Classic Literature

Lewis Carroll is best remembered for this story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, both of which are children's books with content and style that have often appealed as much to adult readers as to the young. It was published in 1865 and was in fact with a particular child in mind, Alice Liddell, and had the working title "Alice's Adventures Under Ground". As befits that title, the tale is indeed of a trip (with the additional psychedelic sense certainly ... more info>>

Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was followed six years later by the sequel Through the Looking-Glass. In the topsy-turvy world that lies beyond the looking-glass, Alice meets such fantastical characters as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty, and the Jabberwock.

Tarzan had renounced his right to the woman he loved, and civilization held no pleasure for him. After a brief and harrowing period among men, he turned back to the African jungle where he had grown to manhood. It was there he first heard of Opar, the city of gold, left over from fabled Atlantis. It was a city of hideous men--and of beautiful, savage women, over whom reigned La, high priestess of the Flaming God. Its altars were stained with the blood of many sacrifices. Unheeding of the dangers... more info>>

Conceived by a shy British don on a golden afternoon to entertain ten-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass have delighted generations of readers in more than eighty languages. "The clue to the enduring fascination and greatness of the Alice books," writes A. S. Byatt in her Introduction, "lies in language .... It is play, and word-play, and its endless intriguing puzzles continue to reveal themselves long after we have ceased to b... more info>>

As the rich Lord Greystoke, Tarzan found himself the target of greedy, evil men. Stranded on a desert island, his wife and son kidnapped, Tarzan's plight seemed helpless. But with the help of Sheeta, the ferocious panther, and the great ape Akut, Tarzan crafted his escape with the giant Mugambi. Yet the trail of the kidnappers led deep into the interior--and it would take all of Tarzan's skills to reach his family in time.

Pride and Prejudice is the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet (minor gentry), their five daughters, and the various romantic adventures at their Hertfordshire residence of Longbourn. The parents' characters are greatly contrasted: Mr Bennet being a wise and witty gentleman; while Mrs Bennet is permanently distracted by the issue of marrying off her daughters at any cost. The reason for Mrs Bennet's obsession is that their estate will pass by law after Mr Bennet's death to his closest blood relative: his... more info>>

An amnesic Tarzan has been caught plundering the treasure vaults of the lost city of Opar. But a mysterious treasure hunter and a band of thieves have also learned of the hidden wealth. When a bag of jewels Tarzan had taken falls into the hunter's hands, a game of deadly double- and triple-cross begins--and the winner claims the treasure!

Tarzan's young son narrowly escaped the wrath of his father's nemesis Paulvitch, and he was forced to flee into the savage African jungles where Tarzan himself had been reared. There the civilized boy would have to learn to face the great beasts and exotic dangers only his father had ever conquered. And as he became known as Korak the Killer--whose legend would rival that of Tarzan--he would learn that the dangers of the jungle were nothing compared to those devised by men...

Perhaps no other novel in this century has had a greater impact upon the way we think and talk about our world than George Orwell's classic, 1984. "Big Brother," "doublespeak," and "the thought police" have become part of our everyday lexicon, and the term "Orwellian" has become a familiar adjective for any situation-real or imagined-where conformity is compulsory and where someone always seems to be watching. Orwell's novel also has the distinction of being, along with Aldous Huxley's Brave N... more info>>

Jane Austen's classic romance story in which the young Anne Elliott is persuaded by her plotting family to reject the man she loves, and her attempt to rekindle that love years later. Although written over 180 years ago the story is nevertheless a gripping tale for modern romance fans, packed with irony, wit, and powerful characters.

Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of Purgatory, and on to the glorious realm of Paradise--the sphere of universal harmony and eternal salvation. [Translation by H. W. Longfellow.]

At Baskerville Hall on the grim moors of Devonshire, a legendary curse has apparently claimed one more victim. Sir Charles Baskerville has been found dead. There are no signs of violence, but his face is hideously distorted with terror. Years earlier, a hound-like beast with blazing eyes and dripping jaws was reported to have torn out the throat of Hugo Baskerville. Has the speetral destroyer struck again? More important, is Sir Henry Baskerville, young heir to the estate, now in danger? Enter S... more info>>

An incredibly handsome young man in Victorian England retains his youthful appearance over the years while his portrait reflects both his age and evil soul as he pursues a life of decadence and corruption.

Classic tale of a scientist who learns the secrets of life and death--with horrifying results.

In Conrad's haunting tale, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey in search of the enigmatic Kurtz. Traveling to the heart of the African continent, he discovers how Kurtz has gained his position of power and influence over the local people. Marlow's struggle to fathom his experience involves him in a radical questioning of not only his own nature and values but the nature and values of his society.

Mansfield Park is highly regarded by Austen followers as a tale of character and sensibility very much along the lines of Emma and confronting similar issues of marriage and social class while acting as a serious critique of Regency values. Austen began writing it in 1811 and it was published in 1814, just as she began writing Emma. The novel is founded upon the solid and stern but kind-hearted Sir Thomas Bertram, owner of Mansfield Park. He is a throwback to the conservative values and beliefs ... more info>>

Written by one of America's greatest authors, Moby-Dick is a work of tremendous power and depth--one of world literature's great poetic epics. In the novel, published in 1851 after sixteen months of writing, Herman Melville recounts the Promethean quest of Captain Ahab, who, having lost a leg in a earlier battle with White Whale, is determined to catch the beast and destroy it. By the time readers meet Ahab, he is a vengeful, crazed, and terror-provoking figure, for Moby-Dick has come to represe... more info>>

This first of Jane Austen's published novels is the story of two starkly different English sisters: Elinor Dashwood, the epitome of prudence and self-control, and her younger, more impetuous sister Marianne, who embodies emotion, openness, and sheer enthusiasm. Elinor's good sense and readiness to observe social forms contrast with Marianne's impulsive candor and warm but excessive sensibility. Both struggle to maintain their integrity and find happiness in the face of a competitive marriage mar... more info>>

Charles Dickens' compelling portrait of the results of terror and treason, love and supreme sacrifice continues to captivate readers around the world. With Frank Muller's brilliant performance, unforgettable characters--the ever-knitting Madame Defarge, the lovely Lucie Manette, her broken father, the honorable Charles Darnay, and the sometimes scurrilous Sydney Carton--burst from the pages, full of life and passion.

This expanded edition of Ayn Rand's classic tale of a future dark age of the great "We"--in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values--is a beautifully written, powerful novel that projects current social trends into the future, and anticipates such later Rand masterpieces as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Originally published in 1865, Doctor Marigold was extremely successful, as were Dickens's public performances of a play based on the story--fascinating and easy to read. Doctor (it is his given name) Marigold is a "Cheap Jack" or what we would call a street peddler. Doctor Marigold's fortunes reverse when he adopts a deaf and mute girl whose mother is dead and whose stepfather, owner of a traveling circus, beats her. Dr Marigold recalls an overwhelming passion across two cultures--hearing and de... more info>>

More than a century after its first publication, Dracula remains the ultimate horror story, thrilling readers with its hair-raising portrait of a bloodthirsty vampire set loose on an English port town. Spawning countless film adaptations and literary spin-offs, Stoker's novel--a patchwork of letters, diary entries, and newspaper clippings--was the first to capture vampire mythology as we know it. We can still trace its abiding influence among the cinemas, bookstores, and television programs of t... more info>>

Great Expectations follows the life of the orphan, Pip. We first meet him as a tiny, terrified child in a village churchyard. Years later, through the help of an anonymous benefactor, Pip will travel to London, full of expectations to become a gentleman. But his life is already inextricably tangled in a mystery that surrounds a beautiful woman, an embittered recluse, and an ambitious lawyer. Great Expectations is both a finely crafted novel and an acute examination of Victorian society. Filled w... more info>>

Paradise Lost is the greatest work of one of the most acclaimed poets in English literature. It has had a profound influence on Western culture, and has attracted a vast amount of critical commentary of every sort.

When it was first published in 1943, The Fountainhead--containing Ayn Rand's daringly original literary vision with the seeds of her groundbreaking philosophy, Objectivism?won immediate worldwide acclaim. This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. This centennial edition of The Fountainhead, celebrating the controversial and eduring lega... more info>>