Ancient & Classical in Literary Theory & Criticism & Fiction & Literature eBooks

Talking Classics

The Shock of the Old

by Mary Beard ...

The incomparable Mary Beard is back, and she’s talking all things classics.Why the ongoing fascination with the ancient world? This witty, approachable book asks why—for better or (sometimes) worse—antiquity continues to exert such a powerful hold on the contemporary imagination. Recalling a formative childhood encounter with a four-thousand-year-old piece of bread in a museum, Beard introduces ... Read more

Was $10.79 USD Now $8.69 USD

The incomparable Mary Beard is back, and she’s talking all things classics.Why the ongoing fascination with the ancient world? This witty, approachable book asks why—for better or (sometimes) worse—antiquity continues to exert such a powerful hold on the contemporary imagination. Recalling a formative childhood encounter with a four-thousand-year-old piece of bread in a museum, Beard introduces
... Read more
An Odyssey

A Father, a Son, and an Epic

by Daniel Mendelsohn ...

**A New York Times/PBS NewsHour Book Club PickFrom award-winning memoirist and critic, and bestselling author of The Lost: a deeply moving tale of a father and son's transformative journey in reading--and reliving--Homer's epic masterpiece.**When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate Odyssey seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an ... Read more

$11.99 USD

**A New York Times/PBS NewsHour Book Club PickFrom award-winning memoirist and critic, and bestselling author of The Lost: a deeply moving tale of a father and son's transformative journey in reading--and reliving--Homer's epic masterpiece.**When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate Odyssey seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an
... Read more
解讀源氏物語

by 林水福 ...

Series series 當代名家
《源氏物語》是日本小說的頂峰，即使到了現代，還沒有一部作品及得上它。――川端康成《源氏物語》是紫式部在11世紀創作的文學巨作，這部小說不僅是纏綿悱惻的愛情傳奇，更是一幅描繪日本平安時代貴族生活的全景畫卷。透過紫式部細膩的筆觸，得以窺見當時的宮廷文化、社會結構、宗教信仰及日常生活。跨越千年之後，鑽研《源氏物語》多年的翻譯名家林水福，以現代角度解讀《源氏物語》蘊藏的深刻層次，引領讀者了解紫式部的人生和豐富的詩情、當時人們對生死的思考和態度、物語的傳承和風靡，以及平安朝貴族的日常和家族間的競爭。對於《源氏物語》中愛情的浪漫與現實、女性角色的地位和命運、宗教信仰與思想如何影響了紫式部的創作、和歌為什麼成為傳遞情感的重要元素，以及朦朧描寫和文章節奏美感如何影響後世文學創作等，作者均有精闢的思索和研究，提供讀者從中一窺經典文學的堂奧，是理解《源氏物語》無窮魅力的必讀之作。▍本書特色✽林水福教授專著 ... Read more

$7.99 USD

《源氏物語》是日本小說的頂峰，即使到了現代，還沒有一部作品及得上它。――川端康成《源氏物語》是紫式部在11世紀創作的文學巨作，這部小說不僅是纏綿悱惻的愛情傳奇，更是一幅描繪日本平安時代貴族生活的全景畫卷。透過紫式部細膩的筆觸，得以窺見當時的宮廷文化、社會結構、宗教信仰及日常生活。跨越千年之後，鑽研《源氏物語》多年的翻譯名家林水福，以現代角度解讀《源氏物語》蘊藏的深刻層次，引領讀者了解紫式部的人生和豐富的詩情、當時人們對生死的思考和態度、物語的傳承和風靡，以及平安朝貴族的日常和家族間的競爭。對於《源氏物語》中愛情的浪漫與現實、女性角色的地位和命運、宗教信仰與思想如何影響了紫式部的創作、和歌為什麼成為傳遞情感的重要元素，以及朦朧描寫和文章節奏美感如何影響後世文學創作等，作者均有精闢的思索和研究，提供讀者從中一窺經典文學的堂奧，是理解《源氏物語》無窮魅力的必讀之作。▍本書特色✽林水福教授專著
... Read more
Yaqui Myths And Legends

by Ruth Warner Giddings ...

It is known that Yaqui society has been influenced strongly by Spanish and Mexican culture, judging from indications in historical records and from studies of the modern Yaquis.In making this collection of stories it was the objective to illustrate two things: (1) the nature of the folk literature of the Yaquis and (2) the influences which successive foreign contacts have exerted upon Yaqui ... Read more

$2.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

It is known that Yaqui society has been influenced strongly by Spanish and Mexican culture, judging from indications in historical records and from studies of the modern Yaquis.In making this collection of stories it was the objective to illustrate two things: (1) the nature of the folk literature of the Yaquis and (2) the influences which successive foreign contacts have exerted upon Yaqui
... Read more
Mere Christianity

by C. S. Lewis ...

"In a world torn apart by conflicting beliefs and values, one question echoes through the ages: What is the essence of Christianity? Join renowned author and theologian C.S. Lewis on a profound journey of discovery, as he explores the fundamental principles of the Christian faith. First delivered as a series of radio talks during World War II, "Mere Christianity" is a timeless masterpiece that ... Read more

$0.99 USD

"In a world torn apart by conflicting beliefs and values, one question echoes through the ages: What is the essence of Christianity? Join renowned author and theologian C.S. Lewis on a profound journey of discovery, as he explores the fundamental principles of the Christian faith. First delivered as a series of radio talks during World War II, "Mere Christianity" is a timeless masterpiece that
... Read more
There's a Monster in the Lake

The World as a Fantastical Place

by Laura Fernández ...

A witty meditation revealing what our obsession with monsters says about wonder, reality, and narrative itselfWhat does the Loch Ness Monster tell us about belief, tourism, and the stories we need to survive? In this formally innovative essay, award-winning Spanish writer Laura Fernández travels to the Scottish Highlands to investigate the legend of Nessie and develops a perspective on humanity’s ... Read more

$9.99 USD

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A witty meditation revealing what our obsession with monsters says about wonder, reality, and narrative itselfWhat does the Loch Ness Monster tell us about belief, tourism, and the stories we need to survive? In this formally innovative essay, award-winning Spanish writer Laura Fernández travels to the Scottish Highlands to investigate the legend of Nessie and develops a perspective on humanity’s
... Read more
The Iliad

A New Translation by Peter Green

by Homer ...

One of the oldest extant works of Western literature, the Iliad is a timeless epic poem of great warriors trapped between their own heroic pride and the arbitrary, often vicious decisions of fate and the gods. Renowned scholar and acclaimed translator Peter Green captures the Iliad in all its surging thunder for a new generation of readers.Featuring an enticingly personal introduction, a detailed ... Read more

$10.99 USD

One of the oldest extant works of Western literature, the Iliad is a timeless epic poem of great warriors trapped between their own heroic pride and the arbitrary, often vicious decisions of fate and the gods. Renowned scholar and acclaimed translator Peter Green captures the Iliad in all its surging thunder for a new generation of readers.Featuring an enticingly personal introduction, a detailed
... Read more
Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea

Journeys Through Ancient Literature

by Emily Wilson ...

**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"An enthralling and profoundly relevant book." —Salman Rushdie"I adored reading these joyful, illuminating, and engrossing journeys through ancient literature." —Madeline MillerMost Anticipated Books of Fall: Goodreads, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus ReviewsFrom the most celebrated translator of our time comes a visionary exploration of how translation reshapes and ... Read more

$13.69 USD

**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"An enthralling and profoundly relevant book." —Salman Rushdie"I adored reading these joyful, illuminating, and engrossing journeys through ancient literature." —Madeline MillerMost Anticipated Books of Fall: Goodreads, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus ReviewsFrom the most celebrated translator of our time comes a visionary exploration of how translation reshapes and
... Read more
So We Read On

How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures

by Maureen Corrigan ...

The "Fresh Air" book critic investigates the enduring power of The Great Gatsby—"The Great American Novel we all think we've read, but really haven't."Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover ... Read more

Was $9.99 USD Now $1.99 USD

The "Fresh Air" book critic investigates the enduring power of The Great Gatsby—"The Great American Novel we all think we've read, but really haven't."Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover
... Read more
A Study in Scarlet

by Arthur Conan Doyle, Darryl Jones ...

Series series Oxford World's Classics
'There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life.' In Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet a popular cultural phenomenon is born. We meet two of the most famous characters in modern literary history: the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, an army doctor home on sick leave, for the first time. Through Watson we learn a little about the ... Read more

$5.99 USD

'There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life.' In Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet a popular cultural phenomenon is born. We meet two of the most famous characters in modern literary history: the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, an army doctor home on sick leave, for the first time. Through Watson we learn a little about the
... Read more
Poetics

by Aristotle ...

Translated by Anthony Kenny ...

Series series Oxford World's Classics
'What is poetry, how many kinds of it are there, and what are their specific effects?' Aristotle's Poetics is the most influential book on poetry ever written. A founding text of European aesthetics and literary criticism, from it stems much of our modern understanding of the creation and impact of imaginative writing, including poetry, drama, and fiction. For Aristotle, the art of representation ... Read more

$7.99 USD

'What is poetry, how many kinds of it are there, and what are their specific effects?' Aristotle's Poetics is the most influential book on poetry ever written. A founding text of European aesthetics and literary criticism, from it stems much of our modern understanding of the creation and impact of imaginative writing, including poetry, drama, and fiction. For Aristotle, the art of representation
... Read more
Sodom and Gomorrah

by Marcel Proust, Adam Watt ...

Translated by Helen Constantine ...

Series series Oxford World's Classics
'the metamorphosis of Monsieur de Charlus into a new person was so complete that... everything which had appeared incoherent to me until then, was becoming intelligible, and self-evident' The fourth volume of Proust's In Search of Lost Time extends the protagonist's journey of discovery into the social world of fin-de-siècle France. As the biblically inflected title, Sodom and Gomorrah, suggests, ... Read more

$10.99 USD

'the metamorphosis of Monsieur de Charlus into a new person was so complete that... everything which had appeared incoherent to me until then, was becoming intelligible, and self-evident' The fourth volume of Proust's In Search of Lost Time extends the protagonist's journey of discovery into the social world of fin-de-siècle France. As the biblically inflected title, Sodom and Gomorrah, suggests,
... Read more
The Magic Mountain

by Thomas Mann ...

Translated by Simon Pare ...

Series series Oxford World's Classics
'Hans Castorp filled his lungs with the pure mountain air--this fresh, light atmosphere that was so easy to inhale and held no scent of moisture, no content, no memories...' Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain (1924) is a social comedy with tragic overtones, providing a portrait of Europe in the first decades of the twentieth century. The novel recounts how an apparently simple North German engineer, ... Read more

$17.09 USD

'Hans Castorp filled his lungs with the pure mountain air--this fresh, light atmosphere that was so easy to inhale and held no scent of moisture, no content, no memories...' Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain (1924) is a social comedy with tragic overtones, providing a portrait of Europe in the first decades of the twentieth century. The novel recounts how an apparently simple North German engineer,
... Read more
Turning Away

The Poetics of an Ancient Gesture

by Benjamin A. Saltzman ...

Series series Thinking Literature
A sweeping account of how we are at our most human when we turn away from the pains of the world.Why do we look away from the suffering of others? Why do we cover our faces in shame? Why do we lower our heads in grief? Few gestures are as universal as the averted gaze. Fewer still are as ambivalent and inscrutable. In this incisive study, Benjamin A. Saltzman reveals how the kaleidoscopic ... Read more

$21.59 USD

A sweeping account of how we are at our most human when we turn away from the pains of the world.Why do we look away from the suffering of others? Why do we cover our faces in shame? Why do we lower our heads in grief? Few gestures are as universal as the averted gaze. Fewer still are as ambivalent and inscrutable. In this incisive study, Benjamin A. Saltzman reveals how the kaleidoscopic
... Read more
Penelope’s Bones

A New History of Homer’s World through the Women Written Out of It

by Emily Hauser ...

Weaving together literary and archaeological evidence, Emily Hauser illuminates the rich, intriguing lives of the real women behind Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.Achilles. Agamemnon. Odysseus. Hector. The lives of these and many other men in the greatest epics of ancient Greece have been pored over endlessly in the past three millennia. But these are not just tales about heroic men. There are scores ... Read more

$14.39 USD

Weaving together literary and archaeological evidence, Emily Hauser illuminates the rich, intriguing lives of the real women behind Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.Achilles. Agamemnon. Odysseus. Hector. The lives of these and many other men in the greatest epics of ancient Greece have been pored over endlessly in the past three millennia. But these are not just tales about heroic men. There are scores
... Read more
The Pregnant Male as Myth and Metaphor in Classical Greek Literature

by David D. Leitao ...

This book traces the image of the pregnant male in Greek literature as it evolved over the course of the classical period. The image - as deployed in myth and in metaphor - originated as a representation of paternity and, by extension, 'authorship' of ideas, works of art, legislation, and the like. Only later, with its reception in philosophy in the early fourth century, did it also become a way ... Read more

$51.99 USD

This book traces the image of the pregnant male in Greek literature as it evolved over the course of the classical period. The image - as deployed in myth and in metaphor - originated as a representation of paternity and, by extension, 'authorship' of ideas, works of art, legislation, and the like. Only later, with its reception in philosophy in the early fourth century, did it also become a way
... Read more
Mythology

by Edith Hamilton, Aphrodite Trust, Apollo Trust ...

Discover timeless tales of gods and heroes in this bestselling book detailing classic Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends—featuring beautiful illustrations throughout.Edith Hamilton’s Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the myths that are the keystone of Western culture—the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from ... Read more

$9.99 USD

Discover timeless tales of gods and heroes in this bestselling book detailing classic Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends—featuring beautiful illustrations throughout.Edith Hamilton’s Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the myths that are the keystone of Western culture—the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from
... Read more
Early Greek Alphabetic Writing

A Linguistic Approach

by Natalia Elvira Astoreca ...

Series Book 5 - Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems (CREWS)
Despite the flourishing of epichoric studies on the Archaic Greek scripts in the 1960s, embodied by archaeologists Lilian Hamilton Jeffery and Margherita Guarducci, most scholarship on early alphabetic writing in Greece has focused on questions around the origin of ‘the Greek alphabet’ instead of acknowledging the diversity of alphabetic systems that emerged in Geometric and Archaic times. The ... Read more

$23.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

Despite the flourishing of epichoric studies on the Archaic Greek scripts in the 1960s, embodied by archaeologists Lilian Hamilton Jeffery and Margherita Guarducci, most scholarship on early alphabetic writing in Greece has focused on questions around the origin of ‘the Greek alphabet’ instead of acknowledging the diversity of alphabetic systems that emerged in Geometric and Archaic times. The
... Read more
Uncle Silas

by Sheridan Le Fanu, Claire Connolly ...

Series series Oxford World's Classics
'The old woman opened the door, and the next moment I was in the presence of Uncle Silas.' In Victorian Derbyshire, 17 year old orphan and heiress Maud Ruthyn is sent to live at the claustrophobic Bartram-Haugh house with her mysterious Uncle Silas. Silas has a reputation for gambling debts and past accusations of murder, but now lives as a reformed Christian. Sinister schemes and preternatural ... Read more

$8.99 USD

'The old woman opened the door, and the next moment I was in the presence of Uncle Silas.' In Victorian Derbyshire, 17 year old orphan and heiress Maud Ruthyn is sent to live at the claustrophobic Bartram-Haugh house with her mysterious Uncle Silas. Silas has a reputation for gambling debts and past accusations of murder, but now lives as a reformed Christian. Sinister schemes and preternatural
... Read more
The Odyssey

A New Translation by Peter Green

by Homer ...

**"The best line-for-line translation."—**London Review of Books**"Comparisons to [Emily] Wilson's recent translation are inevitable. . . . Both Wilson and Green capture the spirit of The Odyssey, but word-for-word, Green also captures a feel for the Homeric language, an experience closer to the original."—**Library JournalThe Odyssey is vividly captured and beautifully paced in this swift and ... Read more

$8.95 USD

**"The best line-for-line translation."—**London Review of Books**"Comparisons to [Emily] Wilson's recent translation are inevitable. . . . Both Wilson and Green capture the spirit of The Odyssey, but word-for-word, Green also captures a feel for the Homeric language, an experience closer to the original."—**Library JournalThe Odyssey is vividly captured and beautifully paced in this swift and
... Read more
Etymology and the Invention of English in Early Modern Literature

by Hannah Crawforth ...

How did authors such as Jonson, Spenser, Donne and Milton think about the past lives of the words they used? Hannah Crawforth shows how early modern writers were acutely attuned to the religious and political implications of the etymology of English words. She argues that these lexically astute writers actively engaged with the lexicographers, Anglo-Saxonists and etymologists who were carrying out ... Read more

$38.99 USD

How did authors such as Jonson, Spenser, Donne and Milton think about the past lives of the words they used? Hannah Crawforth shows how early modern writers were acutely attuned to the religious and political implications of the etymology of English words. She argues that these lexically astute writers actively engaged with the lexicographers, Anglo-Saxonists and etymologists who were carrying out
... Read more
Romance of the Grail

The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth

by Joseph Campbell ...

Series series The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell
Explore the magic of the Arthurian legendsThe first collection of Joseph Campbell’s writings and lectures on the Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, a central focus of his celebrated scholarship, edited and introduced by Arthurian scholar Evans Lansing Smith, PhD, the chair of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute.Throughout his life, Joseph Campbell was deeply engaged in the ... Read more

$9.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

Explore the magic of the Arthurian legendsThe first collection of Joseph Campbell’s writings and lectures on the Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, a central focus of his celebrated scholarship, edited and introduced by Arthurian scholar Evans Lansing Smith, PhD, the chair of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute.Throughout his life, Joseph Campbell was deeply engaged in the
... Read more
Ka

Stories of the Mind and Gods of India

by Roberto Calasso ...

Series series Vintage International
**In "the very best book about Hindu mythology that anyone has ever written" (The New Republic)Calasso plunges Western readers into the mind of ancient India. He begins with a mystery: Why is the most important god in the Rg Veda, the oldest of India's sacred texts, known by a secret name—"Ka," or Who?What ensues is not an explanation, but an unveiling. Here are the stories of the creation of mind ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**In "the very best book about Hindu mythology that anyone has ever written" (The New Republic)Calasso plunges Western readers into the mind of ancient India. He begins with a mystery: Why is the most important god in the Rg Veda, the oldest of India's sacred texts, known by a secret name—"Ka," or Who?What ensues is not an explanation, but an unveiling. Here are the stories of the creation of mind
... Read more
The Horror Collection: Dracula, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein

by Bram Stoker, Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley ...

Series series Collins Classics
Collins Classics brings you a haunting selection of the finest horror stories from classic literature – featuring works by Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley – with additional content.Complete with a Life & Times section for each author, which offers insights into their lives, works and the time of publication, and a handy glossary adapted from the Collins ... Read more

$2.99 USD

Collins Classics brings you a haunting selection of the finest horror stories from classic literature – featuring works by Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley – with additional content.Complete with a Life & Times section for each author, which offers insights into their lives, works and the time of publication, and a handy glossary adapted from the Collins
... Read more

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