Jane Austens Romane begeistern bis heute Millionen von Lesern. »Die Abtei von Northanger«, ein Jahr nach Austens Tod erstmals erschienen, erzählt die Geschichte der 17-jährigen Catherine Morland. Das Leben und die Liebe kennt sie nur aus der Literatur – bis sie eines Tages dem jungen und lebensfrohen Geistlichen Henry Tilney begegnet. Mit seinen pointiert geschliffenen Dialogen ist Austens Roman zugleich die bezaubernde Geschichte eines Reifeprozesses und eine glänzende Satire auf die Liebes- und Schauerromane der damaligen Zeit.
Vanity Fair, Thackeray's panoramic, satirical saga of corruption at all levels of English society, was published in 1847 but set during the Napoleonic Wars. It chronicles the lives of two women who could not be more different: Becky Sharp, an orphan whose only resources are her vast ambitions, her native wit, and her loose morals; and her schoolmate Amelia Sedley, a typically naive Victorian heroine, the pampered daughter of a wealthy family. Becky's fluctuating fortunes eventually bring her to an affair with Amelia's dissolute husband; when he is killed at Waterloo, Amelia and her child are left penniless, while Becky and her husband Rawdon Crawley rise in the world, managing to lead a high life in London solely on the basis of their shrewdness. (The chapter entitled "How to Live on Nothing" is a classic.) Thackeray's subtitle, "A Novel Without a Hero," is understating the case; his view of humanity in this novel is distinctly bleak and deliberately antiheroic. Critics of the time misunderstood the book, decrying it as (among other things) vicious, vile, and odious. But VANITY FAIR has endured as one of the great comic novels of all time, and a landmark in the history of realism in fiction.
FAIRY TALE & FANTASY A story of love and friendship about a fisherman who catches a mermaid. He lets her go because she promises to help him fish. Each day the mermaid appears and sings her song, so he falls in love with her. However, she cannot marry him until he has lost his human soul. Dossiers: Children’s Literature Aestheticism
Doctor Faustus is the most brilliant scholar of his day. He has studied hard and is now master of all areas of learning. However, he wants something more, so he enters into an agreement with the Devil. He agrees to sell his soul in return for twenty-four years of knowledge, power and riches, which only brings him despair and terror as he realises the full implication of his impulsive action.
The mighty warrior Beowulf offers to help the King of the Danes in a quest to kill the monster Grendel and free his people from terror. After killing Grendel, Beowulf must also kill the monster's mother before he can return to his homeland, where he eventually becomes king. But he is called for a new adventure ... [4e de couverture]
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
