Frankenstein
By the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window-shutters, I beheld the wretch-the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened... Frankenstein is the most celebrated horror story ever written. It tells the dreadful tale of Victor Frankenstein, a visionary young student of natural philosophy, who discovers the secret of life. In the grip of his obsession he constructs a being from dead body parts, and animates this creature. The results, for Victor and for his family, are catastrophic. Written when Mary Shelley was just eighteen, Frankenstein was inspired by the ghost stories and vogue for Gothic literature that fascinated the Romantic writers of her time. She transformed these supernatural elements an epic parable that warned against the threats to humanity posed by accelerating technological progress. Published for the 200th anniversary, this edition, based on the original 1818 text, explains in detail the turbulent intellectual context in which Shelley was writing, and also investigates how her novel has since become a byword for controversial practices in science and medicine, from manipulating ecosystems to vivisection and genetic modification. As an iconic study of power, creativity, and, ultimately, what it is to be human, Frankenstein continues to shape our thinking in profound ways to this day.
Experimental Criticism
Experimental Criticism offers a series of close critical engagements with one of the world's most innovative literary thinkers. Franco Moretti, author of such major works as Signs Taken for Wonders, The Way of the World, Modern Epic, Atlas of the European Novel and The Bourgeois, may be best known for his 'distant reading' of vast numbers of literary texts at the Stanford Literary Lab. Francesco de Cristofaro and Stefano Ercolino lead a lively exploration of his work as a springboard for rethinking the fundamentals of literary studies. Topics include literary theory and method, problems of scale and canonisation, the evolution of literary forms, abstract modelling and the digital humanities, comparative versus world literature, Marxism and literary history, and tragedy and the novel. There are essays from Moretti himself on Luk獺cs and the tensions between close and distant reading, plus a 'provisional epilogue' in which he reflects on his intellectual itinerary and the challenges posed by contributors to this volume. 'Why study literature?' he asks. For the pleasure of reducing complex things to their simple elements; to bring them back to earth. This key retrospective amounts to a critical manifesto for an experimental literary materialism, one unafraid to test radical new hypotheses.
Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy
Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy is a modern classic, appreciated by a wide readership, used in liturgy, and translated into more than a dozen languages. It is Leonard Cohen's modern psalter, in which he exposes his dialogue with the divine and the deepest struggles of his soul in its attempts to find peace, side by side with his erotic yearning and his concern for the world at large. Its intricate poetic language combines imagery from the wealth of the Jewish tradition in which the poet was raised, as well as his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation and his absorption in Christian imagery and in old and modern poetry. This book offers a detailed interpretation of Cohen's prose-poems, identifying the sources utilized by him in creating his unique take on the Psalms for our day and age. It is a book that will allow all readers to gain deeper understanding of Cohen's ideas and language in ways that will enrich their own spiritual lives.
The Eternal Moment
Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is one of the great monuments of modern literature-admired, imitated, and often left unfinished on the nightstand. The Eternal Moment: Marcel Proust and the Architecture of Memory offers a readable, idea-rich companion for libraries, classrooms, and serious general readers.Hamon de Quillan approaches Proust as an architect of consciousness. He shows how the novel cycle is built from recurring materials-sensations, habits, social rituals, works of art-and how these materials construct identity across time. From the madeleine episode to the cork-lined room, from Belle ?poque Paris to the disruptions of World War I, the book places Proust's internal drama in its cultural and historical frame without reducing the work to biography.Organised in sixteen thematic chapters, The Eternal Moment examines the formation of Proust's artistic vision; the social "tapestries" of class, salons, and ambition; the mechanics of involuntary memory and sensory recall; love, jealousy, and the illusions of desire; the philosophical currents of Bergson and Schopenhauer; the impact of war on time, perception, and social order; Proust's influence on modernist narrative; and the continuing debates around elitism, style, and accessibility. A final section engages archival materials-letters, photographs, drafts-to show what scholarship can illuminate and where it should remain cautious.Key figures-Swann and Odette, the narrator and Albertine, and the Baron de Charlus-are read as case studies in how society performs itself and how desire distorts perception. Recurrent images (music, flowers, names, rooms) are treated as structural beams that carry meaning from volume to volume, helping readers track continuity across the cycle's celebrated nonlinearity. Ideal for curated literature collections.Clear, interpretive, and generous, de Quillan's study is designed to be used alongside any volume of Proust's cycle. It provides signposts for first-time readers, fresh angles for re-readers, and a vocabulary for discussing Proust's techniques in book clubs or courses on modernism, French literature, narrative theory, and memory studies. A selected bibliography supports further reading.At the centre is a simple promise: Proust's world is vast, but it is navigable. Open the door, follow the sensations, and discover how a single moment can hold an entire life.
The Eternal Moment
Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is one of the great monuments of modern literature-admired, imitated, and often left unfinished on the nightstand. The Eternal Moment: Marcel Proust and the Architecture of Memory offers a readable, idea-rich companion for libraries, classrooms, and serious general readers.Hamon de Quillan approaches Proust as an architect of consciousness. He shows how the novel cycle is built from recurring materials-sensations, habits, social rituals, works of art-and how these materials construct identity across time. From the madeleine episode to the cork-lined room, from Belle ?poque Paris to the disruptions of World War I, the book places Proust's internal drama in its cultural and historical frame without reducing the work to biography.Organised in sixteen thematic chapters, The Eternal Moment examines the formation of Proust's artistic vision; the social "tapestries" of class, salons, and ambition; the mechanics of involuntary memory and sensory recall; love, jealousy, and the illusions of desire; the philosophical currents of Bergson and Schopenhauer; the impact of war on time, perception, and social order; Proust's influence on modernist narrative; and the continuing debates around elitism, style, and accessibility. A final section engages archival materials-letters, photographs, drafts-to show what scholarship can illuminate and where it should remain cautious.Key figures-Swann and Odette, the narrator and Albertine, and the Baron de Charlus-are read as case studies in how society performs itself and how desire distorts perception. Recurrent images (music, flowers, names, rooms) are treated as structural beams that carry meaning from volume to volume, helping readers track continuity across the cycle's celebrated nonlinearity. Ideal for curated literature collections.Clear, interpretive, and generous, de Quillan's study is designed to be used alongside any volume of Proust's cycle. It provides signposts for first-time readers, fresh angles for re-readers, and a vocabulary for discussing Proust's techniques in book clubs or courses on modernism, French literature, narrative theory, and memory studies. A selected bibliography supports further reading.At the centre is a simple promise: Proust's world is vast, but it is navigable. Open the door, follow the sensations, and discover how a single moment can hold an entire life.
Dickens in Brooklyn
Dickens in Brooklyn is a virtuoso collection of unusual, compelling essays in which critically acclaimed and award-winning author Jay Neugeboren explores experiences that have been central to his life: caring long-term for a brother with mental illness; finding and connecting with long-lost family members; a posthumous lunch with Oliver Sacks; his years as single parent to his three children; his decision as a General Motors executive trainee to violate company policy and hang out with "hourlies;" a thwarted kiss at a teenage summer camp where he was a young Jewish man in exile among Jews. Neugeboren is the author most recently of Whatever Happened to Frankie King and twenty-three other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. His essays have been recently published in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, The American Scholar, Los Angeles Review of Books, Tablet, and Commonweal, and are here collected for the first time.
Autonomy and Heteronomy of Art
Poetry finds its own reason to be and its own dignity within itself. It does this despite any evaluation of poetry in relation to its range, of any moralistic, pedagogical, or didactic purpose, or any moral, philosophical, or scientific content. Unbound by realism, naturalism, sensualism, or sentiment, looking beyond any concrete, defined content, or any dispersive tendency towards narrative or discourse, poetry disregards any evaluation that places its value in something extraneous.Luciano Anceschi (Milan, 1911 - Bologna, 1995) was a literary critic and aesthetic theorist, one of the leading exponents of Antonio Banfi's "critical rationalism." After earning a degree in aesthetics from the University of Milan, he published Autonomy and Heteronomy of Art (1936), a foundational text in his reflection on the theory of poetics. A university professor, he was the director of the journal Il Verri and a key figure in the debate on the neo-avant-garde. His extensive critical work profoundly influenced the study of literature and aesthetics in the twentieth century.Philip Balma is an Associate Professor of Italian Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Connecticut, specializing in modern Italian literature, film, and translation studies. His translations have appeared in Translation Review, Italian Poetry Review, Italica, and The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories. He has translated works by Ennio Flaiano, Eugenio Montale, Edith Bruck, and others.
From Man to Man or Perhaps Only--
"I've lived in so many countries, yet when anything comes to me, it's early always Africa--Africa that sets it." Olive Schreiner's From Man to Man or Perhaps Only--, unfinished at the time of her death and posthumously published in 1926, tells the story of two white women born into the racist, society of mid-nineteenth-century South Africa. One sister remains in the British Cape Colony and finds a way to deal with her husband's infidelities. The other raped at age 15, is hounded out of her insular white South African community, and becomes a kept woman in London's East End. Addressing the ill-effects of a male-dominated imperial capitalism, and positing an equivalence between marriage and prostitution in a society where women's function is primarily sexual, the novel foregrounds the perspective of a young black girl in order to place before its readers the vision of what Schreiner called an "expanded and enlarged humanity". Edited by Dorothy Driver, and based partly on manuscript amendments by Schreiner, reproduces two alternative endings, one apparently told to her husband-editor, and summarised by him, and the other she wrote in a letter to a friend. Driver also provides literary, historical, and linguistic context through an in-depth introduction and expansive notes. This edition includes extracts from Schreiner's letters and journals that cast light on the genesis, composition, and final abandonment of the novel. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around theglobe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of othervaluable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies forfurther study, and much more.
The New Digital Avant-Garde
This work is a study of current migration narratives within the disciplines of Anglophone Postcolonial Literature and Digital Humanities. Global culture, the proliferation and pervasiveness of telecommunications technologies and new media, particularly the Internet, have substantially affected the act of narrating. The replacement of traditional written language as the primary means of conveying narrative and storytelling is a distinctive feature in: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013); Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017); Warsan Shire's Home (2011, 2016, 2017, 2022) and the narratives produced within the "Refugee Tales" project. These literary and digital projects might well be considered avant-garde manifestos against racism, in favor of gender equality, female empowerment and a humanitarian plea for the compassionate treatment of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Pages Lost and New
Margaret Randall has contributed poetry, essays, translations, and oral histories to the public discourse since the 1960s. Here, she assembles many of the prose works largely lost to time that demonstrate the arc of her thinking, from keynote addresses to informal talks and essays published long ago. More recent work reflects her fierce need to address topics about which she has new things to say. The essays range from photography to translation, social justice to creative expression. This deep collection bridges periods of our history and hers, contributing to the complex weave produced by Randall's generation of thinkers and makers.
Pushing the Wave 2024
Pushing the Wave 2024 brings together a year of essays, reflections and travel writing by L.A. Davenport, enriched with drawings and photo essays from Europe and beyond.This latest volume explores themes of creativity, culture and connection: from finding "flow" in daily life and questioning the allure of awards season, to grappling with limerence, freedom, education and the risks of artificial intelligence. Davenport combines sharp cultural commentary with intimate moments of memory and observation, creating a vibrant mosaic of modern life.Journeys through Paris, Umbria, Antibes, Athens, Cuba, Houston and the northern coast of Ireland deepen the collection, offering fresh perspectives on place, history and belonging.At once thoughtful and lyrical, Pushing the Wave 2024 continues this rich series as a celebration of creativity, curiosity and the search for meaning in a restless world.Perfect for fans of Pico Iyer, Olivia Laing, Alain de Botton and Rebecca Solnit-writers who blend travel, culture and personal reflection with a sharp eye for modern life.
Pushing the Wave 2024
Pushing the Wave 2024 brings together a year of essays, reflections and travel writing by L.A. Davenport, enriched with drawings and photo essays from Europe and beyond.This latest volume explores themes of creativity, culture and connection: from finding "flow" in daily life and questioning the allure of awards season, to grappling with limerence, freedom, education and the risks of artificial intelligence. Davenport combines sharp cultural commentary with intimate moments of memory and observation, creating a vibrant mosaic of modern life.Journeys through Paris, Umbria, Antibes, Athens, Cuba, Houston and the northern coast of Ireland deepen the collection, offering fresh perspectives on place, history and belonging.At once thoughtful and lyrical, Pushing the Wave 2024 continues this rich series as a celebration of creativity, curiosity and the search for meaning in a restless world.Perfect for fans of Pico Iyer, Olivia Laing, Alain de Botton and Rebecca Solnit-writers who blend travel, culture and personal reflection with a sharp eye for modern life.
Literary code switching and beyond
Welcome to a journey into the intricate world of aesthetic multilingualism. This monography delves deep into the realms where diverse linguistic and artistic codes converge to shape the very essence of aesthetic experience. From the authorial motivations to the composition, narrative framework, functional aspects, and multimodal manifestations, it unravels the complexities of code-switching as a powerful aesthetic device. Drawing from a rich tapestry of literary and artistic works, it explores how code-switching transcends linguistic boundaries to create captivating narratives and immersive artistic experiences. The outlined multidimensional approach goes beyond mere linguistic analysis, delving into the intricate interplay of semiotic resources, cultural contexts, and narrative strategies. Through meticulous examination and insightful case studies, it sheds light on the multifaceted nature of aesthetic code-switching, revealing its profound impact on artistic expression and communication. As you embark on this journey, this monography invites you to explore the diverse landscapes of aesthetic multilingualism, where words, sounds, and visuals converge to create art that transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries and captivates the imagination.
Songs of Ogadi
Hear now the voice of Ogadi, child of shadow and light, whose feet have walked the alleys of sorrow and the plains of silence. Ogadi speaks for the unborn, the forsaken, the children whose cries were never carried to the heavens. In twenty-five songs, the lament of the abandoned rises, trembles, and turns into a heartbeat that will not be silenced.From the whispers of those lost before life, to the footsteps of the orphan, the voiceless, the stolen-each verse carries the weight of grief, yet hums with the pulse of endurance. These are songs of sorrow, yes, but also of fire: the fire of survival, the fire of spirit, the fire that will dance through the darkness and summon hope.In the final dance, "Ogadi's Last Dance", despair lifts its veil, and resilience reigns. The child who knew only neglect rises, dancing a rhythm that calls the continent to remember, to witness, to honor, and to nurture. These poems are a drumbeat of ancestry, a chant of the eternal, a summons to hearts willing to answer the call of the future.Songs of Ogadi is a sacred offering: a voice of the unheard, a song of the resilient, a bridge between the spirits of yesterday and the leaders of tomorrow. Those who read, who listen, who feel, are bound by the invisible cords of memory, hope, and Africa itself."His poetry, like his personality, is at once firm and gentle, able to confront hard truths without losing focus and compassion." - Orji Ogbonnaya Orji
Dialogue in the Literature of Abu Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī
the dialogues in al-Tawḥīdī's literature formed an interactive system that reveals thecharacteristics of collective imagination, social dynamics, the etiquettes of socialcommunication, and the qualities of collaboration in creating literary knowledge and buildingits social and aesthetic foundations. This is why this study will attempt to clarify thecommunicative and dialogic features of these interactions from the perspective ofcommunicative interaction, and will draw on the human and epistemic anthropologicalsciences to explore the traditions of literary interaction that characterize al-Tawḥīdī's works.This study is limited to the literature of Abu Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, as he represents thequintessential model in dialogical literature.
Heart Sick (Discreet Cover)
Piano has always been my one true love.So when the music stops, I do whatever I can to hear it again.But when I wake, all I hear is his heart and the memories that come with it.This is my body.My mind.But not my heart.Each beat hides a secret, and his voice now replaces the music, demanding I uncover the truth.I'm sent to a place to get better, and that's when I meet her.Every artist needs a muse, and Luna allows me to hear the music again. But when her secrets soon become mine, I realize it's because I've lived this life before.Or rather, he has.The man whose heart beats within my chest knows Luna...and everything she's done.
Love Sick (Discreet Cover)
All I want is revenge.But I'm afraid it will destroy me because I'm not a monster.Or maybe I am.And that's thanks to Doctor Alanna Norton.She's tortured me.She's made me forget who I am.And she's done all this in the name of love.But the love I feel for my son, who was stolen from me, will triumph. I won't accept any other outcome.There is another love which I will fight for-Dutch Atwood.But what I find...the sting of betrayal lingers. I look at Dutch through new eyes; he doesn't trust me, and I don't trust him.I'm faced with so many scenarios-I wish I knew how this story ends so I can make the right choice.But there is no right in the hand I was dealt.Alanna wants love so badly, so I intend to show her what true love looks like, because the only thing that matters is getting out of here...but not before I take from Alanna what she took from me.Her heart.
The Site of Memory
The Site of Memory describes Toni Morrison's work of literary archaeology. She offers insights into how she arrives at a text through the act of imagination bound up with memory and shows how she explores two worlds - the actual and the possible - via the nimbus of emotion surrounding the journey of an image: from picture to meaning to text. Exploring the radical possibilities of literature and the limits of history, Morrison finds a truth deeper than documentation in the silences and omissions in African American narratives of the past. Fiction, for Morrison, is a practice of ethical restoration: a means to recover what history has neglected through the 'flooding' of a rush of imagination. In The Site of Memory, ancestral presence, emotion and imagination converge. If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and mystery and magic.
Raised by Ferns
Born in a Pacific Northwest gas station to itinerant, countercultural parents, Maya Jewell Zeller came of age in a landscape where poverty, wildness, and self-reliance intertwined. Raised by Ferns traces the path of a feral girl craving both freedom and safety to a middle-class adult life shaped by academia, motherhood, and uneasy privilege. Refusing tired narratives of bootstrap triumph, Zeller instead renders rural America with intimate complexity. She writes with sharp lyricism and attention about what it means to live between worlds-material scarcity and cultural wealth, inherited distrust and institutional legitimacy. From leaking rentals to library stacks, from ferns and fire codes to scholarship and marital strife, Zeller's life resists easy packaging yet finds form in layered essays that explore the complicated pursuit of belonging. Raised by Ferns offers a vital, compelling new take on the forces that shape identity and the choices that define home. It is a story of survival, but more importantly, of questioning for what-and who-it is worth surviving for.
Selected Verse of ?mile Nelligan, Qu矇bec's great lyric poet
Nelligan's finest poemsThis collection of 46 poems, translated from French, has been selected for both poetic and psychological interest. ?mile Nelligan, Canada's first truly modern poet, burst upon the scene as a prodigy creating brilliant lyrical poetry in late 19th-century Montr矇al for three years before suffering, at age 19, a breakdown that left him in a mental asylum for the rest of his life Nelligan went on to achieve mythic status in Qu矇bec - no other poet in all Canada has been the subject of so many biographies, films, novels, plays, and critical appraisals. This volume includes Nelligan's key poems, accompanied by robust commentary covering such topics as the women in Nelligan's life, the nature of his breakdown, and the several controversies surrounding his life and work. This collection of 46 poems, translated from French, has been selected for both poetic and psychological interest.In the valley breeze where the moonlight glows Come all ye blonde belles and brown-haired beaus, Where the fiddle plays and the woodwind blows, Dance the villanelle! - Villanelle ViolinA mighty Ship there was, of solid gold 'twas spun, Its masts touched the sky, it sailed on seas unknown, While naked Aphrodite, tresses wildly blown, Reclined along the prow before the blazing sun.- The Ship of Gold
International Yeats Studies
International Yeats Studies is an open access, peer-reviewed publication of The International Yeats Society, which was founded in 2015 to promote the study of W. B. Yeats in a global context. The journal features original scholarship of the highest quality from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, as well as book and performance reviews.This issue is a comprehensive, descriptive, and analytical study of the five composition notebooks that Yeats acquired in Italy and used to write many important works in verse and prose between March 1927 and April 1931, including lyrics for his Crazy Jane sequence, major poems such as "Coole Park 1929" and "Byzantium," and draft materials for A Vision and two of his supernatural plays, The Words upon the Window-Pane and The Resurrection. The Rapallo Notebooks bring together a unique record of Yeats's creative processes at a key period of his artistic and personal life. Authors Mann and Chapman have selected nearly forty facsimiles from these notebooks, and they present numerous other photographic and visual aids to assist narration, including transcriptions, charts, and tabular summaries of the notebooks' construction and physical state following conservation efforts undertaken for the National Library of Ireland in 2005.
Fire!! A quarterly devoted to the younger Negro artists, Volume 1, Number 1
Fire!! A Quarterly Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists (Volume 1, Number 1) was a groundbreaking literary magazine created by Wallace Thurman and other members of the Harlem Renaissance. First published in 1926, this single-issue publication gave voice to a new generation of Black writers and artists who challenged traditional racial narratives and explored bold themes of identity, art, sexuality, and modern Black life. Featuring contributions from luminaries such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Bruce Nugent, Fire!! became an emblem of creative rebellion and artistic freedom within the Harlem Renaissance. Though short-lived, its influence endures as a symbol of cultural defiance and youthful artistic expression.
Zumba - The Way Of Life
The messages in this book were channeled from The Divine to help the humanity navigate through the ups and downs of Life. To trust in the Divine, to believe, to let go, to surrender and to live life joyously. Whatever life's lessons, the problems, it's solutions, wisdom which I faced in my life, I have tried to put it down through the guidance of the Universe. It was not me who wrote this precious book, but The Divine. I call it as the Divine's Book. The intention behind this book of the Divine is to help many lives who are going through the same life's challenges that I went through, to empower them, to have full faith in themselves and the Divine. May this book of the Divine: Zumba - the way of life, bring out the bestest version of you, heal you completely and bring you closer to the Divine. Let's navigate this beautiful journey of our lives on our beautiful Planet Earth.
International Yeats Studies
International Yeats Studies is an open access, peer-reviewed publication of The International Yeats Society, which was founded in 2015 to promote the study of W. B. Yeats in a global context. The journal features original scholarship of the highest quality from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, as well as book and performance reviews.This issue is a comprehensive, descriptive, and analytical study of the five composition notebooks that Yeats acquired in Italy and used to write many important works in verse and prose between March 1927 and April 1931, including lyrics for his Crazy Jane sequence, major poems such as "Coole Park 1929" and "Byzantium," and draft materials for A Vision and two of his supernatural plays, The Words upon the Window-Pane and The Resurrection. The Rapallo Notebooks bring together a unique record of Yeats's creative processes at a key period of his artistic and personal life. Authors Mann and Chapman have selected nearly forty facsimiles from these notebooks, and they present numerous other photographic and visual aids to assist narration, including transcriptions, charts, and tabular summaries of the notebooks' construction and physical state following conservation efforts undertaken for the National Library of Ireland in 2005.
Hovering
In her haunting new poetry collection, Hovering, Carol V. Davis explores how disease steals what makes us human. These poems explore what it means when language and memory uncouple like merry-go-round animals that break free and gallop off. Drawing on texts and traditions, the poems confront the reality of the void and the length of the journey. They delve into what is said, what is unsaid and what is lost by the people involved. These poems do not turn away, instead Davis courageously lifts dark moments to the light.
Speculative Insight
This book collects essays from July-December 2025 of Speculative Insight, plus two bonus essays: one by Chris Campbell and Hazel Milla, the other by Ng Yi-Sheng. The essays explore themes within science fiction and fantasy.
Talks On The Study Of Literature
Talks on the study of literature examines literature as a vital form of emotional and intellectual expression that transcends rigid definition. It rejects narrow classifications and insists that the most meaningful works arise from sincere and typical human emotions shaped through refined artistic vision. Rather than focusing on historical or moral function, it frames literature as a mirror of internal truth, advocating for the appreciation of emotional depth over technical precision. Through this lens, the work challenges readers to move beyond surface interpretations and cultivate a more intuitive, personal connection to texts. It distinguishes literature from general writing by emphasizing the resonance and craftsmanship required to convey lasting human insights. The act of studying literature becomes not an academic obligation but a transformative pursuit that enhances understanding of self and society. Emphasizing the importance of polite literature or belles-lettres, it positions such works as central to cultural and personal enrichment. By valuing sincerity, clarity, and imagination, the book constructs a philosophical foundation for literary exploration.
Doctor Faustus
'Why must I feel that almost all--no, all--of the devices and conventions used by art are today only fit for parody?' Adrian Leverk羹hn is a composer who, at terrible personal cost, makes the breakthrough from traditional art to extreme modernism and success. Creative and brilliant, he will stop at nothing to achieve greatness. Thomas Mann wrote Doctor Faustus (1947) in American exile during and just after the Second World War. A prominent and long-standing defender of democracy, he sought to understand, in cultural and intellectual terms, how Germany had succumbed to Nazism. Mann structures his story through references to the German legend of Faust and his pact with the Devil. The life of the solitary composer, an ultimately tragic figure, is recounted by his friend and biographer, who represents a sadly ineffectual humanism, and whose social activities provide a panorama of middle-class German society in the early twentieth century. Ritchie Robertson's new English translation is accompanied by detailed annotations and an introduction illuminating the themes of the novel. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Speculative Insight
This book contains all of the essays published by Speculative Insight across 2025, including the three bonus essays by Lee Murray, Ng Yi-Sheng, and Chris Campbell & Hazel Milla. Essays explore themes within science fiction and fantasy.
The Cambridge Introduction to Queer and Trans Studies
The book provides a detailed analysis of important work in queer and trans studies over the past thirty years. Stretching from early figures (such as Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler, Cathy Cohen, Jos矇 Mu簽oz, and Sandy Stone) to the most recent scholarship, it offers a rich account of these fields' major ideas and contributions while indicating how they have evolved. Centering race and empire, the book offers extended discussion of work in Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American studies as well as engaging the Global South. The Introduction further addresses historical considerations of sexuality and gender identity, and queer and trans temporalities, while also providing a robust account of social and political movements that preceded the emergence of queer and trans studies as scholarly fields. Accessible for those unfamiliar with these areas of study, it is also a great resource for those already working in them.
The Wind In The Rose-Bush And Other Stories Of The Supernatural
The wind in the rose-bush and other stories of the supernatural is a collection that explores eerie encounters and the subtle interplay between human emotion and the uncanny. The opening story introduces a woman traveling to a quiet village to reclaim her niece, only to find the atmosphere thick with unease and mysterious tension. Her journey is marked by interactions with wary locals whose behavior hints at hidden secrets and unspoken fears. As she approaches her destination, the presence of a controlling and enigmatic family member intensifies the sense of foreboding, blending psychological anxiety with hints of the supernatural. The collection emphasizes how ordinary settings can conceal extraordinary disturbances, making the familiar feel unsettling. Through reflective narration and carefully crafted suspense, each story investigates the ways fear, curiosity, and moral uncertainty shape human experience. Supernatural elements serve not just to shock but to mirror internal conflicts and desires, revealing the fragility of perception and the hidden complexities of social and familial dynamics. The wind in the rose-bush ultimately invites readers to explore the shadowed corners of both environment and psyche.
Letters On Literature
Letters on literature is a reflective collection of essays in which the author examines the evolution of literary taste, the art of poetry, and the enduring value of the written word. Written in an engaging epistolary style, the work captures an intimate dialogue between writer and reader, combining personal insight with critical reflection. Through discussions of poets such as Tennyson and Browning, the author contemplates the shifting landscape of literary creation and the waning reverence for poetic expression in modern society. The essays reveal both admiration for the achievements of the past and concern for the diminished role of imagination and craftsmanship in contemporary writing. Blending wit, scholarship, and affection for literature, the collection stands as a defense of artistic integrity and intellectual engagement. It encourages readers to reconsider the moral and emotional power of language as a means of truth and beauty, offering a timeless meditation on the relationship between art, criticism, and cultural memory.
The Stark Munro Letters
The Stark Munro letters is a reflective and character-driven narrative told through a series of twelve letters from a young doctor to his close friend. Set during the early stages of his professional life, the letters reveal the personal and philosophical struggles of a man trying to establish his career, maintain friendships, and make sense of life's deeper questions. The correspondence begins with warm recollections of university days and mutual acquaintances, introducing a vivid figure whose eccentricities and ambition contrast sharply with the narrator's more measured perspective. The unfolding stories explore themes such as ambition, the unpredictable nature of talent, and the emotional weight of everyday choices. Alongside professional setbacks and personal challenges, the narrator wrestles with questions of faith, morality, and purpose, offering insight into the intellectual concerns of his time. The format allows for a tone that is at once candid, humorous, and thoughtful, drawing the reader into the inner world of a man seeking meaning in both his personal and professional journey. It is an intimate portrayal of growth, doubt, and the search for direction.
Can Such Things Be?
Can such things be? presents a haunting exploration of the supernatural, blending mystery, fear, and existential reflection. The collection unites stories that probe the boundaries between life and death, sanity and illusion, and the physical and spiritual worlds. Bierce's precise prose captures an atmosphere of eerie stillness and dread, where ordinary moments collapse into terrifying encounters with the unknown. The book opens with unsettling imagery that immerses readers in dreamlike confusion, where memory and guilt intertwine with spectral presences. Each story reveals a different facet of human frailty and the inescapable shadow of mortality. Through depictions of apparitions, unearthly landscapes, and haunted consciousness, Bierce explores the limits of reason and the persistence of the uncanny in everyday life. His dark wit and philosophical undertone elevate these tales beyond simple ghost stories, transforming them into meditations on fear, fate, and the fragile boundary separating the living from the dead. The result is a chilling yet intellectually engaging collection of supernatural fiction.
Sir Walter Scott And The Border Minstrelsy
Sir Walter Scott and the border minstrelsy examines the literary contributions of Sir Walter Scott with a focus on his collection and editing of traditional Scottish ballads. The work addresses criticisms regarding Scott's authenticity as a ballad editor, analyzing specific pieces and exploring how oral traditions shaped and preserved these narratives. It emphasizes the cultural significance of the ballads in reflecting Scotland's history and identity, showing how they capture the values, struggles, and collective memory of the communities from which they emerged. The text details the processes of gathering, editing, and sometimes modernizing the ballads to make them accessible while maintaining their original spirit, highlighting the collaborative influences of various contributors who helped shape the final forms. The work situates Scott's efforts within a broader discourse on literary authenticity, demonstrating the delicate balance between preserving tradition and adapting it for contemporary readership. By examining the interplay between folklore, authorship, and historical narrative, the book underscores the enduring importance of ballads as both cultural artifacts and literary achievements, asserting Scott's pivotal role in the preservation and interpretation of Scotland's oral heritage.
The Mystical Art of Shakespeare Volume I
Shakespeare's plays are poetical masterpieces that not only mesmerize us with their lyrical beauty but also convey sage messages critically important to humanity. This means that Shakespeare is a greater literary genius than previously thought, and his plays more wonderful and profound than previously imagined.The Mystical Art of Shakespeare Volume I explains how Shakespeare meticulously crafted every scene of Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors to each convey its central spiritual message, using three unique Shakespearean techniques: cohesive unity, thematic resonance, and focused allegorical scenes.This book is written as a running commentary of the two plays so readers can follow the narrative of Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors like reading a novel. The increased understanding from the commentary intensifies the drama and reflects how Shakespeare conveys his spiritual messages through our emotional involvement. It is akin to learning by direct experience-the initiatic quality that makes Shakespeare's plays an invaluable gift to humanity.
The Mystical Art of Shakespeare Volume III
Shakespeare's plays are poetical masterpieces that not only mesmerize us with their lyrical beauty but also convey sage messages critically important to humanity. This means that Shakespeare is a greater literary genius than previously thought, and his plays more profound than previously imagined.The Mystical Art of Shakespeare Volume III explains how Shakespeare meticulously crafted every scene of Twelfth Night and Macbeth to each convey its central spiritual message, using three unique Shakespearean techniques: cohesive unity, thematic resonance, and focused allegorical scenes. The book explains Shakespeare's reason for calling the play Twelfth Night, and why it has an alternative title: What You Will. It also explains the central message in the powerful and dramatic depiction of the genesis of evil in Macbeth. Shakespeare conveys his meaning in each of the plays through a series of brilliant scenes that leave an indelible image in our mind and in our inner psyche.This book is written as a running commentary of the two plays so readers can follow the narrative of Twelfth Night and Macbeth like reading a novel. The increased understanding from the commentary intensifies the drama and reflects how Shakespeare conveys his spiritual messages through our emotional involvement. It is akin to learning by direct experience-the initiatic quality that makes Shakespeare's plays an invaluable gift to humanity.
The Mystical Art of Shakespeare Volume II
Shakespeare's plays are poetical masterpieces that not only mesmerize us with their lyrical beauty but also convey sage messages critically important to humanity. This means that Shakespeare is a greater literary genius than previously thought, and his plays more wonderful and profound than previously imagined.The Mystical Art of Shakespeare Volume II explains how Shakespeare meticulously crafted every scene of The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo & Juliet to each convey its central spiritual message, using three unique Shakespearean techniques: cohesive unity, thematic resonance, and focused allegorical scenes.This book is written as a running commentary of the two plays so readers can follow the narrative of The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo & Juliet like reading a novel. The increased understanding from the commentary intensifies the drama and reflects how Shakespeare conveys his spiritual messages through our emotional involvement. It is akin to learning by direct experience-the initiatic quality that makes Shakespeare's plays an invaluable gift to humanity.
De Profundis
In the dim confines of a Victorian prison cell, a voice emerges, raw and unyielding, weaving a tapestry of personal reflections and spiritual journeys. This poignant piece of epistolary literature, once lost to the annals of time, now resurfaces, offering a window into the emotional introspection of a mind both tormented and brilliant. With its profound insights into the human condition, it speaks to the heart of Victorian England, capturing the zeitgeist of the late 19th century with unparalleled depth. The narrative unfolds as a series of letters from prison, where the author grapples with themes that resonate as deeply today as they did then, offering literary enthusiasts and philosophical readers alike a chance to explore the intersections of life, art, and suffering. As a work of Victorian literature, it stands as a testament to resilience and transformation, deeply influenced by the era's cultural and social dynamics. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions, meticulously restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure, inviting readers to delve into a world where literary criticism meets the raw, unvarnished truth of human experience. A must-have for those who cherish the enduring power of words to illuminate the darkest corners of the soul.
