James Joyce, irlandés (1882 - 1941), es uno de los más importantes escritores del siglo XX y, sin duda, el más importante renovador de las letras de nuestro siglo. Aunque más conocido por su novela Ulises, su obra poetica tambien ha merecido los elogios de los mas exigentes criticos y esta reconocida como una de las cumbres de la poesia inglesa.
Durante más de veinte años se habló tantísimo de Plegarias atendidas, despertó tanta expectación, que fue justamente llamada "la más famosa novela impublicada de la literatura norteamericana". En otoño de 1987 aparecio finalmente en edicion postuma.El protagonista de la novela ingenioso, encantador, bisexual, absolutamente amoral logro escaparse de un orfanato a los trece años, aprendio el oficio de masajista y se las ingenio para convertirse en un picaro moderno, tarea que desempeñara, despues de algunas veleidades literarias juveniles, con indudable eficacia. El picaro moderno, claro esta, solo puede sobrevivir si sabe codearse con los ricos y los famosos, ocupando unas veces el papel de confidente, otras el de bufon y, para los lectores de esta novela, el de divertidisimo cronista de las disparatadas vidas de la jet-set. Es mas, Plegarias atendidas es, en buena parte, un roman a clef y, a veces, ni siquiera necesita claves, pues por sus paginas desfilan junto a retratos tenuemente disfrazados de escritores como Tennessee Williams, actrices como Greta Garbo, millonarios como Niarchos personajes reales, como las inefables Mrs. Matthau y Mrs. Cooper, cuyos dialogos sobre la vida y costumbres (pr
This is a Stage 1 title in a series which contains some of the best classic stories retold in English. The series is graded in four stages: Stage 1 - 500 word vocabulary, Stage 2 - 750, Stage 3 - 1300 and Stage 4 - 1800. Each book includes an introduction to the author and story, a glossary of new words and exercise material (comprehension and discussion questions). The series should also be of interest to children and to readers who have learning difficulties. No child should be allowed to grow up without reading The Jungle Books. Published in 1894 and 1895, the stories crackle with as much life and intensity as ever. Rudyard Kipling pours fuel on childhood fantasies with his tales of Mowgli, lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves. Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies among the Jungle-People--cobras, panthers, bears, and tigers--hone this man-cub''s strength and cleverness and whet every reader''s imagination. Mowgli''s story is interspersed with other tales of the jungle, such as ''Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,'' lending depth and diversity to our understanding of Kipling''s India. In much the same way Mowgli is carried away by the Bandar-log monkeys, young readers will be caught up by the stories, swinging from page to page, breathless, thrilled, and terrified. (Ages 9 to 12) Collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1894. The Second Jungle Book, published in 1895, contains stories linked by poems. The stories tell mostly of Mowgli, an Indian boy who is raised by wolves from infancy and who learns self-sufficiency and wisdom from the jungle animals. The book describes the social life of the wolf pack and, more fancifully, the justice and natural order of life in the jungle. Among the animals whose tales are related in the work are Akela the wolf; Baloo the brown bear; Shere Khan, the boastful Bengal tiger who is Mowgli''s enemy; Kaa the python; Bagheera the panther; and Rikki-tikki-tavi the mongoose. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
