Eduard Mörike’s delightfully high-spirited 1855 novella is an imaginary re-creation of the journey Mozart made from Vienna to Prague in 1787 to conduct the first performance of Don Giovanni. Set in the rococo world of the Bohemian nobility, the story paints an unforgettable picture of Mozart’s creative genius—its playful heights and its terrible depths. Mörike’s own lyrical powers are also displayed in his poetry, which combines classicism and romanticism with elements of the traditional folk and fairy tale.
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. Views: 63
Poor galactic visibility? Won't worry a blind alien attack fleet. Views: 63
After fifty-one long years of patient waiting, the message has finally arrived. They have dedicated their lives to trying to decipher the eerie silence that resounds from space and now there is finally a sound after decades of quiet. In the beginning there is a hail of celebration--the Project has finally produced results--but then the questions begin. What does the message mean? Could it be 'We come in peace' or 'Get ready for world domination'? The message baffles Earth. Only one man has the power to make the decision and it could mean intergalactic warfare if he makes the wrong choice. Director MacDonald holds in his hands the fate of Earth, the universe and the Project, which is dedicated to answering questions that have plagued humanity for centuries. Will he make the correct choice?A classic of science fiction, The Listeners predicted and inspired the creation of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) — the organization dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life. A tale of contact with alien life hailed by leaders of SETI organizations and today's leading science fiction authors as hugely influential, the story appeals to both science fiction readers and the hundreds of thousands of members of various SETI organizations.Review"A fascinating ... view of the many responses of mankind to the coming confrontation with intelligent aliens ... First rate science fiction." ~Publishers Weekly"A must for any library whose readers look beyond their feet." ~Library Journal"One of the finest books of speculative fiction ever written ... strong, thoughtful, marvelously human, and ... without flaw ... An unforgettable experience." ~Harlan Ellison"One of the very best fictional portrayals of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence ever written." ~Carl Sagan Views: 63
The Godmen and The Stars, My Brothers take place during the Era of Interstellar Exploration, of which Hamilton writes: “Interplanetary exploration and exploitation had increased rapidly. But the vast distances to other stars remained unconquerable until late in the 22nd Century, when three great inventions made interstellar travel possible. Using these inventions to build starships, mankind took at once to interstellar space. Alpha Centauri, Sirius and Altair were quickly visited." The Godmen occurs during the earlier days of this era, and tells of the problems that arise when humankind first encounters a nonhuman intelligence. The Stars, My Brothers takes place several centuries later, and shows how the question of humanity's relationship to alien races was finally answered — by a man from our own time! Together they point the way toward the concord among alien races that produced the Era of the Federation and the United Worlds. Views: 63
“Most of Seakirk’s inhabitants were indifferent to the spectacle of corruption in high places and low, the gambling, the gang wars, the teen-age drinking. They were used to the sight of their roads crumbling, their ancient water mains bursting, their power plants breaking down, their decrepit old buildings falling apart, while the bosses built bigger homes, longer swimming pools and warmer stables. People were used to it…” Robert Sheckley, A Ticket To Tranai Views: 63
Dr. Gideon Fell, a history professor, agrees to help Scotland Yard investigate the baffling murder of Martin Starberth, who seems to be the victim of a family curse Views: 63
Is another Hitler rising to power?Tom Jaeger’s war with the Nazis began the day World War II ended…During those last days in the bunker, Hitler and Bormann created a plan that would perpetuate the cause of Naziism long after they were dead. A small band of highly trained agents were to be planted all over the world, some day to come together and bring final glory to the Fatherland. Views: 63
The statue was knee-high, but it carried a fortune in gold and gems, plus centuries of fame in the art world. Everyone wanted it, and for some no price was too high—love, money, or murder ... Then Killain barged in.The redhead made the first pitch, and she had Killain twanging like a hopped-up fiddle—but not one note about the statue.The Blonde tried to bargain across a wide-screen bed, and she convinced Johnny that he should negotiate—but not about the statue.The Ape had a simple proposition: Hand over the statue or I'll beat in your head! This annoyed Johnny Killain.Much bloodshed and many murders later ... Views: 63
With these two chilling novels of the supernatural, a distinguished French writer makes his first appearance in English. Both stories take place during the nineteenth century, in the swampy farmland of the Sologne region, near Orléans, where its peasantry lives in the grip of medieval witchcraft and local legend. From their infancy, the heroines of Malvenue (The Unwelcome One) and Marie the Wolf have been possessed by evil spirits. Unable to escape the power of the Devil, they are given to irrational and sometimes perverse behavior - behavior that leads inexorably to tragedy.THE ACCURSED is rich in the atmosphere one associates with Poe, Mary Shelley and Isak Dinesen. Yet there is no question that Claude Seignolle is a wholly original, even unique writer. An acknowledged authority on witchcraft and French folklore, he has drawn his stories from supernatural tales handed down from one generation to the next. What he has created is virtually a new genre, writing that stands on is own as literature, as superlative entertainment, and as authentic folklore. Views: 63
A landmark account of the African American experience during the Civil War and its aftermath First published in 1892, this stirring novel by the great writer and activist Frances Harper tells the story of the young daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter who travels to the North to attend school, only to be sold into slavery in the South when it is discovered that she has Negro blood. After she is freed by the Union army, she works to reunify her family and embrace her heritage, committing herself to improving the conditions for blacks in America. Through her fascinating characters-including Iola's brother, who fights at the front in a colored regiment-Harper weaves a vibrant and provocative chronicle of the Civil War and its consequences through African American eyes in this critical contribution to the nation's literature. Views: 63
Review"I remember reading the first chapter of The Disinherited in manuscript and sitting transfixed. The story was so nakedly human it hurt--. It sang like a cello." -Dennis Lee"A finely told story of the decay of a generations-long way of life and of the fierce family infighting over who is to inherit or escape--. Cohen writes with a superb sense of the nuances of love and the hollowness of the refusal to love." -Margaret Atwood"Matt Cohen's novel moves deliberately, savouring the sights, sounds, smells of the countryside, the land and its people. His book is given over to a portrayal of husbands and wives, their distance and their closeness, their protection of each other, the kindness and hurts that accompany their essential separateness. The Disinherited is a beautiful book about people discovering each other too little and too late." -Peter C. NewmanFrom the Trade Paperback edition.Product DescriptionThe Disinherited, first published in 1974, is one of Matt Cohen's four novels that came to be known as the Salem quartet--stories set in the fictional town of Salem in eastern Ontario, somewhere north of Kingston in the rugged farmland and forest of the Canadian Shield. These are the novels that first brought Matt Cohen to national attention. As with his Governor General's Award-winning novel, Elizabeth and After, The Disinherited is a novel of love and the land and their impact on a family dynasty, of the gradual encroachment of the modern-day city and its developers, and of the family's struggle against the threat of disintegration.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 63
Mysterious vanishing hitchhikers, travelers beset by headless dogs, and long-dead moonshiners come alive in this collection of ninety-six Appalachian folktales. Set in coal mines and remote farm cabins, in hidden hollows and on mountain tops, some of these stories look back to the days when West Virginia was first settled; others reflect the rancor and brutality of the Civil War. But most of these tales guide us through the recent past of the uncommonly rich folk heritage of West Virginia. This ghostly collection, with source information and bold illustrations, will thrill longtime lovers of supernatural lore. Views: 63
A brief encounter or lasting love? When Caroline first saw him on the elevator, she had no idea who he was. She only knew that he was tall and darkly handsome--and that she longed to see him again. Later she would discover that the magnetic stranger was Adam Steinbeck--wealthy owner of the company where she worked as a typist. Caroline's friends warned her about getting involved with a sophisticated man who was more than twice her age. Even Adam's son did his best to stop her. But Caroline, in her youthful innocence, listened only to the dictates of her heart. Views: 63
SIMENON BEFORE MAIGRET!Georges Simenon (1903-1989) not only created the finest series of French detective novels in the cases of Inspector Jules Maigret, but he was also, according to André Gide, "perhaps the greatest and most truly `novelistic' novelist in France today." But before he wrote about Maigret, he contributed series of short tales to the magazine Détective in 1929 and 1930, collected in 3 books. The first of those volumes, The 13 Culprits, has never previously been published in English, despite extravagant praise from Alexander Woolcott, Ellery Queen, and other experts.The detections of Monsieur Froget, the "Examining Magistrate," are set among the people of a city the young Simenon knew well. As the translator, Peter Schulman, says in the introduction, "it is a marginal Paris, populated by society's losers who, for one reason or another, are brought down by a petty vice, or a greedy aspiration, that invariably leads to a bitter sense of failure in their lives
and, of course, a crime they hubristically think they can get away with. It is the lonely city within all levels of the Parisian mosaic; a Paris made up of eccentric individuals who all, in some manner or another, feel as though they have been hung out to dry on the fringes of society." It is a Paris of prostitutes, adventurers, circus artistes, and the flotsam thrown up by the First World War. It is a world captured by a great writer. Views: 63
