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8 chilling short stories that straddle the line between horror and erotica, full of passion and intrigue, from legendary 18th century Parisian aristocrat, the Marquis de Sade "Ghouls and fiends, hapless femmes and dastardly villains; de Sade could weave a good gothic tale" -- The Herald (Glasgow) Notorious for erotic novels that use satire and social critique to challenge the aristocracy in Pre-revolutionary France, his sexual transgressive work made his name unmentionable in civilized circles. Writing about Enlightenment philosophy as much as he does about incest and adultery, de Sade's fiction delves deep into the darkest recesses of the human psyche and remains as relevant to our society as it was to his own. Thrumming with devious fantasies and dangerous liaisons, these gothic stories lay bare the transgressive desires of his unforgettable characters. As good behaviour gives way to wicked impulse, each finely crafted tale reveals an uncomfortable truth about human nature, from a pitch-black social comedy exposing the hypocrisies of the church to a drama-laden deep dive into adultery. Infamous for spending decades in prison and condemned by Parisian society, de Sade's writing provocatively challenges the morality of day, introducing through these stories a lawless locale of vice and freedom. With a provocative introduction from translator Margaret Crossland, Gothic Tales provides a tantalizing entry point, showcasing Sade's gift as both a moralist and a humorist through classic stories including: Eugenie de Franval The Horse-Chestnut Flower The Chastised Husband Florville and Courval The Husband who Played Priest Emilie de Tourville Room for Two The Self-Made Cuckold

"Delicate and powerful... a haunting, sensitive meditation on memory as well as a wonderful introduction to a master sorely underappreciated in the West. . . timeless, elegiac, and masterful" - Shelf Awareness The story of a love affair and its tragic consequences, told through the letters of three women -- a contemporary translation of a Modern classic "A Japanese master. . . Inoue's humane and searching world view is there to be explored" - The Spectator Love, death, truth and loneliness are all intertwined in this masterpiece from one of Japan's greatest writers. A tragedy in three letters: the masterpiece of one of Japan's greatest writers A lover, her daughter and the abandoned wife: three letters by three women tell the story of a love affair's tragic consequences. First Shoko, who finds out about the infidelity through reading her mother's diary; then Midori, the wife who has always known but never told; and finally the beautiful Saiko, the woman who has betrayed her best friend.Yasushi Inoue's poised, unsentimental novella is a powerful tale with universal resonance. Written from three different points of view, the story explores the impact of forbidden passion. Don't miss this stunning new edition of a celebrated translation of a Modern classic -- the best known and most accomplished novel by the beloved Japanese author of the acclaimed novella Bullfight.

While visiting a Welsh castle, a young scholar finds himself at the center of occult rituals and a murder mystery in this "absolute treat" of a gothic detective story (The Guardian) At an end-of-the London season soiree, the young Hungarian scholar-dilettante Janos Batky is introduced to the Earl of Gwynedd, a reclusive eccentric who is the subject of strange rumors. Invited to the family seat, Pendragon Castle in North Wales, Batky receives a mysterious phone-call warning him not to go. But go he does, plunging him into a bizarre world of mysticism and romance, animal experimentation, and planned murder. His quest to solve the central mystery takes him down strange byways-old libraries and warehouse cellars, Welsh mountains and underground tombs. The Pendragon Legend is Antal Szerb's first novel and is a gently satirical blend of gothic and romantic genres, crossed with the murder mystery format to produce a fast-moving and often hilarious romp. But beneath the surface, the reader becomes aware of a steely intelligence probing moral, psychological, and religious questions.

"Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature." -- Haruki Murukami One of the best-selling novels of all time in Japan: a modern classic about love, loneliness and profound social change A classic of modern Japanese literature, with over 7 million copies sold in Japan alone, told through the relationship between a young man and an enigmatic elder. Left alone in the seaside city of Kamakura, a young student is drawn to an enigmatic older man who swims at the same beach. He makes the older man's acquaintance, and soon comes to refer to him as Sensei. As their friendship grows, the young student becomes more and more intrigued by the secrets that haunt Sensei, the mysteries of his past that have compromised his present. Against the backdrop of the end of the Meiji era and the rapid modernisation of Japanese life, their relationship endures despite the distance that Sensei maintains - until one day, the young man receives a letter that divulges the full story of his past. One of the most popular and admired works of Japanese literature, Kokoro is a profound yet intimate picture of a changing Japan, and a timeless meditation on love, honour and friendship.

An exceptional translation of Fontane's masterpiece: one of the great 19th-century novels of adultery to stand beside Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary "A stunningly moving, beautiful, witty and urbane novel: I was blown away by it" -- Kate Saunders, author of The Secrets of Wishtide In this witty masterpiece of poetic realism, expertly translated by Hugh Rorrison, Effi Briest shows Theodor Fontane at the height of his talents, as he questions the hypocrisies and destructive values of middle-class society. Effi Briest is only 17 when she is married off to Baron von Innstetten, travelling to live with him in a provincial town on the remote Baltic coast of Prussia. He is 20 years her senior, an ambitious bureaucrat uninterested in his young wife, and lively Effi becomes increasingly isolated, bored and anxious in her stifling surroundings. A half-hearted affair with Major Crampas - a manipulative married man with a reputation for womanising - temporarily distracts Effi from her loneliness. But years later, this brief liaison will return to Effi with devastating consequences. Written with great empathy for his characters, Fontane portrays a woman torn between her own desires and her roles as wife and mother, between her heart and the obligations of social circumstance. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world's greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

"Wonderful . . . and full of life. This is a book for discovery, for pleasure and delight." - George Szirtes, author of The Photographer at Sixteen A revelatory volume of 2 of the 20th century's great poetic innovators, Guillaume Apollinaire and Velimir Khlebnikov, in vibrant new translations by Robert Chandler Offering a fresh angle on two of the most innovative poets of the 20th century, and grouping poems by theme, celebrated translator and poet Robert Chandler finds surprising connections between Apollinaire and Khlebnikov, from their interest in animal poems and bestiaries to their distinctive approaches to war poetry. Although Apollinaire and Khlebnikov never met, their restless innovations in poetic form shared much in common. Both pushed poetry to its limit, and their experiments proved fertile for generations of poets to come. Khlebnikov became associated with Futurism, though his inventiveness with language moved him far beyond it, while Apollinaire influenced a dizzying array of avant-garde movements, including Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. Chandler offers a stimulating selection from both poets' work in beautifully vivid new translations. Showcasing these poets' exhilarating capacity for innovation as well as their more direct, heartfelt verse, this work offers a surprising journey into the world of two great Modernist poets. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world's greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

"An almost perfect novel" -- Rolling Stone A soldier travels through Europe on a doomed mission to track down his fiancée in this masterful and vivid evocation of life between the wars Franz Tunda, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, is captured by the Russians in World War I. Imprisoned in Siberia, he escapes to a remote farm, hiding out in such deep cover that he only learns of the end of the war months after the final shots have been fired. When peace is at last declared, Tunda pulls out a crumpled photo of a fiancée he doesn't know--Irene is simply a beautiful face who represents the world before--and sets off in search of home. But the old order has vanished, and Tunda finds himself swept along in the current of this new, terrifying world, surrendering to an impassioned love affair with a Russian revolutionary before drifting phantom-like through Europe's cities. Meanwhile, Irene has made her own accommodation with the course of events, and grows ever more distant from the young woman in that photograph--that photograph carried next to Tunda's breast across a decade and a continent, heading inexorably toward a confrontation with its original in interwar Paris. One of the most personal novels by the great eulogist of the Austro-Hungarian empire, this story melds wry humour and the experience of exile to reflect on the predicament of a man who can find no role for himself in a changed world.

The original English translation of Rilke's landmark poetry cycle, by Vita and Edward Sackville-West - reissued for the first time in 90 years'The deepest mysteries of existence embodied in the most delicate and precise images. For me, the greatest poetry of the 20th century' Philip PullmanIn 1931, Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press published a small run of a beautiful edition of Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies, in English translation by the writers Vita and Edward Sackville-West. This marked the English debut of Rilke's masterpiece, which would eventually be rendered in English over 20 times, influencing countless poets, musicians and artists across the English-speaking world.Published for the first time in 90 years, the Sackville-Wests' translation is both a fascinating historical document and a magnificent blank-verse rendering of Rilke's poetry cycle. Featuring a new introduction from critic Lesley Chamberlain, this reissue casts one of European literature's great masterpieces in fresh light.

"An absorbing, dark, beautifully written" novel on the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire "written with the melancholy wit and grace of Gogol" (New Statesman, The Times) This deeply moving, deeply philosophical story set in Ukraine touches on timeless themes of uprooted identity, destiny, and loneliness Widely praised and rarely available in English, Weights and Measures builds on Roth's most famous work, The Radetzky March. Among his final works, this fable about the disintegration of a good man transports us back in time to Eastern Europe's borderlands in the early 20th century. In this haunting and poetic novel, scrupulous artillery officer Anselm Eibenschütz is persuaded by his wife to leave behind his job as an artilleryman in the Austro-Hungarian army and take up a civilian post as Inspector of Weights and Measures in a secluded territory near the Russian border. Once there, his discipline and quiet dignity begin to dissolve as he encounters a shadowy world of smugglers, fugitives, and runaways. A deeply felt commentary on the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Weights and Measures registers on both a historical and personal level to portray the slow capitulation of a good man to insidious small-time corruption and to his own destructive passion. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world's greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

A gripping adventure story from "a masterly historical writer" about a Japanese expedition to cross the Pacific Ocean in the 17th century (David Mitchell) "A historical fiction with meanings for many cultures and all seasons, and a great travel narrative; its re-creations of place are extraordinary." ― The New York Times Book Review "All of Endo's work has been influential. He truly understands what it means to be both of ― and not of ― a place." ― Caryl Phillips, author of The Lost Child A classic of Japanese literature, The Samurai is one of Shūsaku Endo's finest and most atmospheric works, brilliantly conveying the searing traumas of faith, both lost and newly discovered. In 17th-century Japan, a ship sets sail for Nueva España as part of an envoy to expand trade with the West. Onboard are a zealous Spanish missionary, who dreams of becoming bishop of Japan, and a disenchanted Samurai seeking to recover his lost family lands. In a journey full of peril, both men's lives and ambitions hang in the balance as political machinations loom large and the terrifying persecution of Christians advances through Japan. Winner of the 1980 Noma Literary Prize, The Samurai is an intensely moving portrait of human courage and endurance, taken from a real event in history, and told with Endo's signature stark simplicity. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world's greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

"On being expelled from Paradise, young Samuel Abba pull a crafty trick, managing to arrive on earth with his memory intact. He quickly begins regaling the humans around him with mischievous stories of a Paradise far from their expectations; a world of drunken angels, lewd patriarchs, and the same divisions and temptations that shape the human world. The Book of Paradise is a comic masterpiece, and the only novel by one of the great Yiddish writers. Written in the midst of rising anti-Semitism in 1930s Europe, its raucous blend of sacred and profane is a slyly profound reflection of the author's turbulent times." --

Sharply immediate, evocative diaries from the heart of Occupied Paris by a classic German writer, in English for the first time 'THE GREATEST LITERARY TALENT OF HIS GENERATION' Die WeltThe writer Felix Hartlaub died in obscurity at just 31, vanishing from Berlin in 1945. He left behind a small oeuvre of private writings from the Second World War: fragments and observations of life from the midst of catastrophe that, with their evocative power and precision, would make a permanent place for him in German letters.Posted to Paris in 1940 to conduct archival research, Hartlaub recorded his impressions of the unfamiliar city in notebooks that document with unparalleled immediacy the daily realities of occupation. With a painter's eye for detail, Hartlaub writes of the bustle of civilians and soldiers in cafes, of half-seen trysts during blackout hours and the sublime light of Paris in spring. Appearing in English for the first time, Clouds Over Paris is a unique testament to the persistence of ordinary life through disaster.

In 1913 a young second lieutenant discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance -- his compensatory afternoon calls relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope.Stefan Zweig's only novel is a devastating depiction of the torment of the betrayalof both honour and love, realised against the background of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.