Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Godfather(Penguin Readers Edition)


          Language----> English
          Published in ----> (1969)
          Length---->63 pages
          Size---->500 kb
          Duration Of Reading----> ≈30 minutes
          Author ---->Charles Dickens
     The Godfather is a crime novel written by Italian-American author Mario Puzo, originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It details the story of a fictitious Sicilian Mafia family based in New York City (and Long Beach, New York) and headed by Don Vito Corleone, who became synonymous with the Italian Mafia. The novel covers the years 1945 to 1955, and also provides the back story of Vito Corleone from early childhood to adulthood.

    The book introduced Italian criminal terms like consigliere, caporegime, Cosa Nostra, and omertà to an English-speaking audience.

    It formed the basis for a 1972 film of the same name. Two film sequels, including new contributions by Puzo himself, were made in 1974 and 1990. The first and second films are widely considered to be two of the greatest films of all time.

   The cover was created by S. Neil Fujita whose design featured a large Gothic-style letter "G" with a long curl at the top emphasizing the first three letters of the title, accompanied by the hands of a puppeteer holding a set of strings over the "father" portion of the word.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

A Christmas Carol (Ilustrated)


        Language----> English
        Published in ----> (first 1843)
        Length---->68 pages
        Size---->5 MB
        Duration Of Reading----> ≈30 minutes
        Author ---->Charles Dickens

 
A Christmas Carol[note 1] is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim.


The book was written and published in early Victorian era Britain when it was experiencing a nostalgic interest in its forgotten Christmas traditions, and at the time when new customs such as the Christmas tree and greeting cards were being introduced. Dickens's sources for the tale appear to be many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales.
The tale has been viewed as an indictment of nineteenth century industrial capitalism and was adapted several times to the stage, and has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

"fellow feeling with the race is his genius"-North American Review
  
"If Christmas, with its ancient and hospitable customs, its social and charitable observances, were ever in danger of decay, this is the book that would give them a new lease. The very name of the author predisposes one to the kindlier feelings; and a peep at the Frontispiece sets the animal spirits capering ..."-Thomas Hood

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

To Kill A Mockingbird


     Language----> English
     Published in ----> 1960
     Length---->296 pages
     Size---->1 MB
     Duration Of Reading----> ≈2 hours
     Author ---->Harper Lee

   To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.

  The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explains the novel's impact by writing, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."
   `I love the surprising complexity of the classic...beautifully and gently told. Always a joy to read and a perfect present.' --Grazia
   `Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird turns 50 - a true classic.'
--Marie Claire

Thursday, December 9, 2010

      Language----> English
      Published in ----> 1951
      Length---->216 pages
      Size---->6 MB
      Duration Of Reading----> ≈2 hours
     Author ---->J. D. Salinger


The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, sexuality, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages. Around 250,000 copies are sold each year, with total sales of more than 65 million. The novel's protagonist and antihero, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.
       The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and it was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the United States and other countries for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and teenage angst. It also deals with complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation.
       
      "An unusually brilliant novel "-The New York Times
       "A marvelous book,inspiring "-George H. W. Bush

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Harry Potter eBook Collection+Bonus eBooks


Language----> English
Published in ----> 1997-2007
 Length---->over 3400 pages
 Size---->15 MB
 Duration Of Reading----> ≈about 4-5 days
Author ---->J. K. Rowling

     Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's quandary involving the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world and subjugate non-magical people (Muggles).
     "I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name." Professor McGonagall
 

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Little Prince


Language----> English
Published in ----> 1943
Length---->65 pages 
Size---->5 MB 
Duration Of Reading----> ≈about 40 Minutes
Author ---->Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry first published The Little Prince in 1943, only a year before his Lockheed P-38 vanished over the Mediterranean during a reconnaissance mission. More than a half century later, this fable of love and loneliness has lost none of its power. The narrator is a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert, frantically trying to repair his wrecked plane. His efforts are interrupted one day by the apparition of a little, well, prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. "In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don't dare disobey," the narrator recalls. "Absurd as it seemed, a thousand miles from all inhabited regions and in danger of death, I took a scrap of paper and a pen out of my pocket." And so begins their dialogue, which stretches the narrator's imagination in all sorts of surprising, childlike directions.

      "The Little Prince describes his journey from planet to planet, each tiny world populated by a single adult. It's a wonderfully inventive sequence, which evokes not only the great fairy tales but also such monuments of postmodern whimsy as Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. And despite his tone of gentle bemusement, Saint-Exupéry pulls off some fine satiric touches, too. There's the king, for example, who commands the Little Prince to function as a one-man (or one-boy) judiciary:
      I have good reason to believe that there is an old rat living somewhere on my planet. I hear him at night. You could judge that old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death. That way his life will depend on your justice. But you'll pardon him each time for economy's sake. There's only one rat.
The author pokes similar fun at a businessman, a geographer, and a lamplighter, all of whom signify some futile aspect of adult existence. Yet his tale is ultimately a tender one--a heartfelt exposition of sadness and solitude, which never turns into Peter Pan-style treacle. Such delicacy of tone can present real headaches for a translator, and in her 1943 translation, Katherine Woods sometimes wandered off the mark, giving the text a slightly wooden or didactic accent. Happily, Richard Howard (who did a fine nip-and-tuck job on Stendhal's The Charterhouse of Parma in 1999) has streamlined and simplified to wonderful effect. The result is a new and improved version of an indestructible classic, which also restores the original artwork to full color. "Trying to be witty," we're told at one point, "leads to lying, more or less." But Saint-Exupéry's drawings offer a handy rebuttal: they're fresh, funny, and like the book itself, rigorously truthful." --James Marcus
      "A lovely story....which covers a poetic, yearning philosophy--not the sort of fable that can be tacked down neatly at its four corners but rather reflections on what are real matters of consequence." --The New York Times
       
       
;