Ulysses by Barbara Jefford, James Joyce, John M. Woosley, Michael Groden, Milo O'Shea @ Fiction book store

Ulysses by Barbara Jefford, James Joyce, John M. Woosley, Michael Groden, Milo O'Shea
The novel takes place in the course of one day (June 16, 1904) in the life of the city of Dublin, and follows the course of several interacting characters who embody a series of parallels to Homer's epic. The three main characters are Leopold Bloom, his faithless wife Molly, and Stephen Dedalus of PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. The novel is a vivid picture of estrangement, alienation, and the disintegration of a society. Joyce uses the capaciousness of the novel as a vehicle for his ideas about art, literature, Ireland, and the nature of heroism, among other things, and its stream-of-consciousness narration and complex wordplay make it one of the most challenging literary experiences in English, as well as an icon of modernism.

AUTHOR: Barbara Jefford, James Joyce, John M. Woosley, Michael Groden, Milo O'Shea
PUBLISHER: Knopf, Alfred A. Incorporated
FORMAT: Hardcover
CATEGORY: Fiction

Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty
A young Irish composer becomes pregnant, flees her disastrous marriage, and finds that the demands of single motherhood threaten her career. Nominated for the Booker Prize in 1997.

AUTHOR: Bernard MacLaverty
PUBLISHER: Norton, W. W. & Company, Incorporated
FORMAT: Hardcover
CATEGORY: Fiction

Jude the Obscure by Cedric Watts, Dennis Taylor, Irving Howe, J. Hillis Miller, Jay Parini
JUDE THE OBSCURE is perhaps the most vivid illustration of Hardy's belief that our lives are governed by dark and malevolent forces. Jude Fawley is torn between his sensual nature and his equally strong lust for learning, two sides of his character that are personified by the two women in his life--the earthy Arabella and the intellectual Sue Bridehead. Jude comes to a tragic end because of his inability to reconcile them. His attempts to rise above his humble origins, in spite of all his efforts, prove impossible, as do his attempts to live an unconventional life outside of marriage with the woman he loves. The novel represents Hardy's strongest attack on the insularity of English university life, and on marriage as a religious institution. It was called JUDE THE OBSCENE by critics at the time because it was considered to be steeped in sex.

AUTHOR: Cedric Watts, Dennis Taylor, Irving Howe, J. Hillis Miller, Jay Parini
PUBLISHER: Viking Penguin
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Fiction

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
An opera singer becomes a long-term hostage in a South American country bedeviled by terrorists. Removed from the outside world, hostages and captors gradually forge a life together that, surprisingly, contains its own satisfactions.

AUTHOR: Ann Patchett
PUBLISHER: HarperTrade
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Fiction

Samuel Taylor Coleridge by H. J. Jackson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Coleridge`s greatest poems include The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Christabel, and Dejection: An Ode. He is also celebrated for his lectures on literature and his frank autobiographical/critical work, BIOGRAPHICA LITERARIA.

AUTHOR: H. J. Jackson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Fiction

Beowulf by David Wright
Probably written in the eighth century, this is the epic story of Beowulf, a Scandinavian warrior, and his struggles against monsters.

AUTHOR: David Wright
PUBLISHER: Viking Penguin
FORMAT: Paperback
CATEGORY: Fiction