Some more penguins...
The Life of Samuel Johnson - James Boswell *This is not the abridged version so it makes quite a paperweight at over 1,300 pages.. This was partly motivated by the recent posts on Johnson by Extollager.
Blurb: In Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the towering figures of English literature is revealed with unparalleled immediacy and originality, in a biography to which we owe much of our knowledge of the man himself. Through a series of richly detailed anecdotes, Johnson emerges as a sociable figure, vigorously engaging and fencing with great contemporaries such as Garrick, Goldsmith, Burney and Burke, and of course with Boswell himself. Yet anxieties and obsessions also darkened Johnson's private hours, and Boswell's attentiveness to every facet of Johnson's character makes this biography as moving as it is entertaining. In this entirely new and unabridged edition, David Womersley's introduction examines the motives behind Boswell's work, and the differences between the two men that drew them to each other. It also contains chronologies of Boswell and Johnson, annotated notes, appendices and comprehensive indexes, including biographical details.
The Ambassadors - Henry James
Blurb: Concerned that her son Chad may have become involved with a woman of dubious reputation, the formidable Mrs Newsome sends her 'ambassador' Strether from Massachusetts to Paris to extricate him. Strether's mission, however, is gradually undermined as he falls under the spell of the city and finds Chad refined rather than corrupted by its influence and that of his charming companion, Madame de Vionnet, and her daughter, Jeanne. As the summer wears on, Mrs Newsome concludes that she must send another envoy to confront the errant Chad - and a Strether whose view of the world has changed profoundly. One of the greatest of James's late works, The Ambassadors is a subtle and witty exploration of different responses to a European environment. This edition of The Ambassadors includes a chronology, further reading, glossary, notes and an introduction discussing the novel in the context of James's other works on Americans in Europe, and the novel's portrayal of Paris.
Italian Journey - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Blurb: In 1786, when he was already the acknowledged leader of the Sturm und Drang literary movement, Goethe set out on a journey to Italy to fulfil a personal and artistic quest and to find relief from his responsibilities and the agonies of unrequited love. As he travelled to Venice, Rome, Naples and Sicily he wrote many letters, which he later used as the basis for the Italian Journey. A journal full of fascinating observations on art and history, and the plants, landscape and the character of the local people he encountered, this is also a moving account of the psychological crisis from which Goethe emerged newly inspired to write the great works of his mature years.
The Old Wive's Tale - Arnold Bennett
Blurb: In 1903 Arnold Bennett sat in Paris cafe watching a fat shapeless, ugly and grotesque old woman. Her behaviour inspired him to write the book that would become his masterpiece, The Old Wives Tale.It tells the story of two sisters and how their lives diverge as they make different choices. While Constances Spends her life in their father's drapery shop in Burley and marries the chief assistant, Sophia, her spirited sibling, elopes to paris with Gerald Scales, an irresistible, unscrupulous commercial traveller who has inherited twelve thousand pounds. When the sisters are reunited years later, each has been shaped by their separate experience. An immediate success on its publication in 1908, The Old Wives Tale is a fascinating, beautifully crafted exploration of the impact of environment on the lives and emotions of two women.
. But as a quick reply now: I would totally recommend you pick up The Black Sheep - its terrific.
