August 2024 – The Elephant's Book Shop

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Complete & Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by James Joyce

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) is the first novel by Irish writer James Joyce. Written in a modernist style, with unconventional punctuation and stream-of-consciousness narration, it follows the religious, social and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce’s fictional alter ego. Stephen questions and rebels against the Catholic and Irish conventions under which he has grown, culminating in his self-exile from Ireland to Europe. The work uses techniques that Joyce developed more fully in Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939). Continue reading “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”

Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey
Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey is a coming-of-age story and satire of the Gothic novels which were pervasive in late 18th century England. The story follows Catherine Morland, a 17-year-old who lacks life experience and is determined to see the best in people. Her fondness for Gothic novels and active imagination distort her view of the world, and while she has a good-natured personality and is observant she is also naïve, not seeing the underlying intentions in people’s actions.

With Austen’s characteristic wit, and sarcasm the novel follows Catherine as she matures and acquires a better understanding of people’s natures, of herself, and of the world around her. Continue reading “Northanger Abbey”

The Great Gatsby [Large Print]

The Great Gatsby
Unabridged Large Print Edition
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This quality large print edition is not a machine-scanned text or reproduced “blowup” of an old version. It contains the unabridged original classic version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, freshly edited and formatted by human editors and printed on heavyweight 6″x9″ bright white paper, with a fully laminated cover featuring an original design. We have used a non-serif font, spacing between paragraphs, and no justification on the right margin in keeping with the current guidelines for readability in large print books. Additionally, we have not inserted unnecessary blank pages or large whitespaces before chapter headings to reduce the consumption of resources.

Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, “The Great Gatsby” (1925) depicts the interactions of first-person narrator Nick Carraway with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby’s obsessive pursuit of a reunion with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. Continue reading “The Great Gatsby [Large Print]”

The Border Legion

The Border Legion
Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by Zane Grey

This quality volume is not machine-scanned or a reproduction of an older edition. Prepared by human editors, it presents the complete unabridged text of Zane Grey’s classic tale in a freshly edited and newly formatted edition printed on heavyweight bright white paper with a fully laminated cover. A generous 6″x9″ page size and 11-point print make this edition easier on the eyes than most modern “trade” or “grocery store” paperbacks.

A classic of the western genre by master storyteller Zane Grey, “The Border Legion” follows the story of Jack Kells, a notorious outlaw leading the feared Border Legion, a gang of ruthless bandits terrorizing the Wild West. Kells encounters Joan Randle, a strong-willed and courageous woman who becomes a pivotal figure in his life. Continue reading “The Border Legion”

In The Mayor’s Parlour (Annotated)

In The Mayor’s Parlour
by J. S. Fletcher
Original Classic Edition, Annotated

This Apex Classic Mysteries Edition is not an electronic scan or reproduction. The text has been formatted and edited by human editors faithfully following the second edition published in London in 1922. With a generous 6×9 page size, it is printed on heavyweight bright white paper with a fully laminated cover featuring an original design.

Fletcher’s writings often contain “phonetic” spellings intended to convey a character’s manner of speech, as well as actual words from the old northern English dialect and Latin legal terms. Apex editors have annotated dialectical or legal terms where the meaning may be unclear or confusing, or particularly obscure to the modern reader. Continue reading “In The Mayor’s Parlour (Annotated)”

Persuasion

Persuasion
Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by Jane Austen

Persuasion is Jane Austen’s last completed novel, published six months after her death in 1817, along with Northanger Abbey.

The story follows Anne Elliot, a 27-year-old Englishwoman whose family moves and rents their home to an admiral and his wife to lower their expenses and reduce their debt. The wife’s brother, Captain Frederick Wentworth, had been engaged to Anne earlier, but Anne was persuaded by her friends and family to break the engagement because his low social status and lack of wealth made him an unsuitable match for a woman of her social standing. Continue reading “Persuasion”

Treasure Island [Large Print]

Treasure Island
Unabridged Large Print Edition
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island…

Peg legs, parrots, and buried treasure… with “Treasure Island” Robert Louis Stevenson indelibly marked the popular perception of pirates for future generations.

The tale that became “Treasure Island” began with a “treasure map” drawn for his 12-year-old stepson and the pirate story Stevenson spun to go along with the map. Published in serial form in 1881 and 1882 and in book form in 1883, “Treasure Island” brought him widespread popularity, launched his career as a profitable writer, and by the end of the 1880s, was one of the era’s most widely read books. Continue reading “Treasure Island [Large Print]”

Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park
Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by Jane Austen

This quality unabridged classic edition is not a machine scanned or facsimile reproduction of an older edition. Edited and formatted by human editors, it is printed on heavyweight bright white paper with a fully laminated cover and 6×9 page size.

Mansfield Park was Jane Austen’s third novel, first published in 1814. Characterized by Austen’s dry wit and biting satire, its tone and discussion of religion and religious duty, propriety and morality, obedience, privacy, and adultery has resulted in its description as both the most serious and mature and the most problematic of Austen’s novels. Continue reading “Mansfield Park”

Dubliners

Dubliners
The Complete & Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by James Joyce

Dubliners is the first of James Joyce’s major works to be published in book form, preceded by Chamber Music, a volume of poetry which appeared in 1907.

Dubliners is not a novel, but consists of a series of fifteen short stories, which Joyce intended to accurately reflect the life of the contemporary middle class in Ireland. Each story centers around the “epiphany”, that moment of clarity when a character suddenly understands, for the first time, something important or fundamental about themselves, their life or their surroundings. The arrangement of the stories mirrors the progress of human life, as the protagonists of the stories advance as life progresses, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood and old age. Continue reading “Dubliners”

Charles Dickens eBook Collection – Novels

Charles Dickens’ novels were initially serialised in weekly and monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.
Dickens also wrote numerous short stories of varying lengths, and several pieces of intermediate length generally considered novellas. This collection includes the works recognized as novels.

Subsequent printings have generally dropped the lengthy titles and sub-titles of most of Dickens’ work. This list provides the most common title by which the works are best known and, in most cases, the original title as first published. Continue reading “Charles Dickens eBook Collection – Novels”