Alma Books A Modest Proposal and Other Writings Свифт Джонатан

В своем эссе "Скромное предложение" Свифт раскрывает всю мощь своего иронического арсенала и едкого остроумия, находя свои цели - британский правящий класс и алчных землевладельцев, а также озверевших ирландцев, замешанных в собственном угнетении, - со смертельной точностью • Также в книге представлена обширная подборка его других прозаических произведений • Книга на английском языке • The Penguin Classics edition of Jonathan Swift's savagely satirical A Modest Proposal and Other Writings is edited with an introduction and notes by Carol Fabricant • To ease poverty in Ireland by eating the children of the poor was the satirical 'solution' suggested by Jonathan Swift in his essay 'A Modest Proposal' (1729). Here Swift unleashes the full power of his ironic armoury and corrosive wit, finding his targets - the British ruling class and avaricious landlords, and the brutalized Irish, complicit in their own oppression - with deadly precision

In response to the dire economic conditions in eighteenth-century Ireland, A Modest Proposal ironically exhorts the poor to provide their offspring as food to the rich. Skilfully applying a wealth of classical rhetorical techniques, Swift s satirical tour de force takes a savage swipe at the selfishness of the ruling classes and the heartlessness of the various utilitarian solutions put forward by contemporary thinkers. In addition to this seminal piece, this volume includes other humorous and polemical writings which, taken together, provide an invaluable introduction to Swift as a master satirist and pamphleteer

A glorious exercise in cheeky punmanship, The Wonderful Wonder of Wonders sees Jonathan Swift in fine scatological form. Flying by the seat of his pants, the great author treats us to a condensed biography of his posterior, enlivened by some inspired wordplay • Most famous for his celebrated masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels, Swift was the foremost satirist of his day. Also including a selection of Swift's other lesser-known works, and a very peculiar proposal to make money from public toilets, this volume will be a hilarious and illuminating read for any fans of Ireland's most illustrious wit

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the author of one of the most poignant and enduringly popular novels of the twentieth century, left only a few other pieces of fiction when he died prematurely at the age of sixty. Childhood Memories and Other Stories, here presented in a new translation by Stephen Parkin and including previously deleted passages and the unpublished fragment ‘Torretta’, collects all of Lampedusa’s extant shorter fiction and provides a revealing glimpse into the writer’s workshop and the background to the composition of his masterpiece • From the atmospheric recollections of the Palazzo Lampedusa and the Palazzo Filangeri Cuto at the turn of the twentieth century in ‘Childhood Memories’ to the delightful fable ‘The Siren’, from the gently humorous, bitter­sweet tones of ‘Joy and the Law’ to ‘The Blind Kittens’ – the first chapter of what was intended to be a sequel to The Leopard – this volume showcases Lampedusa’s unparalleled ob­ser­vational powers and narrative skills

When the young salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning transformed into a monstrous insect, his shock and incomprehension are coupled with the panic of being late for work and having to reveal his appearance to family and colleagues. Although over the following weeks he gradually becomes used to this new existence confined within the bounds of the apartment, and his parents and sister adapt to living with a grotesque bug, Gregor notices that their attitudes towards him are changing and he feels increasingly alienated • One of the masterpieces of twentieth-century world literature, ‘The Metamorphosis’ is accompanied in this volume by a selection of other classic tales and sketches by Kafka – such as ‘The Judgement’, ‘In the Penal Colony’ and ‘A Country Doctor’ – all presented in a lively and meticulous new translation by Christopher Moncrieff

Set in the year after the 1929 crash and incorporating many autobiographical elements, 'Babylon Revisited' tells the story of the widower Charlie Wales, a reformed alcoholic and successful businessman returning to Paris to convince his in-laws to give him back the daughter he abandoned. As the old haunts of the city he used to carouse in seem more and more alien to him, he finds himself assailed by feelings of guilt and regret • Considered one of Fitzgerald's finest and most poignant pieces of short fiction, 'Babylon Revisited' is presented here with a selection of other tales published in the same period, such as 'Crazy Sunday' - an account of alcoholism and infidelity in Hollywood - which showcase the author at his creative best

While at a party organized by the lieutenant of his regiment, the shy and awkward Ryabovitch is suddenly kissed by an unknown woman in a dark room. This unexpected and electrifying encounter marks a turning point in his life and a shift in his personality, arousing his passions and setting him on a desperate quest to discover the identity of the mysterious lady. One of Chekhov's most admired stories, The Kiss is joined in this volume by five equally celebrated tales in a brand-new translation by Hugh Aplin: The Lady with the Little Dog, Ward Number Six, The Black Monk, The House with the Mezzanine and The Peasants - making this an indispensable collection for those wanting to discover Chekhov at his creative best

Ван Чиль встречает очень странного юношу, загорающего возле пруда. Эта встреча заставляет его задуматься, не связан ли диковатого вида паренек с недавними исчезновениями кур, зайцев, ягнят и даже младенца. К своему удивлению, на следующий день он узнает, что мальчика приютила его тетя. Она накупила ему одежды и дала имя Габриэль-Эрнест. Ван Чиль узнает, что новый обитатель их дома связан с чем-то сверхъестественным, и все больше подозревает, что он и есть похититель… • «Габриэль-Эрнест» – это жуткая и пугающая история о темной стороне взросления, написанная с характерным для Саки остроумием и оригинальностью. Сборник также содержит рассказы «Открытое окно», «Боров», «Ожерелье», «Чулан», «Метод Шварца-Меттерклюма», «Средни Ваштар», «Рассказчик» и «Волчица», а также иллюстрации Квентина Блейка

Contains original illustrations by the author • Written for the poet John Addington Symonds's young daughter Janet while she was ill and confined to her bed, 'The Owl and the Pussycat' sees the two enamoured animals sail away in a boat "for a year and a day / To the land with the bong tree grows", where they get married • Long considered one of the nation's favourite poems, it is combined here with other memorable examples of what Lear called "nonsense songs", such as 'Calico Pie' and 'The Duck and the Kangaroo', as well as with nonsense stories, cookery, botany and alphabets, in a collection that transports adults and children alike to the extraordinary world of Edward Lear's imagination

Purporting to be an autobiography of the antihero Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne’s novel is a comic masterpiece of digression, egoism and sensationalism, as its hilarious asides, explanations and host of memorable secondary characters – such as Uncle Toby, Dr Slop, Parson Yorick and Widow Wadman – take centre stage, at the expense of the actual life events the book sets out to depict • A humorous compendium of European thought and literature – pastiching the likes of Locke and Bacon and referencing Pope, Swift, Cervantes and Rabelais – emerges amid the convoluted accounts of Tristram’s conception, misnaming and accidental circumcision by a sash window, in a shrewd narrative that examines the role and nature of language itself • A very ambitious editorial project which took our team more than a year to bring to perfection

When Cyril, Anthea, Robert and Jane accidentally destroy a carpet in their London home with fireworks, their parents replace it with a second-hand one. Upon unfurling it, the children find an egg inside, and, when one of them accidentally drops it into the fire, it hatches into a magical golden , who tells them that he can take them on the carpet to any location they wish. This revelation sets the siblings - and their baby brother Lamb - off on wild adventures, taking them around London and to far-flung destinations such as India and a remote tropical island • After the success of Five Children and It, E. Nesbit decided to recast its much-loved characters in this sequel, which has now become a classic in its own right, enchanting generations of readers and inspiring many film and television adaptations

The heir to his grandfather’s considerable fortune, Anthony Patch is led astray from the path to gainful employment by the temptations of the 1920s Jazz Age. His descent into dissolution and profligacy is accelerated by his marriage to the attractive but turbulent Gloria, and the couple soon discover the dangerous flip side of a life of glamour and debauchery • Containing obvious parallels with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s own lives, The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic examination of the pitfalls of greed and materialism and the transience of youth and beauty