The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely...
A series of events aboard a U.S. destroyer during World War II culminate in an alleged mutiny, which leads to a court martial.
Misery begins when a paranoid commander, Captain Queeg takes charge. In a matter of days he has alienated everybody -- & all on board believe Queeg to be insane. In a tense situation during a critical period of the war, Queeg loses all self-control. In the better interest of the ship & the nation, the second-in-command, Lieutenant...
The final novel in the "Awakening Land" trilogy, in which Sayward Wheeler completes her mission, living to a ripe, old age, and seeing her family and friends make the transition from the ways of the wilderness to the ways of civilization.
THE WAY WEST brings to life the adventure of the western passage and the pioneer spirit. The sequel to THE BIG SKY, this celebrated novel charts a frontiersman's return to the untamed West in 1846. Dick Summers, as pilot of a wagon train, guides a group of settlers on the difficult journey from Missouri to Oregon. In sensitive but unsentimental prose, Guthrie illuminates the harsh trials and resounding triumphs of pioneer life. With THE WAY WEST,...
Set in the 1930s, this novel traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Talos, a fictional Southern politician who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Talos begins his career as an idealistic man of the people, but he soon becomes corrupted by success, caught between dreams of service and a lust for power.
An Italian-American major, part of American occupation forces in Sicily during World War II, tries to reform the town in his charge by being decent to people. His efforts are epitomized by his efforts to replace the 700-year-old bell melted down for bullets by the fascists.
For nearly a century, Scribner has exemplified the very best in publishing by pairing classic texts with the illustrative giants of the time, such as N. C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parish. With the same commitment to the high standards established by the series' founders, Athenaeum Books for Young Readers is expanding the Scribner Illustrated Classics line over the next several years to include such modern-day classics as Jack London's The Call of the Wild...
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is a classic novel that has captured the hearts of readers for generations. Set in the American South during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, the story follows the life of Scarlett O'Hara, a headstrong and determined young woman who is forced to navigate the challenges of war, love, and loss. Throughout the novel, Scarlett's character undergoes significant growth and transformation as she learns to adapt...
Pearl S. Buck's epic Pulitzer prize-winning novel of a China that is now in a contemporary classics edition. Though more than sixty years have passed since this remarkable novel won the Pulitzer prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. "I can only write what I know, and I know nothing but China, having always lived there," wrote Pearl Buck. In the Good Earth she presents a graphic view of a China when the...
Set in 18th century Lima, Peru, a rickety bridge which has spanned a deep gorge for ages suddenly breaks, and five people plunge to their deaths. A priest who is deeply affected by the catastrophe decides to make an investigative study of the lives of the victims to determine if he can find some clue to God's intention in casting five dis-associated mortals into eternity at precisely the same moment.
A rollicking panarama of Chicago's high and low life, this stunning novel follows the travails of gambler's daughter Selina Peake DeJong as she struggles to maintain her dignity, her family, and her sanity in the face of monumental challenges.
One of Ours is a novel by Willa Cather, first published in 1922. The novel won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel. One of Ours tells the story of the life of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska native around the turn of the 20th century. The son of a successful farmer and an intensely pious mother, he is guaranteed a comfortable livelihood. Nevertheless, Wheeler views himself as a victim of his father's success and his own inexplicable malaise. The novel...
The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870's New York society, it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. In fact, Wharton considered this novel an "apology" for her earlier novel, The House of Mirth, which was more brutal and critical. Not...
The Magnificent Ambersons, by Booth Tarkington, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
• New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies...