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The Jungle Book
by Rudyard KiplingSince its publication in 1894, Rudyard Kipling’s beloved masterpiece The Jungle Book has been celebrated by generations of readers. Composed of seven tales, each one accompanied by a poem, The Jungle Book introduces a lush, colorful world full of adventure and danger. The first three tales include some of the most charming and unforgettable characters in literature—the man-cub Mowgli, the black panther Bagheera, the wise brown bear Baloo, and the ruthless tiger Shere Khan. The other four tales each tell the story of a different animal, such as the travels of the white seal Kotick; the battle between the courageous mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the deadly cobra Nag; Toomai and the elephant dance; and the camp animals of the queen’s guard.
The Jungle
by Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair's dramatic and deeply moving story exposed the brutal conditions in the Chicago stockyards at the turn of the nineteenth century and brought into sharp moral focus the apalling odds against which immigrants and other working people struggled for their share of the American dream. Denounced by the conservative press as an un-American libel on the meatpacking industry, The Jungle was championed by more progressive thinkers, including then president Theodore Roosevelt, and was a major catalyst to the passing of the Pure Food and Meat Inspection act, which has tremendous impact to this day.Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Jude the Obscure
by Thomas HardyOriginally published as a magazine serial in December 1894, Jude the Obscure was published in book form in 1895, immediately causing a public furor with its fearless and challenging exploration of class and sexual relationships. Jude Fawley’s dreams of a university education are lost when he is trapped into marrying the earthy Arabella, who later abandons him. Moving to the town of Christminster where he finds work as a stonemason, Jude meets and falls in love with his cousin Sue Bridehead, a sensitive, freethinking “New Woman.” Refusing to marry merely for the sake of religious convention, Jude and Sue decide instead to live together, but they are shunned by society, and poverty soon threatens to ruin them. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
by Jules VerneOriginally published in 1864, this classic science fiction novel is simultaneously a perilous adventure into the earth’s core and a reflection on the perfectibility of human understanding and psychology of explorers. The intrepid Professor Lidenbrock and his nervous nephew Axel decode a scrap of paper written in runic script and embark on the strangest expedition of the nineteenth century. Enlisting the silent Hans as their guide, they travel across Iceland to find the secret passage to the centre of the earth via an extinct volcano, finding in it an astonishing subterranean menagerie of natural hazards, prehistoric beasts and sea monsters, and curious sights. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte BronteA revolutionary novel that helped shaped the course of 20th century literature. Jane Eyre is an orphan, shunned by her extended family and subjected to cruel treatment at school. She weathers this harsh treatment, and eventually finds herself employment as a governess at Thornfield hall, where she meets the surly yet charming Mr. Rochester, the master of the house. The two quickly fall in love, but their future is threatened by a dark secret from Mr. Rochester's past... It has been adapted for the big and small screens numerous times, with actors such as Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, William Hurt, and Anna Paquin in leading roles. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
It Can't Happen Here
by Sinclair LewisWritten during the Great Depression, It Can’t Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis’s novel satirizing American politics, describes the rise of a totalitarian regime in the United States. When Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip is elected president of the United States, he does so by inciting fear and dissent, promising massive economic and social changes in order to regain America’s prominence in the world. Once in office, he moves quickly to gain total control of the government and empowers a ruthless paramilitary force to carry out his rule and suppress all those who stand in his way. Depicting a frightening world where fascism has taken hold in America, Lewis’s novel is a prescient and alarming tale of power, corruption, and how easily democracy can fall prey to manipulation. Described by the Guardian as “the 1935 novel that predicted the rise of Donald Trump,” It Can’t Happen Here is as timely now as it was when it was first published.
Israel Potter
by Herman MelvilleThe Odyssey meets Forrest Gump. Israel Potter is a simple farmer from the Berkshires, but when the American Revolution breaks out, he bravely volunteers to fight for country and freedom. After a disastrous first battle on land, he tries his hand at seafaring, only to be captured by the British. Thus begins a whirlwind string of adventures that put him in the path of some of history’s greatest figures – but no closer to returning to the home that he misses so dearly.
Isis in America
by Henry OlcottTheosophical Society cofounder Colonel Henry Steel Olcott's memoirs cover his years with Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and the birth of the American occult--part of the new Tarcher Supernatural Library.
There are few more intriguing, or polarizing, figures in modern American spiritual history than Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The cofounder of the Theosophical Society, Blavatsky remains a figure of fascination more than a century after her death. In Isis in America--one of the most unique documents of recent American spiritual history--we get a closer look at Blavatsky, through the eyes of Theosophical Society cofounder, writer, lawyer, investigator, and Blavatsky confidant Henry Steel Olcott. Olcott spent years by Blavatsky's side, witnessing acts of aura projection and spontaneously produced objects--and undergoing his own spiritual awakening--as they laid the foundations for a new era in esoteric spirituality. This special edition features a comprehensive timeline of the life of Henry Steel Olcott by Mitch Horowitz.
The first three titles released in Tarcher's Supernatural Library are Ghost Hunter (by Hans Holzer), Romance of Sorcery (by Sax Rohmer) and Isis in America (by Henry Steel Olcott).
The Iron Heel
by Jack LondonAn early example of modern dystopian fiction, The Iron Heel dabbles in sci-fi, and is a wonderfully unique, though often terrifying, example of London’s writing. Avis Everhard was born into a position of privilege as the daughter of an esteemed scientist and is also married to a socialist revolutionary. Despite her blessed life, Avis must still watch in horror as, in the early years of the twentieth century, democracy collapses in the United States, replaced by The Oligarchy, or Iron Heel. The middle class has been destroyed, and workers have been reduced to serfdom or poverty. Avis joins an underground resistance, and together they plan the glorious Second Revolt which is sure to obliterate The Oligarchy and put power back in the hands of the people – if they can pull it off…
In the Teeth of the Evidence
by Dorothy L. SayersA collection of short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, Montague Egg, and others. Includes stories such as "Absolutely Everywhere," "Bitter Almonds", and "The Leopard Lady."
The Iliad
by HomerThe oldest work of Western literature, and one of the greatest epic poems ever written. Presented here in the Alexander Pope translation. The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War. Paris, the prince of Troy, has stolen off with Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta. He leads a coalition of Greek states in a ten-year-long siege of Troy, with the poem picking up the story in the tenth year, and telling of the rivalry between Agamemnon and Achilles. A tale of heroes and gods, it is one of the pillars of the Western canon.
Idylls of the King
by Lord Alfred TennysonThe timeless legend of King Arthur retold in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's scintillating poetry. Tennyson brings to the page his own unique take on many of the classic Arthurian tales, including Lancelots marriage to Elaine and his affair with Queen Guinevere, and the quest for the Holy Grail. The saga is bookended by the story of Arthur - his ascent to the throne, and the fall of Camelot. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Hudson River Bracketed
by Edith WhartonA brilliant, complex tale of love, life, and art in the 1920s. Two artistic souls, Vance and Halo, are drawn into unhappy marriages. Vance lives the impoverished life of a struggling novelist, while Halo marries for money to ensure her parents' security. Through their common love of literature, the two find the happiness and love lacking in their marriages. But can they overcome the obstacles keeping them apart? Edith Wharton, never one to fall into sentimentality, will not let their happiness come easy.
The House of Mirth
by Edith WhartonLily Bart is a beautiful socialite, born into a world of wealth and luxury – a world that threatens to slip through her fingers. The death of her parents and drying up of her family estate threaten to wrench her from the high-class lifestyle of her birth, unless she can secure a marriage to a wealthy young man. But Lily is growing older, and her window of marriageability is getting smaller. A penchant for gambling at bridge, and a secret desire to break free of the claustrophobic expectations of her social class, add extra complication to Lily’s already fraught situation.
Homage to Catalonia
by George OrwellA first-hand account of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, straight from the pen of one of the twentieth century's most renowned authors.
In 1936, George Orwell enlisted with a left-wing Spanish militia organization, The Workers' Part of Marxist Unification, out of a combined desire to fight against fascism and to record the events of the war. He fought against the fascist forces for several months, before infighting among the various left-wing groups turned him against former allies, and eventually forced him to flee the country. Homage to Catalonia is a vivid, intensely personal retelling of these events. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The High Window
by Raymond ChandlerIn his third novel appearance, private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired to retrieve a rare coin that has gone missing, but as the bodies start piling up around him he realizes that he has become enmeshed in a web of lies and blackmail. It has been filmed twice, first as Time to Kill, and then as The Brasher Doubloon.
Helena
by Evelyn WaughA unique take on a fascinating chapter of history, from the pen of one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished authors. A fictionalized retelling of the life of Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine I, and her quest for the relics of the True Cross. Despite being seen today as a minor example of Waugh’s writing, he considered Helena to be his best work.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullersThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the first novel from the critically acclaimed author Carson McCullers, and one that made her an overnight literary sensation at age twenty-three. Ambitious in scope, this book presents five radically different characters whose troubled lives intersect in the Depression-era south. At the center of the novel is John Singer, a deaf-mute, who becomes a confidant to the town’s four misfits, helping them to navigate their troubles. The five characters unite in a cry of isolation from being voiceless and rejected; the result is a vision of existence as terrible as it is real and as violent as it is beautiful. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Have His Carcase
by Dorothy L. SayersWhen Harriet Vane, famous mystery novelist, finds a dead body near a beach in Devon, she suspects foul play, and calls in Lord Peter Wimsey, who helped acquit her when charged with murder, to uncover the truth. Will their combined wits be able to solve the mystery and bring justice to the dead?
The Haunted House
by Walter HubbellThe blood-chilling true story of a nineteenth-century girl’s terrifying and bewildering haunting First published in 1879, The Haunted House: A True Ghost Story is the author’s account of the infamous haunting of eighteen-year-old Esther Cox, who lived with her extended family in Amherst, Nova Scotia—a beautiful, peaceful little village, population three thousand—during the late 1800s. Walter Hubbell stayed with the family for six weeks, during which he witnessed a variety of alternately compelling and terrifying paranormal and unexplained events. As he describes these manifestations: No person has yet been able to ascertain their cause. Scientific men from all parts of Canada and the United States have investigated them in vain. Some people think that electricity is the principal agent; others, mesmerism; whilst others again, are sure they are produced by the devil. Of the three supposed causes, the latter is certainly the most plausible theory, for some of the manifestations are remarkably devilish in their appearance and effect. For instance, the mysterious setting of fires, the powerful shaking of the house, the loud and incessant noises and distinct knocking, as if made by invisible sledge-hammers, on the walls; also, the strange actions of the household furniture, which moves about in the broad daylight without the slightest visible cause. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Hangman's Holiday
by Dorothy L. SayersA collection of short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and Montague Egg. In this collection the two amateur detectives encounter cases covering everything from elopement to evil twins. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
A Handful of Dust
by Evelyn WaughThe Jungle, as it turns out, is not the best place to forgot your troubles. Tony Last has it all: A loving wife, a delightful son, and a splendid home in the countryside. Or so he thinks. His life is left in shambles when, in the wake of his son’s death, he discovers that his wife has been having an affair and wants to divorce him. To get away from it all, he joins an expedition to Brazil, but the incompetence of its organizer may prove to be even more trouble for Tony.
The Hamlet
by William FaulknerThe first novel of Faulkner's Snopes trilogy, The Hamlet is both an ironic take on classical tragedy and a mordant commentary on the grand pretensions of the antebellum South and the depths of its decay in the aftermath of war and Reconstruction. It tells of the advent and the rise of the Snopes family in Frenchman's Bend, a small town built on the ruins of a once-stately plantation. Flem Snopes -- wily, energetic, a man of shady origins -- quickly comes to dominate the town and its people with his cunning and guile.Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Hamlet
by William ShakespeareOne of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother’s infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s death and burial, the play within a play, the “closet scene” in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater.