Erotica/Romance. 10650 words long. Views: 58
A Theban adventure from the master of Science-Fiction, here proving himself adept at imagining historical worlds. Part of the Brian Aldiss Collection. In Jocasta, Aldiss brings vividly to life the ancient world of dreaming Thebes: a world of sun-drenched landscapes, golden dust, sphynxes, Furies, hermaphroditic philosophers, ghostly apparitions and ambivalent gods. Jocasta is also a strikingly effective contemplation of an older world order where the human mind is still struggling to understand itself and the nature of the world around it. Views: 58
Beth has always loved Mark. He was the boy of her dreams even though she was nothing more than his little sister's best friend. Now he's back from the military and looking at her differently. Though that could be the plate of lasagna she dropped in his lap. A series of mishaps gives Mark opportunity to spend time with her. He is sure that he is the man for her but experience has taught Beth not all men can be trusted. Can he convince her that he wants her to be his for Valentine's Day and ever after? Views: 58
Cornélie de Retz Van Loo, a 23-year-old recently divorced socialite, tries to begin a new life in Italy, with mixed feelings. After spending time in Rome, however, she discovers that Italy itself can never bring her the consolation she seeks, and writes a pamphlet on ‘The Social Position of the Divorced Woman’. Flouting convention, she moves in with the Dutch painter Duco van der Staal, with only two acquaintances – an amorous Italian prince and the American heiress whom he has married for her money – for company. In desperate financial straits, Cornélie is forced to take a position as companion to an elderly American lady in Nice, where she unexpectedly runs into her ex-husband. Will she be able to resist his continuing power over her? Views: 58
E-Book Extra: Oral Tradition: A Reading Group GuideAn extensive volume of nearly 500 folktales celebrating African American oral tradition, community, and faith, collected by Zora Neale Hurston on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s. The New York Times calls these bitter and often hilarious tales “splendidly vivid and true”.Every Tongue Got to Confess is an extensive volume of African American folklore that Zora Neale Hurston collected on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s.The bittersweet and often hilarious tales -- which range from longer narratives about God, the Devil, white folk, and mistaken identity to witty one-liners -- reveal attitudes about faith, love, family, slavery, race, and community. Together, this collection of nearly 500 folktales weaves a vibrant tapestry that celebrates African American life in the rural South and represents a major part of Zora Neale Hurston's literary legacy. Views: 58
Synopsis:When the Soviet army arrives in Afghanistan, the elderly Dastaguir witnesses the destruction of his village and the death of his clan. His young grandson Yassin, deaf from the sounds of the bombing, is one of the few survivors. The two set out through an unforgiving landscape, searching for the coal mine where Murad, the old man's son and the boy's father, works. They reach their destination only to learn that they must wait and rely for help on all that remains to them: a box of chewing tobacco, some unripe apples, and the kindness of strangers.Haunting in its spareness, Earth and Ashes is a tale of devastating loss, but also of human perseverance in the face of madness and war.Publishers Weekly:The devastation of Afghanistan during the Soviet war is succinctly and piercingly conveyed in Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi (trans. from the Persian by Erdag M. Goknar), a novella-length account of an old man's futile journey. Dastaguir and his grandson Yassin wait beside a guard post on the road to the mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. The family's village has been bombed, and everyone else in the family is dead; Yassin was deafened by the attack. While he waits for a ride to the mine, Dastaguir is visited by fantastic visions ("You find yourself standing on the branch of a jujube tree, stark naked"). The blasted dreamscape of Rahimi's story and his tightly controlled prose make this a sobering literary testament to the horrors of war.Biography:Born in Kabul in 1962, Atiq Rahimi was seventeen years old when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. He left the country during the war, eventually obtaining political asylum in France. Rahimi now lives in Paris, where he makes documentary films. Earth and Ashes is his first book. Views: 58