Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box DSH1119

Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box

Dive deep into the foundations of Western thought and narrative tradition with the World Classics Bargain Box. This curated selection features eighteen pivotal works spanning ancient history, Roman rhetoric, essential European drama, and groundbreaking modern novels, offering a comprehensive literary journey. From the tragic brilliance of Lorca and the searing realism of Zola to the foundational histories of Herodotus and the intense psychological dramas of Dostoevsky, this collection is essential for the serious reader looking to build a monumental library of influential writing. Each book is secondhand and may show signs of wear.

1. A Month in the Country - Ivan Turgenev
   Natalya Petrovna, bored with her comfortable rural existence, finds her life gently disrupted by the arrival of a young, handsome student tutor, Beliaev. This understated play masterfully explores the nuances of unrequited affection and the quiet desperation of middle-aged yearning in 19th-century Russia. Turgenev paints a poignant portrait of languid summer days where hidden passions and complex emotional rivalries simmer just beneath the surface of polite society. The resulting emotional chaos forces Natalya to confront the limitations of her own constrained life and the transient nature of youthful love.

2. Ibsen - Henrik Ibsen
   Known as the father of modern drama, Ibsen shattered Victorian theatrical conventions by focusing on realistic social issues and psychological depth. His powerful works dismantle the hypocrisies of bourgeois life, often centering on strong protagonists fighting societal norms or confronting uncomfortable truths. These plays challenge audiences to question institutions like marriage, faith, and the cost of maintaining respectable illusions, making his critique of modern society eternally relevant. Experience the radical impact of a playwright who dared to expose the rot beneath the gilded surface of 19th-century life.

3. Cider with Rosie - Laurie Lee
   This beloved memoir vividly transports the reader to the sheltered, pastoral world of a remote Cotswold village in the early 20th century, before the arrival of modern technology. Lee recounts his idyllic, sometimes brutal, childhood with poetic elegance, capturing the sensory details of rural life—the smell of cut hay, the taste of cider, and the changing seasons. It serves as both a nostalgic elegy for a lost way of life and a profound reflection on the innocence and inevitable complexity of growing up. The prose is renowned for its lyrical beauty, establishing this work as a masterpiece of English autobiography.

4. The Raid and Other Stories - Leo Tolstoy
   This collection showcases Tolstoy’s early prowess, particularly his stark and unflinching depictions of the horrors and moral ambiguities inherent in warfare. The Raid focuses on the experience of Russian soldiers fighting in the Caucasus, revealing the gap between heroic ideals and grim reality. These stories move beyond mere adventure, providing deep psychological insight into the minds of men grappling with fear, duty, and mortality. They highlight Tolstoy’s evolving philosophical concerns that would later define his epic novels like War and Peace.

5. Four Jacobean City Comedies - Various Authors
   Set against the bustling, morally ambiguous backdrop of early 17th-century London, these four plays satirize the greed, ambition, and sexual intrigue of the emerging merchant class. They offer a vivid, often bawdy, snapshot of urban life where appearances are deceptive and wealth determines virtue. Through sharp wit and intricate plotting, these comedies expose the ruthless social maneuvering and cynical pursuit of pleasure pervasive among the citizens of the rapidly expanding capital. A fascinating historical window into the darker, more energetic side of Renaissance London theatre.

6. Penguin Plays - Lorca
   Federico García Lorca’s drama is steeped in the folklore, passion, and tragic fate of rural Spain, blending stark realism with poetic, often surreal imagery. These selected plays explore themes of frustrated desire, societal repression, and the conflict between individual freedom and relentless tradition. Lorca masterfully uses evocative language and theatrical symbolism to deliver powerful emotional impacts, cementing his status as one of the 20th century’s most vital playwrights. Prepare for intense, lyrical explorations of human struggle against overwhelming cultural forces.

7. La Bête Humaine - Émile Zola
   Part of Zola's monumental Rougon-Macquart cycle, this novel plunges into the dark heart of inherited madness and violent obsession, played out against the backdrop of the burgeoning French railway system. Jacques Lantier, tormented by a hereditary urge to kill, becomes entangled in a murder plot involving an official and his wife, Séverine. Zola’s naturalistic masterpiece explores the devastating consequences of atavism, showing how primal urges clash with industrial modernity. It is a chilling examination of psychological decay, destiny, and the thin line between civilization and savage instinct.

8. Selected Works - Cicero
   Marcus Tullius Cicero stands as the defining orator, statesman, and philosopher of the late Roman Republic, whose words still shape Western political thought. This selection offers a broad view of his rhetorical and philosophical genius, encompassing letters, essays, and meditations on morality and governance. Cicero’s works provide a crucial first-hand perspective on the collapse of republican ideals and the turbulent rise of imperial power. Engage with the foundational arguments that defined Roman justice, human duty, and the art of persuasive eloquence.

9. Selected Political Speeches - Cicero
   A vital collection concentrating on Cicero's most famous and politically charged orations, delivered during the tumultuous decline of the Roman Republic. These speeches, often fierce attacks against opponents like Catiline or Mark Antony, showcase his unparalleled mastery of Latin rhetoric and political strategy. They offer riveting insights into the high-stakes world of Roman courts and the Senate, where reputation and life often hinged on the power of the spoken word. Witness the impassioned defense of the Republic as Cicero fights desperately against tyranny and corruption.

10. The Histories - Herodotus
    Hailed as the ‘Father of History,’ Herodotus meticulously documented the monumental conflict between the Greek city-states and the vast Persian Empire in the 5th century BC. Beyond the military narrative, he offers a sweeping, ethnographic survey of the cultures, customs, and mythologies of the peoples involved, from Egyptians to Scythians. His pioneering work established the methodology of historical inquiry, seeking to explain why events occurred by examining human action and divine influence. This remains an epic foundation text of Western civilization, blending research with captivating storytelling.

11. The Rise and Fall of Athens - Plutarch
    Drawn from Plutarch’s famous Parallel Lives, this volume focuses specifically on the statesmen and generals whose actions defined the glory and eventual tragedy of ancient Athens. Through intimate biographical sketches, Plutarch explores the moral character of figures like Themistocles and Pericles, analyzing how their virtues and vices impacted the state’s destiny. This is less a chronology of war and politics and more a profound study of leadership, ethical decision-making, and the nature of public service. A classical masterpiece that sought to teach morality through the lens of history.

12. The Eye of the Storm - Patrick White
    Winner of the Nobel Prize, Patrick White dissects the complex final days of Elizabeth Hunter, an aging, domineering matriarch lying ill in Sydney, surrounded by mercenary nurses and her estranged, equally self-absorbed children. The novel uses stream-of-consciousness to peel back layers of memory and illusion, exposing the savage emotional terrain of family life and the nature of true selfhood. White’s challenging, beautiful prose examines the elusive moments of clarity—the 'eye of the storm'—that punctuate a lifetime of deception and regret.

13. Early Christian Writings - Various
    This crucial anthology gathers texts from the first two centuries after Christ, offering indispensable primary source material for understanding the formation of the nascent Christian movement. These writings include sermons, defenses (apologies), and letters from early Church fathers like Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp. They vividly capture the fervent dedication, internal debates, and external persecutions faced by the earliest followers of the faith. A fascinating historical and theological gateway into the period when Christianity began to solidify its doctrine and structure.

14. The New English Bible: New Testament - Various
    Representing a modern, readable translation aiming for clarity and contemporary accessibility, this volume contains the central religious texts of Christianity’s second covenant. It encompasses the Gospels, documenting the life and teachings of Jesus, the Acts of the Apostles, and the pivotal letters of Paul and other early leaders. This translation provides a fresh engagement with the narratives, parables, and theological principles that have shaped two millennia of Western culture and belief. An essential text for both theological study and general understanding of religious history.

15. The Annals and The Histories - Tacitus
    Cornelius Tacitus, Rome’s greatest historian, provides a chillingly cynical and intensely dramatic account of the reigns of the Julio-Claudian emperors, from Tiberius to Nero. He focuses relentlessly on the corruption of power, the moral decline of the aristocracy, and the terrifying realities of tyranny following the fall of the Republic. Tacitus is famed for his powerful, epigrammatic style and his psychological analysis of emperors consumed by paranoia and vice. A foundational work of historical literature, providing a stark warning against unchecked imperial authority.

16. Tasso - Goethe
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's celebrated play offers a sophisticated dramatic exploration of the tension between poetic genius and the harsh realities of court life and societal expectations. The subject is the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso, navigating the jealousies, romantic entanglements, and philosophical complexities of the Ferrara court. Goethe uses Tasso’s struggle with sanity and artistic recognition to meditate on the role of the artist in society and the eternal conflict between imagination and pragmatism. A profound philosophical drama executed in classical verse.

17. Clean Straw for Nothing - George Johnston
    The second novel in Johnston’s semi-autobiographical 'Meredith Trilogy,' this work continues the story of writer David Meredith grappling with success, failure, and the search for authentic living. Set largely in the Mediterranean, Meredith confronts the decay of his marriage and his increasing physical deterioration, forced to reckon with the illusions that fueled his youthful ambitions. It is a raw, unflinching portrait of a talented man facing self-destruction and the difficulty of maintaining integrity in a world demanding compromise.

18. Notes from the Underground and The Gambler - Fyodor Dostoevsky
    Notes from the Underground marks a decisive shift in Dostoevsky’s work, presenting the seminal anti-hero whose irrational, contradictory monologue critiques utopianism and rational egoism. Paired with The Gambler, a frenetic study of addiction and self-abasement set in the glamorous backdrop of a German casino, this volume showcases Dostoevsky’s mastery of psychological intensity. These stories explore the dangerous depths of human free will, the allure of self-destruction, and the existential panic of modern consciousness.