spring books !!

One Hundred Years of Solitude (P.S.) (Modern Classics)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez · 2006

<p><strong>A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick</strong></p><br/><p>"One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race....Mr. Garcia Marquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life."<br> —<strong>William Kennedy, </strong><strong>New York Times Book</strong><strong> Review </strong></p><br/><p>“More lucidity, wit, wisdom, and poetry than is expected from 100 years of novelists, let alone one man.”<br><strong>—</strong><strong>Washington Post</strong></p><br/><p>One of the most influential literary works of our time, One Hundred Years of Solitude remains a dazzling and original achievement by the masterful Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.</p> <p>One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendiá family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad and alive with unforgettable men and women—brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul—this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.</p>

A Room With A View

E.M. Forster · 2020

A Room with a View, written by E.M. Forster and originally published in 1908, tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman on holiday in Italy with her cousin Charlotte Bartlett. Lucy finds herself torn between the conventions of her upbringing and the passionate desires of her heart, as she discovers a new way of looking at the world. A Room with a View captures the beauty of Florence and the Italian countryside, as well as the humor and irony of Victorian England. With its charming characters and vivid settings, this classic novel is a timeless exploration of love, freedom, and self-discovery.<br/><br/>E.M. Forster (Edward Morgan Forster) is a beloved English novelist and essayist, best known for his works of fiction such as A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. Born in London in 1879, Forster was educated at Tonbridge School and King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied history and developed a passion for literature. After graduating in 1901, Forster moved to Italy and worked as a private secretary to an English aristocrat, Lady Olivia Wilmot. Throughout his career, Forster wrote six novels, two collections of short stories, and several essays. His first novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread, was published in 1905 and was followed by A Room with a View in 1908 and Howards End in 1910. A Passage to India, Forster’s most famous novel, was published in 1924 and was soon adapted into a successful film. Forster’s works are known for their vivid and detailed descriptions of English society during the Edwardian era and for their exploration of issues such as class, gender, and race. In addition to his literary career, Forster was an active member of the Bloomsbury group, a group of writers, artists, and intellectuals who met regularly during the early 20th century. Forster was also an active political and social campaigner and was a strong advocate of homosexual rights. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1969 and died in 1970. He is remembered as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and his works remain popular to this day.

The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes) (Penguin Classics)

Henri Alain-Fournier · 2007

<p><b>'I read it for the first time when I was seventeen and loved every page. I find its depiction of a golden time and place just as poignant now as I did then' Nick Hornby<br></b><b><br><i>The Lost Estate </i>is Robin Buss's translation of Henri Alain-Fournier's poignant study of lost love, <i>Le Grand Meaulnes</i>.</b><br><br>When Meaulnes first arrives at the local school in Sologne, everyone is captivated by his good looks, daring and charisma. But when Meaulnes disappears for several days, and returns with tales of a strange party at a mysterious house - and his love for the beautiful girl hidden within it, Yvonne de Galais - his life has been changed forever. In his restless search for his Lost Estate and the happiness he found there, Meaulnes, observed by his loyal friend Francois, may risk losing everything he ever had. Poised between youthful admiration and adult resignation, Alain-Fournier's compelling narrator carries the reader through this evocative and unbearably poignant portrayal of desperate friendship and vanished adolescence. <br><br>Robin Buss's translation of <i>Le Grand Meaulnes</i> sensitively and accurately renders Alain-Fournier's poetically charged, expressive and deceptively simple style. In his introduction, <i>New Yorker </i>writer Adam Gopnik discusses the life of Alain-Fournier, who was killed in the First World War after writing this, his only novel.<br><br>If you liked <i>Le Grand Meaulnes</i>, you might enjoy Gustave Flaubert's <i>Sentimental Education</i>, also available in Penguin Classics.</p>

Lady Chatterley's Lover

D. H. Lawrence · 2023

<p><i>'I always labour at the same thing, to make the sex relation valid and precious instead of shameful. And this<br>novel is the furthest I've gone. To me it is beautiful and tender as the naked self.'</i> - D.H. Lawrence<br><br><i>Lady Chatterley's Lover</i> explores the intense affair between the sexually frustrated Connie - whose husband, Clifford, is paralysed from the waist down - and Oliver Mellors, the family gamekeeper.<br><br>First published in 1928, the novel challenged the social and sexual taboos of its time and was immediately banned as obscene. Lawrence's last and most famous work of fiction, it was eventually published in full in 1960 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the writer's death.<br><br>ABOUT THE SERIES: The <i>Arcturus Classics</i> series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.</p>

The Enchanted April (Penguin Classics)

Elizabeth von Arnim · 2015

The charming, slyly comic novel of romantic longing and transformation that inspired the Oscar-nominated film<br/><br/>Four very different women, looking to escape dreary London for the sunshine of Italy, take up an offer advertised in the Times for a “small medieval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be let furnished for the month of April.” As each blossoms in the warmth of the Italian spring, quite unexpected changes occur.<br/><br/>An immediate bestseller upon its first publication, in 1922, The Enchanted April set off a craze for tourism to the Italian Riviera that continues today. Published here to coincide with a contemporary retelling, Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen, it’s a witty ensemble piece and the perfect romantic rediscovery for fans of Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love as well as of Downton Abbey and the hit movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.<br/><br/>For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 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.

Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition)

John Steinbeck · 2002

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.<br/><br/>When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him. "A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick." —The New York Times

Elmet

Fiona Mozley · 2017