Modern Classics

This is a story from the Canterbury Tales I: Modern Verse Translation collection. Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.

It's Saturday, past midnight, and thick fog rolls in from the river like smoke. Link Williams is standing on the dock when he hears quick footsteps approaching and the gasp of a woman too terrified to scream. After chasing off her pursuer, he takes the woman to a nearby bar to calm her nerves, and as they enter, it's as if the oxygen has left the room: they, and the other patrons, see in the dim light that he's Black and she's white.

When a troubled young runaway arrives on Tom Ripley's French estate, he is drawn into a world he thought he'd left behind: the seedy underworld of Berlin, involving kidnapping plots, lies and deception. Ripley becomes the boy's protector as friendship develops between the young man with a guilty conscience and the older one with no conscience at all.

Rediscover the greatest love poetry ever written. Shakespeare’s sonnets are some of the nation’s favourite lines of verse, but the Elizabethan language can make it difficult to really understand them. Many guides offer to clarify the meaning, but lose the magic of the words by explaining them away. James Anthony has done something boldly different.

Steinbeck's first posthumously published work, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is a reinterpretation of tales from Malory's Morte d'Arthur. In this highly successful attempt to render Malory into Modern English, Steinbeck recreated the rhythm and tone of the original Middle English.

Classic Spirituality for the Modern Man takes a radically new approach to the question of spirituality. Its purpose is to bring the spiritual classics alive so that they can once again serve their original and true purpose: to guide and inspire us as we make our way through life.

In this hilarious, inspiring and provocative series of essays, Kingsley Amis introduces every listener to the wonders and value of science fiction writing. From the extraordinary ideas, but sexless science, of Jules Verne to the power of H. G. Wells's terrifying storytelling; from the brilliance of bad science fiction writing to the potency of their important ideas; from a portrait of the average SF listener to Amis's sad prediction that this genre will never make it in film or television, New Maps of Hell is a warm and witty exploration of a world many may be yet to discover.

🌟✨ Discover the Magic Anew: "Cinderella Reimagined" ✨🌟 Hey there, young readers! Get ready to dive into a world where fairy tales are redefined. "Cinderella Reimagined" isn't just another Cinderella story. It's a journey that brings more magic, more dreams, and more heart to a tale you thought you knew! 👑 Why You'll Love This Book: A New Cinderella: She's not just waiting for a fairy godmother! Our Cinderella is a hero with big dreams and an even bigger heart, especially for helping others. Adventure and Magic: Enchanting balls? Glass slippers? Yes, please! But there's so much ...

In this audiobook on philosophers, several fascinating thinkers will be covered. Their inspiring and debatable thoughts will give you new insights in life and death and in ethics and morals. First, the political philosophers John Locke will be explored. Mr. Locke was the libertarian who said something when things appeared to go in the wrong direction.

A Modern Utopia is a 1905 novel by H. G. Wells. Because of the complexity and sophistication of its narrative structure, A Modern Utopia has been called "not so much a modern as a postmodern utopia." The novel is best known for its notion that a voluntary order of nobility known as the Samurai could effectively rule a "kinetic and not static" world state so as to solve "the problem of combining progress with political stability".

Written when Orwell was a struggling writer in his 20s, it documents his 'first contact with poverty'. Here, he painstakingly documents a world of unrelenting drudgery and squalor - sleeping in bug-infested hostels and doss houses of last resort, working as a dishwasher in Paris's vile 'Hôtel X', surviving on scraps and cigarette butts, living alongside tramps, a star-gazing pavement artist and a starving Russian ex-army captain.

Kenton's career as a journalist depends on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics and his quick judgment. Where his judgment sometimes fails him however, is in his personal life. When he travels to Nuremberg to investigate a story about a top-level meeting of Nazi officials, he inadvertently finds himself on a train bound for Austria after a bad night of gambling. Stranded with no money, Kenton jumps at the chance to earn a fee helping a refugee smuggle securities across the border.

Jagua Nana, no longer young but still irresistible, lives a life of hedonism in Lagos: men, parties, fights, wild nights in the Tropicana with her handsome young boyfriend, Freddie. Rushing from one experience to the next in search of something she can't quite grasp, Jagua finds herself embroiled in shady politics, caught up in village feuds and the source of drama wherever she goes. In this vivid depiction of 1960s Nigeria, everyone is hustling and everyone is on the make - and a woman like Jagua must find her own unconventional path to fulfilment.

Texan billionaire General Midwinter will stop at nothing to bring down the USSR - even if it puts the whole world at risk. The fourth and final novel featuring the cynical, insolent narrator of The IPCRESS File sees him sent from his shabby Soho office to bone-freezing Helsinki in order to penetrate Midwinter's vast anti-Communist network - and stop a deadly virus from wiping out the planet.

This chilling tale of greed, lust, and deception opens on a midwinter night when Felix Canaris, a despairing writer about to take his own life, is saved by a knock at the door. The mysterious visitor, a Jasper Helwyze, promises Felix fame and fortune in return for his complete devotion.

Der Geschmack einer Madeleine, das Licht einer Laterna Magica, der Duft der Weißdornhecke: Schlüsselerlebnisse, die im Kopf des Erzählers Marcel unwillkürlich Erinnerungen hervorrufen. Kunstfertig und detailgetreu entsteht das Panorama des alten Combray und der Stadt Paris mit ihren Salons und Bällen. Kurz: einer Zeit, die verloren und doch gegenwärtig scheint.

The nuns who enter a medieval Norfolk convent are told to renounce the world, but the world still finds ways to trouble them, whether it is through fire, floods, pestilence, a collapsing spire, jealous rivalries, a priest with a secret or a plague of caterpillars. As we follow their daily lives over three centuries, this masterpiece of historical fiction recreates a world run by women.

With methods so powerful they can conquer an adversary’s spirit, you can use Master Tzu’s strategies to overcome any challenge, from warfare to self-defense to business negotiations. This book starts with the classic 1910 translation of The Art of War, adds modern and historical insight, and demonstrates how to put the master’s timeless wisdom to use in your everyday life. In this fashion, The Art of War becomes accessible for the modern mind, simultaneously entertaining, enlightening, and practical.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Last Witnesses, by Svetlana Alexievich, read by Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson and Allen Lewis Rickman. What did it mean to grow up in the Soviet Union during the Second World War? In the late 1970s, Svetlana Alexievich started interviewing people who had experienced war as children, the generation that survived and had to live with the trauma that would forever change the course of the Russian nation.

Tom Ripley is quietly living in luxury at his chateau at Villeperce. He has a past, however, that would not bear too much close scrutiny. He is certain that he has covered his tracks where murder and forgery are concerned. But when a certain American couple move in next door, he soon realises his every move is being shadowed. Ripley fears his secrets may be discovered, and he will stop at nothing to prevent that from happening.