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Книги издательства «Wordsworth»
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«Wessex Tales» was the first collection of Hardy's short stories, and they reflect the experience of a novelist at the height of his powers. These seven tales, in which characters and scenes are imbued with a haunting realism, show considerable diversity of content, form and style, and range from fantasy to realism and from tragedy to comedy.» |
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The child of parents who divorce, remarry and then embark on adulterous affairs, Maisie Farange survives by her intelligence and spirit. For all its sombre theme of childhood innocence exposed to a corrupted adult world, this novel is one of James’s comic masterpieces. The outrageous behaviour of the characters on the seedy fringes of the English upper class is conveyed with wit and relish. The dual perspective of a sophisticated narrator richly appreciative of the absurdities of the adult sexual merry-go-round and the candid vision of Maisie, 'rebounding' from one parent to another like a 'shuttlecock', together create an 'associational magic'. Strangely, unexpectedly, from so much that is tawdry, comes a tale of moral energy and subtlety. James’s foresight was in understanding the modernity of his subject, which is even more relevant today in the twenty-first century. |
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«Millenia ago, the Old Ones ruled our planet. Since that time, they have but slumbered. But when a massive sea tremor brings the ancient stone city of R'lyeh to the surface once more, the Old Ones awaken at last. «The Whisperer in Darkness» brings together the original Cthulhu Mythos stories of the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Included in this volume are several early tales, along with the classics «The Call of Cthulhu», «The Dunwich Horror» and «At the Mountains of Madness». Arm yourself with a copy of Abdul Alhazred's fabled Necronomican and prepare to face terrors beyond the wildest imaginings of all save H.P. Lovecraft.» |
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«The Winter's Tale», one of Shakespeare's later romantic comedies, offers a striking and challenging mixture of tragic and violent events, lyrical love-speeches, farcical comedy, pastoral song and dance, and, eventually, dramatic revelations and reunions. Thematically, there is a rich orchestration of the contrasts between age and youth, corruption and innocence, decline and regeneration. Both Leontes' murderous jealousy and Perdita's love-relationship with Florizel are eloquently intense. In the theatre, «The Winter's Tale» often proves to be diversely entertaining and deeply moving.» |
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Focusing on two families, the Gibsons and the Hamleys, this novel describes the habits, loyalties, prejudices, petty snobberies, rumours and adjustments of a whole countryside hierarchy. |
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«Wilkie Collins is a master of mystery, and «The Woman in White» is his first excursion into the genre. When the hero, Walter Hartright, on a moonlit night in north London, encounters a solitary, terrified and beautiful woman dressed in white, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress. The intricate plot is peopled with a finely characterised cast, from the peevish invalid Mr Fairlie to the corpulent villain Count Fosco and the enigmatic woman herself.» |
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Educated beyond her station, Grace Melbury returns to the woodland village of little Hintock and cannot marry her intended, Giles Winterborne. Her alternative choice proves disastrous, and in a moving tale that has vibrant characters, many humorous moments and genuine pathos coupled with tragic irony, Hardy eschews a happy ending. With characteristic derision, he exposes the cruel indifference of the archaic legal system off his day, and shows the tragic consequences of untimely adherence to futile social and religious proprieties. |
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«»...it is an universal phenomenon of our nature that the mournful, the fearful, even the horrible, allures with irresistible enchantment.» — Chaucer Burr, Memoir, 1850. «The Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories» is a superb collection of some of the greatest tales of the genre, many are classics while others are lesser-known gems unearthed from this vintage era of the supernatural. From time immemorial, man the world over has drawn upon the worst fears of his conscious and subconscious mind to furnish legends of terror. In this volume, authors such as M. R. James, Le Fanu, Henry James, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Bierce, Balzac, Gaskell, and many others invite you to close the curtains, lock the doors, draw the armchair closer to the blazing fire and settle down to a spine-chilling read.» |
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«Wuthering Heights» is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine's father. After Mr Earnshaw's death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine's brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries. The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature.» |
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«The Hound of the Baskervilles» is the classic detective chiller. It features the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, in his most challenging case. The Baskerville family is haunted by a phantom beast 'with blazing eyes and dripping jaws' which roams the mist-enshrouded moors around the isolated Baskerville Hall on Dartmoor. Now the hound seems to be stalking young Sir Henry, the new master of the Baskerville estate. Is this devilish spectre the manifestation of the family curse? Or is Sir Henry the victim of a vile and scheming murderer? Only Sherlock Holmes can solve this devilish affair. «The Valley of Fear» is a dark, powerful tale, which provides the great detective with a most perplexing case and opens with a vile murder. 'Lying across his chest was a most curious weapon, a shotgun with the barrel sawn off in front of the triggers. It was clear that it had been fired at close range, and that he had received the whole charge in the face, blowing his head almost to pieces'. Sherlock Holmes' arch enemy, the criminal genius Professor Moriarty, is back! But the solution to the riddle, found after many surprising twists and high dramas, lies far away, half across the world in a location known as «The Valley of Fear». This is Conan Doyle's last Holmes novel and in the opinion of many of his fans, it is the best!» |
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«This title is edited by M.R. James. In 1888 Henry James wrote 'There was the customary novel by Mr Le Fanu for the bedside; the ideal reading in a country house for the hours after midnight'. «Madam Crowl's Ghost and Other Stories» are tales selected from Le Fanu's stories which mostly appeared in «The Dublin University» Magazine and other periodicals, and their haunting, sinister qualities still have an enormous appeal for the modern reader. The great M.R. James, who collected and introduces the stories in this book, considered that Le Fanu 'stands absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories.'» |
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The 22-year old James Boswell first met Johnson, who was then aged 54, in 1763. Nine years later he wrote in his journal of his ‘constant plan to write the life of Mr Johnson’. Boswell was tireless in his search for authenticated proof, and his training as a lawyer helped him sift the evidence of friends and to operate forensically on Johnson himself. Boswell drew him out as no one else could, and although three-quarters of the book concerns the last twenty years of Johnson’s life, his skill in constructing the early years is remarkable. The text of this complete and unabridged edition is that of the 1791 first edition, and it remains, by common consent, the greatest biography in the English language. Johnson’s centrality in 18th century letters is established not only by Boswell’s record of his life and conversations, but also by the success of the work in placing him in a literary and cultural context. James Boswell (1740-95) was educated at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities as a lawyer. He moved to London in 1760, and was by turns a libertine and a Puritan. Introduced by his friends Sheridan and Garrick, Boswell met Johnson in 1763, and discovered a life’s calling. |
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With an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche. This edition includes all ten of his ghost stories, and as such is the fullest collection currently available. The stories range widely in tone and type. They include 'The Jolly Corner', a compelling story of psychological doubling; 'Owen Wingrave', which is also a subtle parable of military tradition; 'The Friends of the Friends', a strange story of uncanny love; and 'The Private Life', which finds a shrewd, high comedy in its ghostly theme. The volume also includes James's great novella The Turn of the Screw, perhaps the most ambiguous and disturbing ghost story ever written. |
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«This book features an Introduction by John S. Whitley, University of Sussex. This collection of Poe's best stories contains all the terrifying and bewildering tales that characterize his work. As well as the Gothic horror of such famous stories as «The Pit and the Pendulum», «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Premature Burial» and «The Tell-Tale Heart», all of Poe's Auguste Dupin stories are included. These are the first modern detective stories and include «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», «The Mystery of Marie Roget» and «The Purloined Letter».» |
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With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies ‘… the shadow turned round; and I saw a terrible death’s-head, which darted a look at me from a pair of scorching eyes. I felt as if I were face to face with Satan…’ Erik, the Phantom of the Paris Opera House, is one of the great icons of horror literature. This tormented and disfigured creature has made his home in the labyrinthine cellars of this opulent building where he can indulge in his great passion for music, which is a substitute for the love and emotion denied him because of his ghastly appearance. It is in the Opera House that he encounters Christine Daaé whom he trains in secret to become a great singer. Erik’s passionate obsession with a beautiful woman beyond his reach is doomed and leads to the dramatic tragic finale. Gaston Leroux’s novel is a marvellous blend of detective story, romance and spine-tingling terror which has fascinated readers ever since the work was first published. |
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«From the unsurpassed imagination of the creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard, here are twenty-one tales of suspense, high adventure and Lovecraftian horror. Foul sacrifices are made to a reptilian God in Hungary, a werewolf prowls the corridors of a castle in strife-torn Africa, criminal masterminds on both sides of the Atlantic vie for world domination, an enchanted ring exerts a terrible influence upon its wearer… …And, as written in the pages of the accursed «Necronomicon» and «Unaussprechlichen Kulten», the Great Old Ones watch our world from beyond the void – and wait…» |
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«‘Moving, his candle was instantly extinguished, and in the very moment of being left in the darkness he saw, standing in the doorway, a woman, resembling her who had haunted his dream overnight. He rushed with outstretched hands to seize her, but clutched only air.’ «Night Shivers» presents a treasure trove of the stories of Mrs J. H. Riddell, one of the greatest Victorian writers of ghost stories. These tales, many of which have been out of print for years, take the reader on fearful journeys into the gloomy haunts of old neglected houses, into a world of prophetic dreams, out onto the wild terrain of Ireland to encounter a frightful banshee and even down into Hell itself. In these fourteen short stories and one novella, «The Uninhabited House», there is the distillation of the best and most effective of Riddell’s spine-tingling supernatural fiction.» |
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«‘As I fell the thing sprang across me and seemed to throw itself upon the captain. When I last saw him on his feet his face was white and his lips set. It seemed to me that he struck a violent blow at the dead being, and then he, too, fell forward upon his face, with an inarticulate cry of horror.’ This unique collection contains all the supernatural works of the prolific F. Marion Crawford (1854 – 1909), including his classic chillers ‘For Blood is the Life’, ‘The Upper Berth’ and the title story, ‘The Screaming Skull’ which was based on a true horror legend. Also included in this volume is his amazing novel «The Witch of Prague» which Dennis Wheatley described as a ‘classic of occult fiction.’ For a potent blend of horror, fantasy and fear Crawford’s tales have rarely been surpassed. Most of these stories have long been out of print, so this collection is a special treat for all lovers of supernatural mysteries.» |
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«‘In the great mirror opposite I saw myself, and right behind, another wicked fearful self, so like me my soul seemed to quiver within me, as though not knowing to which similitude of body it belonged…’ Elizabeth Gaskell is better known today for her pioneering social novels such as «Mary Barton» (1848) but she also wrote some fascinating tales of the supernatural and the macabre, which are collected here in this volume. The real charm of this dark anthology is its variety. Unlike so many writers of this kind of material, Gaskell allows the story to fit the style rather than the other way around and as result there is a charming freshness to each tale. This remarkable author uses different voices, tones and topics to engage her readers and as you turn from one story to the next you cannot be quite sure what to expect.» |
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«When people use the adjective 'Kafkaesque', it is «The Trial» they have in mind – the nightmarish world of Joseph K., where the rules are hidden from even the highest officials, and any help there may be comes from unexpected sources. K. is never told what he is on trial for, and when he says he is innocent, he is immediately asked 'innocent of what?' Is he perhaps on trial for his innocence? Could he have freed himself from the proceedings by confessing his guilt as a human being? Has the trial been set up because he is incapable of admitting his guilt, and hence his humanity? «The Tria»l is a chilling and at the same time blackly amusing tale that maintains, to the very end, a constant, relentless atmosphere of disorientation and quirkiness. Superficially the subject-matter is bureaucracy, but the story's great strength is its description of the effect on the life and mind of Josef K. It is in the last resort a description of the absurdity of 'normal' human nature.» |
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