Showing results by publisher "Jimcin Recordings" in World Literature

One of the greatest of French novelists, Balzac, trained as a lawyer, was a great judge of human nature. In 1833 he conceived the idea of linking together his novels so that they would comprehend the whole society in a series of books. This plan eventually led to 90 novels and novellas (including more than 2,000 characters) that he called "The Human Comedy". Balzac's huge and ambitious plan drew a picture of the customs, atmosphere, and habits of the bourgeois France.

While portraying life in a new settlement on New York's Lake Otsego in the final years of the 18th century, Cooper deftly explores the cultural and philosophical underpinnings of the American experience. He contrasts the natural codes of the hunter and woodsman, Natty Bumppo, and his Indian friend John Mokegan with the more rigid structure of law required by a more complex society.

This book is considered by many to be the finest literary biography ever published. Samuel Johnson was the leading literary scholar and critic of his age, helping to define the Augustan Age of English Literature. He is as celebrated for his brilliant conversation as he is for his writing.

In the early 1850s, Henry David Thoreau took many meditative walks along the coast. In Cape Cod he reflects on these beach-combing trips and the powerful forces of the sea.

One of the most popular stories ever written, this allegory tells of Christian, an everyman character, who makes his way from the "City of Destruction" to the "Celestial City" of Zion. Christian finds himself weighed down by a great burden he carries from reading a book (obviously the Bible). This burden, which could cause him to sink into hell (Tophet), is Christian's acute, immediate concern, and impels him to a crisis: what to do for deliverance.

Sterne is one of the most original and unexpected of writers, and A Sentimental Journey differs from other travel books as greatly as Tristram Shandy differs from other novels. Sterne travelled in France during the 1760s and drew on his experiences to write the narrative of Mr. Yorick, the Sentimental Traveller.

Arguably Turgenev's greatest work and certainly one of the most controversial Russian novels ever written, Fathers and Sons incited protests from all branches of Russian society. Turgenev dramatized the volcanic issues that divided a Russia torn by social unrest and conflict: peasants against masters, generations against generations, and fathers against sons.

This short but powerful novel was acclaimed by Vladimir Nabokov and Mahatma Gandhi as the greatest in the whole of Russian literature. It is one of Tolstoy's most celebrated pieces of late fiction. At the center of the story is an examination of the nature of both life and death and how man can come to terms with death's inevitability. It was widely acclaimed when it was published in 1886 and remains a compelling narrative today.

Based on Japanese literature and foldlore, Kwaidan contains 17 stories. The story of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooly tales are included in this collection.

"So this is the little lady that made the big war." The authenticity of Lincoln's words have been questioned, but there is no question that the work fueled the passion and prejudices of countless numbers. It is a work of overwhelming power and persuasions which has outlived even the most severe critics. Notwithstanding its contribution to the abolitionist movement, the book offers a balanced treatment; there is admiration for the best of Southern gentility and the villain is a Vermonter.

British writer William Hazlitt was the most brilliant essayist of his day. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. During his last illness, Hazlitt wrote this essay on a topic that most people will recognize. Hazlitt did not fear his own demise, and in this thoughtful essay, he explains why no one needs to give in to such a fear.

Full of wisdom, and written in simple, poetic language, The Prophet is a book for all ages, which remains amazingly relevant to our times. After living in one city for 12 years, a prophet is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by the people of the city, who ask him for his insights into life. His answers have make this book a treasure.

Alcatraz is classic Western from one of the masters of the genre. It's the story of a wild horse many said could not be caught or broken and the man who set out to prove them wrong. Added to the mix, there's danger, betrayal, heroes and villains, and romance.

Stephen Crane is best known as the author of The Red Badge of Courage, but he also wrote a number of powerful short stories. Crane's writing style is noted for his use of a method that has come to be known as "naturalism", in which characters face very realistic and often bleak circumstances. This excellent and very humorous story is an exception to his usual rather somber stories.

There is no better description of this book than that of Dr. Watson himself: "The friends of Mr. Sherlock Holmes will be glad to learn that he is still alive and well, though somewhat crippled by occasional attacks of rheumatism. He has, for many years, lived in a small farm upon the downs five miles from Eastbourne, where his time is divided between philosophy and agriculture. During this period of rest he has refused the most princely offers to take up various cases....

This is a collection of tales of the California Gold Rush era by the Western author, Bret Harte. It's a mix of local color, drama, and humor. Several film versions of "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" have been made, and John Payne and Ronald Reagan starred in an adaptation of "Tennessee's Partner" in 1955. The spaghetti Western Four of the Apocalypse is based on "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and "The Luck of Roaring Camp".

Very similar in style to Walden, and in fact written while he stayed at Walden Pond, this account chronicles Throeau's 1830 boat trip. In it, he weaves together travel writing, essays on religion, history, and lyrical poetry, as well as his own unique philosophy.

Walden or, "Life in the Woods", is, primarily, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. Henry David Thoreau kept a journal during his stay in a cabin beside Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, for two years, two months, and two days, from July 1845 to Sept 1847. The book is based on that journal.

During a trip to Europe, Christopher Newman, a wealthy American businessman, asks the charming Claire de Cintre to be his wife. To his dismay, he receives an icy reception from the heads of her family, who find Newman to be a vulgar example of the American privileged class. Brilliantly combining elements of comedy, tragedy, romance and melodrama, this tale of thwarted desire vividly contrasts nineteenth-century American and European manners.

While Robert Louis Stevenson is most famous for novels like Treasure Island and Kidnapped, he also wrote a number of excellent stories of the supernatural. "Markheim" is one of his best.