Great books: The Classics and Contemporary

Explore a curated list of great books, from timeless classics to must-read contemporary works. Discover literary masterpieces that captivate and inspire readers of all tastes.

Absalom, Absalom! Cover
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Absalom, Absalom!

by William Faulkner

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • Family drama and the legacy of slavery haunt this epic tale of an enigmatic stranger in Jefferson, Mississippi—from one of the most acclaimed writers of the twentieth century. “Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.” —William Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! is Faulkner’s epic tale of Thomas Sutpen, a man who comes to the South in the early 1830s to wrest his mansion out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. He was a man, Faulkner said, “who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him.”
East of Eden Cover
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East of Eden

by John Steinbeck

The biblical account of Cain and Abel is echoed in the history of two generations of the Trask family in California.
Paradise Cover
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Paradise

 

No summary available.
The Scar Cover
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The Scar

by China Miéville

A mythmaker of the highest order, China Miéville has emblazoned the fantasy novel with fresh language, startling images, and stunning originality. Set in the same sprawling world of Miéville’s Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel, Perdido Street Station, this latest epic introduces a whole new cast of intriguing characters and dazzling creations. Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an interpreter grant her passage—and escape from horrific punishment. For she is linked to Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, the brilliant renegade scientist who has unwittingly unleashed a nightmare upon New Crobuzon. For Bellis, the plan is clear: live among the new frontiersmen of the colony until it is safe to return home. But when the ship is besieged by pirates on the Swollen Ocean, the senior officers are summarily executed. The surviving passengers are brought to Armada, a city constructed from the hulls of pirated ships, a floating, landless mass ruled by the bizarre duality called the Lovers. On Armada, everyone is given work, and even Remades live as equals to humans, Cactae, and Cray. Yet no one may ever leave. Lonely and embittered in her captivity, Bellis knows that to show dissent is a death sentence. Instead, she must furtively seek information about Armada’s agenda. The answer lies in the dark, amorphous shapes that float undetected miles below the waters—terrifying entities with a singular, chilling mission. . . . China Miéville is a writer for a new era—and The Scar is a luminous, brilliantly imagined novel that is nothing short of spectacular.
One Hundred Years of Solitude Cover
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One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel García Márquez

The rise and fall, birth and death, of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the BuendĂ­a family.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles Cover
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles

 

No summary available.
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ID: 0385419740
(Type: books)
A Prayer for Owen Meany Cover
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A Prayer for Owen Meany

by John Irving

A story of friendship through adversity, faith and destiny, and the search for God.
Item Not Found
ID: 1585675601
(Type: books)
Angels & Demons Cover
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Angels & Demons

by Dan Brown

A novel about a symbologist who discovers the existence of an ancient vendetta against the Catholic Church.