'When we are happy, we are always good', says Lord Henry, 'but when we are good, we are not always happy.' Lord Henry's lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party.
Originally published in 1789 and 1794, this is a collection of some of Blake's best-loved poems. Intended for children, the poems were a popular success with adults of the time too.
A host of fairy tales, telling of princes and princesses in their castles, witches in their towers and forests, of giants and dwarfs, of fabulous animals and dark deeds
The classic, in all its glory – though what many forget is how well this tale of American boyhood holds up even after nearly 150 years. Tom Sawyer, his best friend Huck Finn, his would-be girlfriend Becky Thatcher, and his aunt Polly teach and learn about life, death, race and painting fences in a “typical” 19th century Midwestern town that bears a striking resemblance to Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. On one level, this is the prototypical tale of one boy’s innocence and how he lost it, but it’s also a profound evocation of the national character that Twain, an odd combination of independent thinker and moralist, clearly thought needed some analyzing.
Presents a story of a young boy, Huckleberry Finn, and his companion, Jim - an escaped slave on the run. This work chronicles the journey they take down the Mississippi River on a plight for freedom.
Complex psychological portrait of one woman's relentless search for the rapture of being alive. Emma Bovary, one of literature's first modern heroines, seeks escape in disastrous affairs. Flaubert, who brought watchmaker-like craftsmanship to writing, spent five years on this masterpiece.