New ​Critical Essays

Juvenalis - The ​Satires
Commonly ​considered the greatest of Roman satirical poets, Juvenal is the author of sixteen satires of Roman society, notable for their pessimism and ironic humor. In this new translation of the Satires, Professor Rudd combines textual accuracy with colorful poetry, vividly conveying Juvenal's gift for evoking a wealth of imagery with a few economical phrases.

C. S. Lewis - The ​Silver Chair
Through ​dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, a noble band of friends are sent to rescue a prince held captive. But their mission to Underland brings them face-to-face with an evil more beautiful and more deadly than they ever expected.

Jonathan Franzen - How ​to Be Alone
Jonathan ​Franzen is smart and brash, the kind of person you want as your social critic but not as a brother-in-law. Many of the 14 essays in How to Be Alone, by the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Corrections, first appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, and elsewhere. A long, much-discussed rumination on the American novel, (newly) titled "Why Bother?," is included, as well as essays on privacy obsession, the U.S. post office, New York City, big tobacco, and new prisons. At his best, as in "My Father's Brain," a piece on his father's struggle with Alzheimer's, Franzen can make the ordinary world utterly riveting. But at times, it can be difficult to discern where Franzen stands on any particular subject, as he often takes both sides of an argument. Valid attempts to reflect ambiguity s! ometimes lead to obfuscation, especially in his essays on privacy and tobacco, although his belief that small-town America of years gone by offered the individual little privacy certainly rings true. Franzen can write with panache, as in this comment after he watched, without headphones, a TV show during a flight: "(It) became an exposé of the hydraulics of insincere smiles." A few of the shorter pieces appear to be filler. Franzen shines brightest when he gets edgy and a little angry, as in "The Reader in Exile": "Instead of Manassas battlefield, a historical theme park. Instead of organizing narratives, a map of the world as complex as the world itself. Instead of a soul, membership in a crowd. Instead of wisdom, data."

Irvine Welsh - Skagboys ​(angol)
A ​prequel to the world-renowned Trainspotting, this is Irvine Welsh's greatest work and where it all went wrong for the boys... Mark Renton has it all: he's good-looking, young, with a pretty girlfriend and a place at university. But there's no room for him in the 1980s. Thatcher's government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are gone. When his family starts to fracture, Mark's life swings out of control and he succumbs to the defeatism which has taken hold in Edinburgh's grimmer areas. The way out is heroin. It's no better for his friends. Spud Murphy is paid off from his job, Tommy Lawrence feels himself being sucked into a life of petty crime and violence - the worlds of the thieving Matty Connell and psychotic Franco Begbie. Only Sick Boy, the supreme manipulator of the opposite sex, seems to ride the current, scamming and hustling his way through it all. Skagboys charts their journey from likely lads to young men addicted to the heroin which has flooded their disintegrating community. This is the 1980s: a time of drugs, poverty, AIDS, violence, political strife and hatred - but a lot of laughs, and maybe just a little love; a decade which changed Britain for ever. The prequel to the world-renowned Trainspotting, this is an exhilarating and moving book, full of the scabrous humour, salty vernacular and appalling behaviour that has made Irvine Welsh a household name.

Lord George Gordon Noël Byron - Childe ​Harold zarándokútja / Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
1812-ben ​jelent meg Londonban a Childe Harold zarándokútjának első két, majd 1816-ban a harmadik és negyedik éneke. Már az első két ének az irodalomban alig ismert Lord Byront Anglia első költőjévé emeli. A verses regényben a főhős, Childe Harold bejárja a századelő háborúval sújtotta Európának több országát és a Balkánt, de a képzelt útitárs sosem takarja el a költőt magát. Byron költői lelkesedéssel ír a szép tájakról, nyíltan, szeretettel beszél a megismert népekről, emberekről. Irtózattal festi a háború borzalmait, romantikus rajongással néz fel az antik Görögországra. A népek szabadságának zászlóvivője, és gyűlölettel szól a zsarnokságról. Gondolatai a romantika legszebb korát idézik, amelyet emelkedett stílus és gyönyörű verselés jellemez. Byron a Childe Harolddal úgynevezett történelmi jegyzeteket is közzétett, amelyek jó megfigyelésről, politikai éleslátásról és olykor szarkasztikus humorról tanúskodnak. E könyv a világirodalmi jelentőségű költemény és a jegyzetek első együttes hazai kiadása.

Arthur Miller - Death ​of a Salesman
The ​story revolves around the last days of Willy Loman, a failing salesman, who cannot understand how he failed to win success and happiness. Through a series of tragic soul-searching revelations of the life he has lived with his wife, his sons, and his business associates, we discover how his quest for the "American Dream" kept him blind to the people who truly loved him. A thrilling work of deep and revealing beauty that remains one of the most profound classic dramas of the American theatre.

Irvine Welsh - Glue
"Glue" ​is the story of four boys growing up in the Edinburgh schemes, and about the loyalties, the experiences - and the secrets - that hold them together into their thirties. Four boys becoming men: Juice Terry, the work-shy fanny-merchant, with corkscrew curls and sticky fingers; Billy the boxer: driven, controlled, playing to his strengths; Carl, the Milky Bar Kid, drifting along to his own soundtrack; and the doomed Gally - who has one less skin than everyone and seems to find catastrophe at every corner.As we follow their lives from the seventies into the new century - from punk to techno, from speed to Es - we can see each of them trying to struggle out from under the weight of the conditioning of class and culture, peer pressure and their parents' hopes that maybe their sons will do better than they did. What binds the four of them is the friendship formed by the scheme, their school, and their ambition to escape from both; their loyalty fused in street morality: back up your mates, don't hit women and, most importantly, never grass - on anyone.

Gustave Flaubert - Madame ​Bovary (Penguin Readers)
Emma ​Bovary is married to the reliable but uninteresting Charles. She is bored and finds passion in a series of affairs. This exciting life demands more money than Charles can give her. Soon Emma’s dream lead to her destruction.

Sylvia Plath - Ariel
This ​all-new edition of Sylvia Plath's shattering final poems--with a foreword by Robert Lowell--will appear during National Poetry Month.

Allen Ginsberg - Howl ​and Other Poems
The ​epigraph for Howl is from Walt Whitman: "Unscrew the locks from the doors!/Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!" Announcing his intentions with this ringing motto, Allen Ginsberg published a volume of poetry which broke so many social taboos that copies were impounded as obscene, and the publisher, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, was arrested. The court case that followed found for Ginsberg and his publisher, and the publicity made both the poet and the book famous. Ginsberg went on from this beginning to become a cultural icon of sixties radicalism. This works seminal place in the culture is indicated in Czeslaw Milosz's poetic tribute to Ginsberg: "Your blasphemous howl still resounds in a neon desert where the human tribe wanders, sentenced to unreality".

Woody Allen - Complete ​Prose
Comprising ​the classic bestsellers Getting Even, Without Feathers, and Side Effects, this definitive collection of comic writings is from a man who needs no Introduction. Really - this book has no Introduction. The Insanity Defense reveals many sides of Woody Allen as he holds forth on the most human of urges (“Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only for food: frequently there must be a beverage”); reflects on death (“I don't believe in an afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear”); and notes the effect on history wrought by trick chewing gum, the dribble glass, and other novelties. There is also an inspiring story of the futile race to beat Dr. Heimlich to the punch: “The food went down the wrong pipe, and choking occurred. Grasping the mouse firmly by the tail, I snapped it like a small whip, and the morsel of cheese came loose. If we can transfer the procedure to humans, we may have something. Too early to tell.”

Ronald B. Shwartz - For ​the Love of Books
For ​this ultimate book lover's guide, more than one hundred distinguished writers share their personal thoughts in response to the question: what books have left the greatest impression on you and why? The result is not a contrived list of Western civilization's "Great Books," but a heartfelt commentary on works that these lifelong readers most admire.

Yukio Mishima - The ​Sound of Waves
Set ​in a remote fishing village in Japan, this is a story of first love. Shinji is entranced at the sight of Hatsue in the twilight on the beach, upon her return from another island, where she had been training to be a pearl diver. They fall in love, but then endure the calumny and gossip of the villagers.

Will Brooker - Alice's ​Adventures
Will ​Brooker, author of Batman Unmasked and Using the Force, turns his attention to Lewis Carroll and Alice. He takes the reader through a fascinating and revealing tour of late 20th Century popular culture, following Alice and her creator wherever they go. Brooker reveals the ways in which this iconic character has been used and adapted, taking in cartoons, movies, computer games, theme parks, heritage sites, novelisations, illustrations, biographies, theatrical performances, toys and other products, websites, fan clubs and much more. The result is a remarkable analysis of how one original creation has expanded over time to symbolize many different things to many different people.

George Bernard Shaw - A ​Fearless Champion of the Truth
Ehhez a könyvhöz nincs fülszöveg, de ettől függetlenül még rukkolható/happolható.

Rupert Woodfin - Introducing ​Marxism
Was ​Marx himself a 'Marxist'? Was his visionary promise of socialism betrayed by Marxist dictatorship? Is Marxism inevitably totalitarian? What did Marx really say? "Introducing Marxism" provides a fundamental account of Karl Marx's original philosophy, its roots in 19th century European ideology, his radical economic and social criticism of capitalism that inspired vast 20th century revolutions. It assesses Marxism's Russian disciples, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin who forged a ruthless dogmatic Communism. The book examines the alternative Marxist approaches of Gramsci, the Frankfurt School of critical theory and the structuralist Marxism of Althusser in the 1960s. It marshals postmodern interpretations of Marxism and raises the spectre of 'post-Marxism' in Derrida's confrontation with Fukuyama's 'end of history' doctrine.

Samuel Beckett - Endgame
The ​setting for Endgame is a bare, partially underground room, serving as shelter for the four characters: Hamm the master, Clov his servant, and Hamm's father and mother, Nagg and Nell (who live in garbage cans). Hamm is in a wheelchair and makes Clov move him around the room, fetch objects, and look out the window for signs of life. Outside all seems dead and nothing happens. Inside, the characters pass the time mortifying each other and toying with fears and illusions of a possible change, all along sensing the inevitability of their end.

Eric Rohmer - The ​Taste for the Beauty
The ​Taste for Beauty is a collection of essays by the film-maker and critic Eric Rohmer which were originally written for the French Film review Cahiers du Cinema between 1948-1979. Rohmer, one of the founding members of the French 'New Wave' cinema, was also one of the journal's original critics and served as its editor. Divided into four sections, the essays deal with fundamental and theoretical questions of film-making from a single theoretical viewpoint. Rohmer, a film-maker of great eloquence and erudition, writes in depth on the issues most fundamental to film: what the camera best portrays; the role of sound and colour; the use of drama and comedy; the role of speech; and the problem of literary adaptation; he also includes a personal defence of his films. The final section is devoted entirely to the film-maker Jean Renoir. The Taste for Beauty will be appreciated by students and critics of film, as well as those who love French cinema in general.

Zadie Smith - Changing ​My Mind
Split ​into five sections - Reading, Being, Seeing, Feeling, and Remembering - _Changing My Mind_ finds Zadie Smith casting an acute eye over material both personal and cultural. This engaging collection of essays-some published here for the first time-reveals Smith as a passionate and precise essayist, equally at home in the world of great books and bad movies, family and philosophy, British comedians and Italian divas. Whether writing on Katherine Hepburn, Kafka, Anna Magnani, or Zora Neale Hurston, she brings deft care to the art of criticism with a style both sympathetic and insightful. _Changing My Mind_ is journalism at its most expansive, intelligent, and funny - a gift to readers and writers both.

Sharlyn Hidalgo - The ​Healing Power of Trees
From ​the birch to the willow, Sharlyn Hidalgo invites you to walk in the footsteps of the druids and enrich your life with the sacred power of trees. This wise and inspiring book will introduce you to all fifteen revered trees of the Celtic Tree Calendar and their unique gifts of healing, guidance, and higher consciousness. Progress through the calendar in sequence or choose a particular month to cultivate a relationship with these majestic spirits of nature. Perform guided meditations and go on journeys to discover the totems, guides, and deities corresponding to each species. Travel through the Wheel of the Year and learn about each tree's astrology, ruling planets, rune symbol, and ogham—its letter of the Celtic tree alphabet. The Healing Power of Trees is your guide to living the principles of the Celtic tradition—tuning in to the rhythms of nature, respecting the land, and fulfilling your role as a steward of the earth. Includes information on all 25 ogham letters, Celtic holidays, and how to conduct a tree-honoring ceremony.