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The Martian Chronicles | This is a collection of science fiction short stories, cleverly cobbled together to form a coherent and very readable novel about a future colonization of Mars. As the stories progress chronologically the author tells how the first humans colonized Mars, initially sharing the planet with a handful of Martians. When Earth is devastated by nuclear war the colony is left to fend for itself and the colonists determine to build a new Earth on Mars. | American Science fiction, Ciencia-ficción, Drama, English Language Short stories, Ficción | null | Ray Bradbury | Ray Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than five hundred published works -- short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse -- exemplify the American imagination at its most creative.
Once read, his words are never forgotten. His best-known and most beloved books, *The Martian Chronicles*, *The Illustrated Man*, *Fahrenheit 451* and *Something Wicked This Way Comes*, are masterworks that readers carry with them over a lifetime. His timeless, constant appeal to audiences young and old has proven him to be one of the truly classic authors of the 20th Century -- and the 21st.
In recognition of his stature in the world of literature and the impact he has had on so many for so many years, Bradbury was awarded the National Book Foundation's 2000 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, an the National Medal of Arts in 2004.
([Source][1])
[1]: http://www.raybradbury.com/about.html |
The food of the gods and how it came to earth | The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells that was first published in 1904. Wells called it "a fantasia on the change of scale in human affairs. . . . I had hit upon [the idea] while working out the possibilities of the near future in a book of speculations called Anticipations (1901)".
The novel, which has had various B-movie adaptations, is about a group of scientists that invents food that accelerates the growth of children and turns them into giants when they become adults. | Fiction, Giants, Growth factors, Food supply, Science fiction | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
The Invisible Man | This book is the story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows. | Ciencia-ficción, Classic Literature, Fiction, Mentally ill, Science Fiction & Fantasy | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
2001 | A novel that proposes an idea about how the human race might have begun and where it might be headed...given a little help from out there. A colaboration of ideas with director Stanley Kubrick in the late 1960's it begins at "the dawn of man" and then leaps to the year 2001 where a mission to Saturn (Jupiter in the film) is mounted to try and answer questions raised by the discovery of an ancient artifact dug up on the moon. Though not particularly fast paced, the science is good, and there are a few hair raising events. There are also interesting speculations about the future, such as the space shuttle, and a device eerily similar to an iPad. Leaving plenty of room for contemplation and the appreciation for the inevitable trials of space travel, this is one of the truly landmark pieces of hard science fiction. | Human-computer interaction, Computers, Fiction, Science fiction, Twenty-first century | null | Arthur C. Clarke | Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS was a British science fiction writer, science writer and futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.
He is famous for being co-writer of the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, widely considered to be one of the most influential films of all time. Clarke was a science writer, who was both an avid populariser of space travel and a futurist of uncanny ability. On these subjects he wrote over a dozen books and many essays, which appeared in various popular magazines. In 1961 he was awarded the Kalinga Prize, an award which is given by UNESCO for popularising science. These along with his science fiction writings eventually earned him the moniker "Prophet of the Space Age". His other science fiction writings earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership made him one of the towering figures of science fiction. For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov were known as the "Big Three" of science fiction.
Clarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel. In 1934, while still a teenager, he joined the British Interplanetary Society. In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits. He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946–1947 and again in 1951–1953.
Clarke emigrated from England to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) in 1956, largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving. That year he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee. Clarke augmented his fame later on in the 1980s, from being the host of several television shows such as Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. He lived in Sri Lanka until his death.
Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka". He was knighted in 1998 and was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005.
---From Wikipedia |
On The Beach | A novel about the survivors of an atomic war, who face an inevitable end as radiation poisoning moves toward Australia from the North. | Atomic Bomb, English Science fiction, Fiction, Literature, Nuclear warfare | LIEUTENANT COMMANDER PETER HOLMES of the Royal Australian Navy woke soon after dawn. | Nevil Shute, Gideon Haigh, G. C. Thornley, SparkNotes Staff, SparkNotes | null |
De la terre à la lune | Novela grafica | Continental european fiction (fictional works by one author), Fiction, science fiction, general, Ciencia-ficción, French language, Imaginary Voyages | null | Jules Verne | Jules Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre.
He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869–1870), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and The Mysterious Island (1875). Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. Consequently he is often referred to as the "Father of science fiction", along with H. G. Wells. ([Source][1].)
Also as of 2023, Jules Verne is regarded as the second most translated author in the world. ([Source][2].)
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne
[2]: https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/most-translated-author.php |
A Princess of Mars | I am a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection.
[Adventures of John Carter in Mars -- from the author of the Tarzan series.] | John Carter (Fictitious character), Fiction, Classic Literature, Dejah Thoris (Fictitious character), Princesses | null | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a businessman. During the Chicago influenza epidemic in 1891, he spent half a year on his brothers' ranch on the Raft River in Idaho. He attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and then the Michigan Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1895. He failed the entrance exam for West Point, and so became an enlisted soldier with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in Fort Grant, Arizona Territory. He was discharged in 1897, having been found ineligible for service due to a heart problem.
He drifted, working odd jobs at ranches across Idaho, then came to work at his father's firm in 1899. He married Emma Centennia Hulbert in 1900. In 1904 he left his job and found less regular work, ending up back in Chicago. He held several low-wage jobs for the next seven years, then, while working as a pencil sharpener wholesaler, he began to write fiction in 1911. He began reading pulp fiction magazines and decided to aim his fiction toward getting published in these magazines. His first published story, "Under the Moons of Mars," was serialized in The All-Story magazine in 1912. He began writing full-time and his first published novel, Tarzan of the Apes, was published in October of 1912.
In 1919 he purchased a ranch north of Los Angeles, California which he named "Tarzana," a name which was later adopted by the citizens of the community that sprang up around the ranch. In 1923 he set up Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and began printing his own books. He divorced Emma in 1934 and married former actress Florence Gilbert Dearholt in 1935. In 1941, when Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked, he was a resident of Hawaii and he volunteered to become the oldest war correspondent for the U.S. during World War II. He divorced his second wife in 1942. After the war he moved back to Encino, California, where, after many health problems, he died of a heart attack in March of 1950. Over the course of his writing career he wrote almost seventy novels. |
Anthem | Anthem is a tale of a future dark age of the great “we” – a world that deprives individuals of name, independence, and values.
He lived in the dark ages of the future. In a loveless world he dared to love the woman of his choice. In an age that had lost all traces of science and civilization he had the courage to seek and find knowledge. But these were not the crimes for which he would be hunted He was marked for death because he had committed the unpardonable sin: He had stood forth from the mindless human herd. He was alone. | Fiction, Individuality, Time travel in fiction, Individuality in fiction, collectivism | It is a sin to write this. | Ayn Rand, Erin Bateman | Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;[a] February 2, [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (/aɪn/), was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. She wrote a play that opened on Broadway in 1935. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.
Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge; she rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral[5][6] and opposed collectivism, statism, and anarchism. Instead, she supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including property rights. Although Rand opposed libertarianism, which she viewed as anarchism, she is often associated with the modern libertarian movement. In art, Rand promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals.
Rand's fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics.[ Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death, academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected her philosophy because of her polemical approach and lack of methodological rigor.[4] Her writings have influenced some libertarians and conservatives politically. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings |
The Iron Heel | Generally considered to be "the earliest of the modern Dystopian," it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. It is arguably the novel in which Jack London's socialist views are most explicitly on display. A forerunner of soft science fiction novels and stories of the 1960s and 1970s, the book stresses future changes in society and politics while paying much less attention to technological changes. | Revolutions, fiction, Oligarchy, fiction, Utopias, fiction, Revolutionaries, fiction, Dysyopias, fiction | null | Jack London | John Griffith London (born John Griffith Chaney; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first writers to become a worldwide celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
His most famous works include *The Call of the Wild* and *White Fang*, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay", and "The Heathen".
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, workers' rights, socialism, and eugenics. He wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé *The People of the Abyss*, *The War of the Classes*, and *Before Adam*.
**Source**: [Jack London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London) on Wikipedia. |
The First Men in the Moon | When penniless businessman Mr Bedford retreats to the Kent coast to write a play, he meets by chance the brilliant Dr Cavor, an absent-minded scientist on the brink of developing a material that blocks gravity. Cavor soon succeeds in his experiments, only to tell a stunned Bedford the invention makes possible one of the oldest dreams of humanity: a journey to the moon. With Bedford motivated by money, and Cavor by the desire for knowledge, the two embark on the expedition. But neither are prepared for what they find - a world of freezing nights, boiling days and sinister alien life, on which they may be trapped forever. | Classic Literature, Fiction, Imperialism, Moon, Science fiction | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
Dune | Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the "spice" melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. | Dune (Imaginary place), Fiction, Fiction, science fiction, general, Dune (imaginary place), fiction, New York Times reviewed | null | Frank Herbert | Real name: Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. |
The book of the damned | The Book of the Damned was the first published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort (first edition 1919). Dealing with various types of anomalous phenomena including UFOs, strange falls of both organic and inorganic materials from the sky, odd weather patterns, the possible existence of creatures generally held to be mythological, disappearances of people under strange circumstances, and many other phenomena, the book is historically considered to be the first written in the specific field of anomalistics. | Miscellanea, Meteorology, Astronomy, Curiosities and wonders, Religion | null | Charles Fort, Charles Fort | null |
Voyage au Centre de la Terre | Three explorers descend to the center of the earth, where they encounter tumultuous storms, wild prehistoric animals, and fierce cavemen. | Fiction, Science fiction, Imaginary Voyages, Imaginary voyages in fiction, Explorers in fiction | null | Jules Verne | Jules Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre.
He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869–1870), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and The Mysterious Island (1875). Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. Consequently he is often referred to as the "Father of science fiction", along with H. G. Wells. ([Source][1].)
Also as of 2023, Jules Verne is regarded as the second most translated author in the world. ([Source][2].)
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne
[2]: https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/most-translated-author.php |
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first of six books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction "hexalogy" by Douglas Adams. The novel is an adaptation of the first four parts of Adams's radio series of the same name. The novel was first published in London on 12 October 1979. It sold 250,000 copies in the first three months.
The namesake of the novel is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a fictional guide book for hitchhikers (inspired by the Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe) written in the form of an encyclopaedia.
----------
Also contained in:
- [The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts][1]
- [The More than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide][2]
- [Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163706W)
[1]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163692W
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163713W | comic science fiction, Vogons, Humorous fiction, Imaginary voyages, wit and humour | Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. | Douglas Adams | Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge in March 1952. He was creator of all the various manifestations of *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*.
Douglas died unexpectedly in May 2001 of a sudden heart attack at the age of 49. |
Phantastes | One of George MacDonald's most important works, Phantastes is the story of a young man named Anotos and his long dreamlike journey in Fairy Land. It is the fairy tale of deep spiritual insight as Anotos makes his way through moments of uncertainty and peril and mistakes that can have irreversible consequences. This is also his spiritual quest that is destined to end with the supreme surrender of the self. When he finally experiences the hard-won surrender, a wave of joy overwhelms him. His intense personal introspection is honest as he is offered the full range of symbolic choices--great beauty, horrifying ugliness, irritating goblins, nurturing spirits. Each confrontation in Fairy Land allows Anotos to learn many necessary lessons. As he continues on the journey, many shadowy beings threaten his spiritual well-being and compel him to sing. The songs are irresistible to a beautiful White Lady who is freed from inside a statue by the music, and Anotos remains captivated by her for a long time. He sees the world more objectively; his trek invites a natural descent into feelings of pride and egotism. But his losses and sorrows coalesce themselves into things of grace, and these experiences help his spiritual growth. Please Note: This book has been reformatted to be easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable. | Fairy tales, Scottish Fantasy fiction, Fiction, romance, fantasy, Fiction, science fiction, general, Fiction, fantasy, general | null | George MacDonald | null |
The Time Machine | The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, travels over 800,000 years into the future. He lands in the year 802701: the world has been transformed by a society living in apparent harmony and bliss, but as the Traveler stays in the future he discovers a hidden barbaric and depraved subterranean class. Wells's transparent commentary on the capitalist society was an instant bestseller and launched the time-travel genre. | Self-experimentation in medicine in fiction, Fiction, Time travel in fiction, Dystopias in fiction, Literature | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
Brave New World | Originally published in 1932, this outstanding work of literature is more crucial and relevant today than ever before. Cloning, feel-good drugs, antiaging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media -- has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 AF (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, Brave New World is both a warning to be heeded and thought-provoking yet satisfying entertainment. - Container. | Utopias, Brainwashing, Moral and ethical aspects of Science, Fiction, Science and state | null | Aldous Huxley | Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. |
Мы | Wikipedia
We is set in the future. D-503, a spacecraft engineer, lives in the One State, an urban nation constructed almost entirely of glass, which assists mass surveillance. The structure of the state is Panopticon-like, and life is scientifically managed F. W. Taylor-style. People march in step with each other and are uniformed. There is no way of referring to people except by their given numbers. The society is run strictly by logic or reason as the primary justification for the laws or the construct of the society. The individual's behavior is based on logic by way of formulas and equations outlined by the One State.
We is a dystopian novel completed in 1921. It was written in response to the author's personal experiences with the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, his life in the Newcastle suburb of Jesmond and work in the Tyne shipyards at nearby Wallsend during the First World War. It was at Tyneside that he observed the rationalization of labor on a large scale. | Literature: Texts, Untranslated Fiction - General, Literature - Classics / Criticism, Literary Criticism, Russian & Former Soviet Union | I shall simply copy, word for word, the proclamation that appeared today in the One State Gazette: The building of the Integral will be completed in one hundred and twenty days. | Евгений Иванович Замятин, Gary Kern, Alejandro Ariel González, Tavo Montañez, Sergio Hernández-Ranera Sánchez, Zilboorg Gregory, Alexander Glinka | Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatina, sometimes anglicized as Eugene Zamyatin, was a Russian author of science fiction, philosophy, literary criticism, and political satire.
Zamyatin is the author of a dystopian novel "Мы" (We) (1921).
George Orwell believed that Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) must be partly derived from We.
Kurt Vonnegut said that in writing Player Piano (1952) he "cheerfully ripped off the plot of Brave New World, whose plot had been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin's We. |
It Can't Happen Here | It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical American political novel published in 1935. It's Plot centers around newspaperman Doremus Jessup's struggle against the fascist regime of America' new president, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip. Windripis elected on a platform promising to restore prosperity and $5,000 a year for all citizens. Once in office, however, he becomes a dictator, among other things, putting his enemies in concentration camps. | Anti-fascist movements, Presidents, Newspaper editors, Fiction, Drama | null | Sinclair Lewis | American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright |
The Last Man | Mary Shelley, the author of [*Frankenstein*][1], wrote the apocalyptic novel The Last Man in 1826. Its first person narrative tells the story of our world standing at the end of the twenty-first century and - after the devastating effects of a plague - at the end of humanity. In the book Shelley writes of weaving this story from a discovery of prophetic writings uncovered in a cave near Naples. The Last Man was made into a 2008 film.
[1]: http://openlibrary.org/works/OL450125W/Frankenstein | Fiction, Plague, Twenty-first century, End of the world, British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author) | null | Mary Shelley | Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. ([Source][1].)
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley |
Flatland | Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, though written in 1884, is still considered useful in thinking about multiple dimensions. It is also seen as a satirical depiction of Victorian society and its hierarchies. A square, who is a resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, dreams of the one-dimensional Lineland. He attempts to convince the monarch of Lineland of the possibility of another dimension, but the monarch cannot see outside the line. The square is then visited himself by a Sphere from three-dimensional Spaceland, who must show the square Spaceland before he can conceive it. As more dimensions enter the scene, the story's discussion of fixed thought and the kind of inhuman action which accompanies it intensifies. | Fourth dimension, Fiction, general, Open Library Staff Picks, Denkbeeldige landen, Film and video adaptations | null | Edwin Abbott Abbott | Edwin Abbott Abbott (20 December 1838 – 12 October 1926), was an English schoolmaster and theologian, is best known as the author of the mathematical satire and religious allegory *Flatland* (1884).
**Source**: [Edwin Abbott Abbott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Abbott_Abbott) on Wikipedia. |
The War of the Worlds | The ultimate science fiction classic: for more than one hundred years, this compelling tale of the Martian invasion of Earth has enthralled readers with a combination of imagination and incisive commentary on the imbalance of power that continues to be relevant today. The style is revolutionary for its era, employing a sophisticated first and third person account of the events which is both personal and focused on the holistic downfall of Earth's society. The Martians, as evil, mechanical and unknown a threat they are, remain daunting in today's society, where, despite technology's mammoth advances, humanity's hegemony over Earth is yet to be called into question. In Well's introduction to the book, where the character discusses with the later deceased Ogilvy about astronomy and the possibility of alien life defeating the 'savage' (to them) nineteenth-century Britain, is he insinuating that this is the truth and fate of humanity? It's up to you to decide… | Imaginary wars and battles, Juvenile fiction, Space warfare, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz | Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is the fourth book in Baum's Oz series. The series chronicles the further adventures of Dorothy both in and out of Oz, as she deals with the characters, situations and desires which continue to spill over from her first fateful adventure. | Fairy tales, Fiction, Oz (Imaginary place), Fantasy, Classic Literature | null | L. Frank Baum | Lyman Frank Baum was a US author, poet, playwright, actor, and independent filmmaker best known today as the creator - along with illustrator WW Denslow - of one of the most popular books in US children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. - [Wikipedia][1]
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum |
When the Sleeper Awakes | A troubled insomniac in 1890s England falls suddenly into a sleep-like trance, from which he does not awake for over two hundred years. During his centuries of slumber, however, investments are made that make him the richest and most powerful man on Earth. But when he comes out of his trance he is horrified to discover that the money accumulated in his name is being used to maintain a hierarchal society in which most are poor, and more than a third of all people are enslaved. Oppressed and uneducated, the masses cling desperately to one dream – that the sleeper will awake, and lead them all to freedom. | Fiction, Twenty-first century, Technological innovations, Time travel, Science fiction | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
Fahrenheit 451 | Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, the novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The book's tagline explains the title as "'the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns": the autoignition temperature of paper. The lead character, Guy Montag, is a fireman who becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge, eventually quitting his job and committing himself to the preservation of literary and cultural writings.
The novel has been the subject of interpretations focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas for change. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury said that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about the threat of book burning in the United States. In later years, he described the book as a commentary on how mass media reduces interest in reading literature.
In 1954, Fahrenheit 451 won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal. It later won the Prometheus "Hall of Fame" Award in 1984 and a "Retro" Hugo Award, one of a limited number of Best Novel Retro Hugos ever given, in 2004. Bradbury was honored with a Spoken Word Grammy nomination for his 1976 audiobook version.
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Also contained in:
- [451° по Фаренгейту: Рассказы](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17811384W/Fahrenheit_451_stories)
- [451° по Фаренгейту: повести и рассказы](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27741633W)
- [Works](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL28185143W) | Mechanical Hound, girl next door, Long Now Manual for Civilization, Terrorismo estatal, Censura | It was a pleasure to burn. | Ray Bradbury | Ray Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than five hundred published works -- short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse -- exemplify the American imagination at its most creative.
Once read, his words are never forgotten. His best-known and most beloved books, *The Martian Chronicles*, *The Illustrated Man*, *Fahrenheit 451* and *Something Wicked This Way Comes*, are masterworks that readers carry with them over a lifetime. His timeless, constant appeal to audiences young and old has proven him to be one of the truly classic authors of the 20th Century -- and the 21st.
In recognition of his stature in the world of literature and the impact he has had on so many for so many years, Bradbury was awarded the National Book Foundation's 2000 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, an the National Medal of Arts in 2004.
([Source][1])
[1]: http://www.raybradbury.com/about.html |
Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus | *Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus* is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821. | Frankenstein (Fictitious character), Frankenstein's monster (Fictitious character), Fiction, Victor Frankenstein (Fictitious character), Scientists | null | Mary Shelley | Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. ([Source][1].)
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley |
The Handmaid's Tale | The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" — the ruling class of men in Gilead.
The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society, loss of female agency and individuality, and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence.
The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award.
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Also contained in:
[Novels](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24301311W) | brothels, Canadian authors, Canadian fantasy fiction, Canadian fiction (fictional works by one author), Christian fundamentalism | We slept in what had become the gymnasium. | Margaret Atwood | Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC is a Canadian writer. A prolific poet, novelist, literary critic, feminist and activist, she has received national and international recognition for her writing.
ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over forty countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, now a successful MGM-Hulu television series currently preparing its fourth season, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize; The Penelopiad; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-seed; and The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, published in September, 2019. She lives in Toronto some of the time. |
The Silver Chair | Jill and Eustace must rescue the Prince from the evil Witch. | Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Children: Grades 2-3, Imaginary Voyages | It was a dull autumn day and Jill Pole was crying behind the gym. | C.S. Lewis | Clive Staples Lewis was an Irish-born British novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. |
The Last Battle | For the first time, an edition of Lewis's classic fantasy fiction packaged specifically for adults. Complementing the look of the author's non-fiction books, and anticipating the forthcoming Narnia feature films, this edition contains an exclusive "P.S." section about the history of the book, plus a round-up of the first six titles. The last days of Narnia, and all hope seems lost as lies and treachery interweave to threaten the destruction of everything. As the battle lines are drawn, old friends are summoned back to Narnia, though none can predict the outcome in this magnificent ending to the famous series. On 9 December 2005, Andrew (Shrek) Adamson's live-action film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be released by Disney, and it is already being hailed as the biggest film franchise of all time, guaranteed to appeal to adults and children across the globe. The second film is already in development. Sporting breathtaking new photographic covers, these new adult editions of the seven Chronicles of Narnia now give everyone an opportunity to experience the adventures in their original form. Re-live your childhood fantasies or discover for the first time what everyone will be talking about by Christmas and savour some of the best-loved stories ever written. | Juvenile Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction, Fantasy, Children's fiction | IN THE LAST DAYS OF NARNIA, FAR UP to the west beyond Lantern Waste and close beside the great waterfall, there lived an Ape. | C.S. Lewis | Clive Staples Lewis was an Irish-born British novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. |
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator | Taking up where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory leaves off, Charlie, his family, and Mr. Wonka find themselves launched into space in the great glass elevator. | Charlie Bucket (Fictitious character), Juvenile fiction, Children's fiction, Outer space, fiction, Science fiction | null | Roald Dahl | Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.
Born in north Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, Dahl served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors. His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour. ([Source][1].)
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl |
Vingt mille lieues sous les mers | A nineteenth-century science fiction tale of an electric submarine, its eccentric captain, and undersea world, which anticipated many of the scientific achievements of the twentieth century. | Toy and movable books, Fiction, Specimens, Underwater exploration, French language | null | Jules Verne, Serge Micheli, Francois Riviere | Jules Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre.
He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869–1870), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and The Mysterious Island (1875). Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. Consequently he is often referred to as the "Father of science fiction", along with H. G. Wells. ([Source][1].)
Also as of 2023, Jules Verne is regarded as the second most translated author in the world. ([Source][2].)
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne
[2]: https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/most-translated-author.php |
Бѣсы | Also known as *Demons* or *The Devils*, this is Dostoyevsky’s most political novel. Though critical of the left-wing revolutionaries, split as they often were into disparate factions and cells the author also tacitly rebukes the conservative elite for failing to come to terms with the high levels of disaffection in the country, a stance that would ultimately lead to their downfall. | Fiction, Russian fiction, Politics in fiction, Nihilism, Social life and customs | null | Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский | Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoyevsky was a journalist and short-story writer, whose psychological penetration into the human soul profoundly influenced the 20th century novel. Dostoevsky's novels have much autobiographical elements, but ultimately they deal with moral and philosophical questions. He presented interacting characters with contrasting views or ideas about freedom of choice, Socialism, atheisms, good and evil, happiness and so forth. Dostoevsky's central obsession was God, whom his characters constantly search through painful errors and humiliations. ([Source][1])
Dostoyevsky's literary output explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. Considered by many as a founder or precursor of 20th-century existentialism, his *Notes from Underground* (1864), written in the embittered voice of the anonymous "underground man", was called by Walter Kaufmann the "best overture for existentialism ever written." A prominent figure in world literature, Dostoyevsky is often acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest psychologists in world literature. ([Source][2])
Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский (рус. дореф. Ѳедоръ Михайловичъ Достоевскій; 30 октября [11 ноября] 1821, Москва, Российская империя — 28 января [9 февраля] 1881, Санкт-Петербург, Российская империя) — русский писатель, мыслитель, философ и публицист. Член-корреспондент Петербургской АН с 1877 года. ([Source][3])
Как в начале, так и в продолжении своего литературного творчества после четырёх лет каторги и ссылки за участие в кружке Петрашевского Достоевский выступал в качестве новатора в русле традиций русского реализма, что не получило должной оценки современников при жизни писателя. ([Source][3])
После смерти Достоевский был признан классиком русской литературы и одним из лучших романистов мирового значения, считается первым представителем персонализма в России. Творчество русского писателя оказало воздействие на мировую литературу, в частности, на творчество ряда лауреатов Нобелевской премии по литературе, на становление экзистенциализма и фрейдизма. ([Source][3])
К наиболее значительным произведениям писателя относятся романы «великого пятикнижия». Романы «Преступление и наказание», «Идиот», «Бесы» и «Братья Карамазовы» включены в список 100 лучших книг Норвежского книжного клуба 2002 года. Многие известные произведения Достоевского многократно экранизировались и инсценировались в театре, ставились балетные и оперные постановки. ([Source][3])
[1]: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/fdosto.htm
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky
[3]: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%A4%D1%91%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 |
Ender's Game | Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with the Formics, an insectoid alien species they dub the "buggers". In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including the novel's protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, are trained from a very young age by putting them through increasingly difficult games, including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.
The book originated as a short story of the same name, published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. The novel was published on January 15, 1985. Later, by elaborating on characters and plotlines depicted in the novel, Card was able to write additional books in the Ender's Game series. Card also released an updated version of Ender's Game in 1991, changing some political facts to reflect the times more accurately (e.g., to include the recent collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War). The novel has been translated into 34 languages.
Reception of the book has been mostly positive. It has become suggested reading for many military organizations, including the United States Marine Corps. Ender's Game was recognized as "best novel" by the 1985 Nebula Award[3] and the 1986 Hugo Award[4] in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Its four sequels—Speaker for the Dead (1986), Xenocide (1991), Children of the Mind (1996), and Ender in Exile (2008)—follow Ender's subsequent travels to many different worlds in the galaxy. In addition, the later novella A War of Gifts (2007) and novel Ender's Shadow (1999), plus other novels in the Shadow saga, take place during the same time period as the original.
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Contained in:
[Ender's War](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL49619W)
See also:
- [Ender's Game: 1/2](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19647657W/Ender's_Game._1_2)
[1]: http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/endersgame/ | New York Times bestseller, nyt:mass_market_paperback=2011-07-30, military education, end of the world, prize:nebula | I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. | Orson Scott Card | Orson Scott Card is an American novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist and columnist. He writes in several genres but is known best for science fiction. His novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the only author to win both science fiction's top U.S. prizes in consecutive years. |
The Lost World | Journalist Ed Malone is looking for an adventure, and that's exactly what he finds when he meets the eccentric Professor Challenger - an adventure that leads Malone and his three companions deep into the Amazon jungle, to a lost world where dinosaurs roam free. | Adventure stories, Atlantis, Dinosaurs, Discovery and exploration, English Detective and mystery stories | null | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most noted for creating the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and writing stories about him which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.
He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of a second character he invented, Professor Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.<sup>[1][1]</sup>
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle |
Genji monogatari | **The most famous work of Japanese literature and the world's first novel—written a thousand years ago and one of the enduring classics of world literature.**
Written centuries before the time of Shakespeare and even Chaucer, The Tale of Genji marks the birth of the novel—and after more than a millennium, this seminal work continues to enchant readers throughout the world. Lady Murasaki Shikibu and her tale's hero, Prince Genji, have had an unmatched influence on Japanese culture. Prince Genji manifests what was to become an image of the ideal Heian era courtier; gentle and passionate. Genji is also a master poet, dancer, musician and painter. The Tale of Genji follows Prince Genji through his many loves, and varied passions. This book has influenced not only generations of courtiers and samurai of the distant past, but artists and painters even in modern times—episodes in the tale have been incorporated into the design of kimonos and handicrafts, and the four-line poems called waka which dance throughout this work have earned it a place as a classic text in the study of poetry.
This version by Kencho Suematsu was the first-ever translation in English. Condensed, it's a quarter length of the unabridged text, making it perfect for readers with limited time.
"Not speaking is the wiser part,
And words are sometimes vain,
But to completely close the heart
In silence, gives me pain.
—Prince Genji, in The Tale of Genji
About the Author: Lady Murasaki Shikibu, born in 978, was a member of the famed Fujiwara clan-one of the most influential families of the Heian period. After the death of her husband, Shikibu immersed herself in Buddhism, and the religion's influence permeates her writing. | Classic Literature, Concordances, Fiction, Illustrations, Japanese fiction | null | Murasaki Shikibu | Japanese novelist and poet |
The Island of Dr. Moreau | Ranked among the classic novels of the English language and the inspiration for several unforgettable movies, this early work of H. G. Wells was greeted in 1896 by howls of protest from reviewers, who found it horrifying and blasphemous. They wanted to know more about the wondrous possibilities of science shown in his first book, The Time Machine, not its potential for misuse and terror. In The Island of Dr. Moreau, a shipwrecked gentleman named Edward Prendick, stranded on a Pacific island lorded over by the notorious Dr. Moreau, confronts dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life.
While this riveting tale was intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, modern readers familiar with genetic engineering will marvel at Wells’s prediction of the ethical issues raised by producing “smarter” human beings or bringing back extinct species. These levels of interpretation add a richness to Prendick’s adventures on Dr. Moreau’s island of lost souls without distracting from what is still a rip-roaring good read. | Islands, Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, Fiction, Animal experimentation, Horror stories | null | H. G. Wells, Fiona Beddall, Dobbs, Fabrizio Fiorentino, David Domínguez, Jonathan Kent, Margaret Atwood, Judit Lligonya Tenasen, Manuel Rivas Cabezuelo, Amaia Gurbindo, Judit Lligonya Tenas, Marta Seoane Rebollo | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. || Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC is a Canadian writer. A prolific poet, novelist, literary critic, feminist and activist, she has received national and international recognition for her writing.
ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over forty countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, now a successful MGM-Hulu television series currently preparing its fourth season, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize; The Penelopiad; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-seed; and The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, published in September, 2019. She lives in Toronto some of the time. |
The Magician's Nephew | Digory let out a scream. “What's happened to Polly?” “Congratulate me, my dear boy,” said Uncle Andrew, rubbing his hands. “My experiment has succeeded. The little girl's gone – vanished – right out of this world.” When Digory and Polly discover Uncle Andrew's secret workshop, they are tricked into touching some magic rings that take them right out of this world. But even Uncle Andrew doesn't realise the wonders that lie ahead as they discover the gateway to the magical land of Narnia, where many thrilling adventures await them. | Fantasy, Juvenile fiction, Cartoons and comics, Fiction, Fairy tales | This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child. | C.S. Lewis | Clive Staples Lewis was an Irish-born British novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. |
Animal Farm | Animal Farm is a brilliant political satire and a powerful and affecting story of revolutions and idealism, power and corruption. 'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges.. | British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author), political satire, classic, animal drama, Fiction, political | null | George Orwell | George Orwell, originally born as Eric Arthur Blair, was an English novelist and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense, revolutionary opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language and a belief in democratic socialism. ([Source][1].)
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell |
Poirot investigates | in published order, the first 10 Christie mystery books featuring Poirot are: 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 2) The Murder on the Links, 3) Poirot Investigates, 4) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 5) The Big Four, 6) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 7) Black Coffee: A Mystery Play in Three Acts [Charles Osborne novelized the play in 1998 under the title, Black Coffee], 8) Peril at End House, 9) Lord Edgware Dies, and 10) Murder on the Orient Express. Each has its own entry on Goodreads. | Hercule Poirot (Fictitious character), Private investigators, Chief Inspector Japp (Fictitious character), Belgians, English Detective and mystery stories | null | Agatha Christie | Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, in the United Kingdom, the daughter of a wealthy American stockbroker. Her father died when she was eleven years old. Her mother taught her at home, encouraging her to write at a very young age. At the age of 16, she went to Mrs. Dryden's finishing school in Paris to study singing and piano. In 1914, at age 24, she married Colonel Archibald Christie, an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps. While he went away to war, she worked as a nurse and wrote her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), which wasn't published until four years later. When her husband came back from the war, they had a daughter. In 1928 she divorced her husband, who had been having an affair. In 1930, she married Sir Max Mallowan, an archaeologist and a Catholic. She was happy in the early years of her second marriage, and did not divorce her husband despite his many affairs. She travelled with her husband's job, and set several of her novels set in the Middle East. Most of her other novels were set in a fictionalized Devon, where she was born.
Agatha Christie is credited with developing the "cozy style" of mystery, which became popular in, and ultimately defined, the Golden Age of fiction in England in the 1920s and '30s, an age of which she is considered to have been Queen. In all, she wrote over 66 novels, numerous short stories and screenplays, and a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott. She was the single most popular mystery writer of all time. In 1971 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. |
Nineteen Eighty-Four | Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.
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Also contained in:
[Novels (Animal Farm / Burmese Days / Clergyman's Daughter / Coming Up for Air / Keep the Aspidistra Flying / Nineteen Eighty-Four)](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1168045W)
[Novels (Animal Farm / Nineteen Eighty-Four)](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1167981W)
[Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: Text, Sources, Criticism](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1168095W) | futurology, censorship, surveillance, rebels, sting operations | It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. | George Orwell | George Orwell, originally born as Eric Arthur Blair, was an English novelist and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense, revolutionary opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language and a belief in democratic socialism. ([Source][1].)
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell |
The Secret Agent | **The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale** is a novel by Joseph Conrad, first published in 1907. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia). The Secret Agent is one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his former tales of seafaring. The novel is dedicated to H. G. Wells and deals broadly with anarchism, espionage, and terrorism. It also deals with exploitation of the vulnerable in Verloc's relationship with his brother-in-law Stevie, who has an intellectual disability. Conrad’s gloomy portrait of London depicted in the novel was influenced by Charles Dickens’ *Bleak House*.
(Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Agent)) | Anarchists, fiction, Conspiracies, fiction, Bombings, fiction, Terrorism, fiction, Royal Greenwich Observatory, fiction | null | Joseph Conrad | Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born British novelist, who became a British subject in 1886. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and then always with a marked Polish accent). He wrote stories and novels, predominantly with a nautical or seaboard setting, that depict trials of the human spirit by the demands of duty and honor. ([Source][1].)
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad |
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.
Journey into the land beyond the wardrobe! The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis's classic fantasy series, which has been captivating readers of all ages for over sixty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you would like journey back to Narnia, read The Horse and His Boy, the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia.
([source][1])
[1]: http://www.cslewis.com/us/books/hardcover/the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe/9780060234812/
----------
Also contained in:
- [Chronicles of Narnia](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL70988W/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia)
- [Tales of Narnia](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL71080W) | the Blitz, fauns, Turkish Delight, lions, English Children's stories | Once ther were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. | C.S. Lewis | Clive Staples Lewis was an Irish-born British novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. |
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Stevenson’s famous gothic novella, first published in 1886, and filmed countless times is better known simply as Jekyll and Hyde. The first novel to toy with the idea of a split personality, it features the respectable Dr. Jekyll transforming himself into the evil Mr Hyde in a failed attempt to learn more about the duality of man. | Fiction, Physicians, Physicians in fiction, Multiple personality in fiction, Multiple personality | null | Robert Louis Stevenson | Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped and A Child's Garden of Verses. |
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Over a century after its initial publication, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is still captivating the hearts of countless readers. Come adventure with Dorothy and her three friends: the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, as they follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City for an audience with the Great Oz, the mightiest Wizard in the land, and the only one that can return Dorothy to her home in Kansas. | Witches, Toy and movable books, Spanish language materials, Fiction, Wizards | Dorotea habia perdido a sus padres siendo muy nina, y desde entonces habia vivido con sus tios Enrique y Emma, dos viejos granjeros que tenian una casa modesta en medio de las grandes praderas de Kansas y que no sonreian por nada del mundo. | L. Frank Baum | Lyman Frank Baum was a US author, poet, playwright, actor, and independent filmmaker best known today as the creator - along with illustrator WW Denslow - of one of the most popular books in US children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. - [Wikipedia][1]
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum |
Northern Lights | In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved. | Political theology, Polar bears, Kidnapping, Adventure stories, Children and adults | Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen. | Philip Pullman | Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, *His Dark Materials*, and his fictional biography of Jesus, *The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ*. The first of *His Dark Materials* has been turned into the film The Golden Compass and the first two books from his Sally Lockhart series have been adapted for television.
In 2008, The Times named Pullman in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
([Source][1])
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman |
Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-Vingts Jours | Phileas Fogg, a very punctual man had broken into an argument while conversing about the recent bank robbery. To keep his word of proving that he would travel around the world in 80 days and win the bet, he sets on a long trip, where he is joined by a few other people on the way. A wonderful adventure is about to begin! | Viajes alrededor del mundo, Translations into Gujarati, Fiction, Translations from French, Children's stories, French | null | Jules Verne | Jules Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre.
He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869–1870), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and The Mysterious Island (1875). Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. Consequently he is often referred to as the "Father of science fiction", along with H. G. Wells. ([Source][1].)
Also as of 2023, Jules Verne is regarded as the second most translated author in the world. ([Source][2].)
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne
[2]: https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/most-translated-author.php |
Dracula | Sink your teeth into the ageless tale of the famous vampire Count Dracula.
Dracula first horrified readers over 125 years ago. Today, this original gothic masterpiece includes a detailed exploration into the 1897 classic vampire novel and its author, Bram Stoker.
In this bonus introduction,
Learn about Stoker’s early life, his colorful career, and the famous friends he made leading up to the creation of his magnum opus, Dracula.
Tune into the speculative theories of Stoker’s personal life and his deeply repressed homosexual tendencies.
Delve deep into the folklore and mysticism that inspired Dracula, the masterful work itself, and the lasting impact it continues to have on pop culture.
This annotated introduction accompanying this classic novel is essential for all fans of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I welcome you, the reader, as Count Dracula beckoned Jonathan Harker:
“Welcome to my house. Enter freely and at your own free will.” | Count Dracula (Fictitious character), Dracula, Conde (Personaje literario), Dracula, Count (Fictitious character), English language, English literature | null | Bram Stoker | null |
Hard Times | Dickens scathing portrait of Victorian industrial society and its misapplied utilitarian philosophy, Hard Times features schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind, one of his most richly dimensional, memorable characters. Filled with the details and wonders of small-town life, it is also a daring novel of ideas and ultimately, a celebration of love, hope, and limitless possibilities of the imagination. | Fiction, Social problems, Utilitarianism, Education, Social life and customs | null | Charles Dickens, García de García de Luna, Elisa Esgasa, Emilia Pardo Bazán | Charles Dickens, was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era, and one of the most popular of all time. He created some of literature's most iconic characters, with the theme of social reform running throughout his work. The continuing popularity of his novels and short stories is such that they have never gone out of print. ([Source][1].)
[1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens |
The Giver | At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life. | Social control, Control (Psychology), Juvenile fiction, Fiction, Science fiction | null | Lois Lowry | Lois Ann Lowry (/ˈlaʊəri/;[2] née Hammersberg; March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for young audiences.
Lowry has won two Newbery Medals: for Number the Stars in 1990 and The Giver in 1994. Her book Gooney Bird Greene won the 2002 Rhode Island Children's Book Award.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lowry |
Die Verwandlung | Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect (German: ungeheueres Ungeziefer, lit. "monstrous vermin") and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition. The novella has been widely discussed among literary critics, with differing interpretations being offered. In popular culture and adaptations of the novella, the insect is commonly depicted as a cockroach.
With a length of about 70 printed pages over three chapters, it is the longest of the stories Kafka considered complete and published during his lifetime. The text was first published in 1915 in the October issue of the journal Die weißen Blätter under the editorship of René Schickele. The first edition in book form appeared in December 1915 in the series Der jüngste Tag, edited by Kurt Wolff. | Fantasy fiction, Children's fiction, Lectures et morceaux choisis, Fantastique, Nouvelles | null | Franz Kafka | Franz Kafka is one of the most important and influential fiction writers of the early 20th century; a novelist and writer of short stories whose works, only after his death, came to be regarded as one of the major achievements of 20th century literature. ([Source][1].)
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka |
Братья Карамазовы | The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky’s crowning achievement, is a tale of patricide and family rivalry that embodies the moral and spiritual dissolution of an entire society (Russia in the 1870s). It created a national furor comparable only to the excitement stirred by the publication, in 1866, of Crime and Punishment. To Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov captured the quintessence of Russian character in all its exaltation, compassion, and profligacy. Significantly, the book was on Tolstoy’s bedside table when he died. Readers in every language have since accepted Dostoevsky’s own evaluation of this work and have gone further by proclaiming it one of the few great novels of all ages and countries.
([source][1]) | Literature - Classics / Criticism, Russian, Literature: Classics, Classics, Literary | null | Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский | Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoyevsky was a journalist and short-story writer, whose psychological penetration into the human soul profoundly influenced the 20th century novel. Dostoevsky's novels have much autobiographical elements, but ultimately they deal with moral and philosophical questions. He presented interacting characters with contrasting views or ideas about freedom of choice, Socialism, atheisms, good and evil, happiness and so forth. Dostoevsky's central obsession was God, whom his characters constantly search through painful errors and humiliations. ([Source][1])
Dostoyevsky's literary output explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. Considered by many as a founder or precursor of 20th-century existentialism, his *Notes from Underground* (1864), written in the embittered voice of the anonymous "underground man", was called by Walter Kaufmann the "best overture for existentialism ever written." A prominent figure in world literature, Dostoyevsky is often acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest psychologists in world literature. ([Source][2])
Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский (рус. дореф. Ѳедоръ Михайловичъ Достоевскій; 30 октября [11 ноября] 1821, Москва, Российская империя — 28 января [9 февраля] 1881, Санкт-Петербург, Российская империя) — русский писатель, мыслитель, философ и публицист. Член-корреспондент Петербургской АН с 1877 года. ([Source][3])
Как в начале, так и в продолжении своего литературного творчества после четырёх лет каторги и ссылки за участие в кружке Петрашевского Достоевский выступал в качестве новатора в русле традиций русского реализма, что не получило должной оценки современников при жизни писателя. ([Source][3])
После смерти Достоевский был признан классиком русской литературы и одним из лучших романистов мирового значения, считается первым представителем персонализма в России. Творчество русского писателя оказало воздействие на мировую литературу, в частности, на творчество ряда лауреатов Нобелевской премии по литературе, на становление экзистенциализма и фрейдизма. ([Source][3])
К наиболее значительным произведениям писателя относятся романы «великого пятикнижия». Романы «Преступление и наказание», «Идиот», «Бесы» и «Братья Карамазовы» включены в список 100 лучших книг Норвежского книжного клуба 2002 года. Многие известные произведения Достоевского многократно экранизировались и инсценировались в театре, ставились балетные и оперные постановки. ([Source][3])
[1]: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/fdosto.htm
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky
[3]: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%A4%D1%91%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 |
The Lost Symbol | The Lost Symbol is a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown. It is a thriller set in Washington, D.C., after the events of The Da Vinci Code, and relies on Freemasonry for both its recurring theme and its major characters.
Released on September 15, 2009, it is the third Brown novel to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon, following 2000's Angels & Demons and 2003's The Da Vinci Code.
----------
See also:
[Lost Symbol [2/2]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27717939W) | Suspense & Thriller, Historical Fiction, Aventures, Langdon, Robert (Personnage fictif), Kidnapping | The secret is how to die. | Dan Brown | Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, *The Da Vinci Code*. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into over 40 languages, and as of 2009, sold over 80 million copies.
Brown's novels that feature the lead character Robert Langdon also include historical themes and Christianity as recurring motifs, and as a result, have generated controversy. Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says of his book *The Da Vinci Code* that it is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."
([Source][1])
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Brown |
The Two Towers | The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien's three-volume epic, is set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth -- home to many strange beings, and most notably hobbits, a peace-loving "little people," cheerful and shy. Since its original British publication in 1954-55, the saga has entranced readers of all ages. It is at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale. Critic Michael Straight has hailed it as one of the "very few works of genius in recent literature." Middle-earth is a world receptive to poets, scholars, children, and all other people of good will. Donald Barr has described it as "a scrubbed morning world, and a ringing nightmare world...especially sunlit, and shadowed by perils very fundamental, of a peculiarly uncompounded darkness." The story of this world is one of high and heroic adventure. Barr compared it to Beowulf, C.S. Lewis to Orlando Furioso, W.H. Auden to The Thirty-nine Steps. In fact the saga is sui generis -- a triumph of imagination which springs to life within its own framework and on its own terms. - Jacket flap.
Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in the battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria; and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by Orcs. Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin – alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go. J.R.R. Tolkien’s great work of imaginative fiction has been labelled both a heroic romance and a classic fantasy fiction. By turns comic and homely, epic and diabolic, the narrative moves through countless changes of scene and character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail.
----------
**Also contained in:**
- [The Lord of the Rings][1]
[1]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27448W/The_Lord_of_the_Rings | Ents, Orcs, hobbits, magic, Ficción fantástica inglesa | ARAGORN sped on up the hill. | J.R.R. Tolkien | John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specialising in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide.
In the 1960s he was taken up by many members of the nascent "counter-culture" largely because of his concern with environmental issues. In 1997 he came top of three British polls, organised respectively by Channel 4 / Waterstone's, the Folio Society, and SFX, the UK's leading science fiction media magazine, amongst discerning readers asked to vote for the greatest book of the 20th century.
([Source][1])
[1]: http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html |
A Wrinkle in Time | A Wrinkle in Time is a science fiction fantasy novel by American writer Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1962. It is about Meg And Charles Walence. Their father, who was working on a interesting project called a tesseract, goes missing! Then they meet a boy and some strange women. This story won a Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award For this amazing story! It also has a movie! I Hope you all enjoy! | Love, sci-fi, Newbery Medal, Open Library Staff Picks, Juvenile fiction | null | Madeleine L'Engle | American writer |
The Hobbit | The Hobbit is a tale of high adventure, undertaken by a company of dwarves in search of dragon-guarded gold. A reluctant partner in this perilous quest is Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving unambitious hobbit, who surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and skill as a burglar.
Encounters with trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves, and giant spiders, conversations with the dragon, Smaug, and a rather unwilling presence at the Battle of Five Armies are just some of the adventures that befall Bilbo.
Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children’s fiction. Written by Professor Tolkien for his children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when published. | Arkenstone, Battle of Five Armies, invisibility, thrushes, eagles | In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. | J.R.R. Tolkien | John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specialising in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide.
In the 1960s he was taken up by many members of the nascent "counter-culture" largely because of his concern with environmental issues. In 1997 he came top of three British polls, organised respectively by Channel 4 / Waterstone's, the Folio Society, and SFX, the UK's leading science fiction media magazine, amongst discerning readers asked to vote for the greatest book of the 20th century.
([Source][1])
[1]: http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html |
A Clockwork Orange | A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy novel by English writer Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. It is set in a near-future society that has a youth subculture of extreme violence. The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits and his experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him. The book is partially written in a Russian-influenced argot called "Nadsat", which takes its name from the Russian suffix that is equivalent to '-teen' in English. According to Burgess, it was a jeu d'esprit written in just three weeks.
In 2005, A Clockwork Orange was included on Time magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and it was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The original manuscript of the book has been kept at McMaster University's William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada since the institution purchased the documents in 1971. It is considered one of the most influential dystopian books.
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Also contained in:
[A Clockwork Orange and Honey for the Bears](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL23787405W)
[A Clockwork Orange / The Wanting Seed](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17306508W) | bible, aversion therapy, unintended consequences, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, gang rape | 'WHAT'S it going to be then, eh?' | Anthony Burgess | John Anthony Burgess Wilson, who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer.
Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire *A Clockwork Orange* remains his best-known novel. In 1971, it was adapted into a controversial film by Stanley Kubrick, which Burgess said was chiefly responsible for the popularity of the book. Burgess produced numerous other novels, including the Enderby quartet, and Earthly Powers. He wrote librettos and screenplays, including the 1977 television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth. He worked as a literary critic for several publications, including The Observer and The Guardian, and wrote studies of classic writers, notably James Joyce. A versatile linguist, Burgess lectured in phonetics, and translated Cyrano de Bergerac, Oedipus Rex, and the opera Carmen, among others.
Burgess also composed over 250 musical works; he considered himself as much a composer as an author, although he achieved considerably more success in writing. |
The Hunger Games | The Hunger Games is a 2008 dystopian novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the perspective of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the future, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle royale to the death.
The book received critical acclaim from major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its plot and character development. In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content. The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008.
The Hunger Games was first published in hardcover on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic, featuring a cover designed by Tim O'Brien. | severe poverty, starvation, oppression, effects of war, self-sacrifice | null | Suzanne Collins | American author of young adult literature, whose works include *The Hunger Games* trilogy and *The Underland Chronicles* series. The daughter of an Air Force officer, she lives in her native home of Connecticut. |
Moby Dick | "Command the murderous chalices! Drink ye harpooners! Drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboat's bow -- Death to Moby Dick!" So Captain Ahab binds his crew to fulfil his obsession -- the destruction of the great white whale. Under his lordly but maniacal command the Pequod's commercial mission is perverted to one of vengeance. To Ahab, the monster that destroyed his body is not a creature, but the symbol of "some unknown but still reasoning thing." Uncowed by natural disasters, ill omens, even death, Ahab urges his ship towards "the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale." Key letters from Melville to Nathaniel Hawthorne are printed at the end of this volume. - Back cover. | American Sea stories, Mentally ill, Whaling, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Whales | Call me Ishmael. | Herman Melville | Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet who is often classified as part of dark romanticism. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and novella Billy Budd, the latter of which was published posthumously. ([Source][1].)
[1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville |
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Harry Potter #1
When mysterious letters start arriving on his doorstep, Harry Potter has never heard of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
They are swiftly confiscated by his aunt and uncle.
Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a strange man bursts in with some important news: Harry Potter is a wizard and has been awarded a place to study at Hogwarts.
And so the first of the Harry Potter adventures is set to begin.
([source][1])
[1]: https://www.jkrowling.com/book/harry-potter-philosophers-stone/ | Ghosts, Monsters, Vampires, Witches, Challenges and Overcoming Obstacles | Mr. And Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. | J. K. Rowling | Joanne "Jo" Murray, OBE (née Rowling), better known under the pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies, and been the basis for a popular series of films. |
Carrie | The story of misfit high-school girl, Carrie White, who gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Repressed by a domineering, ultra-religious mother and tormented by her peers at school, her efforts to fit in lead to a dramatic confrontation during the senior prom.
([source][1])
----------
Also contained in:
- [The Shining / 'Salem's Lot / Night Shift / Carrie][2]
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See also:
- [Selected from Carrie][3]
[1]: https://stephenking.com/library/novel/carrie.html
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19558521W
[3]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL11018609W/Selected_from_Carrie | occult & supernatural fiction, horror fiction, psychological thrillers, Fiction, Horror | It was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlain on August 17th. | Stephen King | Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books. He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.
King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards. In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his entire bibliography, such as the 2004 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. In 2015, he was awarded with a National Medal of Arts from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to literature. He has been described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high standing in pop culture. |
The Subtle Knife | As the boundaries between worlds begin to dissolve, Lyra and her daemon help Will Parry in his search for his father and for a powerful, magical knife.
She had asked: What is he? A friend or an enemy?
The alethiometer answered: He is a murderer.
When she saw the answer, she relaxed at once.
Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld – Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky.
But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm.
On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power.
And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat – and the shattering truth of their own destiny. | Fantasy, Juvenile literature, English Fantasy fiction, Fantasy fiction, Juvenile fiction | Will tugged at his mother's hand and said, "Come on, come on..." But his mother hung back. | Philip Pullman | Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, *His Dark Materials*, and his fictional biography of Jesus, *The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ*. The first of *His Dark Materials* has been turned into the film The Golden Compass and the first two books from his Sally Lockhart series have been adapted for television.
In 2008, The Times named Pullman in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
([Source][1])
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman |
Common Sense | Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are. | Political science, Politics and government, Monarchy, Early works to 1800, Society of Friends | null | Thomas Paine | English and American political activist |
The Complete Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | From the book:Have you heard of the great Forest of Burzee? Nurse used to sing of it when I was a child. She sang of the big tree-trunks, standing close together, with their roots intertwining below the earth and their branches intertwining above it; of their rough coating of bark and queer, gnarled limbs; of the bushy foliage that roofed the entire forest, save where the sunbeams found a path through which to touch the ground in little spots and to cast weird and curious shadows over the mosses, the lichens and the drifts of dried leaves. | Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Classic Literature | HAVE you heard of the great Forest of Burzee? | L. Frank Baum | Lyman Frank Baum was a US author, poet, playwright, actor, and independent filmmaker best known today as the creator - along with illustrator WW Denslow - of one of the most popular books in US children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. - [Wikipedia][1]
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum |
Twilight | Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a pair of star-crossed lovers whose forbidden relationship ripens against the backdrop of small-town suspicion and a mysterious coven of vampires. | New York Times bestseller, nyt:series_books=2008-03-15, School & Education, Vampires, Juvenile Fiction | null | Stephenie Meyer | an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series Twilight.
Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in the U.S.
Meyer received the 2009 Children's Book of the Year award from the British Book Awards for Breaking Dawn, the Twilight series finale.
Stephenie Morgan was born on December 24, 1973, in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of six children to financial officer Stephen Morgan and homemaker Candy Morgan. Meyer was raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1992, Meyer won a National Merit Scholarship, which helped fund her undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a BA in English Literature in 1997. Although she began and finished her degree at BYU, she took classes at Arizona State University in fall 1996 and spring 1997.
Meyer met her future husband, Christian "Pancho" Meyer, in Arizona when they were both children. They married in 1994, when Meyer was twenty-one.Together, they have sons who Christian Meyer retired from his job as an auditor to take care of full time.
Before writing her first novel, Twilight, Meyer considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer. She later noted that the birth of her oldest son, Gabe, in 1997 changed her mind: "Once I had Gabe, I just wanted to be his mom." Before becoming an author, Meyer's only professional work was as a receptionist at a property company. |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | For Harry Potter, it’s the start of another far-from-ordinary year at Hogwarts when the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and comes to an abrupt halt in front of him.
It turns out that Sirius Black, mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, has escaped – and they say he is coming after Harry.
In his first Divination class, Professor Trelawney sees an omen of death in Harry’s tea leaves.
And perhaps most frightening of all are the Dementors patrolling the school grounds with their soul-sucking kiss – in search of fresh victims.
([source][1])
[1]: https://www.jkrowling.com/book/harry-potter-prisoner-azkaban/ | Fantasy fiction, orphans, foster homes, fantasy, literature | Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. | J. K. Rowling | Joanne "Jo" Murray, OBE (née Rowling), better known under the pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies, and been the basis for a popular series of films. |
A Doll's House | Translation of Doll's house, English translation of Norwegian original by William Archer. | Drama, Translations into English, Wives, Norwegian drama, Translations from Norwegian | null | Henrik Ibsen, Henrik Ibsen | Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the god father" of modern drama and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre.[1] His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family life and propriety largely held sway in Europe. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many facades, possessing a revelatory nature that was disquieting to many contemporaries. It utilized a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. Ibsen is often ranked as one of the truly great playwrights in the European tradition, alongside Shakespeare.
Source and more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Ibsen |
Du contrat social | *The Social Contract*, originally published as *On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right* (French: *Du contrat social; ou, Principes du droit politique*), is a 1762 French-language book by the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The book theorizes about the best way to establish a political community in the face of the problems of commercial society, which Rousseau had already identified in his *Discourse on Inequality* (1755).
*The Social Contract* helped inspire political reforms or revolutions in Europe, especially in France. *The Social Contract* argued against the idea that monarchs were divinely empowered to legislate. Rousseau asserts that only the people, who are sovereign, have that all-powerful right. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract)) | Peace, The State, Science politique, Economics, Early works to 1800 | null | Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major Genevois philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution and the development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.
His novel, *Emile: or, On Education*, which he considered his most important work, is a seminal treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel, Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse, was of great importance to the development of pre-Romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings: his *Confessions*, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his *Reveries of a Solitary Walker* were among the pre-eminent examples of the late 18th-century movement known as the "Age of Sensibility", featuring an increasing focus on subjectivity and introspection that has characterized the modern age.
Rousseau also made important contributions to music as a theorist. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophers among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.<sup>[1][1]</sup>
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau |
Utopia | First published in 1516, Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism. Through the voice of the mysterious traveler Raphael Hythloday, More describes a pagan, communist city-state governed by reason. Addressing such issues as religious pluralism, women's rights, state-sponsored education, colonialism, and justified warfare, Utopia seems remarkably contemporary nearly five centuries after it was written, and it remains a foundational text in philosophy and political theory. | Utopias, Proverbs, Bibliography, Utopías, Fiction | null | Thomas More | null |
The Prince | The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of The Prince is of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.
From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings".
Although The Prince was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it was generally agreed as being especially innovative. This is partly because it was written in the vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice that had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante's Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature. | Political science, early works to 1800, Machiavel, Nicolas, 1469-1527. Prince, Classic Literature, Fiction, Ouvrages avant 1800 | null | Niccolò Machiavelli | **Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli**-Italian diplomat, writer and political philosopher was born in Florence, Italy, on May 3, 1469 to the parentage of Bernardo Machiavelli and Bartolomea Nelli. In 1502 Machiavelli married Marietta Corsini, who bore him four sons and two daughters. His grandson, Giovanni Ricci, is credited with saving many of Machiavelli's letters and writings. He died in the city on June 21, 1527. His tomb is in the church of Santa Croce in Florence.
(Sources: The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic Writings of Niccolò Machiavelli by Christian E. Detmold, Encyclopedia of World Biography, Biography.com, Wikipedia) |
The Art of War | The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period. The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu | Open Library Staff Picks, Early works to 1800, Military art and science, great_books_of_the_western_world, Business | 1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State. | 孙武 | 孙武（前545年—前470年或前496年）妫姓，孙氏，名武，字长卿，春秋时期齐国人，陈胡公的直系后代，著名军事家、政治家，兵家代表人物。兵书《孙子兵法》的作者，后人尊称为孙子、兵圣、东方兵圣。 |
Misery | Novelist Paul Sheldon has plans to make the difficult transition from writing historical romances featuring heroine Misery Chastain to publishing literary fiction. Annie Wilkes, Sheldon's number one fan, rescues the author from the scene of a car accident. The former nurse takes care of him in her remote house, but becomes irate when she discovers that the author has killed Misery off in his latest book. Annie keeps Sheldon prisoner while forcing him to write a book that brings Misery back to life.
[Source][1]
[1]: https://stephenking.com/library/novel/misery.html | dope, pills, American Novelists, Captives, Fans (Persons) | umber whunnnn | Stephen King | Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books. He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.
King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards. In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his entire bibliography, such as the 2004 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. In 2015, he was awarded with a National Medal of Arts from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to literature. He has been described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high standing in pop culture. |
πολιτεία | The Republic is Plato's most famous work and one of the seminal texts of Western philosophy and politics. The characters in this Socratic dialogue - including Socrates himself - discuss whether the just or unjust man is happier. They are the philosopher-kings of imagined cities and they also discuss the nature of philosophy and the soul among other things. | Political science, Early works to 1800, Utopias, Ouvrages avant 1800, Science politique | null | Πλάτων | Classical Greek philosopher |
Faerie queene | The Faerie Queene was one of the most influential poems in the English language. Dedicating his work to Elizabeth I, Spenser brilliantly united Arthurian romance and Italian renaissance epic to celebrate the glory of the Virgin Queen. Each book of the poem recounts the quest of a knight to achieve a virtue: the Red Crosse Knight of Holinesse, who must slay a dragon and free himself from the witch Duessa; Sir Guyon, Knight of Temperance, who escapes the Cave of Mammon and destroys Acrasia’s Bowre of Bliss; and the lady-knight Britomart’s search for her Sir Artegall, revealed to her in an enchanted mirror. Although composed as a moral and political allegory, The Faerie Queene’s magical atmosphere captivated the imaginations of later poets from Milton to the Victorians. | Epic poetry, Knights and knighthood, Poetry, Virtues, Open Library Staff Picks | null | Edmund Spenser | null |
Essays | "Bacon's Essays have attracted an eager readership since their publication in 1625. They sum up a lifetime's observations on the whole range of human activity, by one of the keenest minds of the Renaissance. In their third and final revision Bacon designed the Essays to fill some of the gaps he had diagnosed in the study of mankind, such as the formative influences on individual behaviour of birth and temperament, of environment, social exchange, leisure, business, and politics.
Bacon's approach varies greatly from essay to essay, juxtaposing systematic analysis with brilliant apercus, in styles ranging from the detached and laconic to the passionately engaged, especially when expressing his moral beliefs."--BOOK JACKET. "This closely annotated edition is based on Brian Vickers's Oxford Authors text and includes appendices containing extracts from the Essays (1597), the Essays (1612) and 'Antitheses of Things' (1623)."--BOOK JACKET. | Aphorisms and apothegms, Classical Mythology, Early works to 1800, English essays, Good and evil | null | Francis Bacon | An English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist and author known as the father of Empiricism. |
Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass | This book is an autobiographical account by runaway slave Frederick Douglass that chronicles his experiences with his owners and overseers and discusses how slavery affected both slaves and slaveholders. | Douglass, frederick, 1818-1895, Biography, African American abolitionists, Abolitionists, Slaves | null | Frederick Douglass | Frederick Douglass (c. February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He became the most important leader of the movement for African-American civil rights in the 19th century. |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll. A young girl named Alice falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre.
One of the best-known works of Victorian literature, its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have had huge influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. | Alice (fictitious character : carroll), fiction, British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author), Fiction, fantasy, general, JUVENILE FICTION, classics | Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do. | Lewis Carroll | Lewis Carroll is well known throughout the world as the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Behind the famous pseudonym was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematical lecturer at Oxford University with remarkably diverse talents. ([Source][1].)
[1]: http://lewiscarrollsociety.org.uk/pages/lewiscarroll/life.html |
The Sayings of Lao Tzü | The essential, classic text of Taoism. These 81 poems comprise an Eastern classic, the mystical and moral teachings of which have profoundly influenced the sacred scriptures of many religions. | Taoism, Chinese Philosophy, Asian Philosophy, Taoísmo, Taoist Philosophy | null | Laozi | Laozi (Chinese: 老子; pinyin: Lǎozǐ; Wade–Giles: Laosi; also Lao Tse, Lao Tu, Lao-Tzu, Lao-Tsu, Laotze, Lao Zi, Laocius, and other variations) was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, and is a central figure in Taoism (also spelled "Daoism"). Laozi literally means "old master", and is generally considered honorific. Laozi is revered as a deity in most religious forms of Taoism. Taishang Laojun is title for Laozi in the Taoist religion, which refers to him as "One of the Three Pure Ones".
According to Chinese tradition, Laozi lived in the 6th century BC. Historians variously contend that Laozi is a synthesis of multiple historical figures, that he is a mythical figure, or that he actually lived in the 4th century BC, concurrent with the Hundred Schools of Thought and Warring States Period.
A central figure in Chinese culture, both nobility and common people claim Laozi in their lineage. Throughout history, Laozi's work has been embraced by various anti-authoritarian movements.
**Source**: [Laozi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi) on Wikipedia. |
A Vindication of Rights of Woman | From Goodreads:
Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity, and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal education for girls and boys, an end to prejudice, and for women to become defined by their profession, not their partner. Mary Wollstonecraft's work was received with a mixture of admiration and outrage - Walpole called her 'a hyena in petticoats' - yet it established her as the mother of modern feminism. | Women's rights, Women, education, great britain, Feminism, Women, Education | null | Mary Wollstonecraft | Mary Wollstonecraft (pronounced /ˈwʊlstən.krɑːft/; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for *A Vindication of the Rights of Woman* (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. |
Much Ado About Nothing | Shakespeare's comedy play Much Ado About Nothing pivots around the impediments to love for young betrothed Hero and Claudio when Hero is falsely accused of infidelity and the "lover's trap" set for the arrogant and assured Benedick who has sworn of marriage and his gentle adversary Beatrice. The merry war between Benedick and Beatrice with the promptings of their friends soon dissolves into farcical love, while Hero's supposed infidelity is shown to be little more than "much ado about nothing". | mistaken identities, performing arts, comedy, Drama, Conspiracies | Enter Leonato (Governor of Messina), Hero (his Daughter), and Beatrice (his Niece), with a Messenger. | William Shakespeare | William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays,[c] 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He has invented over 1700 words and some of them are common, some of them are not. ([Source][1].)
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
Looking for the '[First Folio](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL362289W/Plays)'? |
Life on the Mississippi | At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Twains early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, here is the raw material from which Mark Twain wrote his finest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. | American Authors, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Juvenile literature, River boats | null | Mark Twain | Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was a prolific American author and humorist. Twain is best known for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which has been called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He is extensively quoted. Twain was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. ([Source][1].)
[1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain |
History | One of the earliest histories of the western world still extant, this gives a contemporary account of the Greco-Persian wars of the fifth century BCE with the rise of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great. | Ancient History, History, Early works to 1800, Plataea, Battle of, Plataiai, Greece, 479 B.C., Salamis, Battle of, Greece, 480 B.C. | null | Herodotus | null |
Walden | Walden first published in 1854 as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and—to some degree—a manual for self-reliance.
Walden details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.
Thoreau makes precise scientific observations of nature as well as metaphorical and poetic uses of natural phenomena. He identifies many plants and animals by both their popular and scientific names, records in detail the color and clarity of different bodies of water, precisely dates and describes the freezing and thawing of the pond, and recounts his experiments to measure the depth and shape of the bottom of the supposedly "bottomless" Walden Pond.
(Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden)) | Biography, Homes and haunts, American Authors, Social life and customs, Solitude | null | Henry David Thoreau | Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.
Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore; while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and "Yankee" love of practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time imploring one to abandon waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.
([Source][1])
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau |
Sonnets | "I feel that I have spent half my career with one or another Pelican Shakespeare in my back pocket. Convenience, however, is the least important aspect of the new Pelican Shakespeare series. Here is an elegant and clear text for either the study or the rehearsal room, notes where you need them and the distinguished scholarship of the general editors, Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller who understand that these are plays for performance as well as great texts for contemplation." (Patrick Stewart) | English Sonnets, History and criticism, Bibliography, Translations into Yiddish, Problems, exercises | null | William Shakespeare | William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays,[c] 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He has invented over 1700 words and some of them are common, some of them are not. ([Source][1].)
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
Looking for the '[First Folio](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL362289W/Plays)'? |
Catching Fire | Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn. | Action/Adventure, Fantasy, teen fiction, juvenile works, interdependence | I clasp the flask between my hands even thought the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air. | Suzanne Collins | American author of young adult literature, whose works include *The Hunger Games* trilogy and *The Underland Chronicles* series. The daughter of an Air Force officer, she lives in her native home of Connecticut. |
Foundation | One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building.
The story of our future begins with the history of Foundation and its greatest psychohistorian: Hari Seldon. For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. And mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves--or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction. | Psychohistory, Open Library Staff Picks, Life on other planets, Fiction, Science Fiction | null | Isaac Asimov | Asimov was born sometime between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920 in Petrovichi in Smolensk Oblast, RSFSR (now Russia), the son of a Jewish family of millers. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Asimov himself celebrated it on January 2. His family emigrated to Brooklyn, New York and opened a candy store when he was three years old. He taught himself to read at the age of five. He began reading the science fiction pulp magazines that his family's store carried. Around the age of eleven, he began to write his own stories, and by age nineteen, he was selling them to the science fiction magazines. He graduated from Columbia University in 1939. He married Gertrude Blugerman in 1942. During World War II he worked as a civilian at the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Naval Air Experimental Station. After the war, he returned to Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1948. He then joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine until 1958, when he became a full-time writer. His first novel, [Pebble in the Sky](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL46402W), was published in 1950. He and his wife divorced in 1973, and he married Janet O. Jeppson the same year. He was a highly prolific writer, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards. |
I, Robot | I, Robot is a fixup novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950 and were then compiled into a book for stand-alone publication by Gnome Press in 1950, in an initial edition of 5,000 copies. The stories are woven together by a framing narrative in which the fictional Dr. Susan Calvin tells each story to a reporter (who serves as the narrator) in the 21st century. Although the stories can be read separately, they share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots, and morality, and when combined they tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics.
----------
Contains:
"Introduction" (the initial portion of the framing story or linking text)
"[Robbie](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL46260W)" (1940, 1950)
"Runaround" (1942)
"Reason" (1941)
"Catch That Rabbit" (1944)
"Liar!" (1941)
"Little Lost Robot" (1947)
"Escape!" (1945)
"Evidence" (1946)
"The Evitable Conflict" (1950)
----------
Contained in:
[Foundation / I, Robot](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20098770W)
[Great Science Fiction Stories](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL36759365W) | smear campaigns, supercomputers, computers, Frankenstein complex, hyperspace | I looked at my notes and I didn't like them. | Isaac Asimov | Asimov was born sometime between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920 in Petrovichi in Smolensk Oblast, RSFSR (now Russia), the son of a Jewish family of millers. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Asimov himself celebrated it on January 2. His family emigrated to Brooklyn, New York and opened a candy store when he was three years old. He taught himself to read at the age of five. He began reading the science fiction pulp magazines that his family's store carried. Around the age of eleven, he began to write his own stories, and by age nineteen, he was selling them to the science fiction magazines. He graduated from Columbia University in 1939. He married Gertrude Blugerman in 1942. During World War II he worked as a civilian at the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Naval Air Experimental Station. After the war, he returned to Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1948. He then joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine until 1958, when he became a full-time writer. His first novel, [Pebble in the Sky](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL46402W), was published in 1950. He and his wife divorced in 1973, and he married Janet O. Jeppson the same year. He was a highly prolific writer, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards. |
The Gunslinger | [The Dark Tower][1] I
The Gunslinger is a dark-fantasy by American author Stephen King. It is the first volume in the Dark Tower series.
The Gunslinger was first published in 1982 as a fix-up novel, joining five short stories that had been published between 1978 and 1981. King substantially revised the novel in 2003; this version has remained in print ever since, with the subtitle RESUMPTION.
The story centers upon Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, who has been chasing his adversary, "the man in black," for many years. The novel fuses Western fiction with fantasy, science fiction, and horror, following Roland's trek through a vast desert and beyond in search of the man in black. Roland meets several people along his journey, including a boy named Jake Chambers, who travels with him part of the way.
"The Gunslinger" (October 1978)
"The Way Station" (April 1980)
"The Oracle and the Mountains" (February 1981)
"The Slow Mutants" (July 1981)
"The Gunslinger and the Dark Man" (November 1981)
[1]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL81600W/The_Dark_Tower_1-7 | succubus, demons, American fiction, fantastic fiction, adventure fiction | The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. | Stephen King | Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books. He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.
King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards. In 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his entire bibliography, such as the 2004 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. In 2015, he was awarded with a National Medal of Arts from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to literature. He has been described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high standing in pop culture. |
Deception Point | Deception Point is a 2001 mystery-thriller novel by American author Dan Brown. It is Brown's third novel. It was published by Simon & Schuster.
The novel follows White House intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton's involvement in corroborating NASA's discovery of a meteorite that supposedly contains proof of extraterrestrial life, resembling the ALH84001 case. The discovery comes at a time close to the United States presidential election in which her father is running. The discovery will aid the campaign of her employer, the incumbent president of the United States, Zachary Herney, but put her further at odds with her already estranged father, Senator Sedgwick Sexton, a senator who is running for election. Sexton, accompanied by a team of experts, must uncover the authenticity of the meteorite which will either make or break the campaign of President Herney.
Contains:
[Deception Point [1/2]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL25327019W)
[Deception Point [2/2]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL30946570W) | mystery fiction, adventure fiction, literature, Meteors, Conspiracies | Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms. | Dan Brown | Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, *The Da Vinci Code*. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into over 40 languages, and as of 2009, sold over 80 million copies.
Brown's novels that feature the lead character Robert Langdon also include historical themes and Christianity as recurring motifs, and as a result, have generated controversy. Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says of his book *The Da Vinci Code* that it is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."
([Source][1])
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Brown |
She | An enduring adventure yarn set in pre colonial Africa, culminating in the discovery of a lost civilization ruled by a beautiful eternally youthful queen. "She is generally considered to be one of the classics of imaginative literature and with 83 million copies sold by 1965, it is one of the best-selling books of all time." See more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_(novel) | Fiction in English, Adventure and adventurers, Reincarnation, Fiction inEnglish, Allan Quatermain (Fictitious character) | null | H. Rider Haggard | English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. |
Jurassic Park | Jurassic Park is a 1990 science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton. A cautionary tale about genetic engineering, it presents the collapse of an amusement park showcasing genetically re-created dinosaurs to illustrate the mathematical concept of chaos theory and its real-world implications. A sequel titled The Lost World, also written by Crichton, was published in 1995. In 1997, both novels were re-published as a single book titled Michael Crichton's Jurassic World. In 1996 it was awarded the Secondary BILBY Award.
Also contained in:
[Congo/Jurassic Park](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8475707W)
[Michael Crichton's Jurassic World](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14950507W) | dichogamy, corporate espionage, science fiction, cautionary tale, genetic engineering | The tropical rain fell in drenching sheets, hammering the corrugated roof of the clinic building, roaring down the metal gutters, splashing on the ground in a torrent. | Michael Crichton | An American writer and filmmaker. |
A Modern Utopia | Imagine a life without worries. You live in a perfect environment untouched by pollution. You have a job to do and play an important role in society. The politicians are watching out for your best interest. And, you get along with your neighbors. Wells’ utopia may not only be unattainable, it may be detrimental to humanity’s progress. Decide for yourself as you read this classic quest for social equality in the modern era. | Utopias, Fiction, Science Fiction, Classic Literature, Political science | null | H. G. Wells | Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary. |
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe | The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction "trilogy" by Douglas Adams, and is a sequel. It was originally published by Pan Books as a paperback. The book was inspired by the song "Grand Hotel" by British rock band Procol Harum. The book title refers to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, one of the settings of the book.
----------
Also contained in:
- [The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts][2]
- [The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide][3]
- [Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163706W)
[1]: http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/0345391810.html
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163692W
[3]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163713W | Fiction, Humorous fiction, humorous stories, Interplanetary voyages, Restaurants | The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created. | Douglas Adams | Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge in March 1952. He was creator of all the various manifestations of *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*.
Douglas died unexpectedly in May 2001 of a sudden heart attack at the age of 49. |
Slaughterhouse-Five | Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know. | American science fiction, bombing of Dresden, Open Library staff picks, military fiction, war stories | null | Kurt Vonnegut | Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was an American novelist who wrote works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as [*Slaughterhouse-Five* (1969)][1], [*Cat's Cradle* (1963)][2], and [*Breakfast of Champions* (1973)][3]. He was known for his humanist beliefs as well as being honorary president of the American Humanist Association. He is widely considered one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century.
[1]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL98474W/Slaughterhouse-Five
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL98482W/Cat's_Cradle
[3]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL98488W/Breakfast_of_Champions |
The Napoleon of Notting Hill | A witty and surreal novel of the future.
In a rather dull stuck-in-a-rut future, a prankster chosen randomly to be King of England revives the old ways and inadvertently arouses romantic patriotism and civil war between the boroughs of London. | Fiction, Classic Literature, Science Fiction, Politics and government, English fiction | null | Gilbert Keith Chesterton | Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist. |
Le Deuxième Sexe | **The Second Sex** (French: *Le Deuxième Sexe*) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women throughout history. Beauvoir researched and wrote the book in about 14 months between 1946 and 1949. She published the work in two volumes: *Facts and Myths* (*Les faits et les mythes*), and *Lived Experience* (*L’expérience vécue*). Some chapters first appeared in the journal *Les Temps modernes*. One of Beauvoir’s best-known books, *The Second Sex* is often regarded as a major work of feminist philosophy, and as the starting inspiration point of second-wave feminism. | Women, Sex, Feminism, Sexual Behavior, Non-Fiction | Woman? Very simple, say the fanciers of simple formulas: she is a womb, an ovary; she is a female-this word is sufficient to define her. | Simone de Beauvoir | French philosopher, novelist, and essayist, the lifelong companion of [Jean-Paul Sartre][1] and vice versa. Beauvoir's two volume treatise [Le deuxième sexe][2] (1949, The Second Sex) is among the most widely read feminist works. ([Source][3].)
[1]: https://openlibrary.org/a/OL896456A/Jean-Paul_Sartre
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL767937W/Le_deuxie%CC%80me_sexe
[3]: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/beauvoir.htm |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill.
Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignment--find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found! | Androids, Fiction, Rick Deckard (Fictitious character), Science Fiction, Twenty-first century | irritability had risen, now; had become outright hostility. Iran said,"Just those poor andys." | Philip K. Dick | Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose published work during his lifetime was almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states. In his later works, Dick's thematic focus strongly reflected his personal interest in metaphysics and theology. He often drew upon his own life experiences and addressed the nature of drug abuse, paranoia and schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and VALIS.
Source and more information: [Wikipedia (EN)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick) |
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818 text) | This is the original edition which was published in 3 volumes. The cover photograph is of Volume 1.
Published anonymously. By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
First edition.
With half-titles.
Title page with quote from Milton's Paradise Lost: "Did I request thee, maker, from my clay / To mould me man? Did I solicit thee / From darkness to promote me?"
Printer statement from title page verso of volume 1; place of printing follows printer.
Pagination: volume 1: xii, 181, [3] pages; volume 2: [4], 156 pages; volume 3: [4], 192, [4] pages.
Publisher's advertisements on 2 unnumbered pages at end of volume 1 and 2 unnumbered pages at the end of volume 3. | Frankenstein, victor, Frankenstein's monster, Shelley, mary wollstonecraft , 1797-1851, Scientists, Scientists--fiction | null | Mary Shelley | Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. ([Source][1].)
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley |
The Blind Assassin | More than fifty years on, Iris Chase is remembering Laura's mysterious death. And so begins an extraordinary and compelling story of two sisters and their secrets. Set against a panoramic backdrop of twentieth-century history, The Blind Assassin is an epic tale of memory, intrigue and betrayal... | Death, Muerte, Hermanas, Novela psicológica, Viudas | null | Margaret Atwood | Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC is a Canadian writer. A prolific poet, novelist, literary critic, feminist and activist, she has received national and international recognition for her writing.
ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over forty countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, now a successful MGM-Hulu television series currently preparing its fourth season, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize; The Penelopiad; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-seed; and The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, published in September, 2019. She lives in Toronto some of the time. |
Mockingjay | Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this is the thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking Hunger Games trilogy. - Publisher. | Insurgency, Survival, Fiction, Science fiction, Interpersonal relations | null | Suzanne Collins | American author of young adult literature, whose works include *The Hunger Games* trilogy and *The Underland Chronicles* series. The daughter of an Air Force officer, she lives in her native home of Connecticut. |
The Left Hand of Darkness | [Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969)
> One of my favorite novels is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin. For more than 40 years I've been recommending this book to people who want to try science fiction for the first time, and it still serves very well for that. One of the things I like about it is how clearly it demonstrates that science fiction can have not only the usual virtues and pleasures of the novel, but also the startling and transformative power of the thought experiment.
> In this case, the thought experiment is quickly revealed: "The king was pregnant," the book tells us early on, and after that we learn more and more about this planet named Winter, stuck in an ice age, where the humans are most of the time neither male nor female, but with the potential to become either. The man from Earth investigating this situation has a lot to learn, and so do we; and we learn it in the course of a thrilling adventure story, including a great "crossing of the ice". Le Guin's language is clear and clean, and has within it both the anthropological mindset of her father Alfred Kroeber, and the poetry of stories as magical things that her mother Theodora Kroeber found in native American tales. This worldly wisdom applied to the romance of other planets, and to human nature at its deepest, is Le Guin's particular gift to us, and something science fiction will always be proud of. Try it and see – you will never think about people in quite the same way again.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/14/science-fiction-authors-choice | Ciencia-ficción, Hugo Award Winner, award:hugo_award=1970, award:hugo_award=novel, human nature | null | Ursula K. Le Guin | "As of 2010, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, three collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include a volume of poetry, Incredible Good Fortune, the novel Lavinia, and an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl. She lives in Portland, Oregon." - [source][1]
[1]: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Biography-70Word.html |
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