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1) Beowulf
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English
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Beowulf is the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and an important example of Old English literature. In it, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of the king of the Danes whose great hall is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel bare-handed and goes on to kill Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he recovers from her lair. Later, as king of the Geats, Beowulf confronts a Dragon that terrorizes his kingdom. J.R.R....
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Foreword by Robert Benson A mystical classic now easier to understand This spiritual classic has been an enigma for centuries. Notoriously difficult to understand, this contemporary English translation ushers you into the way of knowing God that can be dark at times, and luminous at others. It offers an accessible invitation to enter into God's presence through a "cloud of unknowing." Written by an anonymous fourteenth-century monk, The Cloud of Unknowing...
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Duke Classics
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English
Description
A young man undertakes to become the most thorough rake of the Victorian era. He begins by seducing schoolgirls then graduates to the wives and mothers of his acquaintances. He eventually moves to Paris, where he can indulge his debauchery completely.
This erotic novel was published anonymously in Victorian England and is highly evocative of the sensuality forbidden from mainstream literature at the time.
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English
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In the year 778 A.D., Charles the Great, King of the Franks, returned from a military expedition into Spain, whither he had been led by opportunities offered through dissensions among the Saracens who then dominated that country. On the 15th of August, while his army was marching through the passes of the Pyrenees, his rear-guard was attacked and annihilated by the Basque inhabitants of the mountains, in the valley of Roncesvaux. About this disaster...
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English
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Arthurian legends have long been the source of countless popular tales. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is one of the best known and most widely read. During King Arthur's New Year's celebration, a mysterious knight, with green clothes and horse, arrives with a challenge to the knights of the round table-any one of them may swing at the Green Knight with an axe if he too is willing to take a blow one year and one day after. Gawain, one of Arthur's...
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English
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Passed along for centuries through oral tradition by the followers of Buddhism, "The Dhammapada" is a collection of sayings by Buddha, which concisely presents the religion's core philosophies. Widely recognized as one of the most accessible works of all the Buddhist scriptures, the verses of the work describe events in the life of Buddha through, which the wisdom of Buddha's beliefs are revealed. Unlike the proscriptive nature of the scriptures of...
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English
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The Book of Jubilees — also known as The Little Genesis — purports to be a divine revelation delivered by an angel from God to Moses during the prophet's sojourn on Mount Sinai. Chiefly based upon the historical narratives in Genesis and Exodus, the book probably originated as a Jewish apocalyptical work. It also contains a fascinating variety of material not found in the Bible, including details concerning the Fall, Cain...
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English
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This introduction to the Twelve Steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is offered to all alcoholic men and women whose "lives have become unmanageable" because of their powerlessness over alcohol. The purpose of this interpretation is to help members quickly work out an acceptable 24-hour schedule of A.A. living. This subject matter is founded on basic information from the book Alcoholics Anonymous.
12) Breaking Bailey
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English
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Sent to a fancy boarding school by her stepmother, a prominent attorney, Bailey keeps a journal chronicling her involvement in a "Science Club" that makes and sells crystal meth.
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English
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A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. For eight weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman kept a daily record of life in her apartment building and among its residents. "With bald honesty and brutal lyricism" (Elle), the anonymous author depicts her fellow Berliners in all their humanity, as well as their cravenness, corrupted first by hunger and then by the Russians. "Spare and unpredictable, minutely observed and utterly...
14) The Rig Veda
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English
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Considered one the four canonical texts of the Hindu religion, known collectively as "The Vedas", "The Rig Veda" is one of the most important works of Hindu scripture. The work is a collection of poems, sayings, prayers, and origin myths. Written sometime between 1700-1100 BCE, "The Rig Veda" is one of the oldest works of the Indo-European languages. The hymns included in the collection are dedicated to various deities in Hindu mythology, including...
15) My Young Days
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English
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Excerpt: ""I want to go home " How many times in my life, I wonder, have these words come rushing up from the very bottom of my heart, tumbling everything out of the way, never listening to reason, never stopping for thought? How many times since that dreary afternoon in the great, big drawing-room at grandmamma's? And, oh dear me what miserable heartache comes before that fearful want Oh, grown-up people, don't you know how sour everything tastes,...
16) Everyman
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English
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Written in Middle English during the Tudor period, "Everyman" is the most famous example of the medieval morality play. Popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th century, morality plays were allegorical dramas in which the protagonists are met with the personifications of personal attributes and tasked with choosing either a good and godly life or evil. "Everyman" is the archetypal morality play, as the main character, Everyman, represents all of...
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English
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This brief pamphlet, also called 'The Tree of Life' was published in 1732. It is outrageously scatological but in a truly brilliant way. It is conceivable that some would read it and not realise what the subject of the story was (the male member), with its not too carefully disguised.
18) The Upanishads
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English
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A part of the "Vedas", a collection of ancient manuscripts which form the basis for the Hindu religion, the "Upanishads" are ancient Sanskrit texts which contain arguably the most important spiritual aspects of the Hindu faith. Of the more than two hundred "Upanishads", the ones of principal importance, Chandogya, Kena, Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Isa, Katha, Mundaka, Taittiriyaka, Brhadaranyaka, Svetasvatara, Prasna, and Maitriyana, are presented here...
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The "Dhammapada," or "Path to Virtue," is one of the most practical ethical handbooks of Buddhism. It is included in the canon of Buddhistic Scriptures, and is one of the Eastern books, which can be read with delight to-day by those who are classed as general readers. It is divided into twenty-six chapters, and the keynote of it is struck by the phrase "The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next, he is happy in both. He is...
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Thought to have been first written down in the 12th century by an author who is still unknown, "The Nibelungenlied," translated from Middle High German as "The Song of the Nibelungs," is an epic German poem reflecting the oral tradition, heroic motifs, and actual events and individuals from the 5th and 6th centuries. This remarkable work begins with an assurance of both joy and sorrow, though ultimately tragedy reins in "The Nibelungenlied." The early...