moominmamma's kindness and patience, they face numerous challenges, symbolizing themes of family, hope, and perseverance. The book is beautifully illustrated with black and white artwork, bringing the whimsical world of the Moomins to life.

Beowulf is a major epic of Anglo-Saxon literature, probably composed between the first half of the seventh century and the end of the first millennium. The poem was inspired by Germanic and Anglo-Saxon oral tradition recounting the exploits of Beowulf, the hero who gave his name to the poem.

Here, it's transcribed as a verse epic, onto which are grafted Christian additions.

The author writes: The two long pieces in this book originally came out in The New Yorker - RAISE HIGH THE ROOF BEAM, CARPENTERS in 1955, SEYMOUR - An Introduction in 1959. Whatever their differences in mood or effect, they are both very much concerned with Seymour Glass, who is the main character in my still-uncompleted series about the Glass family. It struck me that they had better be collected together, if not deliberately paired off, in something of a hurry, if I mean them to avoid unduly or undesirably close contact with new material in the series. There is only my word for it, granted, but I have several new Glass stories coming along - waxing, dilating - each in its own way, but I suspect the less said about them, in mixed company, the better. Oddly, the joys and satisfactions of working on the Glass family peculiarly increase and deepen for me with the years. I can't say why, though. Not, at least, outside the casino proper of my fiction.

Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s timeless novella “The Body”—originally published in his 1982 short story collection Different Seasons, and adapted into the 1986 film classic Stand by Me—is now available as a stand-alone publication.

It’s 1960 in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Ray Brower, a boy from a nearby town, has disappeared, and twelve-year-old Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find his body along the railroad tracks. During the course of their journey, Gordie, Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio come to terms with death and the harsh truths of growing up in a small factory town that doesn’t offer much in the way of a future.

A timeless exploration of the loneliness and isolation of young adulthood, Stephen King’s The Body is an iconic, unforgettable, coming-of-age story.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare gathers together the timeless works of the renowned playwright in a single, convenient volume. This collection includes:

The Comedies: A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night; or, What You Will.

The Romances: Cymbeline, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale.

The Tragedies: King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Titus Andronicus.

The Histories: King John, Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV (Parts 1 & 2), Henry V, Henry VI (Parts 1, 2 & 3), Henry VIII.

The Poetical Works: The Sonnets, Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music, A Lover's Complaint, The Rape of Lucrece, Venus and Adonis, The Phoenix and the Turtle, The Passionate Pilgrim.

Experience the rich language, complex characters, and timeless themes of love, betrayal, and power that define Shakespeare's work. This collection is a must-have for anyone interested in classic literature and the intricacies of human experience.

Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece of the duality of good and evil in man's nature sprang from the darkest recesses of his own unconscious—during a nightmare from which his wife awakened him, alerted by his screams. More than a hundred years later, this tale of the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll and the drug that unleashes his evil, inner persona—the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde—has lost none of its ability to shock.

Its realistic police-style narrative chillingly relates Jekyll's desperation as Hyde gains control of his soul—and gives voice to our own fears of the violence and evil within us. Written before Freud's naming of the ego and the id, Stevenson's enduring classic demonstrates a remarkable understanding of the personality's inner conflicts—and remains the irresistibly terrifying stuff of our worst nightmares.

Considered by Rumi to be "the master" of Sufi mystic poetry, Attar is best known for this epic poem, a magnificent allegorical tale about the soul’s search for meaning. He recounts the perilous journey of the world’s birds to the faraway peaks of Mount Qaf in search of the mysterious Simorgh, their king.

Attar’s beguiling anecdotes and humor intermingle the sublime with the mundane, the spiritual with the worldly, while his poem models the soul’s escape from the mind’s rational embrace. Sholeh Wolpé re-creates for modern readers the beauty and timeless wisdom of the original Persian, in contemporary English verse and poetic prose.

The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft brings together an extraordinary collection of tales from one of the most influential American writers of weird tales since Edgar Allan Poe.

Stories included are:

• The Nameless City
• The Festival
• The Colour Out of Space
• The Call of Cthulhu
• The Dunwich Horror
• The Whisperer in Darkness
• The Dreams in the Witch House
• The Haunter of the Dark
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth
• The Shadow Out of Time
• At the Mountains of Madness
• The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
• Azathoth
• Beyond the Wall of Sleep
• Celephaïs
• Cool Air
• Dagon
• Ex Oblivione
• Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
• From Beyond
• Herbert West-Reanimator
• Hypnos
• In the Vault
• Memory
• Nyarlathotep
• Pickman’s Model
• The Book
• The Cats of Ulthar
• The Descendant
• The Doom That Came to Sarnath
• The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
• The Evil Clergyman
• The Horror at Red Hook
• The Hound
• The Lurking Fear
• The Moon-Bog
• The Music of Erich Zann
• The Other Gods
• The Outsider
• The Picture in the House
• The Quest of Iranon
• The Rats in the Walls
• The Shunned House
• The Silver Key
• The Statement of Randolph Carter
• The Strange High House in the Mist
• The Street
• The Temple
• The Terrible Old Man
• The Thing on the Doorstep
• The Tomb
• The Transition of Juan Romero
• The Tree
• The Unnamable
• The White Ship
• What the Moon Brings
• Polaris
• The Very Old Folk
• Ibid
• Old Bugs
• Sweet Ermengarde, or, The Heart of a Country Girl
• A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson
• The History of the Necronomicon

This collection showcases Lovecraft's mastery of the macabre and his pioneering of a new type of fiction that fused elements of supernatural horror with visionary science fiction, revolutionizing modern horror fiction.

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters was an immediate commercial success when it was published in 1915. Unconventional in both style and content, it shattered the myths of small town American life. This collection of epitaphs of residents of a small town requires the reader to piece together narratives from fragments contained in individual poems.

In these pages, no less than 214 individual voices are heard — each voice distinct, yet universal in its resonance. The voices of Spoon River, although distinctively small-town Americans, evoke themes of love and hope, disappointment and despair that are universal in their resonance.

"One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy"

Previously published as Ethics, Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics addresses the question of how to live well and originates the concept of cultivating a virtuous character as the basis of his ethical system. Here Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness, and argues that happiness consists in 'activity of the soul in accordance with virtue', including moral virtues, such as courage, generosity, and justice, and intellectual virtues, such as knowledge, wisdom, and insight.

The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue, society, and the State. Aristotle's work has had a profound and lasting influence on all subsequent Western thought about ethical matters.

This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Greek by J.A.K. Thomson with revisions and notes by Hugh Tredennick, and an introduction and bibliography by Jonathan Barnes. 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.

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok. In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin's son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman's deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.