"One of the few English novels written for grown-up people." —Virginia Woolf"What do I think of ‘Middlemarch’? What do I think of glory — except that in a few instances this 'mortal has already put on immortality.' George Eliot was one. The mysteries of human nature surpass the 'mysteries of redemption,' for the infinite we only suppose, while we see the finite." —Emily Dickinson"‘Middlemarch’ is probably the greatest English novel." —Julian Barnes"They've [women] prod...

This book contains the complete novels of Charles Dickens in the chronological order of their original publication.[1836-1837] The Pickwick Papers[1837-1839] Oliver Twist[1838-1839] Nicholas Nickleby[1840-1841] The Old Curiosity Shop[1841] Barnaby Rudge[1843] Martin Chuzzlewit[1846-1848] Dombey and Son[1849-1850] David Copperfield[1851-1853] Bleak House[1854] Hard Times[1855-1857] Little Dorrit[1859] A Tal...

"The finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country." —Henry James"[Nathaniel Hawthorne] recaptured, for his New England, the essence of Greek tragedy." —Malcolm Cowley"There could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than 'The Scarlet Letter'”. —D. H. Lawrence"The style of Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is singularly effective — wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes... We look upon him as one of the ...

"The tragedy of tragedies." —Wang Guowei"['The Dream of the Red Chamber'] is to the Chinese very much what 'The Brothers Karamazov' is to Russian and 'In Search of Lost Time' is to French literature… It is beyond question one of the great novels of all literature." —Anthony West“'The Dream of the Red Chamber' and 'The Tale of Genji' are the two greatest works of prose fiction in all the history of literature." —Kenneth Rexroth"A masterpiece." —Frederic Wakeman"...

"One of the half-dozen greatest novels of the world." —Upton Sinclair"The greatest of all novels." —Leo Tolstoy"Hugo is unquestionably the most powerful talent that has appeared in France in the nineteenth century." —Fyodor Dostoyevsky"I sobbed and wailed and thought [books] were the greatest things." —Susan Sontag«Les Misérables» is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in ...

"The genius of Richardson’s narration is not simply the innovative use of epistolary fiction… but also the subtlety with which he unfolds the dark tragedy of Clarissa’s fatal attraction to Lovelace." —Robert McCrum"O Richardson! In spite of ourselves we play a role in your works, we take part in your conversations, we approve, we blame, we marvel…" —Denis Diderot"No one, in any language, has ever written a novel that equals or even approaches 'Clarissa'". —Jean-Jacques Rousse...

Netochka Nezvanova - a 'Nameless Nobody' - tells the story of a childhood dominated by her stepfather, Efimov, a failed musician who believes he is a neglected genius. The young girl is strangely drawn to this drunken ruin of a man, who exploits her and drives the family to poverty. But when she is rescued by an aristocratic family, the abuse against Netochka's delicate psyche continues in a more subtle way, condemning her to remain an outsider - a solitary spectator of a glittering societ...

«Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero» is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847–48, satirizing society in early 19th-century Britain. The book's title comes from John Bunyan's allegorical story The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678 and still widely read at the time of Thackeray's novel. Vanity fair refers to a stop along the pilgrim's progress: a never-ending fair held in a town called Vanity, which is meant to represent man's sinful attachment to worldly...

"Among the writers who have approached nearest to the manner of the great master, we have no hesitation in placing Jane Austen." —Thomas Macaulay"‘Pride and Prejudice’ is the best novel in the language." —Anthony Trollope"I used to think that men did everything better than women, but that was before I read Jane Austen. I don't think any man ever wrote better than Jane Austen." —Rex Stout"Elizabeth Bennet has but to speak, and I am at her knees." —Robert Louis Stevenson...

Dark allegory describes the narrator’s journey up the Congo River and his meeting with, and fascination by, Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious personage who dominates the unruly inhabitants of the region. Masterly blend of adventure, character development, psychological penetration. Considered by many Conrad’s finest, most enigmatic story.

"There are few novels which grip so thrillingly as those first read in childhood, and for me none which has quite matched the excitement of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island'." —P. D. James"It is a breathless journey and the closest thing to a real pirate adventure without an eye patch and a time machine... It is a unique work of genius." —Eoin Colfer"Over 'Treasure Island' I let my fire die in winter without knowing I was freezing." —J. M. Barrie“'Treasure Isl...

"I do not say there is no character as well-drawn in Shakespeare [as D’Artagnan]. I do say there is none that I love so wholly." —Robert Louis Stevenson"A masterpiece which remains as fresh and living as if it were written yesterday." —Jean Lucas-Dubreton"Dumas had genius of a certain kind — the genius that comes of vigour and a sense of the dramatic." —André MauroisOne of the most celebrated and popular historical romances ever written, The Three Musketeers tell the ...