The Messenger of Athens


Anne Zouroudi - 2007
    So when the battered body of a young woman is discovered at the foot of a cliff, the local police - governed more by archaic rules of honor than by the law - are quick to close the case, dismissing her death as an accident. Then a stranger arrives, uninvited, from Athens, announcing his intention to investigate further into the crime he believes has been committed. Refusing to accept the woman's death as an accident or suicide, Hermes Diaktoros sets out to uncover the truths that skulk beneath this small community's exterior. Hermes's methods of investigation are unorthodox, and his message to the islanders is plain - tell the truth or face the consequences. Before long, he's uncovering a tale of passion, corruption and murder that entangles many of the island's residents. But Hermes brings his own mystery into the web of dark secrets and lies - and as he travels the rugged island landscape to investigate, questions and suspicions arise amongst the locals. Who has sent him to Thiminos, and on whose authority is he acting? And how does he know of dramas played out decades ago? Rich in images of Greece's beautiful islands and evoking a life unknown to most outsiders, this wonderful novel leads the reader into a world where the myths of the past are not forgotten and forbidden passion still has dangerous consequences.

Greek and Roman Myths: A Guide to the Classical Stories


Philip Matyszak - 2010
    This comprehensive companion takes these fragments and weaves them into an accessible and enjoyable narrative, guiding the reader through the basic stories of classical myth.Philip Matyszak explains the sequences of events and introduces the major plots and characters, from the origins of the world and the labors of Hercules to the Trojan War and the voyages of Odysseus and Aeneas. He brings to life an exotic cast of heroes and monsters, wronged women and frighteningly arbitrary yet powerful gods. He also shows how the stories have survived and greatly influenced later art and culture, from Renaissance painting and sculpture to modern opera, literature, movies, and everyday products.

The City of Dreadful Night


James Thomson - 1874
    A gothic epic. Decadence and horror in late 19th Century urban life from the 'poet of doom'.

Between The Lines: Volumes of Words Unspoken


Céline Zabad - 2018
     Written with incredible honesty and self-knowledge, Between the Lines is a stunning collection of poems from Céline Zabad. Ranging in length from a single line to full pages, her poems mimic at once the brevity and vastness of feeling. Her verse is at times as free as a cloud, other times as solid as stone. Her words are philosophies and feelings in their own rights, on love, loss, loyalty, betrayal, hope, and disappointment—on life. Zabad encapsulates the thrill of love’s first blush and the freezing burn of heartbreak. Her feelings flow freely throughout the collection, lending her poetry uncommon authenticity and power. Nature thrives between the lines of her verse, reminding the reader that tears are as natural as raindrops. Whether you’re looking for new ways to think about your own feelings or are simply passionate about poetry, you’ll find plenty to love in this collection. To better understand the complexities of emotion in yourself and others, you must read Between the Lines.

Z213: EXIT


Dimitris Lyacos - 2010
    As if waking up in a nightmare an escapee recounts his fleeting experiences in a series of fragmented diary entries in a hide-and-seek game with Death or even God. Written in a unique prose style, at times bordering on poetry and conveying a “pilgrimage of the soul” through a series of increasingly haunting pieces, Z213: EXIT creates the feeling that reader and narrator are led together through an eschatological experience. Horror is created by the scantiest vocabulary craftily combined to form a broken, unstructured syntax, seemingly tight, but leaving enough loopholes through which the reader’s subconscious fears can pop in and out. Although evidently post-modernist, this is a book that does not undermine or shrink the traditional Grand Narrative themes; on the contrary, it thrives on them.

The Library of Greek Mythology


Apollodorus
    Apollodorus' Library has been used as a source book by classicists from the time of its compilation in the 1st-2nd century AD to the present, influencing writers from antiquity to Robert Graves. It provides a complete history of Greek myth, telling the story of each of the great families of heroic mythology, and the various adventures associated with the main heroes and heroines, from Jason and Perseus to Heracles and Helen of Troy. As a primary source for Greek myth, as a reference work, and as an indication of how the Greeks themselves viewed their mythical traditions, the Library is indispensable to anyone who has an interest in classical mythology. Robin Hard's accessible and fluent translation is supplemented by comprehensive notes, a map and full genealogical tables. The introduction gives a detailed account of the Library's sources and situates it within the fascinating narrative traditions of Greek mythology.

The Guest Cat


Takashi Hiraide - 2001
    A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo; they work at home, freelance copy-editing; they no longer have very much to say to one another. But one day a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. Soon they are buying treats for the cat and enjoying talks about the animal and all its little ways. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife — the days have more light and color. The novel brims with new small joys and many moments of staggering poetic beauty, but then something happens….As Kenzaburo Oe has remarked, Takashi Hiraide’s work "really shines." His poetry, which is remarkably cross-hatched with beauty, has been acclaimed here for "its seemingly endless string of shape-shifting objects and experiences,whose splintering effect is enacted via a unique combination of speed and minutiae."

War Music: An Account of Homer's Iliad


Christopher Logue - 2015
    “Your life at every instant up for— / Gone. / And, candidly, who gives a toss? / Your heart beats strong. Your spirit grips,” writes Christopher Logue in his original version of Homer’s Iliad, the uncanny “translation of translations” that won ecstatic and unparalleled acclaim as “the best translation of Homer since Pope’s” (The New York Review of Books).Logue’s account of Homer’s Iliad is a radical reimagining and reconfiguration of Homer’s tale of warfare, human folly, and the power of the gods in language and verse that is emphatically modern and “possessed of a very terrible beauty” (Slate). Illness prevented him from bringing his version of the Iliad to completion, but enough survives in notebooks and letters to assemble a compilation that includes the previously published volumes War Music, Kings, The Husbands, All Day Permanent Red, and Cold Calls, along with previously unpublished material, in one final illuminating volume arranged by his friend and fellow poet Christopher Reid. The result, War Music, comes as near as possible to representing the poet’s complete vision and confirms what his admirers have long known: that “Logue’s Homer is likely to endure as one of the great long poems of the twentieth century” (The Times Literary Supplement).

The Prophecy of Shadows


Michelle Madow - 2016
    They're descendants of the Greek gods.Nicole Cassidy is a witch descended from the Greek gods... but she doesn't know it until she moves to a new town and discovers a dangerous world of magic and monsters that she never knew existed.When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole and four others -- including mysterious bad-boy Blake -- are gifted with elemental powers. But the comet has another effect -- it opens the portal to another dimension that has imprisoned the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes, it's up to Nicole and the others to follow a cryptic prophecy in time to save the town... and possibly the world.

The Ring and the Book


Robert Browning - 1869
    The ambitious 21,000 line poem is sure to captivate today's reader just as much as its unconventional form surprised those who first rummaged through its pages when it was first published..

Leucippe and Clitophon


Achilles Tatius
    Stretching the capacity of the genre to its limits, Achilles' narrative covers adultery, violence, disembowelment, pederasty, virginity-testing, and a conveniently happy ending. Ingenious and sophisticated in conception, Leucippe and Clitophon is at once subtle, stylish, moving, brash, tasteless, and obscene. This new translation aims to capture Achilles' writing in all its exuberant variety.

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony


Roberto Calasso - 1988
    "A perfect work like no other. (Calasso) has re-created . . . the morning of our world."--Gore Vidal. 15 engravings.

The Wheel of Fire


G. Wilson Knight - 1930
    Standing head and shoulders above all other Shakespearean interpretations, this is the masterwork of the brilliant English scholar, G. Wilson Knight. Founding a new and influential school of Shakespearean criticism, Wheel of Fire was Knight's first venture in the field - his writing sparkles with insight and wit, and his analyses are key to contemporary understandings of Shakespeare.

You, Me, and the Colors of Life


Noa C. Walker - 2015
    Her life-affirming attitude fascinates Thomas, a shy young man who begins to see the rich colors of life in a whole new light. As she reveals a world he never could have imagined for himself, Thomas falls head over heels for the strong young woman and becomes part of her quirky circle of friends and her loving family.Their generosity of spirit draws Thomas out of his shell. He finds strength in their visits to the children’s hospital where Janica volunteers, captivating the kids’ attention with her imaginative stories. But all too soon fate deals them a harsh blow. Can their love survive life’s obstacles?You, Me, and the Colors of Life is a moving, hopeful story about the power of love and the power of living a life filled with joy.

A Cup of Tea


Osho - 1980
    This unique book is a compilation of 365 intimate letterswritten by Osho [from 1962 to 1971] to his disciples and friends while hewas traveling in India on subjects as diverse as solitude, love, meditationand receptivity; as well as our fruitless efforts to make our lives secure,the stupidity of the human mind, and the ability to laugh at oneself.