English Classics Books

"The Oxford Book of American Short Stories," edited by Joyce Carol Oates, is an impressive anthology. The editor herself is well-known as a master writer of short stories, so you know that she has insights into the genre.

This is a truly sweeping anthology. The authors (56 altogether) range chronologically from Washington Irving (1783-1859) to Pinckney Benedict (b. 1964). Many of the "giants" of U.S. literature, among them a number of Nobel and Pulitzer recipients, are included: Herman Melville ("The Paradise of Bachelors..."), Edgar Allan Poe ("The Tell-Tale Heart"), Edith Wharton ("A Journey"), Saul Bellow (Something to Remember Me By"), etc.

In her introduction, Oates notes that one of her goals in this anthology was to present "[f]amiliar names, unfamiliar titles." Thus, it is rewarding to see stories like "Cannibalism in the Cars," by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). But she does, in some cases, include an author's best-known story (like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"). A good balance overall.

Oates also includes many authors who represent ethnic currents in U.S. literature: African-American, Jewish, Native American, Latina, and Asian-American. There are also a number of "regional" writers.

There is a wide variety of themes and stylistic approaches represented in this book. I was particularly interested in those stories that represent various forms of American vernacular speech: Jean Toomer's "Blood-Burning Moon," Eudora Welty's "Where Is That Voice Coming From?", etc. I was also pleased at the inclusion of one of Ray Bradbury's masterful science fiction tales (the haunting "There Will Come Soft Rains").

Obviously, an anthology of this nature will not please everybody perfectly; I'm sure many readers will name favorite stories and authors whom they would have liked to have seen included in this collection. Personally, I would have added a story each by Alice Walker, Hisaye Yamamoto, Samuel Delany, H.P. Lovecraft, and Octavia Butler. But overall, this is a fine anthology, good both for classroom use and individual recreational reading.

This is a solid cross-section of time, authors, style, intent, and soul. I taught this to 50+ teenagers with a high degree of success and corporate enjoyment. The primary downfall of the piece is that Oates comments before each story, sometimes playing the obnoxious neighbor by actually giving away the resolution. Read her comments after you read the story. Otherwise, great work.

When I went to graduate school for a course of study that involved primarily reading, I did not want to spend too much free time reading. Because I find it hard to put down a book that I enjoy, it was hard to commit to a novel. So I became a devoted reader of short stories, including many anthologies and collections.
This collection by Joyce Carol Oates was, hands down, the best that I ever encountered. A hardcover volume makes a good graduation present for a young scholar, or someone who loves to read but cannot find the time for a novel.

I have only read the first few stories yet, which of course are great literary works. As far as Joyce Oates' work is concerned, she has done an excellent job of introducing the collection and giving a brief summary of each author. For the price and the quality this is a book worth your library!

There is a beautiful strangeness to each of these stories that Joyce has melded into an unsettling yet perfect whole. Any professor of an MFA program will do well to expose his or her students to these neglected gems. The anthology takes the reader off the beaten path and opens the imagination to the ghostly jungle of possibility.

Newman is a master with English prose, craftily writing each sentence, paragraph, page, and chapter thoughtfully and eloquently. As a master of prose, if, for no other reason, he deserves wide readership.

But, alas, Newman is first and foremost a theologian. Now this may cast aspersions on him to a larger audience, but at considerable distress to all concerned. He wrote as both an Anglican and a Roman Catholic (most of these sermons were written while he was a priest in the Church of England). Most of the sermons were delivered while he served as priest at Oxford. There he had a demanding audience, who wouldn't sit still for such simple ejaculations, such as, "the Bible says so."

Newman revered Holy Scripture, but he saw it through a prism of manifold colors and applications. It was above all else a book of spiritual perfection, dense and more complex than often acknowledged, and he set forth to elucidate many passages with his incisive prose. Some of these sermons address the Christian liturgical year; others address some spiritual issue of the day or of perennial value. But in any event, his use of scripture is devoutly and reverential, even a tad dogmatic, but never in the evangelical sense. For Newman, the Word was a catalyst to self-discovery and illumination, not some sword to cut believer from infidel.

This book is large, and fortunately will take a good deal of time to read. Each sermon is about four pages, which makes for relatively-short meditations upon ideas catholic and universal. While Scripture forms his benchmark, his methodology is atypically in the English Empiricist school. He doesn't pontificate as though an authority, but examines like a scientist; he's heuristic, and we share in his discoveries. And his method allows him to reach the largest possible audience, knowing, as he did, that he was fighting both modernism and scepticism that ravaged the Church of England at the time, and continues to this day.

His method prevents sentimentality, although he is immensely sensitive and spiritual. He appeals to reason, the one thing that distinguishes man from beasts, and he does so with such eloquent prose that the reading alone is itself a delight. His insights have made him the "Father" of Vatican II, and many of his ideas can be found in documents of the Council. He doesn't seem to have a personal agenda, just an unabashed search for revealed truth as it is applied by reason. At times, his Victorian Age comes through loudly and clearly, but even so, his temperament is not one of self-righteousness, but of universal holiness. He's mediating the search for truth and holiness, not making it his own.

Roman and Anglican Catholics will be pleased with the results. Curious non-Christians will find Newman to be more than capable exegete, a rigorous and deft rhetorician, and a charming voice in a wasteland of mediocrity.

In these sermons Newman shows that the ultimate purpose of Church Doctrine is to grow in the spiritual life--to attain unity with God amidst the lures of the world. In addition, the themes he touches on are so contemporary for this day that you'd think he had written them yesterday. Newman demonstrates that the truths of the Christian faith are timeless.

Ignatius Press has given a great gift to the United States by putting 8 volumes of Newman's sermons together in one volume. It is a beautifully bound volume that will stand the years of reading and rereading it will get. My only criticism is the small size of the font used. However, if it was any bigger the number of sermons would shrink considerably.

The great Oxford historian Owen Chadwick wrote in his short biography of Newman that the Parochial and Plain Sermons form as a whole one of the great works of moral theology ever achieved by an English-speaking Christian. I am not qualified to assess Professor Chadwick's opinion, but I can say that I have personally found these sermons to be pure gold and intensely useful, even today, to one working in parish and scholastic ministry. This collection is a wonderful resource! The sermons provide spiritual wisdom, learning, sound Biblical scholarship, and a penetrating knowledge of historical processes in relation to the Faith. Moreover, these sermons are quintessentially Anglican -- at least in the classical or orthodox sense of this designation. I told an Evangelical friend a few months ago, when he asked for a good sermon source, that I believe Newman's P&P Sermons are the most genuinely Evangelical sermon collection I know of. And I think it goes without saying that the Sermons are also deeply Catholic in the richest, most robust (I mean Patristic) sense of the word. This is a great price for a classic work of orthodox Christian divinity. Buy it and use it!

Newman is a consummate rhetorician and compelling author, who, at a century after his death, remains one of the most influential religious authors. Newman wrote so many fine books, but his plain and parochial sermons, while he was still and Anglican, are among the best. This one-volume, completely reset edition, contains nearly 180 sermons. Most of the sermons are designated by their time given in the liturgical year, making it an excellent companion to liturgical lectionaries. One sees the keen mind of Newman operating at his most basic level, that of a parish priest. It's arresting at every fold, and a treasure and resource one will revisit with pleasure.

John Henry Newman's Parochial and Plain Sermons are without a doubt one of the genuine classics of Western spirituality. If you are looking to get your spiritual house in order, buy this book. Newman was that rare genius and saint able to appeal to both the heart and the intellect at the same time. From the very first sermon, entitled, "Holiness, Without Which Man Shall Not See God," the reader is drawn to take seriously the urgency of conversion and spiritual reform. You will walk away from this text wondering how you could have ever done anything other than put God first in your daily life! Moreover, the book appeals to modern man's sense of reason. One of Newman's greatest contributions is to show just how reasonable the act of faith is and how foolish it is to fail to make that act. But more than anything Newman will convince you that with God what matters is doing His will, not just talking about your relationship with Jesus while ignoring the Lord's commands to repent and be converted. This book is guaranteed to help you in your spiritual growth while educating you theologically, no matter where you are on the journey. Eminently readable. These are sermons, not theological treatises. This book is of equal value to non-Catholics as well as Catholics, written as they were in Newman's pre-Catholic, evangelical phase.

I had tried to get this book ever since I read the Gormenghast books a few years back, but was informed it was unavailable. Imagine my surprise when it shows up on Amazon as available. I bought it as part of a deal with Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor. Had a slight twinge of anxeity when Slaughterboard showed up by itself, but Progress showed up about a week and a half later. Talk about worth the wait. Short stories, plays, illustrations, poems, Peake's Progress is a great collection of major work and oddities that showcases this amazing talent. My personal highlights are the Titus Groan in all but name story "Boy in Darkness" and his full length play "The Wit to Woo". If you are a Peake fan, you should have this, if not, why aren't you?

Excellent stuff. The Gormenghast Trilogy is still the book you must read, but this volume is a fine introduction to Mervyn Peake. Btw, ignore the previous reviewer. I'm an admirer of Tolkien and I have no trouble at all appreciating Peake.

This is a perfect introduction to the work of Mervyn Peake whose great Gormenghast trilogy reprsents the 'other' tradition in British fantasy writing. For me this is altogether much more satisfying than, say, Tolkien. Here you can find Peake's short stories, plays, drawings -- everything that made him the creative genius he was. If Tolkien isn't for you, Peake probably is!

I need say no more - this alone is worth the book:

THE VASTEST THINGS ARE THOSE WE MAY NOT LEARN

The vastest things are those we may not learn.
We are not taught to die, nor to be born,
Nor how to burn
With love.
How pitiful is our enforced return
To those small things we are the masters of.

This book contains all of the great moments of Mervyn Peake, save the Gormenghast books. His poetry is excellent, his short stories are great, and his art is just cool.

If you are a Peake fan, you must buy this book.

How on earth I ever managed to enjoy Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels before reading Anthony Gary Brown's wonderful dictionary is a mystery. Brown's book is a must have for all those who wish to get the most out of reading O'Brian's excellent naval stories.

This book is an invaluable resource for the O'Brian fan. Knowing the allusion to real people and the historical background tremendously enhances my enjoyment of the O'Brian series - well worth re-reading all nineteen books with this reference in hand, looking up the name of each character, animal, ship and cannon for the delicious humor of knowing WHY O'Brian named each entity as he did. A five-star book!

This book is an astonishing piece of research, a listing and historical analysis of thousands of items--well, characters, animals, ships, and cannons--from Patrick O'Brian's series of novels. I cannot imagine how he did it, but what a delightful treat for the rest of us. This book is not just an indispensible companion to the Aubrey-Maturin novels; it's also a great pleasure just to leaf through and read. If you like the O'Brian's books you need to have this one too.

Anthony Gary Brown's "Persons, Animals, Ships and Cannon in the Aubrey-Maturin Sea Novels" is a wonderful resource for anyone who loves the nautical fiction of Patrick O'Brian. The depth and breadth of research evident in this companion volume to the Aubrey-Maturin series is truly awe-inspiring. Every "proper name" reference -- no matter how slight or obscure -- has been diligently tracked and, where ever possible the historical reality behind the fictional is revealed. Characters I had assumed to be merely creations of Patrick O'Brian's imagination are shown by Gary Brown to be based in actual persons. Whenever Stephen Maturin speaks of an obscure botanist or philosopher, Brown has explained who he or she was and what was the significance of their work. There are many, many hours of delightful browsing in this volume for any Patrick O'Brian fan.

I've been sampling this book for a couple of weeks and I can't tell you how much I've been enjoying it! For a fan of the Aubrey/Maturin books its almost as good as having a new POB come out! I think of someone I want to look up, then by the time I've read that entry I've been led to another, and then another and I keep stumbling on the most amazing facts and interesting historical stories.While just keeping track of all the names in the books is useful enough, the "enhanced" information - all the details about "real" people and ships and historical events - is the most exciting treasure for me.I can not begin to imagine the hours and hours invested in this masterpiece, though the careful attention to details and proofreading suggest it was a labor of love. All I can say is that I'm very grateful to the author for having written it. It will make reading and re-reading the Aubrey/Maturin books an even greater delight, and for me at least, it will lead deeper into the historical literature behind the series.Every bookstore in the country should stock this on the shelves next to the Aubrey/Maturin books so new converts will have it in hand right from the start.

This book has really nice pictures, all the original ones made from the author. It has the most populat stories inside. It is a little bigger than expected, but this and the hardcover will make it last forever!

This book was much larger than I expected but was beautiful. It included many favorite stories and the size allows for large illustrations. I gave it as a gift and I am sure it will be a hit.

This is a beautiful book! It has the most complete illustrations, both color and black & white, of any Beatrix Potter book I've seen. Its large size and low price would make it a wonderful gift for Beatrix Potter fans of any age.

I bought this book for my best friend who is expecting her first child. I wanted something Beatrix Potter because I grew up to these wonderful stories and I wanted it to be part of her childs life and memories. I am so glad I chose to get this particular book! The illustrations are beautiful and filled with color. It is a wonderful book filled with all of the popular Beatrix Potter stories that I remember! I recommend this book to anyone who loves Beatrix Potter stories....this is the one!

This is a great book! The illustrations are georgous. The large size of the book adds to the facination of kids and adults. It is great for gift giving too!

This book is a marvel of an analysis on the works of the great Philip Roth. It is extremely well-written, with beautiful diction and prose. Yet that isn't all: his analysis of Roth's works are very original, and Dr. Milowitz's book has enriched every reading of Roth I have done since I first purchased the book two years ago. In addition, it is written in a way that's appealling both to the literary critic as well as to the general public. Bravo!!

Dr. Milowitz is an awsome english teacher! Hes a genious. I know this from experience as a student of his in high school. This book is a must read for anyone intrested in Philip Roth's works.

Steven Milowitz gives an in-depth analyses of the mind of one the greatest American authors ever. The book literally drew me in, I read it in one sitting. An informative and very well written book, I reccomend it to everyone.

It's high time someone wrote an insightful book about this Brilliant Jewish-American author, and Dr. Steven M. Milowitz has risen to the task. Milowitz whisks us away on a provocative and challenging magic carpet ride through the concentrationary Universe of the pulitzer-prize winning author. It is a masterpiece of modern literary critism: combining intensive scholarship with insightful anicdotes to bring us a work of such staggering genius one can not help but marvel. Hats off to you, Doc!

Steven Milowitz takes us on an unforgettable journey through the mind of one of the greatest Jewish-American writers of all time. It has completely changed my Phillip Roth reading experience. This book is a must read, tour de force.

I first bought this book in the mid sixties when I was fourteen. It entranced me. Hopkins could gather words on a page that invoked exactly what he was seeing. His crafted poems communicate a vision of nature and life itself. As a prized book, it accompanied me everywhere, but was finally lost on my world travels. Since then I have bought (and passed to others) several more copies.

This volume also contains a selection of Hopkins' prose, which logs the poet's personal development, his struggles and triumphs, his keen observation, and his warmth and humour.

What Hopkins communicates is a healthy, soul-enhacing vision of life--in contrast to his older contemporary, Nietzsche, who instead left to us posturing declamations, which have nourished fascists and other self-assertors from then till now.

So, for a contrasting and good direction in life, one which is deeply humane, I recommend this book--with its intense revelation of the freshness deep down in things.

There's something to be said for a Poet published entirely posthumously who was still ahead of his time at the time of publication. Hopkins sailed with Modern winds in Victorian seas, all the while remaining decidedly Christian and exquisitely formal. A hero for those of us who still believe that Christianity offers the only real reason to respond to experience with words. Only in a world spoken into existence could such a thing as poetry (verbal creation) unite so many for so long. Hopkins interacts with the fibers of creation and uses the English language for what it was intended, even adapts it to further fulfill his calling. The glory of God flames out from every hyphen in every kenning in every Curtal-Sonnet on every page of this book.

Hopkins, a Welsh monk, was nearly lost to the public when he renounced his own work, burned a large portion of his creations and sunk into relative obscurity around the turn of the century. Oh, what a tragedy would that have been! Thanks to T.S. Eliot and other astute cultural advocates, this pioneer in the realm of confluence of sound and meaning has received more of the respect he deserves.

Hopkins' style is unique--a combination of Anglo-Saxon alliterative stress patterns, and a truly modern consciousness of spirituality and doubt. Although he draws heavily on Mediaeval techniques of versification, the poet's language escapes the flatline of the archaic through an energetic dynamism. The result is what he terms "sprung rhythm", wherein phonemes reach a level of excitement through rhythmic juxtaposition of stressed and unstressed syllables in an at times choppy, at times smooth pattern.

What I believe "Wreck of the Deutchland" is a masterpiece of Hopkins' language. This poem, like much of his work, is extraordinarily well suited to reading out loud. The ebb and flow of the paced alternation of syllabic and intoned stress gives the reader an intuitive feel for the thematic material of the poem. When the boat is tossed by rough waters, so tosses the reader's voice. When the narrator trembles with fear or faith, so trembles the reader's tongue. However, the sonic force of "Wreck of the Deutchland" is only one aspect of this multi-layered tapestry. The language of sound is a kind of precondition or foreshadowing of the meaning contained in the semantic and symbolic language of the text.

The thing perhaps that I love most about Hopkins is that he seems to incorporate all facets of expression in his work, but certainly not in a pedantic fashion. He is a metaphysical poet in the most honest and unassuming manner. The different textual layers arise and intermingle organically in the medium of the very accessibly, very human voice of a humble poet.

Reading the early poems one immediately understands how great and conscious an effort Hopkins made to transform himself into a distinctive poetic voice.
Hopkins did not write a great deal( Compare his spare output to the reams of Wordsworth) but he wrote a number of poems which are, in my judgment, among the greatest in the language. He did this by creating a distinctive diction, and rhythm of his own.
The sprung rhythm which he employed had its origin in his reading of Anglo- Saxon poetry, with its emphasis on scanning the strong stresses alone. The alliterative quality of his verse also has its origin in early Anglo- Saxon poetry.
But Hopkins infuses his work with an intensity of meaning, a richness so rare no ripeness could be greater.
Among the truly great poems in this collection my favorites are"," Thou Art Indeed Just Lord", " God's Grandeur" " and Felix Randal."
This is great great poetry, and among the greatest written about human suffering.
Emily Dickinson would have felt a chill down her spine at reading it. And for Kafka it would have most certainly broken up the icy- sea within.

I am a great fan of Hopkins. His work touches not merely the intellect, but the soul with its depth of insight and tenderness. There is a richness to his work that many of the poets who were his contemporaries lacked. There is faith, hope, love, and a respect for the universe and its Creator. Another beautiful Penguin Classic collection. Every library personal and public should have a copy.

Within the pages of the Portable James Joyce the reader will find two of the greatest works of all time, his Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Additionally, Levin has included exerts from Joycs's epic stream of consciousness works, Ulyssis and Finnegan's Wake. But what I found the most pleasant was the inclusion of some of Joyce's lesser acclaimed poetry, including Chamber Music and his three act play Exiles. Harry Levin has strung together all of what has made Joyce the worlds prominent literary artist while also providing for alternative perspectives of his voice and genius. Truly a must for any Joycean and students of the writen word.

I was out on a shopping venture intending to buy a copy of Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" when I stumbled on to this Joyce volume. For only $4 more, this is well worth it. Not only does this include "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", but it also includes Joyce's revolutionary short story collection, "Dubliners". Levin also includes samples of other Joyce writings including pieces of "Ulysses" and "Finnegans Wake". The writings of Joyce speak for themselves; therefore, anyone serious about literature already knows they should read Joyce. Since it is not necessary to tell the literary public to read Joyce, I just wanted everyone to know that this volume contains a lot more Joyce for not too much more money.

Laptop Joyce

This is an admirable effort that includes all of "Dubliners," "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," the play "Exiles," a collection of poems, including "Chamber Music" and "Pomes Penyeach," five chapters from "Ulysses," and three from Finnegan's Wake. The entire volume is introduced briefly (16 pages); each major work has a short preface as well. Not surprisingly, such brevity omits the many interpretations of Joyce's works, and much background material. But this is a good get-your-feet-wet volume: An introduction to the major themes and styles of Joyce that can be approached by readers of varying experience.

"Dubliners" is easily comprehended at first reading (although the reader may choose to pursue its many layers by reading books that focus on interpretation), and may encourage the extra effort (and resulting pleasures) sometimes required for the other material. The inclusion of a few chapters from "Ulysses" and "Finnegan's Wake" afford a sampling of the author's more "difficult" books. I don't think the reader will come away with an appreciation of the total book (how could one?), but will gain some familiarity with Joyce's more complex works.

Should you buy this compact, thick, version, or the works individually? I think there are two groups to whom the book will appeal: The reader who wants a fairly comprehensive introduction to Joyce, and the Joyce-fan who knows he or she would like a portable collection. Both types will forfeit some ease of reading (the print is small, but surprisingly clear), the complete text of the longer books, and literary "decoding" and criticism for the convenience and savings of one volume. For these readers, this volume is highly recommended.

ANOTHER HOMERUN BY PENGUIN PORTABLE LIBRARY!!!!!

This is a very impressive sampling of one of the greatest manipulators of the English language, the member of the great trimverte of modern prose writers, who stands tall with Marcel Proust (1871-1922) and Thomas Mann(1875-1955).

I was very surprised that it not only contains his great collection of short stories which convey a great sense of Dublin, Dubliners (1914), but it has the complete novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Not only that, it has all the poetry the man ever wrote (or at least all that sees the light in our modern times). AND...if that is not enough for you, it also contains his 1918 play Exiles. It also contains a sampling of his more complicated great stream of consciousness novels from his mature period and they are the great masterpiece of stream of consciousness writing which established it as a modern art form, Ulysses (1922) and the incredible, controversial, mind boggling epic that is Finnegans Wake (1939).
To read the latter is hard and to understand it is just about impossible. Think of it as a final statement of Joyce's art, sort of forging a new language, going beyond the constricing limits of the English Language or, if you're like most of it's "victims," think of it as a prelonged and rediculous practical joke. Whatever you think about this guy, you can't help but remember the writings of James Joyce (1882-1941).

In a way all of Joyce's themes are contained in miniature 'Dubliners' and ' Portrait of an Artist'. Both of these are included in this anthology. There are also in the anthology chapters from ' Ulysses' and from ' Finnegan's Wake'. One of the distinguished Joyce scholars of the previous generation Harry Levin writes the introduction. The reader of this volume will get in miniature the collective portrait of the city Dublin, the story of the artistic quest of the Joyce alter ego Stephen Daedelaus ( including the renunciation of church, homeland, and family) the attempt to transform all of life and history into a new language which the reader is required to read ' all the years of the nights of his life'. The vast Joycean ambition and enterprise, the magical lyrical verbal art, the maker - remaker - creator the giant of twentieth century and world literature is the lyrical taddy carrying us along to one of the most brilliant of all literary toy fairs.
Enjoy it.

I read this book while aboard a U.S. Navy Destroyer on a "Medcruise" and was astonished to find it alongside "Zorba the Greek" and Bellow's "Herzog" and Nabakov's "Lolita" all on the same shelf of two dozen or so other books, none even remotely in the same league.
The fact that "The Rack" was a psuedonym and the only work by the writer's fictitious name made the overall effect of the book on me overwhelming, to say the very least! After three additional readings over the years (40, at least) I have just ordered the book from Amazon.com to be sure that my first impression has past the test of time (although, honestly, I am quite sure that it has.)
To say that this book is an anomoly...even a singularity...in the ranks of modern and post-modern literary works is grossly understated. Add this to the mystery of its authorship and you have a consumation devoutly to be wished, and one has the highest rank one can bestow on a literary work: It is truly and completely "unique" in the world of Western art and civilization. /ss/ "James W. Casey"

This is a deftly-written, incisive, constantly-interesting novel of a young Englishman's never-ending treatment for tuberculosis in the French Alps. The author, writing perhaps from personal experience, convincingly depicts the medical (mis)treatment suffered by the protagonist, who is given an incredible run-around by ludicrous doctors who diagnose his condition as alternately hopeful then not. The protagonist's one chance for real happiness, an affair with a fellow (female) patient, does not endure, unlike his illness. The novel's finale finds him facing a seemingly perpetual future among the sanitoria in the mountains. Graham Greene praised this novel when it appeared. There was talk of it being filmed. Apart from a short story I once chanced upon, A.E. Ellis appears to have done little beside "The Rack". Yet it is quite enough, really.

This was the pseudonym of Derek Lindsay, who died last year (Andrew Sinclair: Derek Lindsay, London Magazine May/June 2001). 'Saturnine and reclusive', he was a friend of Kenneth Tynan and is mentioned in Kathleen Tynan's biography of her husband. Another friend was Cyril Connolly, and Ellis wrote a memoir for the Adam International Review memorial for Connolly. The only other work I have heard of is a play, Grand Manouevres, produced at he National Theatre, but not published as far as I can tell, and translations of film scripts for Lorimer Books in the 1960s. Sincalir is editing Ellis's unfinished/abandoned novel. There is also more on Ellis in Sinclair's memoir In Love and Anger.

Finding this book in a second hand shop in 1984, I was impressed by Graham Greene's effusive rating in the blurb and bought it. I ended up reading it in one go, and like the other reviewers, thought it was exceptional, one of the four or five best books I had ever read and possibly the most emotionally moving. I searched around for more on Ellis, but drew a blank, and then the business of getting a life intervened. Fifteen years later, I was working in Geneva and one day, on a weekend outing in France high in the mountains between Sallanches and Chamonix, came across the village of Passy. A bizarre place for a mountain village, it was deserted, had wide boulevards and, among the Heidi chalets, several enormous hotel-like buildings, all of which were decrepit and abandoned. Later, speaking to a local, I discovered that the huge buildings were old tuberculosis hospitals which had been a source of great wealth to the region until the industry died out a few decades past. This reminded me of "The Rack", which I then dug up and reread. Much to my surprise I realised that the various geographical references to, e.g., St. Gervais, made it possible that in Passy I had found the location for the book, and that the walks I had taken might have been the same as the doomed protagonist Paul. Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, suffice to say, the book seemed just as brilliant and powerful to me on second reading, and I tried again to find out who Ellis was. I still drew a blank, but now just happened to be at Amazon and thought I'd take a look. Delighted to find this most obscure work of genius is not entirely unknown. As of today, armed with the helpful info from reviewer Roger Allen, I shall start looking again. This is a truly great book, I challenge anyone to read it and not find it so. It is incomprehensible that it is not better known. Read it if you can.

I read this novel twenty years ago sitting up all night by a wood stove in South Wales. I was about twenty five and recently married. I found it heartbreaking. The love affair Paul has with Michele moved me immeasurably, with the final pages finishing me off. Tearful throughout, I broke down, sobbing. Why this book is so often out of print I will never know. Nor can I understand why no film has been made of it. AE Ellis is not the author's real name, and apparently wrote nothing else. I advise anyone who can get hold of a copy of The Rack to read it and then pass it on to a friend. I did. The friend never returned it; but I recently came across a first edition in a second hand bookstall for 50 pence. I don't think I'll ever read it again, though. It would be pointless. This book still affects me more than anything I've read since.

A. J. Raffles was certainly not the first heroic rogue found in English literature, but E. W. Hornung's creation is among the most popular. Raffles himself was an amateur cracksman, an audacious, skilled burglar, one specializing in jewel and art objects. Raffles was contemporaneous with Sherlock Holmes, although, thankfully, Holmes never set his sights on Raffles, perhaps due in part to the fact that E. W. Hornung was married to Conan Doyle's sister.

Who is Raffles? A gentleman, a capable cricket player, a product of a respected British public school. Although his life style was in keeping with that of a British gentleman, his financial state was often precarious as he had no inherited wealth. With few career options, Raffles discovered that he had a talent for crime, especially those that required careful planning, as well as substantial self-confidence, even audacity. Surprisingly, few Victorian critics expressed concern with the moral implications of Hornung's stories, perhaps because that in the end Raffles does not entirely escape retribution. And even in the interim not all of Raffles exploits fully succeed, at least suggesting that a career in burglary does have limitations.

Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1898) is a collection of eight connected stories, each one flowing into the next. They include The Ides of March, A Costume Piece, Gentleman and Players, Le Premier Pas, Wilful Murder, Nine Points of the Law, The Return Match, and The Gift of the Emperor. Any fan of Sherlock Holmes will certainly enjoy these fascinating Victorian tales.

This Penguin Classic edition of Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman offers an extensive introduction, an eight-page chronology of E. W. Hornung's life and career, and a detailed listing of further stories, readings, plays, screenplays, articles, and literary criticism. Also, the editor, Richard Lancelyn Green, provides helpful end notes.

In his introduction Green observes that these tales can be viewed as an extension of the school story, where the prank becomes a crime and the school master a detective. I quite agree with Green's insight. I had wondered why the antics, actually crimes, of Raffles and his chum Bunny had vaguely reminded me of Rudyard Kipling's humorous school tales in Stalky and Company.

An unexpected connection: Raffles plays a significant role in a zany tale titled W. G. Grace's Last Case, a comedic tour de force by William Ruston published in 1984. The setting is London, however, in an alternative universe peopled by a remarkable cross section of literary creations from Watson and Lestrade to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. London is partly in ruins as the failed Martian invasion was only the year before (as so effectively reported at that time by the famous journalist H. G. Wells).

Yep this book pretty much gives you a take on what would happen if genius detective Sherlock Holmes were instead genius cat burglar Justice Raffles. Raffles commits high collar petty theft for fun and profit. He steals jewelry etc and uses his connections as a gentleman to sniff out new opportunities. At one point as he describes the many middle men involved in reselling a piece of stolen jewelry as he explains to Bunny how crime doesn't pay - financially anyway. Often he steals something just because of the challenge involved in stealing it, which leads to interesting and varied stories for us to read. Bunny is his unwitting and later witting accomplice. He narrates the stories, as a sort of Watson to Raffles' Holmes.

These were very charming stories. If you like Sherlock Holmes and other victorian fiction then you will probably like these.

When Bunny (a public-school nickname) finds himself hopelessly in debt, and on the verge of ruination, he turns to an old school chum of his, A.J. Raffles. It turns out that Raffles can help him, but not in the manner he had imagined. Having found himself in a similar predicament years ago, Raffles took a novel solution, he became an amateur cracksman, that is, a cat-burglar. Remarkably free from any sort of moral qualms, Raffles takes Bunny on as his assistant, and together they lead a life of gentleman criminals. Sometimes they score stunning coups, and sometimes they suffer humiliating defeats; this is the life of Raffles and Bunny.

A man who was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law and friend wrote this story in 1899. This book reflects the more gentle style of Victorian literature (as also seen in the Sherlock Holmes stories), where the emphasis is placed on dialogue and suspense, rather than gunplay and action. Raffles is a gentleman, one without a moral compass, but one does know that there has to be a comeuppance somewhere, right? This is a wonderfully entertaining book, one that I recommend to you.

A.J. Raffles is the consumate English gentleman. He's quick witted, polite, has a spotless appearance, excels at cricket . . . and earns his living by burglary.

Horung's Raffles is a sort of counter to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, using his intellect for theft rather than for detection. With his sidekick and chronicler Bunny, Raffles has a series of adventures where pulling of the crime is the key, not catching the criminal. Oddly, Raffles, though a scamp, isn't a monster. He's not a killer, although he contemplates it in the story "Wilful Murder". Also, he's not always sucessful, as in the story "Costume Piece", where Raffles and Bunny escape by the skin of their teeth, empty-handed.

This book is good fun all around. The Penguin edition adds to the fun by extensively annotating the text, giving insight into Horung's sources and motivations. Definitely recommended for people who like Victorian stories, drawing rooms mysteries, crime novels, and mild satires of conventions.

[The following review refers to Penguin Classics edition of 'Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman' by E.W. Hornung, edited by Richard Lancelyn Green]

This book (originally published in 1899) is the first collection of stories about A.J. Raffles, 'gentleman thief' and first-rate cricket player. E.W. Hornung, who married Conan Doyle's sister Connie, presents a unique pair in English literature: they are Raffles, debonair and handsome thief (but the world knows him only as a cricket player) and 'Bunny' who records the adventures of his friend in the tradition of Watson.

The collection has eight stories: 'The Ides of March' (telling us how they met each other after their schooldays), 'A Costume Piece,''Gentlemen and Players,''Le Premier Pas,''Wilful Murder,''Nine Point of the Law,''The Return Match,' and 'The Gift of the Emperor,' in which Raffles vanishes before us ... for now.

As the nature of the protagonist tells you, none of the stories are so-called detective stories though they involve crimes or even murder. There are a few elaborate descriptions about how to, say, steal diamonds, and Raffels surely uses interesting ruses, but today they are no longer fresh, and many readers would detect his tricks before the slow-learning narrator Bunny does.

But the characters are very lively, especially Raffles, who could be very cynical, nasty, or even dangerous if he wants to. Holmes might have refrained from openly despising Watson's thick head; Raffles never does, who looks as if having fun, completely mystifying poor Bunny who is left in the dark until the very end of the story. And in spite of the familiar gimmicks, the story itself takes often unpredictable turns.

[About Penguin Classics edition] Penguin is perhaps the only critical edition of Raffles stories. Though it includes only eight stories (Raffles later comes back, as Holmes does), this edition has nearly 40 pages of helpful notes, plus Richard Lancelyn Green's informative introduction (more than 50 pages) which covers the biographical matters about Hornung, the possible models of Raffles, and the further reading list. Everything is written with detailed facts, which clearly indicate the editor's love toward the Raffles stories. If you have already read all the Raffles stories, this book still is worth your money.