One of Maugham's rare experiments with form, the novel is a trio of stories that portrays a vivid spectrum of life in Edwardian London; from the backstreets to the suburbs and high society. The stories brilliantly depict the pressure of convention and complex webs of interaction in which his characters struggle to assert themselves. The stories are linked by one of his endearing characters, Miss Ley. Through the eyes of this delightfully witty and independent spinster, you are treated to a compelling vision of the interplay between love and reason. We live through the daughter of a dean's brief but happy marriage to a dying poet; a woman's adulterous passion for a young rascal which only serves to make her a more sympathetic wife, and finally, an honourable man's decision to take virtue to extremes.
Hoy, como ayer nos sitúa en la Italia de los Borgia, en el siglo XVI, y nos relata tres meses de la vida de Niccolo Maquiavelo, escritor, filósofo y diplomado. Niccolo, acompañado por su sobrino Piero, sera enviado a Imola para negociar con Cesar Borgia y defender Florencia, su ciudad natal. Ambos personajes intercambiaran iingeniosos dialogos sobre etica, moralidad, politica y su manera de entender la vida. Borgia sera el personaje en el que mas tarde Maquiavelo se basara para escribir El Principe.Paralelamente a las intrigas politicas, Maquiavelo intenta seducir a la mujer de su anfitrion en Imola, una trama basada en su obra teatral comica La mandragora.
This is an Elementary Level title in a series of ELT readers comprising a wide range of stories - some original and some simplified - from modern and classic novels, and designed to appeal to all age-groups, tastes and cultures. The books are divided into five levels: Starter Level, with about 300 basic words; Beginner Level (600 basic words); Elementary Level (1100); Intermediate Level (1600); and Upper Level (2200). Some of the titles are also available on cassette.
This final, classic collection of stories reveals Maugham''s unique talent for exposing and exploring the bitter realities of human relationships. Included are: "The Lotus Eater", "The Outstation" an
A celebrated writer by the time the war broke out in 1914, Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the Secret Service to Lucerne - under the guise of completing a play. An assignment whose danger and drama appealed both to his sense of romance and of the ridiculous. The stories collected in ASHENDEN are rooted in Maugham''s own experiences as an agent, reflecting the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as absurdity.
Autobiographical without being an autobiography, confessional without disclosing his private self, The Summing Up, written when Maugham was sixty-four, is an inimitable expression of a personal credo.
