Political satire doesn't age well, but occasionally a diatribe contains enough art and universal mirth to survive long after its timeliness has passed. Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the... read more »
Little Women is an American classic, adored for Louisa May Alcott's lively and vivid portraits of the endearing March sisters: talented tomboy Jo, pretty Meg, shy Beth, temperamental Amy. Millions have shared in their joys, hardships, and adventures as they grow up in Civil War New England, separated by the war from... read more »
Trilling described The Longest Journey as "perhaps the most brilliant, the most dramatic, and the most passionate" of E.M. Forster's works. Certainly it's the most autobiographical -- but its form confuses many. Full of sudden death, hopeless love, and quaintly doomed relationships -- and yet for all that, it's an... read more »