John Madden is born into a poor working class family. He has an abusive father, who acts like a puppeteer, an expert in mind control, while his mother is timid and subservient. At school he is mocked and bullied. but later, as an apprentice mechanic at TAFE, John meets Helen with whom he falls in love and marries. The question is: Will John turn out to be like his father? And if he does how will Helen react? And will she be able to escape from the marriage if she finds it necessary, for to leave is the hardest thing anyone ever has to do?
A groundbreaking reassessment of W. H. Auden’s early life and poetry, shedding new light on his artistic development as well as on his shifting beliefs about political belonging in interwar England. From his first poems in 1922 to the publication of his landmark collection On This Island in the mid-1930s, W. H. Auden wrestled with the meaning of Englishness. His early works are prized for their psychological depth, yet Nicholas Jenkins argues that they are political poems as well, illuminating Auden’s intuitions about a key aspect of modern experience: national identity. Two historical forces, in particular, haunted the poet: the catastrophe of World War I and the subsequent “rediscovery” of England’s rural landscapes by artists and intellectuals. The Island presents a new picture of Auden, the poet and the man, as he explored a genteel, lyrical form of nationalism during these years. His poems reflect on a world in ruins, while cultivating visions of England as a beautiful—if morally compromised—haven. They also reflect aspects of Auden’s personal search for belonging—from his complex relationship with his father, to his quest for literary mentors, to his negotiation of the codes that structured gay life. Yet as Europe veered toward a second immolation, Auden began to realize that poetic myths centered on English identity held little potential. He left the country in 1936 for what became an almost lifelong expatriation, convinced that his role as the voice of Englishness had become an empty one. Reexamining one of the twentieth century’s most moving and controversial poets, The Island is a fresh account of his early works and a striking parable about the politics of modernism. Auden’s preoccupations with the vicissitudes of war, the trials of love, and the problems of identity are of their time. Yet they still resonate profoundly today.
When Aldous Huxley died on November 22, 1963, on the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, he was widely considered to be one of the most intelligent and wide-ranging English writers of the twentieth century. Associated in the public mind with his dystopian satire, Brave New World, and experimentation with drugs that preceded the psychedelic, a term he invented, era of the 1960s, Huxley seemed to embody the condition of twentieth-century man in his restless curiosity, his search for meaning in a post-religious age, and his concern about the misuses of science and the future of the planet. But Huxley was born when Queen Victoria was on the British throne. He was the grandson of the great Victorian scientist Thomas Henry Huxley "Darwin's bulldog," and the great-nephew of the great poet and critic Matthew Arnold. Exiled in the Californian sun, he never ceased to think of himself as part of a tradition that could be traced back to the Victorian public intellectuals. This biography of Huxley---the first in thirty years---draws on a substantial amount of unpublished material, as well as numerous interviews with his family and friends. It is a portrait of a daring and iconoclastic novelist; a man hampered by semi-blindness, who spent a restless life in search of personal enlightenment. Nicholas Murray charts Huxley's Bloomsbury years, his surprising and complex relationship with D. H. Lawrence, and his emigration to America in the late 1930s, where he pursued a career as a screenwriter while continuing his fascination with mysticism and religion. Huxley's private life was also unconventional, and this book reveals for the first time the extraordinary story of the ménage à trois including Huxley, his remarkable wife, Maria, and the Bloomsbury socialite and mistress of Clive Bell, Mary Hutchinson. Huxley emerges from this new biography as one of the most intriguing and complex figures of twentieth-century English writing---novelist, poet, biographer, philosopher, social and political thinker. In an era of intense specialization he remained a free-ranging thinker, unconfined by conventional categories, concerned to communicate his insights in ordinary language---a very English intellectual.
Charlie Gray and his wife Pam emigrate from England to South Africa, a country sinking under the scourge of apartheid, to start as an engineer in the gold mines. His life appears on the surface to be charmed, but he lives under the shadow of a terrifying instance of abuse in his childhood. Tragedies occur in his marriage and he is forced to leave. He moves, first to Nauru, then to Australia where his life begins to resemble that of the biblical character Job. Things happen to him, events beyond his control. He is powerless to stop them until he meets Emma, a distant cousin, and in a return to Scotland and the place where the story began he finally throws off the shackles of the past.
Nicholas Hagger's 55 books include innovatory works on literature, history, philosophy and international politics. In his first published literary work he revived the Preface, which had fallen into disuse after Wordsworth and Shelley. He went on to write Prefaces (sometimes called ‘Prologues’, ‘Introductions’ or ‘Introductory Notes’) for all his subsequent books. Collected Prefaces, a collection of 55 Prefaces (excluding the Preface to this book), sets out his thinking and the reader can follow the development of his philosophy of Universalism (of which he is the main exponent), his literary approach (particularly his combination of Romanticism and Classicism which he calls "neo-Baroque") and his metaphysical thinking. His Prefaces can be read as essays, and as in T.S. Eliot’s Selected Essays there is an interaction between adjacent Prefaces that brings an entirely new perspective to Hagger's works. These Prefaces cover an enormous range. Nicholas Hagger is a Renaissance man at home in many disciplines. His Universalism focuses on humankind’s relationship to the whole universe as reflected in seven key disciplines seen as wholes: the whole of literature, history, philosophy and the sciences, mysticism, religion, international politics and statecraft and world culture. Behind all the Prefaces is Hagger’s fundamental perception of the unity of the universe as the One and of humankind’s position in it. These Prefaces complement his Selected Letters, a companion volume also published by O-Books, and contain startling insights that illumine and send readers to the works the Prefaces introduce.
This book answers the question, "How do we go about inventing great characters that our readers will care about, root for, love, hate or fear?" Using friendly, accessible language, we'll look at why great characters are vital to writers and a range of strategies from the simple listing of attributes to more complex ideas for creating fully realised, multidimensional characters with fascinating backstories.
In the West of Ireland in 1939 a young novelist rents a lonely cottage to write his new book in peace. Almost at once, and without great resistance, he is seduced by the wife of the local squire. Harriet's husband is an older man - hot-tempered, impoverished, gone to seed - who once fought famously against the Black and Tans. Soon this eternal triangle becomes a local scandal, and the atmosphere of threat and violence, intensified by the approaching war in Europe, leads to a horrific murder. The Private Wound is Nicholas Blake's last book, written with such intensity of feeling and depth of character that it is widely regarded as his best. "Really splendid. When they come round to having a Crime-writer Laureate, Mr Blake's brow is there for the wreathing" - The Times
When John Waterson and his young wife chose Netherplash Cantorum, Dorset, for their retirement years, they could not have predicted that this idyllic spot had one severe but unforeseeable drawback: among its inhabitants was a practical joker whose fertile mind ran to the most bizarre and grotesque designs. The Village was no place for a quite retirement, or for a gentle recuperation from the nervous breakdown that had afflicted Waterson's wife. In Netherplash, the peace is continually disrupted with extraordinary events tripping over each other which, in the end, lead to a hideous and painful murder. With a cast of characters who are both bizarre and believable, this is an original tour-de-force of crime fiction placing Blake firmly in the genre. "It really shouldn't be missed...this is a book with an extremely original approach and an extremely original idea." - The Sunday Times
Rocky Place is a short street in the coastal village of Wintersea. Attempting to regenerate their failing mariage Quentin and Lyn move there to live. One of their two children has become uncontrollable, further complicating their relationship. As they start life in their new house a dispute develops with their neighbours, a licentious family whose lives revolve round loud music, bumper stickers and sex. The problems that arise from this conflict start affecting other residents of Rocky Place, together with both the children and friends of the two families. In the heat of summer events become increasingly fraught, leading to a horrific tragedy that no one saw coming, but many could have stopped. “We're all to blame,” said Lyn. “Every one of us.”
A leopard cannot change its spots, but can a man change his life? Ray Ferris' career is on the skids while his nymphomaniac wife Susan manages to escape from his alcoholism, his cruelty and his miserly nature. As Ray fights his addiction he has a fortuitous meeting with a young street busker. Other characters enter both his and Susan's lives, as well as a strange windfall of cash that affects each of them in different ways. They gather at the debut concert of a newly-formed orchestra where a shocking accident leads to an unexpected conclusion. This is a story of love and humiliation, of diminished responsibility and survival, of musical talent and the many possibilities of second chances.
In My Double Life 1 Nicholas Hagger told of his four years’ service and double life as an undercover British intelligence agent during the Cold War (there revealed for the first time). Lost in a dark wood like Dante following his encounters with Gaddafi’s Libya and the African liberation movements, he found Reality on a ‘Mystic Way’ of loss, purgation and illumination, perceived the universe as a unity and had 16 experiences of the metaphysical Light. In My Double Life 2 he continues the story. He received new powers, coped with fresh ordeals, acquired three schools, renovated a historic house, and had 76 further experiences of the metaphysical Light. He founded a new philosophy of Universalism and new approaches to contemporary history, international statecraft and world literature. He produced nearly 1,500 poems, over 300 classical odes, five verse plays, two poetic epics, over a thousand short stories – and 40 books that include innovative literary, historical and philosophical works. His vision of Universalism in seven disciplines is like a rainbow with seven bands overarching seven hills. He produced nearly 1,500 poems, over 300 classical odes, five verse plays, two poetic epics, over a thousand short stories – and 40 books that include innovative literary, historical and philosophical works. His vision of Universalism in seven disciplines is like a rainbow with seven bands overarching seven hills.
The second (and likely final) collection of strips from the award-winning comic series The Perry Bible Fellowship. Spans the entirety of the strip's print run. Bonus features include lost strips, sketches, and a behind-the-scenes interview by Wondermark's David Malki. Also includes an introduction by Diablo Cody.
An argument in favor of finding a place for humans (and humanness) in the future digital economy. In the digital economy, accountants, baristas, and cashiers can be automated out of employment; so can surgeons, airline pilots, and cab drivers. Machines will be able to do these jobs more efficiently, accurately, and inexpensively. But, Nicholas Agar warns in this provocative book, these developments could result in a radically disempowered humanity. The digital revolution has brought us new gadgets and new things to do with them. The digital revolution also brings the digital economy, with machines capable of doing humans' jobs. Agar explains that developments in artificial intelligence enable computers to take over not just routine tasks but also the kind of “mind work” that previously relied on human intellect, and that this threatens human agency. The solution, Agar argues, is a hybrid social-digital economy. The key value of the digital economy is efficiency. The key value of the social economy is humanness. A social economy would be centered on connections between human minds. We should reject some digital automation because machines will always be poor substitutes for humans in roles that involve direct contact with other humans. A machine can count out pills and pour out coffee, but we want our nurses and baristas to have minds like ours. In a hybrid social-digital economy, people do the jobs for which feelings matter and machines take on data-intensive work. But humans will have to insist on their relevance in a digital age.
A couple in the British countryside finds themselves fighting fascists in this suspenseful novel by “a master of detective fiction” (The Daily Telegraph). In 1930s England, Nigel and Georgia Strangeways have settled into rural bliss, thinking their days of globe-trotting detective work are behind them—but little do they know a disturbing mystery is lurking in their own front yard. When a letter arrives commanding the couple to tend their hedges, the most menial of domestic duties propels the Strangeways out of their cozy life, and into the peril of a power-hungry plot. With the help of Nigel’s uncle, Sir John Strangeways, they learn of a treasonous conspiracy bigger than their small town. To expose the sinister schemers, Georgia must risk her life and infiltrate a group of fascist sympathizers before they succeed in their plan to overthrow the government . . . “Good adventure-intrigue, and well-written.” —Kirkus Reviews
This volume offers a reappraisal of Wordsworth's and Coleridge's radical careers before their emergence as major poets. Updated, revised, and with new manuscript material, this expanded new edition responds to the most significant critical work on Wordsworth's and Coleridge's radical careers in the three decades since the book first appeared. Fresh material is drawn from newspapers and printed sources; the poetry of 1798 is given more detailed attention, and the critical debate surrounding new historicism is freshly appraised. A new introduction reflects on how the book was originally researched, offers new insights into the notorious Léonard Bourdon killings of 1793, and revisits John Thelwall's predicament in 1798. University politics, radical dissent, and first-hand experiences of Revolutionary France form the substance of the opening chapters. Wordsworth's and Coleridge's relations with William Godwin and John Thelwall are tracked in detail, and both poets are shown to have been closely connected with the London Corresponding Society. Godwin's diaries, now accessible in electronic form, have been drawn upon extensively to supplement the narrative of his intellectual influence. Offering a comparative perspective on the poets and their contemporaries, the book investigates the ways in which 1790s radicals coped with personal crisis, arrests, trumped-up charges, and prosecutions. Some fled the country, becoming refugees; others went underground, hiding away as inner émigrés. Against that backdrop, Wordsworth and Coleridge opted for a different revolution: they wrote poems that would change the way people thought.
Inspired by a landmark exhibition mounted by the British Museum in 1963 to celebrate five eventful centuries of the printed word, Nicholas A. Basbanes offers a lively consideration of writings that have "made things happen" in the world, works that have both nudged the course of history and fired the imagination of countless influential people. In his fifth work to examine a specific aspect of book culture, Basbanes also asks what we can know about such figures as John Milton, Edward Gibbon, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Adams, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Henry James, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller––even the notorious Marquis de Sade and Adolf Hitler––by knowing what they have read. He shows how books that many of these people have consulted, in some cases annotated with their marginal notes, can offer tantalizing clues to the evolution of their character and the development of their thought.
Lots of characters get compared to my own Jack Reacher, but Petrie's Peter Ash is the real deal."--Lee Child In this action-packed thriller starring war veteran Peter Ash, a well-planned and flawlessly executed hijacking reveals the hidden dangers of Colorado's mellowest business, but Ash may find there's more to this crime than meets the eye. Combat veteran Peter Ash leaves a simple life rebuilding hiking trails in Oregon to help his good friend Henry Nygaard, whose daughter runs a Denver security company that protects cash-rich cannabis entrepreneurs from modern-day highwaymen. Henry's son-in-law and the company's operations manager were carrying a large sum of client money when their vehicle vanished without a trace, leaving Henry's daughter and her company vulnerable. When Peter is riding shotgun on another cash run, the cargo he's guarding comes under attack and he narrowly escapes with his life. As the assaults escalate, Peter has to wonder: for criminals this sophisticated, is it really just about the cash? After finding himself on the defensive for too long, Peter marshals his resources and begins to dig for the truth in a scheme that is bigger--and far more lucrative--than he'd ever anticipated. With so much on the line, his enemy will not give up quietly...and now he has Peter directly in his sights.
In the fly- on- the-wall tradition of David Niven's bestselling THE MOON'S A BALLOON comes a hilarious take on what making movies and working with big- and small- stars today is really likea As Andy Warhol said, everyone has a shot at 15 minutes of fame, but he didn't mention where. Being famous in Latvia or Lightning Ridge is a whole other animal to being famous in Hollywood. And sometimes being almost famous can be a helluva lot more fun. In the same year Toni Collette won an AFI Best Actress award for 'Muriel's Wedding', Nicholas Hope won Best Actor for a very different film, 'Bad Boy Bubby'. The latter evaded blockbuster status and became a cult hit. So did its star. While Toni was jetting off to Hollywood to co- star with Bruce Willis in 'The Sixth Sense', Hope was heading off to Berlev g to make a film about corruption in the Norwegian cod fishing industry. But it's not all snow, home- burnt alcohol and quilted jumpsuits. Being almost famous takes the boy from Whyalla all over the world, from the glamour of the Venice Film Festival as Best Actor nominee to a whole other sort of festival in Riga, from obscurity in New York to star status in Lightning Ridge. Along the way, he falls madly in love and meets more crazy people, famous and otherwise, than any former bank clerk from the bush could ever have daydreamed about. With a wonderful sense of the ridiculous, Nicholas Hope offers a throughly entertaining insider's view of a world he clearly loves despite all its flaws, and is never better than when he is laughing at himself.
First published in 1958, A Penknife in My Heart tells the story of how two men - total strangers - establish the perfect alibis by arranging to switch victims. Ned Stowe will kill Stuart Hammer's wealthy uncle for which service Hammer is to eliminate Stowe's neurotic wife, Helena. The men plot and the plan - with its horrifyingly simple premise - is solidified... 'More convincing, more detailedly thought-through than Highsmith's [Strangers on a Train].' - The New York Times
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