Showing results for "i" in Classics

The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often comic tone, and is written in the form of Claudius' autobiography. This is gripping stuff, read by one of our finest actors, who also starred as Claudius in the classic television series.

Some of the parchment pages were the color of cream, thick and substantial, made to last many, many lifetimes. Other pages were thin and desiccated, positively yellow from age, and crackled alarmingly as Van Richten turned them over. There were no ornate illuminations, no fussy borders, only lines of plain text in hard black ink. The flowing handwriting was a bit difficult to follow at first; the writer's style of calligraphy had not been in common use for 300 years. No table of contents, but from the dates it looked to be some kind of history.

A full-cast dramatisation of Robert Graves' brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome, starring Tom Goodman Hill as Claudius and Derek Jacobi as Augustus. The wickedly entertaining inside story of the lives and deaths of the Imperial dynasty from Augustus to Caligula is told by their obscure relation, Claudius. In public, Claudius is a stammering, drooling weakling, whose reputation as an idiot keeps him safe from office and assassination.

Vitality floods its pages. Philosophers and kings, warriors and merchants, poets and financiers come alive as the story ranges across time and the globe. From ancient Palestine through Europe and the Orient, to America and modern Israel, Max Dimont shows how the saga of the Jews is interwoven with the history of virtually every nation on earth.

Swords. Sorcery. Dick Jokes. Truly do the gods smile upon you, dear listener, for the first four books in the hilarious Caverns and Creatures series are now available in one audiobook set. Join Tim, Dave, Julian, and Cooper as they are thrown into a hostile fantasy world filled with magic and monsters, and ruled over by a cruel and sadistic game master who taunts and harasses them while he sits back and eats their fried chicken.

One of William Faulkner’s finest novels, As I Lay Dying, originally published in 1930, remains a captivating and stylistically innovative work. The story revolves around a grim yet darkly humorous pilgrimage, as Addie Bundren’s family sets out to fulfill her last wish: to be buried in her native Jefferson, Mississippi, far from the miserable backwater surroundings of her married life.

"I write this sitting at the kitchen sink" is the first line of a novel about love, sibling rivalry, and a bohemian existence in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. Cassandra Mortmin's journal records her fadingly glamorous stepmother, her beautiful, wistful older sister, and the man to whom they owe both their isolation and poverty: Father. The author of one experimental novel, and a minor cause celebre, he has since suffered from writer's block and is determined to drag his family down with him.

The Sound and the Fury is the tragedy of the Compson family, featuring some of the most memorable characters in literature: beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the manchild Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; Jason, the brutal cynic; and Dilsey, their black servant. Their lives fragmented and harrowed by history and legacy, the character’s voices and actions mesh to create what is arguably Faulkner’s masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

"Tutti i racconti" di Cesare Pavese, quelli da lui stesso pubblicati e quelli lasciati inediti. Un percorso letterario che inevitabilmente si intreccia e si affianca alle pagine autobiografiche del diario: il più disadorno paesaggio cittadino, l'umanità dei caffè, degli imbarcaderi del Po, delle case, della campagna piemontese rivelano la travagliata maturazione dell'uomo e insieme aprono spiragli nella coscienza dolente e drammatica dello scrittore piemontese.

Ne "I Miserabili" Victor Hugo narra con assoluta sensibilità ed estrema modernità la solitudine dell'uomo, il contrasto tra ceti sociali, ma anche la redenzione attraverso la rivolta e l'amore. Il romanzo, dal ritmo incalzante, magistrale e irripetibile per l'autenticità delle emozioni e per la complessità della trama narrativa, viene qui tradotto ad alta voce da un unico narratore, Moro Silo, che con la sua più che trentennale esperienza di lettore, riesce a cogliere l'enorme quantità di significati presenti nel libro nel massimo rispetto dello stile unico e originale dell'autore, del suo contesto storico-culturale e filologico.

As far as Richard's father, a famous poet, is concerned, his son has no talent as a writer and will never amount to anything. In a moment of crisis, Richard decides to end his life, but is saved by Jake, a passing stranger. The two men, both at turning points in their lives, set out for adventure, jumping aboard a ship to Norway. Their travels take them through Europe and they form a passionate friendship. But in bohemian Paris, Richard meets Hesta, a music student who inspires him to follow his artistic dreams…

In the Polish city of Lodz, the Brothers Ashkenazi grew up very differently in talent and in temperament. Max, the firstborn, is fiercely intelligent and conniving, determined to succeed financially by any means necessary. Slower-witted Jacob is strong, handsome, and charming but without great purpose in life. While Max is driven by ambition and greed to be more successful than his brother, Jacob is drawn to easy living and decadence.

Toby Jones and Holliday Grainger star in a new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Dodie Smith's enduringly popular coming-of-age novel. In the 1930s, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling ruin of a castle in the Suffolk countryside. Her father, an author wrestling with writer's block, spends his time reading detective stories; her bohemian stepmother, Topaz, is an artist's model; and her beautiful older sister, Rose, is determined to escape the poverty of their existence - ideally by marriage to a rich man.

William Wells Brown (1814-1884) was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer and lecturer. In 1847, he published the Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, written by himself

Pubblicato nell'aprile del 1950 e considerato l'opera piú bella di Pavese, "La luna e i falò" è il suo ultimo romanzo. Il protagonista, Anguilla, all'indomani della Liberazione, torna al suo paese delle Langhe dopo molti anni trascorsi in America e, in compagnia dell'amico Nuto, ripercorre i luoghi dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza in un viaggio nel tempo, alla ricerca di antiche e sofferte radici. Storia semplice e lirica insieme, costruita come un continuo viavai tra il piano del passato e quello del presente, "La luna e i falò" recupera i temi civili della guerra partigiana.

It has been 10 years since Juliette de Marny's father asked her to swear revenge upon Deroulede for the death of her brother in a duel. At last, she finds herself in Deroulede's house, with an easy opportunity to betray him to the citizens of France for conspiring against the people. But Juliette realizes, too late, that she is in love with Deroulede.

Novelist, poet and critic Kingsley Amis was one of Britain’s greatest postwar writers. A master of comic fiction, he came to fame in 1954, and won the 1986 Booker Prize for The Old Devils. Included in this collection are dramatisations of seven of his short stories and two novels, all imbued with his characteristic wit and social satire. These are complemented by readings of selected correspondence and an interview with Amis himself.

The head of the Mortmain family is Cassandra Mortmain’s father, a writer suffering from writer's block who has not published anything since his first book, a hit entitled, Jacob Wresstling. Ten years before the story begins, he took out a forty-year lease on a dilapidated but beautiful castle, hoping to find either inspiration or isolation there; now, his family is selling off the furniture to buy food.

En dag i Ivan Denisovitjs liv offentliggjordes i november 1962 i tidskriften Novy Mir efter Khrusjtjovs personliga tillåtelse. Romanen väckte enorm uppmärksamhet både i och utanför Sovjetunionen, eftersom det var första gången som en berättelse om Stalintidens undertryck gavs ut offentligt. Berättelsen utspelar sig i ett sibiriskt specialläger för politiska fångar och skildrar en typisk dag i fången Ivan Denisovitjs liv i januari 1951.

During the reign of Richard I, Wilfred of Ivanhoe earns his father's disapproval by falling in love with Rowena, his father's ward. His father had planned to wed her himself, and reestablish the Saxon line.