Modern Library classics

"John Milton's Paradise Lost, an epic poem on the clash between God and his fallen angel, Satan, is a profound meditation on fate, free will, and divinity, and one of the most, beautiful works in world literature. Extracted from the Modern Library's highly acclaimed The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton, this edition reflects up-to-date scholarship and includes a substantial introduction, fresh commentary, and other features - annotations on Milton's classical allusions, a chronology of the writer's life, clean page layouts, and an index - that make it the definitive twenty-first-century presentation of John Milton's timeless signature work."--Page 4 of cover.

Translation of the 1847 French novel about Lisbeth Fischer, a conniving poor relation whose relationship with her beautiful cousin's sexually indiscriminate husband offers her the opportunity to exact vengeance upon the family.

In early nineteenth-century England, a spirited young woman copes with the courtship of a snobbish gentleman as well as the romantic entanglements of her four sisters.

Contains the complete text of the 1860 novel about Pip, an orphan in Victorian England who is plucked from a life of poverty and informed he is to be educated and reared as a gentleman; and includes a biographical note on the author, an introduction by playwright Bernard Shaw, notes, and commentary.

Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen, two intelligent, incisive, and observant sisters pursue thrilling, torrid affairs, but their search for more mature emotional relationships reveals some startling information about themselves as well as their lovers, Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich.

Presents the first part of Renaissance poet Dante Alighieri's epic poem, describing a man's journey through Hell in search of paradise, and featuring side-by-side English and Italian, along with Gustav Dor?'s illustrations and notes on the text.

A young Lithuanian immigrant, hoping to create a good life for himself and his family in the early 1900s, is discouraged by the shocking conditions he encounters as a worker in the Chicago stockyards.

French swindler and scoundrel Augustus Melmotte arrives in London determined to secure a marriage for his daughter that will raise their station in society, and settles on Felix, the adored son of Lady Carbury, who is induced to propose for the sake of securing a fortune.

A moral allegory, set in ancient India, about one soul's quest for the ultimate answer to the enigma of man's role in this world. The hero, Siddhartha, undergoes a series of experiences to emerge in a state of peace and wisdom.

Presents a collection of seven short stories by nineteenth-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, and features "Notes from the Underground," the first major work of existential literature.