Home » Readers Advisory » Bibliographies for Adult Readers » Modern Library's 100 Best Novels
From Wikipedia: “Modern Library's 100 Best Novels is a list of the best English-language novels of the 20th century as selected by the Modern Library, an American publishing company owned by Random House.”
The Board's/Editors' List was compiled in 1998. Meanwhile, the Reader's List was solicited and completed in 1999.
NOTE: KLAS has a subject code for these books: “MLC;” = “Literature - Modern Library's Choice 100”
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REFERENCES:
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels
Deals with a single day–June 16, 1904–in the life of Leopold Bloom, a Dublin advertising salesman. The stream-of-consciousness style and the use of interior monologues expose the personalities of the characters. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 1922.
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Against the glitter and recklessness of the Jazz Age, Jay Gatsby makes a desperate attempt to recapture the past and, along with it, the love of Daisy Buchanan. Amid extravagant parties at Gatsby's palatial estate, his neighbor narrates the story of his obsession with the American dream. 1925.
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Largely autobiographical novel portrays the Irish childhood, adolescence, and early manhood of Stephen Dedalus, who is one of the leading characters of “Ulysses” (DB 19994). Stephen's growing self-awareness as an artist forces him to reject the narrow world in which he has been brought up.
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Incarcerated and awaiting trial, widowed middle-aged professor Humbert Humbert tells of his erotic obsession with preadolescent girls–particularly twelve-year-old Dolly Haze, whom he calls Lolita. Humbert details his fascination with Lolita and describes their bizarre road trip. Some descriptions of sex and some violence. 1955.
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A satire set in a future technocratic society in which people are rigidly classified by the state and kept happy by a government-administered drug. When two bureaucrats, Lenina and Bernard, travel to a “savage” reservation, they “rescue” a woman and her adult son, abandoned long ago, and return them to civilization. For senior high and older readers.
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In 1928 Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, the Compson brothers–Quentin, Jason, and the “idiot” son Benjy–narrate events that trace the gradual disintegration of the family and include the ostracism of their wanton sister, Caddy. 1929.
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Bombardier Yossarian desperately tries to stay alive during World War II. Military rules make it impossible for anyone to achieve the combat quota necessary to quit flying. Yossarian and his buddies concoct ways to avoid the ridiculous orders of their officers. Strong language and descriptions of sex.
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Powerful novel of the Moscow trials, written from the author's own experiences, tells of the imprisonment, confession, and death of one of the Old Bolsheviks. Rubashov, one of the last survivors of the original Central Committee of the Communist Party, is arrested and charged with incredible crimes. Some violence.
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Story of Paul and William Morel, brothers who bear witness to the tensions of their working-class parents. William adopts the bitterness that his father expresses too freely. Paul, the younger, finds one woman appealing and another exciting, but can elicit for neither the sensitive feelings he has for his mother. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
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Steinbeck's classic tale of the Joads, who, like many other families during the Great Depression, are driven from their homestead by drought, economic hardship, and the encroachment of large agricultural interests. They leave Oklahoma in search of a better life in California but meet with hardship and injustice. Pulitzer Prize. 1939.
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Quauhnahuac, Mexico; 1938. On the Day of the Dead, Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic former British consul, is consumed by the arrival of his ex-wife Yvonne. Her mission to save Geoffrey is complicated by the presence of Geoffrey's half brother and a childhood friend. Some violence and some strong language. 1947.
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Satirical portrayal by notable Victorian novelist, in a partly autobiographical piece, of the relations between Ernest Pontifex and his pious, self-righteous parents. Being the son of a middle-class English clergyman and a sanctimonious mother makes for an unhappy childhood, followed by dismal university years and an unsuitable marriage. Literature–and an aunt's bequest–become his salvation. 1903.
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Satire about an alternate London under a totalitarian regime overseen by the omnipresent Big Brother. Winston Smith, a Ministry of Truth bureaucrat, attempts an intellectual rebellion against the Party while he pursues an illicit romance. His actions lead to his imprisonment, torture, and reeducation by the Thought Police. 1949.
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Realistic story purports to be the lost autobiography of the emperor Claudius, who lived from 10 B.C. to 54 A.D. It vividly depicts the political conspiracies, superstitions, orgies, and incest within imperial Rome. Violence.
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During summer visits to the Scottish coast, members of the Ramsey family reveal their personal challenges and innermost thoughts. Youngest child James must forfeit a yearned-for visit to the lighthouse. Ten years later, James, surviving family members, and former guests complete the long-delayed outing. Includes Eudora Welty's 1981 foreword. 1927.
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First published in 1925 and based on an actual murder case, this classic novel depicts the dark side of the American dream in the story of a young man who will do almost anything to gain wealth and social acceptance. While he loves a poor factory worker who is carrying his child, he is dazzled by a rich woman who seems to embody all his fantasies.
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Deep South, 1930s. John Singer, who is deaf and mute, feels content until his best friend, also mute, is committed to a mental institution. Singer, who can read lips, becomes the confidante of several town residents, all of whom want answers to their problems. Some strong language. 1940.
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Billy Pilgrim, adrift in time, randomly revisits past and present manifestations: senile widower stalked by an assassin, hopeful young newlywed, giraffe on the planet Tralfamadore–where time is an illusion–and, most crucially, American POW during the firebombing of Dresden in World War II. Strong language. 1969.
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Classic novel of a young black man's search for identity. Follows the unnamed protagonist from his youth in a Southern town through the depression years in Harlem, where he examines and rejects the values thrust on him by both whites and blacks. Some strong language. National Book Award 1953. 1947.
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Classic work shows the plight of victimized blacks fighting against the political and social conditions of Chicago in the 1930s. A frustrated and resentful black man is driven to violence and murder.
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In his search for identity, an American millionaire travels to a remote area of Africa, where he is captured by a native tribe. His friendship with the king wins him the title of rain god, and he becomes deeply involved with the natives and participates in a strange experiment.
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Fast-moving first novel by journalist/critic John O'Hara (1905-1970) set in 1930s small-town Pennsylvania. As Gibbsville celebrates Christmas with parties, music, and liquor, aristocratic drunkard Julian English breaks with polite society in one rash moment, beginning his rapid descent to self-destruction. Some strong language. 1934.
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Three novels first published as a trilogy in 1938: //The 42nd Parallel// (1930), //1919// (1932), and //The Big Money// (1936). Dos Passos satirizes life in America from 1900 until the 1930s, using period “newsreels,” autobiographical “camera eye” pieces, and biographical sketches. Contains chronologies of Dos Passos's life and historical events cited. Some strong language.
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Sketches of midwestern life in the early 1900s, inspired by the author's boyhood experiences. Loosely connected stories feature characters such as young reporter George Willard, schoolteacher Kate Swift–who tries to seduce Willard–and berry picker Wing Biddlebaum, whose hands bring both pride and shame. 1919.
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Englishwoman Mrs. Moore visits her son, a magistrate, in India, where she befriends charming, well-respected Muslim doctor Aziz. When Aziz is accused of assaulting Mrs. Moore's young compatriot, a scandal erupts that illuminates the conflict of cultures and personalities during the wane of British rule. 1924.
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Wealthy young American Milly Theale, doomed by illness to an early death, remains determined to experience life, however brief. Londoners Kate Croy and Merton Densher, impoverished lovers, conspire to dupe the charming but naive heiress and obtain her fortune. But fate intervenes. 1902.
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Acting as the wealthy Mrs. Newsome's ambassador, conscientious Massachusetts-based newspaper editor Lambert Strether journeys to Paris to retrieve Newsome's errant son, Chad. When Chad's suave demeanor and the city's charm distract Strether from his mission, Mrs. Newsome sends another envoy. 1903.
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An American psychiatrist, studying in Europe in the 1920s, falls in love with a beautiful, wealthy patient in this novel about wealthy American expatriates. In their marriage, he reacts against her great dependence on him as both husband and doctor before he realizes his equal dependence on her.
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The adolescence of a tough Irish kid on the South Side of Chicago in 1916. Studs Lonigan, a grudging parochial school student pulled in opposite directions by the street and the church, describes his restless fifteenth summer. Strong language. 1935.
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Covers the years from 1917, when Studs Lonigan is still in high school, to 1929 when he is trapped into marriage by a woman he grows to hate. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex.
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The third volume in a trilogy about the life of Studs Lonigan, who began as a child of the Chicago streets aspiring to be a “big shot.” His life ends in disillusionment and despair after the Great Depression has beaten him down. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex.
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American John Dowell remembers the longtime friendship he and his wife Florence shared with Captain and Mrs. Edward Ashburnham, a wealthy English couple. Dowell's narrative grows increasingly unreliable as a sordid tale of affairs, deception, and suicide unfolds. 1915.
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Classic political satire targets Soviet Communism. The animals on a farm overthrow their master and live a utopian life, until the intelligent pigs take over–and one establishes himself as dictator. 1946.
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Maggie, daughter of an American millionaire, weds Amerigo, an Italian nobleman who is in love with her friend Charlotte. Despite Charlotte's later marriage to Maggie's father, Amerigo and Charlotte continue their affair–of which Maggie learns from a shopkeeper selling a gilded bowl. 1904.
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Naive eighteen-year-old Caroline Meeber leaves rural Wisconsin for Chicago, where she temporarily moves into her sister and brother-in-law's flat. Seeking an escape from a drab existence, Carrie welcomes the affections of two men–one of whom is married–who bring her wealth, sophistication, and success, but ultimately dissatisfaction. 1900.
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Satirical novel about London society. Tony Last, a young English squire, has a romantic love for his home, his wife, and his small son. When his wife has an affair and his child dies on a hunt, Tony seeks solace in the jungles of Brazil. 1934.
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The Bundrens, poor whites in Mississippi, face numerous obstacles as they trek across the countryside to deliver their mother's body for burial in her home town. First published in 1930; this edition includes changes made by Noel Polk in 1985 based on the author's notes.
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Restored edition, reconstructed from the author's original typescript, recreates the world of a corrupt southern politician of the 1920s and 1930s. Country boy Willie (Stark) Talos rises to become governor of his state only to be brought down by his personal failings. Strong language. Pulitzer Prize. 1946.
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First published in 1927 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1928. This novel surveys the lives of five Peruvian travelers, victims of the collapse of a famous Incan bridge in 1714. Franciscan Brother Juniper, witness to the tragedy, weaves a story revealing how these people came together on the bridge at that final moment. Was it fate or was it an act of God?
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Members of three different social classes intermingle at Howards End, a country house owned by the Wilcox family. The aristocratic Wilcoxes; the cultured, idealistic Schlegel sisters; and impoverished, unemployed bank clerk Leonard Bast find their lives shaped by romance, societal barriers, and violence. 1910.
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While living in Harlem, John experiences a religious conversion on his fourteenth birthday. Flashbacks portray the lives, suffering, and sins of John's African-American forefathers, especially their struggles with racism and poverty as they moved from the rural South to this northern ghetto.
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Colonial West Africa. Trapped in a loveless marriage to his piteous wife Louise, Assistant Police Commissioner Scobie begins an affair with widowed shipwreck survivor Helen. The indiscretion precipitates a religious crisis and ultimately leads to dishonor, deceit–and death. 1948.
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With horrifying implications, this novel relates the experiences of a group of English boys who are wrecked on a desert island and have to establish their own system of government. For junior and senior high and older readers.
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Four men accustomed to city life take a canoe trip down a remote north Georgia river. They run afoul of sinister locals and, after a violent, nightmarish confrontation, find themselves in a fight for survival that changes their lives forever. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1970.
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England, 1920s-1930s. Four young men of disparate temperaments enter the adult worlds of business, art, society, and sex. Comprises the first three volumes, which were published separately between 1951 and 1955, of a twelve-novel epic depicting the panorama of English life from World War I through World War II. 1962.
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As events in Germany build toward World War II, four young Englishmen are caught up in a social whirl of personal choices–marriages, adulteries, careers. Fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes, which were published separately between 1957 and 1962, of a twelve-novel epic. 1964.
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Follows the exploits of four Englishmen during World War II and its immediate aftermath. Comprises the seventh, eighth, and ninth volumes, which were published separately between 1964 and 1968, of a twelve-novel epic. 1971.
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Volumes ten, eleven, and twelve, which were published between 1971 and 1975, depict a triumphant but battered England after World War II and form the conclusion to this epic. Central characters confront losses both physical and moral as they rebuild their lives in a changing political and social order. 1976.
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A satiric view of London intellectuals and English upper-class society during the 1920s. The construction of the novel is supposedly based on Bach's Suite No. 2 in B Minor and contains frequent allusions to the arts, sciences, and British politics.
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A wealthy group of English and American ex-patriates in post-World War I Europe move from the boulevards of Paris to the bullfights of Spain–bathing, eating, and drinking. The disillusioned characters reflect the war-weary “lost generation” of the 1920s. Some strong language.
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First published in 1907. Set in a London back street, amid a group of anarchists. Focuses on Verloc, an agent-provocateur in the employ of the Russian embassy in London. Conrad paints a satirical picture of Verloc's relationships with his employers, with indolent civil servants, with corrupt police inspectors, with revolutionary anarchists, and above all with members of his own family.
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In a fictitious South American country torn by corruption and political instability, Charles Gould runs a silver mine. To protect the treasure from revolutionaries, Gould entrusts it to an Italian named Nostromo, who exploits the situation for his own gain–with unintended consequences. 1904.
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Rural England. Follows the lives and loves of three generations of the Brangwen family. Farmer Tom Brangwen marries Polish widow Lydia and adopts her daughter Anna as his own. All seek individual fulfillment, but it is Anna's spirited child Ursula who defies convention. 1915.
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A complex meditation on love depicting the contrasting affairs of sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen–Ursula with misanthropic Rupert, Gudrun with domineering Gerald. Both couples strive for fulfillment and meaning, but while Ursula and Rupert eventually marry, Gudrun and Gerald's romance leads to tragedy. 1917.
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Recounts the experiences, sensations, and thoughts of a young expatriate American writer and his friends in 1930s Paris as they scrounge for food, read and converse, and have relationships. The author's autobiographical first novel initially published in 1934. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 1934.\\
Novel of World War II in which an American infantry platoon invades the Japanese-held island of Anopopei. Mailer explores the soldiers' behavior and emotions under the extreme stress of jungle warfare. Strong language and some violence. 1948.
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In this satire on Jewish life, the protagonist–who is on a psychoanalyst's couch–confronts his guilt regarding adolescent masturbation; lustful, masochistic adventures in adulthood; and sexual fantasies. He also deals with his feelings toward his domineering mother and demanding, overworked father. Explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language. 1967.
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University poet-in-residence John Shade writes a 999-line poem just before his death. Demented scholar Charles Kinbote then provides commentary on the poem. Kinbote's literary analysis reveals fantastic escapades of the deposed king of Zembla living in a New York college town and the king's would-be assassin. 1962.
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Joe Christmas, an orphan of mixed blood, travels to the South, seeking a place and people with whom he can belong. But he is soon hardened by white and black bigotry.
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The adventures of free-spirited Dean Moriarty, Sal Paradise, and their eclectic friends as they traverse North America by bus, car (both stolen and borrowed), and thumb on a wild, anarchic quest for identity and purpose. Classic autobiographical portrayal of the beat generation. Descriptions of sex and some strong language. 1957.
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While hunting for his partner's killer, San Francisco private detective Sam Spade runs afoul of the police and a cluster of eccentric characters looking for the priceless statuette of a black bird. Some violence. 1930.
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Four novels brought together in one volume that trace the personal life of Christopher Tietjens and the social history of Tory England in World War I and after. Includes “Some Do Not …,” “No More Parades,” “A Man Could Stand Up–,” and “The Last Post” which were published in the 1920s.
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A novel of manners set in New York society in the 1870s, an age of convention, propriety, and tribal solidarity. Newland Archer is torn between his attraction to Countess Olenska, a femme fatale, and his security in a bland, but proper, marriage to her cousin May. Pulitzer Prize. 1920.
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A stunning adventuress descends upon Oxford during Eights Week and captures the heart of every undergraduate student. One of her victims, the Duke of Dorset, is particularly devastated by her beauty.
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New Orleans. Apathetic young businessman and avid movie fan Binx Bolling undertakes a quest for authenticity that outrages his family, endangers his aunt's fragile stepdaughter Kate, and leads him into the chaos of Mardi Gras–during which he opens up to love. Some strong language. National Book Award. 1960.
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A tale about the exploits of Bishop Jean Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant, French Catholic priests who organized pioneer and Indian missions throughout the newly created diocese of New Mexico in the second half of the nineteenth century. 1927.
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Army life in Hawaii before World War II, centering on the conflict and bond between two men: Pfc. Prewitt, a bugler and unwilling ex-boxer, and First Sergeant Warden, who risks his career for an affair with his commanding officer's wife. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. National Book Award. 1951.
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Follows the fortunes of the Wapshot family of St. Botolphs, a mythical New England seaport. Old Captain Leander Wapshot is in love with his ferryboat, which he keeps losing and regaining. An eccentric aunt wants to give Leander's sons a fortune–if they marry and produce heirs. Some strong language.
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Sequel to //The Wapshot Chronicle// (DB 63314). Relates the decline of the Wapshot family and of the mythical New England town of St. Botolphs. The “scandal” is the discovery that Aunt Honora has never paid her income taxes. Includes foreword by Dave Eggers. 1959.
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As Christmas vacation begins, Holden Caulfield recounts his feelings and reactions to flunking out of Pencey, his third prep school. Instead of heading straight home, he wanders around New York City. This account of his adventures conveys his dismay at the adult world. Strong language. For senior high and older readers.
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A 15-year-old hooligan named Alex roams the streets of London terrorizing people at random. He is arrested and subjected to corrective brainwashing with unanticipated results. The author adds a flavor of reality of his prophecy of future urban life by inventing the teenage dialect of “nadsat.” Violence and strong language.
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Philip Carey is a sensitive, talented, orphan with a club foot who cannot find his true vocation. He begins a love affair with a waitress hardly suspecting it will drastically alter the course of his life. This semi-autobiographical novel of tortured, obsessive love was first published in 1915.
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An allegorical tale of a man's journey by steamboat to the center of the Congo. As he penetrates its forbidding interior, he faces an increasing propensity for inhumanity in himself and in others.
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Nobel Prize-winner's novel of small-town America. Carol Milford, an idealistic young librarian from the city of St. Paul, marries country doctor Will Kennicott. They settle in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, where Carol launches a crusade against the narrow-mindedness of her fellow residents. 1920.
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First published in 1905. Lily Bart, the orphaned daughter of a New York merchant, is endowed with beauty and charm and hopelessly addicted to the pleasures of luxury and wealth. Though she relentlessly pursues her goal to marry someone with money, she is attracted to Lawrence Selden, a lawyer of modest means.
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Alexandria, Egypt, on the eve of World War II. Although the narrator, an exiled Irish schoolteacher, lives with his Greek mistress, Melissa, it is his affair with Justine, a beautiful Jewish society woman married to Nessim, a wealthy Coptic Christian, that initiates a web of political and sexual intrigue. 1957.
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Volume two of The Alexandria Quartet, following //Justine// (DB 36388). The story is peopled by the same characters–Justine, Clea, Melissa, and the narrator, who explores the meaning of love with the psychiatrist Balthazar. This time, however, it is told from Balthazar's point of view, often to correct or expand on the initial account of complex interpersonal relationships found in Justine.
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Set in Egypt, the third novel of the Alexandria Quartet, preceded by //Justine// (DB 36388) and //Balthazar// (DB 37578), is narrated by David Mountolive, a British ambassador, who gives his perspective on the same story told in the first two novels, revealing completely new motivations for the actions.
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Final volume of the Alexandria Quartet, following //Justine// (DB 36388), //Balthazar// (DB 37578), and //Mountolive// (DB 36432). Darley, a writer, returns to Alexandria after a long absence and ponders how he, his friends, and the city have changed. Soon he is involved in a passionate affair with Clea, a bisexual painter. As their love grows, Darley becomes more philosophical about their artistic development.
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A novel exploring the nature–and limits–of innocence. When a hurricane destroys their Jamaican home, the Bas-Thorntons place their five children aboard a ship bound for England. But the children experience violence, sexuality, and betrayal after they are captured by pirates. Some violence. 1929.
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The author says this novel is “the one closest” to him, created out of what he “saw and felt as a child.” This poignant yet hilarious story of a man much like Naipaul's father gives a portrait of the transplanted-to-Trinidad, Hindu-Moslem culture in which the author grew up. Mohun Biswas, a tenderhearted fellow with a thirst for books, earns a small living, and hopes for a better future.
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Formerly a fine arts student at Yale, Tod Hackett hopes for success in Hollywood as a set designer. Through his apartment neighbor, aspiring actress Faye Greener, Tod meets a cast of seedy characters and has a series of misadventures. Some strong language. 1939.
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Romance between American lieutenant Frederic Henry in the ambulance service in Italy during World War I and the English nurse Catherine Barkley, who tends him when he is wounded. When Catherine becomes pregnant, she refuses to marry Frederic.
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Comic satire on the habits of the press. The editor of London's Daily Beast mistakenly sends John Boot, a shy young nature writer, to cover a civil war in Africa. Boot soon becomes the star of British super-journalism and returns home as the most acclaimed overseas reporter. 1938.
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Edinburgh. With her freethinking ideas and irresistible charm, schoolmistress Jean Brodie exerts an enormous influence on a small group of impressionable young girls. The “Brodie set” receives an introduction to the privileged world of adult games. A portrait of adolescence, its innocence, and curiosity about life and sex. 1961.
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A controversial, experimental novel written in 1939. The book is apparently a dream sequence representing one night in the unconscious mind of a Dublin tavern keeper. Joyce's unique style makes extensive use of slang, arcane puns, and obscure allusions.
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Colonial India. Irish orphan Kimball O'Hara befriends a Tibetan Buddhist lama seeking spiritual redemption and joins him on a journey. Along the way, British Intelligence recruits Kim for secret-service activities. Kim attempts to reconcile the opposing cultures and obligations of the spirit and the state. 1901.
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Englishwoman Lucy Honeychurch witnesses a murder in a Florentine piazza and faints into the arms of George Emerson. Lucy fancies George–who is entirely unsuitable–but faces social disapproval and her own conflicting desires. Back home, Lucy entertains a more acceptable suitor and must soon choose between convention and passion. 1908.
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Waugh's classic exploration of faith, tradition, and moral values in a rapidly changing Britain. Charles Ryder narrates the story of an aristocratic Catholic family between the First and Second World Wars. Charles first meets alcoholic Sebastian Flyte at Oxford and later falls in love with Sebastian's married sister, Julia. 1945.
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Nobel Prize-winner Saul Bellow's picaresque novel of Augie March, born to poor Russian Jewish immigrants and growing up in Depression-era Chicago. Recounts his escapades in the world of wealth, war, and sophisticated women. Explicit descriptions of sex and strong language. 1949.
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Historian Lyman Ward, immobilized by illness and deserted by his wife, has retired to his ancestral California cabin to research his family's past. The loveless marriage of his grandparents–a cultivated eastern artist and a pragmatic mining engineer–mirrors the troubled expansion of the American West. Some strong language. Pulitzer Prize. 1971.
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In a recently independent central African nation, Salim, a Muslim of Indian origin, purchases a defunct store in a town at a bend in the river. Hoping to prosper but feeling trapped, Salim observes the people, political climate, and needs of a society in upheaval. 1979.
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Only sixteen and recently orphaned, Portia becomes the unwanted charge of her self-centered half brother Thomas and his wife Anna in London. Innocent and honest Portia becomes romantically involved with Eddie, an attractive cad, with heartbreaking results. 1938.
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Jim, a young, untested mate aboard the steamer Patna, cowardly abandons his crew when the ship threatens to sink. Disgraced and guilt-ridden, Jim builds a new life for himself as the benevolent ruler of an exotic Malaysian land–until circumstances interrupt his idyll. 1900.
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A story set in 1906 New York that incorporates luminaries of the period, including Theodore Roosevelt, Sigmund Freud, and Emma Goldman. A ragtime musician from Harlem falls victim to racist vandalism and seeks redress through violence. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex.
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Portrays the divergent lives of two working-class English sisters. While conventional Constance works in her father's drapery shop and marries the chief assistant, spirited Sophia elopes to Paris with an irresistible but unscrupulous traveler. The siblings reunite years later, each shaped by their separate experiences. 1908.
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Buck, a St. Bernard mix, is stolen and trained to be a sled dog in the Alaskan gold fields. Abused by both men and dogs, Buck learns to fight ruthlessly until he finds a master, John Thornton, whom he loves and respects. For senior high and older readers. 1903.
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Three novels exploring British class distinctions in the early twentieth century. //Loving// (1945) contrasts lives of servants and masters in an Irish castle. //Living// (1929) portrays iron-foundry workers and owners. And //Party Going// (1939) presents the reactions of wealthy travelers to crowds of lower-class railway passengers stranded by fog.
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Biting satire tells of Saleem Sinai, who is born at the stroke of midnight, August 15, 1947–the instant of the birth of the new state of India. From that moment, his life is magically entwined with India's fate as a nation. Saleem's particular gift is a 'cucumber' of a nose with which he goes through life smelling his way. 1980.
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The famous saga, first published in 1932, of Jeeter Lester and his shiftless family. Their ribald adventures along Tobacco Road, once a flourishing plantation, attract a lusty preacher, Sister Bessie. Explicit descriptions of sex.
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Compassionate, tough-minded novel concerns aging Francis Phelan, a former mechanic, major-league third baseman, lush, and murderer, who is now back in Albany after twenty-two years on the lam. Set during the Depression, the supporting cast includes crooks, bums, cons, gamblers, and working stiffs. Sequel to “Billy Phelan's Greatest Game” (DB 21042). Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. National Book Critics Award 1983.
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A young English school-teacher, Nicolas Urfe, accepts a teaching assignment in Greece. The solitude of the Greek island drives him to the beautiful, but sinister, domain of the mysterious sorcerer Conchis. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.
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Fascinated with the character of Bertha, the madwoman in “Jane Eyre” (DB 47868), Jean Rhys has imagined her as a carefree girl and an attractive young woman in the days before she came to England. Rhys creates a romantic, colorful, and thought-provoking past for this enigmatic woman.
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Follows the adventures of charming would-be writer Jake Donaghue in London and Paris. Jake falls in and out of love, resumes a friendship with a philosophy professor, kidnaps a canine movie star, and contemplates–at last–getting a real job. 1954.
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Stingo moves into a cheap Brooklyn rooming house where he meets unstable Nathan and his gorgeous lover Sophie, a Polish Catholic who somehow survived the Holocaust. Stingo, who feels unrequited love for Sophie, becomes her confidant as she faces the horrors of her past, especially the years she worked for the Commandant of Auschwitz. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1979.
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Three American travelers, Tunner and young couple Kit and Port, are adrift in the deserts and cities of North Africa after World War II. The trio's inability to comprehend the foreign culture mirrors their personal psychological frailty–and ultimately leads to their downfall. 1949.
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A novel of clandestine love, murder, and accidental death. Vagabond Frank Chambers stops at a California roadside sandwich stand run by a Greek man and his American wife. Captivated by her, Frank hires on and they begin a mutually destructive affair. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. 1934.
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American ex-G.I. Sebastian Dangerfield lives in post-WWII Dublin with his wife and child. Sebastian, who occasionally studies at Trinity College, attempts to satisfy his appetite for women, drink, and general roguishness while avoiding bill collectors and steady work. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1955.
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In the nineteenth century Major Amberson made a fortune, and his family became the most prominent in their midwestern town. When industrialization transforms the town into a city, the major's only grandson, arrogant George Amberson Minafer, cannot adjust to the change; his only ambition is to be a yachtsman. Pulitzer Prize.
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Dagny Taggart, manager of a transcontinental railroad, opposes John Galt and others who relinquish control over their enterprises in exchange for security through government regulations. Espouses the clear-cut social values of the author's philosophy of objectivism within a fictional story line. Thirty-fifth anniversary edition with new
introduction in 1992. Some strong language. 1957.
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Although he is expelled from school, Howard Roark is determined to succeed as an architect, rejecting the conventional path of his friend Peter Keating and the wiles of his destructive lover Dominique Francon. Some descriptions of sex. 1943.
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Jonnie Goodboy Tyler ventures forth from the dwindling community of human survivors in the Rocky Mountains and ends up challenging the powerful alien race that has dominated and exploited all known galaxies for centuries.
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As the Ring cycle begins, Frodo, a home-loving hobbit, inherits the magic ring that his Uncle Bilbo brought back from his adventures in //The Hobbit// (DB 48978 | BR 11595). To protect the ring from the powers of darkness, Frodo must make a long, dangerous journey. Prequel to //The Two Towers// (DB 47487 | BR 09747).
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In this sequel to //The Fellowship of the Ring// (DB 47486 | BR 09745), the now-separated companions of the Ring meet Saruman the wizard, cross the Dead Marshes, and prepare for the Great War in which the power of the Ring will be undone.
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In this third volume of the Ring trilogy, Frodo and Sam bear the ring to Mount Doom. The War of the Rings, fought between the forces for good and the Dark Lord of evil, is ended. Sequel to //The Two Towers// (DB 47487 | BR 09747).
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Six-year-old Scout and her brother Jem are intrigued by their reclusive neighbor. Meanwhile, their father Atticus, an attorney, defends a black man charged with raping a white woman in their small Alabama town. Some violence and some strong language. Pulitzer Prize. 1960.
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Satire about an alternate London under a totalitarian regime overseen by the omnipresent Big Brother. Winston Smith, a Ministry of Truth bureaucrat, attempts an intellectual rebellion against the Party while he pursues an illicit romance. His actions lead to his imprisonment, torture, and reeducation by the Thought Police. 1949.
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Individualism in a world of total collectivism where food, work, and even mating are ordered by the commune is the theme of this short novel. The author vividly describes what she believes are the ultimate, bleak consequences of the collectivist doctrine and the importance of individualism.
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A story of post-revolutionary Russia and of a woman torn between two men who love–one a Communist and the other an aristocrat. Pursues the theme of the individual against the state.
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The interstellar Voltar Confederacy targets Earth for eventual, routine takeover, but the timetable is upset, first by the threat of Earth's soon becoming overpolluted and unusable, and second, by ruthless Voltar spy chief Lombar Hisst. Lombar sees the planet as a key to his plan to make himself emperor. Some strong language. Bestseller 1985.
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In this satire, agent Soltan Gris is ordered by the evil Lombar Hisst to sabotage the Voltarian mission to Earth aimed at stopping pollution. Gris lays his plans carefully but fails to take into account the resourcefulness of the mission leader or the totally irrational nature of Earthmen. Sequel to //The Invader's Plan// (DB 24257). Bestseller 1986.
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Voltarian super-agent Jettero Heller continues his covert mission to save Earth from choking on its own pollution, as his handler, Soltan Gris, proceeds with his plan to enrich himself and restrain Heller. Gris is also enthralled by the charms of Utanc, a lovely Turkish belly-dancer. Sequel to //Black Genesis// (DB 24964). Some descriptions of sex.
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Jettero Heller has arranged a demonstration of his new non-polluting fuel in the form of a grand Indy-500-style race to be held during a blizzard. Soltan Gris, desperate to stop Heller, is waylaid repeatedly by two angry lesbians, while his concubine Utanc runs up tremendous credit card bills. Sequel to //The Enemy Within// (DB 25210). Some violence and descriptions of sex.
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Book Five of the author's satirical Mission Earth dekalogy. Jettero Heller's lover, the Countess Krak, has arrived on planet Earth–determined to aid Heller and to cause problems for his mortal enemy, Soltan Gris. Sequel to //An Alien Affair// (DB 25211). Strong language and some descriptions of sex.
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Sixth book in the author's satiric science-fiction dekalogy, continuing the saga of the struggle between Jettero Heller (aided by his financee, Countess Krak) and ineffectual alien agent Soltan Gris. In this installment, Gris hires a hit man–and Krak is his target. Descriptions of sex.
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Satirical science fiction novel features a cast of strange aliens and stranger Earth men. Includes beleaguered Apparatus assassin Soltan Gris who continues his efforts to sabotage the mission aimed at saving Earth from drowning in its own pollution. Sequel to //Death Quest// (DB 25527). Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
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Things look bleak as villain Soltan Gris continues to sabotage the Voltarian mission to save Earth. The U.S. is about to declare war, the world's oil supply is radioactive, a black hole is in orbit, and even the New York mafia are under aerial assault. Some strong language. Book eight of the author's ten-volume Mission Earth series. Sequel to //Voyage of Vengeance// (DB 27337).
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The insane Lombar Hisst has taken control of the Voltarian Confederacy and sent a death battalion to take over Earth. Voltarian fleet officer Jettero Heller and the beautiful Countess Krak find themselves cast in the role of fugitives as it now appears that villainy has won the day. Some strong language. Book nine of the author's ten-volume series. Sequel to //Disaster// (DB 29155).
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Voltarian fleet officer Jettero Heller rallies with the rebel forces of Prince Mortiiy attempting to defeat the villainous Lombar Hisst. But can they breach the defenses of the seemingly impregnable Palace City where Hisst has taken refuge? And can they still save Earth from its scheduled invasion? Some strong language and descriptions of sex. Book ten of the Mission Earth series. Sequel to //Villainy Victorious// (DB 29156).
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First published in 1940. Shortly after publishing a paper deriding superstition and denying the existence of demons and devils, ethnologist James Lowry awakens on a sidewalk, with his clothes disheveled. The past four hours are a blank. As he desperately tries to find out what happened, he experiences a horrific realization that supernatural forces may be taking revenge.
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Deals with a single day–June 16, 1904–in the life of Leopold Bloom, a Dublin advertising salesman. The stream-of-consciousness style and the use of interior monologues expose the personalities of the characters. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 1922.
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Bombardier Yossarian desperately tries to stay alive during World War II. Military rules make it impossible for anyone to achieve the combat quota necessary to quit flying. Yossarian and his buddies concoct ways to avoid the ridiculous orders of their officers. Strong language and descriptions of sex.
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Against the glitter and recklessness of the Jazz Age, Jay Gatsby makes a desperate attempt to recapture the past and, along with it, the love of Daisy Buchanan. Amid extravagant parties at Gatsby's palatial estate, his neighbor narrates the story of his obsession with the American dream. 1925.
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In this science fiction novel with sociological and religious overtones, an exile with psychic powers becomes the prophet of the savage people on the planet Dune. Prequel to //Dune Messiah// (DB 19126).
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Luna is a twenty-first-century penal colony but, since no one can stand Earth gravity after being on the moon for a few weeks, all who are sent there must stay. When the liberated people rise against the authority, they receive unexpected help from a computer with a personality.
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Born and raised on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith returns to Earth unfamiliar with its cultural and social customs. Tutored in earthly matters by Jubal Harshaw, Smith evolves into a messianic figure preaching free love. Some explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language. Hugo Award. 1961.
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A young Englishwoman, taken prisoner of war in Malaya by the Japanese, is befriended by an Australian soldier, also a prisoner of war, who risks his life to help her. After the war she travels to Australia to repay her debt of gratitude and to begin a new life in the Australian outback. Original title, //The Legacy//.
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A satire set in a future technocratic society in which people are rigidly classified by the state and kept happy by a government-administered drug. When two bureaucrats, Lenina and Bernard, travel to a “savage” reservation, they “rescue” a woman and her adult son, abandoned long ago, and return them to civilization. For senior high and older readers.
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As Christmas vacation begins, Holden Caulfield recounts his feelings and reactions to flunking out of Pencey, his third prep school. Instead of heading straight home, he wanders around New York City. This account of his adventures conveys his dismay at the adult world. Strong language. For senior high and older readers.
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Classic political satire targets Soviet Communism. The animals on a farm overthrow their master and live a utopian life, until the intelligent pigs take over–and one establishes himself as dictator. 1946.
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A demanding novel of comic, terrifying incidents that traces the odyssey of the anti-hero, an American lieutenant stationed in London during World War II. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.
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Steinbeck's classic tale of the Joads, who, like many other families during the Great Depression, are driven from their homestead by drought, economic hardship, and the encroachment of large agricultural interests. They leave Oklahoma in search of a better life in California but meet with hardship and injustice. Pulitzer Prize. 1939.
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Billy Pilgrim, adrift in time, randomly revisits past and present manifestations: senile widower stalked by an assassin, hopeful young newlywed, giraffe on the planet Tralfamadore–where time is an illusion–and, most crucially, American POW during the firebombing of Dresden in World War II. Strong language. 1969.
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A romantic Civil War epic in which Scarlett O'Hara, a forceful and ruthless heroine, and Rhett Butler, a war profiteer, play out their tempestuous love affair against the background of the war-torn South. Pulitzer Prize.
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With horrifying implications, this novel relates the experiences of a group of English boys who are wrecked on a desert island and have to establish their own system of government. For junior and senior high and older readers.
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Wyoming territory, 1889. A mysterious stranger named Shane rides into the Starretts' ranch and learns of the trouble between cattle baron Fletcher and the homesteaders. Shane decides to stay and help the family keep their stake. Some violence. For senior high and older readers. 1949.
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Keith Stewart leads a simple life in London making mechanical models and writing for a hobby magazine. While he is temporarily caring for his niece her parents shipwreck off South America, carrying a fortune in diamonds to the bottom. Keith heads off to recover the girl's inheritance and finds adventure. 1960.
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When he was eleven years old, Owen Meany hit a foul ball that struck and killed the mother of his best pal, Johnny Wheelwright the story's narrator. Thereafter, Owen believes himself to be an instrument of God. What happens to the two pals after that accident is extraordinary and terrifying. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.
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'Superflu,' an experimental virus that can kill every conceivable type of antibody the human organism can muster against it, hits the United States and the world, rapidly wiping out the whole of civilization–except for the one-half of one percent who are immune. Spine-chilling moral fantasy. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex.
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England, 1860s and 1870s. Affianced amateur scientist Charles Smithson becomes obsessed with Sarah Woodruff, a scandalous woman believed to have been deserted by her French lover. In order to pursue Sarah, Charles breaks his engagement to Ernestina Freeman, the spoiled daughter of a merchant prince–but Sarah eludes him. 1969.
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Nobel Prize laureate's novel of slavery's aftermath. In post-Civil War Ohio, ex-slave Sethe hides a terrible secret about her past that alienates her children and community and threatens her burgeoning romance with another former slave, Paul D. Some descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. Pulitzer Prize. 1987.
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The heroic lords of Demonland are arrayed in epic battle against the minions of the warlock King Gorice XII. Against exotic landscapes, amidst swordplay and sorcery, passion and violence, intrigue and betrayal, and ample bloodletting, the Demon lords begin their odyssey toward an enchanted mountain and the final desperate battle. This adventure fantasy in archaic prose was first published in 1922 and is an acknowledged forerunner of its genre.
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In 1928 Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, the Compson brothers–Quentin, Jason, and the “idiot” son Benjy–narrate events that trace the gradual disintegration of the family and include the ostracism of their wanton sister, Caddy. 1929.
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Incarcerated and awaiting trial, widowed middle-aged professor Humbert Humbert tells of his erotic obsession with preadolescent girls–particularly twelve-year-old Dolly Haze, whom he calls Lolita. Humbert details his fascination with Lolita and describes their bizarre road trip. Some descriptions of sex and some violence. 1955.
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The rise and fall of a nineteenth-century Southern family is reconstructed by several narrators with differing views. A Southern gentleman attempts to found a dynasty but fails: he cannot see that human values are superior to social mores.
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Philip Carey is a sensitive, talented, orphan with a club foot who cannot find his true vocation. He begins a love affair with a waitress hardly suspecting it will drastically alter the course of his life. This semi-autobiographical novel of tortured, obsessive love was first published in 1915.
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Hazel Motes, a twenty-two-year-old caught in an unending struggle against his innate, desperate faith, falls under the spell of a “blind” street preacher named Asa Hawks and his degenerate fifteen-year-old daughter, Lily Sabbath. Contains strong language.
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Quauhnahuac, Mexico; 1938. On the Day of the Dead, Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic former British consul, is consumed by the arrival of his ex-wife Yvonne. Her mission to save Geoffrey is complicated by the presence of Geoffrey's half brother and a childhood friend. Some violence and some strong language. 1947.
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A novel of ambition, love, and revenge that spans sixty years, three continents, and two wars, about a man who pursues a saint in order to find the meaning of sainthood.
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Gypsy-cab driver Hank intervenes in the mugging of photojournalist Lily and is shot. Two mysterious crow sisters kill the mugger and heal Lily and Hank, arousing their interest to learn more about the “animal people.” Their quest strengthens the bond forming between them.
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The adventures of free-spirited Dean Moriarty, Sal Paradise, and their eclectic friends as they traverse North America by bus, car (both stolen and borrowed), and thumb on a wild, anarchic quest for identity and purpose. Classic autobiographical portrayal of the beat generation. Descriptions of sex and some strong language. 1957.
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An allegorical tale of a man's journey by steamboat to the center of the Congo. As he penetrates its forbidding interior, he faces an increasing propensity for inhumanity in himself and in others.
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Collection of three novels and five short stories spanning the years 1919 to 1933. The title piece chronicles a university expedition to Antarctica, where strange fossils and extremely old ruins are found. 1943.
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Private investigator Mike Hammer takes on cases involving murder and mayhem, kidnapping, communism, suicide, and a bacterial plague. Explicit descriptions of sex, violence, and strong language. 1970.
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Magical creatures exist just beyond the perception of ordinary humans. Isabelle Copley, student of the mysterious artist Vincent Rushkin, learns the force of her paintings to bring the magical creatures to life. Now, twenty years after her power brought unexpected tragedy, she returns to the town of Newford to resume her painting and to use the magic of her brush to fulfill a promise to a long-dead friend. Some strong language.
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During summer visits to the Scottish coast, members of the Ramsey family reveal their personal challenges and innermost thoughts. Youngest child James must forfeit a yearned-for visit to the lighthouse. Ten years later, James, surviving family members, and former guests complete the long-delayed outing. Includes Eudora Welty's 1981 foreword. 1927.
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New Orleans. Apathetic young businessman and avid movie fan Binx Bolling undertakes a quest for authenticity that outrages his family, endangers his aunt's fragile stepdaughter Kate, and leads him into the chaos of Mardi Gras–during which he opens up to love. Some strong language. National Book Award. 1960.
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Max Trader, an introverted artisan, wakes up one morning and finds himself in another man's body, that of the wastrel Johnny Devlin. While Max ponders how to reclaim his life, he encounters people and situations that cause him to reevaluate the meaning of living. Some strong language and some violence.
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When the Earth is demolished to make room for a galatic freeway, sole earth survivor Arthur Dent is forced to take up a life of hitchhiking around the cosmos with the aid of an alien friend and a book called 'Hitchhikers's Guide to the Galaxy.' Deadpan science fiction parody. 1980.
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Deep South, 1930s. John Singer, who is deaf and mute, feels content until his best friend, also mute, is committed to a mental institution. Singer, who can read lips, becomes the confidante of several town residents, all of whom want answers to their problems. Some strong language. 1940.
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Set in the future, the United States of America is now the Republic of Gilead, a fundamentalist Christian theocracy that arose after fanatics shot the president, machine-gunned the Congress and forced the army to declare a state of emergency. To reverse the declining birthrate, women are forcibly recruited into the ranks of Handmaids and are assigned to the Commanders of the Faithful, whose wives are barren. Some strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller 1986.
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1850s. A teenager known only as the Kid runs away from his alcoholic father in Tennessee. The Kid journeys west to the Texas-Mexico borderlands, where he encounters a ruthless paramilitary gang sent by the government to scalp Indians. Includes a 2005 introduction by Harold Bloom. Violence and strong language. 1985.
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A 15-year-old hooligan named Alex roams the streets of London terrorizing people at random. He is arrested and subjected to corrective brainwashing with unanticipated results. The author adds a flavor of reality of his prophecy of future urban life by inventing the teenage dialect of “nadsat.” Violence and strong language.
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An atomic war has destroyed all life in the Northern Hemisphere and the lethal fallout is moving southward. A group of people in Australia, including American navy Commander Dwight Towers, are faced with impending annihilation. They must decide how to spend the precious days remaining to them. 1957.
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Largely autobiographical novel portrays the Irish childhood, adolescence, and early manhood of Stephen Dedalus, who is one of the leading characters of “Ulysses” (DB 19994). Stephen's growing self-awareness as an artist forces him to reject the narrow world in which he has been brought up.
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In a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against insectoid aliens, Ender Wiggin is chosen at the age of six to be trained as the military genius who will carry his people to victory. Along with his brother Peter and his sister Valentine, he not only brings the conflict to an end, but also affects the evolution of human society. Strong language.
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Musician Janey Little discovers an unknown fantasy novel, entitled The Little Country, in her grandfather's Cornwall home. She finds that the book contains a magic that somehow connects her real-world life with the action of the story itself. A chain of events is unleashed in both the actual world and in the book that bring the forces of good and evil into sharp conflict.
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Thousands of years in the future, a young man joins mobile infantry and fights in an interplanetary war against insect-like aliens. Hugo Award.
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A wealthy group of English and American ex-patriates in post-World War I Europe move from the boulevards of Paris to the bullfights of Spain–bathing, eating, and drinking. The disillusioned characters reflect the war-weary “lost generation” of the 1920s. Some strong language.
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The fictional life and times of T.S. Garp, famous writer and son of Jenny, an early feminist leader. Named after a father he never sees, Garp grows up to be a fiercely independent, determined individual and his mother's equal. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1978.
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Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, both thirteen, are fascinated by the carnival that comes to their small town. But after a series of frightening events, the boys realize there is something sinister about the show and its owner. 1962.
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During his scientific investigation of the ghosts in an old abandoned house, Dr. Montague invites a young man and two women to participate in his experiments.
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The Bundrens, poor whites in Mississippi, face numerous obstacles as they trek across the countryside to deliver their mother's body for burial in her home town. First published in 1930; this edition includes changes made by Noel Polk in 1985 based on the author's notes.
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Recounts the experiences, sensations, and thoughts of a young expatriate American writer and his friends in 1930s Paris as they scrounge for food, read and converse, and have relationships. The author's autobiographical first novel initially published in 1934. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 1934.\\
Classic novel of a young black man's search for identity. Follows the unnamed protagonist from his youth in a Southern town through the depression years in Harlem, where he examines and rejects the values thrust on him by both whites and blacks. Some strong language. National Book Award 1953. 1947.
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A young English school-teacher, Nicolas Urfe, accepts a teaching assignment in Greece. The solitude of the Greek island drives him to the beautiful, but sinister, domain of the mysterious sorcerer Conchis. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.
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Betrayed by his girl and his business partner, a man is robbed of his business assets and left with only his pet tomcat to confide in. As a final blow he is forced into a thirty-year-long sleep in suspended animation. Awakening in the year 2000, he is determined to pick up the pieces of his life and somehow avenge himself on those who betrayed him.
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Recounts a man's cross-country motorcycle trip with his eleven-year-old son and his philosophic digressions on sanity and on living an authentic life. This 1999 twenty-fifth anniversary edition contains a new introduction by the author and his afterword to the tenth edition.
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Realistic story purports to be the lost autobiography of the emperor Claudius, who lived from 10 B.C. to 54 A.D. It vividly depicts the political conspiracies, superstitions, orgies, and incest within imperial Rome. Violence.
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Buck, a St. Bernard mix, is stolen and trained to be a sled dog in the Alaskan gold fields. Abused by both men and dogs, Buck learns to fight ruthlessly until he finds a master, John Thornton, whom he loves and respects. For senior high and older readers. 1903.
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Social satire set in the future, when owning or reading books is a crime. Guy Montag, a fireman charged with destroying books, becomes a fugitive when he succumbs to temptation. 1953.
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Social satire is subordinated to the progress of a likable young doctor toward a career of scientific research, and to a tender love story. His wife, Leora, is a wholly believable and sympathetic character.
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A fable about a band of rabbits who set out bravely for a new home in the English countryside. They encounter many dangers and adventures along the way, and finally make it to safety after rescuing some does who become their mates. For junior and senior high and older readers.
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Graphic, postmodern satire depicting a world of drug addicts, narcotics police, ward psychologists, and sex through the altered perceptions of a delirious junkie. New edition restoring some passages from Burroughs's original manuscript published in 1959 that were omitted in later editions. Explicit descriptions of sex, strong language, and some violence.
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The entire crew of “Red October,” a new Soviet missile submarine under the command of Marko Ramius, is defecting to the United States. Most of the Russian navy is sent to the U.S. Atlantic coast to find and destroy the sub. Jack Ryan, a CIA data analyst, gets the job of making contact with Ramius, and the United States mobilizes all its resources to protect our shores and the sub. Some strong language.
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Supernatural crime fighter Anita Blake reluctantly attends her friend Catherine's bachelorette party at master vampire Jean-Claude's strip club, Guilty Pleasures. A performer takes Catherine under his power and forces Anita to investigate several gruesome vampire murders to save Catherine's life. Violence, some descriptions of sex, and some strong language. 1993.
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Three secret-service agents must find a way to halt the invasion of earth by alien monsters who have the ability to control men's thoughts and actions.
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It began in 1958 when seven imperiled children searched in the drains beneath the New England town of Derry for the horror they believed lurked there. Twenty-seven years later those children, now grown, recall their buried memories. Again, the most heinous violence awaits them. Strong language, violence, and some descriptions of sex.
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A wild, discursive tale of two men and an unknown woman called “V.” Benny Profane, inveterate victim, is set in contrast to the young adventurer called Stencil, whose life quest is to discover the identity of V., whose initial appears in his dead father's journal. Some strong language and some violence.
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An unemployed actor in the year 2100 takes a drink from a space pilot and finds himself shanghaied to Mars for the most important and dangerous role of his career. He is coerced into impersonating a prominent and controversial public figure.
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Thorby is taken from his parents at an early age and knows many cruel masters in his childhood. Now he is sold again–this time to a decrepit beggar named Baslim. After living with Baslim for a while, Thorby realizes that Baslim is involved in more than begging. Thorby promises that when Baslim dies, Thorby will deliver a message for him. But delivery of the message lands Thorby in an alien spaceship where he becomes both guest and prisoner.
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Waugh's classic exploration of faith, tradition, and moral values in a rapidly changing Britain. Charles Ryder narrates the story of an aristocratic Catholic family between the First and Second World Wars. Charles first meets alcoholic Sebastian Flyte at Oxford and later falls in love with Sebastian's married sister, Julia. 1945.
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Joe Christmas, an orphan of mixed blood, travels to the South, seeking a place and people with whom he can belong. But he is soon hardened by white and black bigotry.
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Chief Bromden, a long-term inmate of a mental institution, relates the story of a struggle for control of the ward, centering around the hateful, authoritarian Nurse Ratched and a new patient, the fiercely independent Randle Patrick McMurphy. Some strong language. 1962.
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Romance between American lieutenant Frederic Henry in the ambulance service in Italy during World War I and the English nurse Catherine Barkley, who tends him when he is wounded. When Catherine becomes pregnant, she refuses to marry Frederic.
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Three American travelers, Tunner and young couple Kit and Port, are adrift in the deserts and cities of North Africa after World War II. The trio's inability to comprehend the foreign culture mirrors their personal psychological frailty–and ultimately leads to their downfall. 1949.
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Oregon timber country. A bitter labor strike against old Henry Stamper's lumber empire intensifies his two sons' rivalry. Hank, rough-hewn like his father, is eventually provoked to fight his sensitive half-brother Lee, who has returned home intent on revenge. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. 1963.
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A lawyer recalls his Nebraska boyhood and the girl who was a strong influence on his life in this novel about pioneering conditions and the assimilation of the immigrant.
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After serving time in the workhouse, young Suttree chooses a ramshackle houseboat on the Tennessee River instead of his family's conventional lifestyle. Drifting through the seamy side of Knoxville in the early 1950s, he encounters whores, petty thieves, and derelicts, but remains emotionally detached from his surroundings. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 1979.
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The Huxley family lives on the edge of Ryhope Wood, a forest in a remote corner of Britain. One by one, the Huxley men are drawn into the wild, primitive life of Ryhope Wood. They are lured by their curiosity, by the beauty of one of the mythical beings living there, and by their lust for power over the beast-like humans who inhabit the wood. 1984.
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Richard earns a living by barnstorming and by giving three dollar rides in his old biplane. One day a mysterious pilot lands next to Richard and tells him “There are some things you do not know.” The visitor, a retired Messiah from Indiana, teaches Richard that the world is an illusion and reality lies within one's self.
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A journalist writing a series of articles on old Toronto asks Dr. Hullah to reminisce about the sudden death of an Anglican priest twenty years earlier. The doctor obliges willingly, but not without recalling certain youthful events, including his encounter with a Native American medicine woman and a stint in the army, and airing his thoughts on the arts. Yet one question vexes him: why did Father Hobbes die? Some strong language.
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When two Indian-born actors fall from an exploded hijacked airplane onto an English Channel beach, they must overcome violent personal conflicts in order to survive the catastrophe. Gibreel acquires a halo, but Saladin begins to take on the appearance of the devil, and from here on the story becomes a tale of good and evil.
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