Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box DSH1100

Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box

Immerse yourself in the intellectual and emotional landscape of the 20th century with this remarkable collection of literary classics. Featuring groundbreaking works by towering figures like Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and Anthony Burgess, alongside profound explorations of the human condition by Nobel laureates Patrick White and Doris Lessing, this box offers a journey through the evolution of modern narrative. Discover existential angst, social critique, and timeless personal dramas from authors who defined modern literature and continue to shape our understanding of life and self. Each book is secondhand and may show signs of wear.

1. John Donne: Selections by John Donne
   Explore the profound depth of metaphysical poetry, addressing themes of love, death, and faith with fierce intellect. Donne’s work uses ingenious conceits and dramatic language to wrestle with spiritual and physical paradoxes. This essential volume captures the passion and complexity that cemented his place as a literary giant, establishing a vital foundation for understanding English poetry from the Renaissance onward.

2. As a Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo
   This brilliant tragicomic novel follows the aging Emilio Brentani, a minor intellectual caught in a web of indecision. When Emilio takes up with the young, reckless Angiolina, he finds his stagnant life thrown into disarray and suffering. Svevo masterfully examines self-deception, psychological inertia, and the painful consequences of paralyzing introspection, making this a vital precursor to Modernism, exploring the gulf between aspiration and reality in the human heart.

3. Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo
   Zeno Cosini, an unreliable narrator undergoing psychoanalysis, attempts to document his life, focusing obsessively on his failed attempts to quit smoking. Through Zeno's hilarious and deeply honest introspection, Svevo creates a complex portrait of neurosis and bourgeois anxiety. This seminal work subverts traditional narrative structure, making Zeno a universal figure defined by procrastination and self-scrutiny, and profoundly influenced later generations of European writers.

4. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
   Lee’s cherished memoir paints a vibrant, lyrical picture of his childhood in a remote Gloucestershire village following the First World War. This idyllic reminiscence captures a vanishing world—one defined by simple pleasures, nature, and deep community bonds. He recounts tales of school, seasonal rituals, and the dawning of adolescence with extraordinary sensory detail and warmth, resulting in a beautiful and evocative celebration of innocence and a time before modern life transformed the English countryside.

5. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
   In a dystopian future, the young, ultraviolent Alex narrates his exploits in Nadsat, a terrifying youth language. When Alex is captured, he undergoes the controversial Ludovico technique, stripping him of his capacity for evil—and choice. Burgess delivers a chilling meditation on free will, morality, state control, and the true meaning of human nature, ensuring this controversial classic remains a powerful, stylistic examination of society’s desire to sanitize and suppress natural impulses.

6. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
   The novel tracks a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares to host an evening party in post-war London. Woolf uses stream-of-consciousness to interweave Clarissa’s interior world with that of Septimus Smith, a shell-shocked veteran. This pioneering modernist work explores memory, the constraints of social convention, and the quiet dignity found in fleeting moments, resulting in a dazzling, deeply moving portrait of consciousness that changed the course of modern literature.

7. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
   Set on the Isle of Skye, the novel centers on the Ramsey family and their complex relationships spanning a decade. Woolf explores profound themes of time, perception, and the struggle to communicate across the gulf between individuals. Divided into three distinct sections, the narrative shifts focus, capturing the inner lives and emotional truths of its characters, and standing as a magnificent modernist masterpiece contemplating legacy, memory, and the search for permanent meaning amid life's transience.

8. The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence
   Lawrence charts three generations of the Brangwen family, focusing on their passionate, often frustrated, search for fulfillment. The story meticulously explores the transition from traditional, rural life to modern industrial society in 19th-century England. This deeply sensual novel examines the evolving nature of marriage, societal change, and the awakening of female desire, proving to be a foundational work that was banned upon publication for its frank and revolutionary depiction of sexual and emotional intensity.

9. A Fringe of Leaves by Patrick White
   Based loosely on a historical event, this novel follows Ellen Roxburgh, shipwrecked off the coast of colonial Queensland. Forced to survive in the Australian wilderness, Ellen is captured by Indigenous people and must strip away her societal constraints. White delivers a powerful narrative of survival, spiritual transformation, and the confrontation between civilization and the primitive self, offering a profound, mythic exploration of identity achieved through suffering and radical cultural displacement.

10. The Trespasser by D.H. Lawrence
    Helena, a reserved woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, enters into a secretive, passionate affair with a young man named Siegmund. Their relationship, however, is haunted by reality, proving that escaping their respective lives is profoundly more difficult than they imagined. Lawrence’s early novel investigates the destructive power of intense, unsustainable passion and the complexities of emotional ownership, resulting in a taut, atmospheric tragedy exploring the consequences when idealized romance collides with social strictures.

11. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
    Set during the Stalinist Great Purge, the novel focuses on Rubashov, an aging Bolshevik arrested and subjected to intense interrogation. Through Rubashov’s memories and philosophical debates with his captors, the novel dissects the corruption of revolutionary ideals. Koestler delivers a chilling, intellectual analysis of totalitarianism and the moral collapse required to serve a merciless political machine, establishing this as a powerful, essential work that stands as one of the most significant literary indictments of Soviet communism.

12. The Middle Ground by Margaret Drabble
    Kate Armstrong, a successful journalist and feminist writer, grapples with a crisis of identity and purpose in her forties. She navigates professional pressures, motherhood, and the ambiguous space between the expectations of two generations of women. Drabble critically and empathetically explores the shifting landscape of female ambition and the compromises inherent in modern life, providing a witty and honest portrayal of a contemporary woman searching for stability and meaning in a rapidly changing world.

13. The Burnt Ones by Patrick White
    This collection of short stories delves into the private lives and profound isolation of Australians in both urban and rural settings. White expertly captures the hidden anxieties, sexual frustrations, and unfulfilled desires lurking beneath mundane appearances. The stories are marked by his signature blend of poetic language, savage honesty, and keen psychological insight, culminating in a masterful volume revealing the fragile, often grotesque, beauty of ordinary people striving for connection.

14. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
    A continuation of The Rainbow, this novel follows sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen and their complex relationships with two male friends. Lawrence explores the intellectual and emotional struggle between traditional love and the radical possibility of platonic, non-sexual intimacy. The book is a deep philosophical dive into modernity, sexuality, and the search for genuine connection amidst industrial decay, standing as an uncompromising, searching masterwork widely considered one of the most important novels of the 20th century.

15. The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir
    This collection features three powerful novellas that meticulously examine the aging, disillusionment, and existential crises of women. De Beauvoir portrays the agonizing realization of loneliness and failure, often brought on by betrayal or the collapse of marriage. Each narrative offers a searing, unflinching look at the emotional destruction caused by relying on others for self-worth, making this an essential feminist text dissecting the patriarchal pressures and the painful process of redefining one’s purpose late in life.

16. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
    Anna Wulf, a writer, attempts to synthesize her fragmented existence by separating her experiences into four colored notebooks. These notebooks cover her political involvement, her writing life, her memories of Africa, and her relationships with men. Lessing’s revolutionary masterpiece dissects communism, female psychology, creativity, and the nature of mental breakdown, establishing itself as a landmark work of feminist and post-colonial literature that profoundly challenges conventional narrative form.

17. Five by Doris Lessing
    This volume gathers five distinct works, showcasing Lessing’s versatility and her sharp exploration of social and political themes. The stories span different eras and geographies, united by her piercing focus on psychological truth and societal commentary. Lessing demonstrates her commitment to depicting the complex realities of relationships, ideology, and self-awareness, making this an excellent introduction to the scope of a Nobel laureate's work, defined by clarity and unwavering honesty.

18. Woman in a Lampshade by Elizabeth Jolley
    Jolley’s collection of short fiction uses dark humor and profound empathy to portray characters navigating loneliness and absurdity. The stories often feature eccentric women, isolated in the Australian landscape, struggling to maintain dignity amid personal chaos. Jolley’s unique voice weaves together the gothic, the tender, and the grotesque in sharply observed domestic settings, resulting in a wry, insightful volume that illuminates the fragile and often hidden inner lives of its subjects.

19. Voss by Patrick White
    This epic historical novel tells the story of the ambitious, arrogant German explorer, Johann Voss, who attempts to cross the Australian continent. As Voss pushes his small expedition crew to their limits, the journey becomes a harrowing spiritual and psychological quest. White contrasts the harsh reality of the land with the delicate, distant bond Voss maintains with the thoughtful Laura Trevelyan, creating a magnificent meditation on pride, fanaticism, the colonial mindset, and the price of seeking transcendence through extreme endeavor.

20. The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor
    This collection of short stories showcases Taylor’s subtle mastery of domestic observation and psychological nuance. Taylor’s prose is precise and often heartbreaking, focusing on the quiet dramas and hidden tensions within English middle-class life. The title story, in particular, examines the complexities of innocence, control, and the sometimes-cruel realities of childhood, forming a superb volume demonstrating why Taylor is celebrated for her brilliant and delicate examinations of human relationships.

21. Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor
    Sophy, an orphaned young governess, accepts a post at a decaying country house populated by a dysfunctional family and brooding secrets. The atmosphere is rich with gothic undertones, blending humor and melancholic observation as Sophy attempts to find her footing. Taylor deftly explores themes of duty, longing, and the constraints placed upon women in a post-war societal structure, making this an early, witty novel that established Taylor’s talent for sharp dialogue and atmospheric, nuanced storytelling.