Dedalus European classics

"Tells of a dream kingdom which becomes a nightmare, of a journey to Pearl, a mysterious city created deep in Asia, which is also a journey to the depths of the subconscious."--Back cover.

Là-Bas, translated as Down There or The Damned, is a novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans, first published in 1891. It is Huysmans' most famous work after À rebours. Là-Bas deals with the subject of Satanism in contemporary France, and the novel stirred a certain amount of controversy on its first appearance. It is the first of Huysmans' books to feature the character Durtal, a thinly disguised portrait of the author himself, who would go on to be the protagonist of all of Huysmans' subsequent novels: En route, La cathédrale and L'oblat. - wikipedia

Tired of the glitter and glamour of St Petersberg society, aristocratic dandy Eugene Onegin retreats to the country estate he has recently inherited.

A novel.

This is the first English translation of Verga's novel La Storia di una Capinera and is the official tie-in with the Zeffirelli film Sparrow. Set in 1854 in a Sicily devastated by a cholera epidemic. Sparrow tells of a love that can never be; the brief existence of a girl, forced to become a nun, who falls in love with a young man, but who, on returning to the convent, goes insane. Zeffirelli chose to film Sparrow as he was intrigued by the need for idealised and absolute love. "It is a challenge for me to tell of 'The Insanity of Absolute Love' with its emotional yearnings and enchantment, its exchanges of furtive glances and stolen caresses".

Sur des sujets nouveaux faisons des vers antiques, a dit Andre Chenier. Cette idee me preoccupait singulierement dans ma jeunesse ; et il faut dire, pour expliquer mes inductions et pour les excuser, que j'etais seul, dans ma jeunesse, a pressentir l'infaillible avenement d'une litterature nouvelle. Pour le genie, ce pouvait etre une revelation. Pour moi, ce n'etait qu'un tourment.

"One night at the theatre, Vitor da Silva, a young law graduate, sees a strikingly beautiful woman: Genoveva de Molineux. She claims to have been born in Madeira and to have lived for many years in Paris. The truth about her past gradually begins to surface, as does the terrible secret that lies behind the overwhelming mutual attraction between her and Vitor"--Back cover.

"Young, virile Father Amaro (whose name means "bitter" in Portuguese) arrives in Leira and is taken in as a lodger by Sao Joaneira. Her budding, devout, dewy-lipped daughter Amelia is soon lusted after by the young priest. What ensues is a secret love affair amidst a host of compelling minor characters: Canon Dias, a priest, glutton, and Sao Joaneira's lover; Dona Maria da Assuncao, a wealthy widow with a roomful of religious relics, agog at any hint of sex; Joao Eduardo, repressed atheist, free-thinker, and suitor to Amelia. Eca's incisive critique flies like a shattering mirror, jabbing everything from the hypocrisy of a rich and powerful Church, to the provincialism of Portuguese society of the time. Haunting, The Crime of Father Amaro is the ghost of a forgotten religion of tolerance, wisdom, and equality. Margaret Jull Costa has rendered an exquisite translation and provides an informative introduction to a story that truly spans all ages." "The Crime of Father Amaro inspired a series of magnificent paintings by the Portuguese artist Paula Rego, one of which graces the cover of this edition. The novel was also made into a controversial film, El Crimen del Padre Amaro by Mexican director Carlos Carrera in 2002"--Jacket.