This book is an instance in which the whole community is mistaken in its apperception of reality, while an adolescent gets it right. In fact, he maintains that systematic doubt allows us to keep things in check. Without it, knowledge would have remained still from the past to eternity

It's about Marcel, an adolescent with a precocious objectivity, sense of humor and determination. He sets out to show to the whole city in which he was born and lives that their traditional fears are baseless.

Augustus Valerii’s reign over the Parisian territory has always been tumultuous. A much-sought after feeding ground, many would risk taking on the elder to have what he owns. He’s suffered several attempted coups from his own family and those who were delusional in their vain need for glory. With his declining health, Augustus doesn’t notice the subtle hints that are shown, missing the vital clues that another threat is lingering on the horizon. With a jilted lover to contend with, the last thing he needs is another nightmare. But the rising issue with the shadow figure has given him just that and now Augustus has a political refugee to deal with. Augustus finds himself in a difficult situation, finding the woman to be permanently at the centre of his attention, his desire grows with each crazy moment. And when he thought that life couldn’t get any more difficult, his dark secret develops into a situation that cannot remain hidden. One little secret that he’s kept for two hundred years could be his undoing.

The third volume of one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century Mark Treharne's acclaimed new translation of The Guermantes Way will introduce a new generation of American readers to the literary richness of Marcel Proust. The third volume in Penguin Classics' superb new edition of In Search of Lost Time—the first completely new translation of Proust's masterpiece since the 1920s—brings us a more comic and lucid prose than English readers have previously been able to enjoy. After the relative intimacy of the first two volumes of In Search of Lost Time, The Guermantes Way opens up a vast, dazzling landscape of fashionable Parisian life in the late nineteenth century, as the narrator enters the brilliant, shallow world of the literary and aristocratic salons. Both a salute to and a devastating satire of a time, place, and culture, The Guermantes Way defines the great tradition of novels that follow the initiation of a young man into the ways of the world.

This important theoretical work by Paul de Man sets forth a mode of reading and interpretation based on exemplary texts by Rousseau, Nietzsche, Rilke, and Proust. The readings start from unresolved difficulties in the critical traditions engendered by these authors, and they return to the places in the text where those difficulties are most apparent or most incisively reflected upon. The close reading leads to the elaboration of a more general model of textual understanding, in which de Man shows that the thematic aspects of the texts--their assertions of truth or falsehood as well as their assertions of values--are linked to specific modes of figuration that can be identified and described. The description of synchronic figures of substitution leads, by an inner logic embedded in the structure of all tropes, to extended, narrative figures or allegories. De Man poses the question whether such self-generating systems of figuration can account fully for the intricacies of meaning and of signification they produce. Throughout the book, issues in contemporary criticism are addressed analytically rather than polemically. Traditional oppositions are put in question by a rhetorical analysis which demonstrates why literary texts are such powerful sources of meaning yet epistemologically so unreliable. Since the structure which underlies this tension belongs to language in general and is not confined to literary texts, the book, starting out as practical and historical criticism or as the demonstration of a theory of literary reading, leads into larger questions pertaining to the philosophy of language. "Through elaborate and elegant close readings of poems by Rilke, Proust's Remembrance, Nietzsche's philosophical writings and the major works of Rousseau, de Man concludes that all writing concerns itself with its own activity as language, and language, he says, is always unreliable, slippery, impossible....Literary narrative, because it must rely on language, tells the story of its own inability to tell a story....De Man demonstrates, beautifully and convincingly, that language turns back on itself, that rhetoric is untrustworthy."--Julia Epstein, Washington Post Book World "The study follows out of the thinking of Nietzsche and Genette (among others), yet moves in strikingly new directions....De Man's text, almost certain to be endlessly provocative, is worthy of repeated re-reading."--Ralph Flores, Library Journal "Paul de Man continues his work in the tradition of 'deconstructionist criticism, '... which] begins with the observation that all language is constructed; therefore the task of criticism is to deconstruct it and reveal what lies behind. The title of his new work reflects de Man's preoccupation with the unreliability of language. ... The contributions that the book makes, both in the initial theoretical chapters and in the detailed analyses (or deconstructions) of particular texts are undeniable."--Caroline D. Eckhardt, World Literature Today

The war creates new demands for Molly and Nellie's families, as well as a few surprises. In Sweet Rosie O'Grady, Joan Jonker brings us another instalment of her hugely popular Molly and Nellie series, as the two friends get up to more mischief in their beloved Liverpool. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Nadine Dorries. Neighbours Molly Bennett and Nellie McDonough are thrilled to see their children settling down. Jill and Steve are making wedding plans and Doreen waits patiently at home for Phil's next leave. But the Second World War is separating loved ones forever and the future looks bleak... Then Rosie O'Grady arrives in Liverpool from Ireland and Molly and Nellie are in for a treat. With her sparkling blue eyes and youthful charm, sweet Rosie O'Grady is like a breath of fresh air. Her direct approach to life soon has everyone crying with laughter; and Molly's son, Tommy, who used to think girls were nothing but a nuisance, is in for a pleasant surprise... What readers are saying about Sweet Rosie O'Grady: 'Carrying on the saga of Molly and Nellie, two extremely funny and big-hearted ladies, this book will not disappoint Joan fans anywhere!... Oh, and fans of Nellie will love all of the tricks that she gets up to in this book!' 'Another great read from Joan Jonker. Her books contain a little bit of everything, sadness and humour in vast quantities, she certainly knew how to put a smile on the reader's face. FABULOUS READ'