Dickens considered Great Expectations one of his "little pieces," and indeed, it is slim compared to such weighty novels as David Copperfield or Nicholas Nickleby. But what this cautionary tale of a young man raised high above his station by a mysterious benefactor lacks in length, it more than makes up for in its remarkable characters and compelli...more
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, 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 introducti...more
A desperate young man plans the perfect crime -- the murder of a despicable pawnbroker, an old women no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime, to transgress moral law -- if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written: a powerful psychologica...more
This 1866 novel is Dostoevsky's great fictional study of the criminal mind, in the character of the student Raskolnikov, who murders an aged pawnbroker. Initially, Raskolnikov believes that the killing was entirely justified, but as the novel proceeds he becomes tortured by his guilt, and begins to question all his most passionately held beliefs. E...more
Basil Hallward, an artist, meets Dorian Gray and paints his portrait. The artist is so infatuated with Dorian's beauty that he begins to believe it is the reason for his quality of art. Dorian becomes convinced that beauty is all-important and wishes his portrait could age instead of him. Beware of what you have wish for! Each time Dorian commi...more
The orphaned Pip is serving as a blackmith's apprentice when an unknown benefactor supplies the means for him to be educated in London as a gentleman of "great expectations."
Enthralled by a portrait of himself, young Dorian Gray makes a Faustian bargain to exchange his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Thus he is able to indulge in his desires, as only the portrait bears the traces of his decadence and becomes a nightmarish picture of his soul. Edited with an Introduction by Robert Mighall Preface by Peter Ackroy...more
On Sarah Whitfield's seventy-fifth birthday, memories take her back to New York in the 1930s. To a marriage that ends after a year, leaving Sarah shattered. A trip to Europe with her parents does little to raise her spirits, until she meets William, Duke of Whitfield. In time, despite her qualms, William insists on giving up his distant...more
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