An Aspidistra in Babylon

An Aspidistra in Babylon PDF Author: H.E. Bates
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1448215374
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
First published in 1960, this collection of four novellas continue Bates's sensitive, often witty, explorations of unhappy love. The title story, 'An Aspidistra in Babylon', is a reminiscence of a girl's loss of innocence. Christine, who describes herself at eighteen as 'dull as one of the aspidistras that cluttered up ... our little boarding house' is seduced by the forty-year-old Captain Blaine, who charms her imagination with stories of a life on the Continent. 'A Month by the Lake' is a comedy of errors set in 1920s Lake Como revolving around two middle-aged vacationers unable to express their affection for each other. A film version starring James Fox, Vanessa Redgrave, and Uma Thurman was directed by John Irvin in 1995. Also featured in this collection is 'A Prospect of Orchards', as narrated by a familiarly mild-mannered Bates character, concerning unfolding affections and blossoming relationships in this quirky tale of extra-marital intrigue. In contrast to this is the darker tone of 'The Grapes of Paradise', where the narrator relates the tale of a fellow traveller in Tahiti, laced with callousness, jealousy, and violence. Included in this edition is bonus story 'The Duet', first published in 1935 and never before featured in any collection. It is the tale of a young choirmaster's son, eager for the autographs of two famous singers. Ignored throughout the day, he follows the players he now considers haughty to a private room where, though the keyhole, he spies an intimate and affectionate scene between them that changes his perceptions completely. The Spectator calls Bates 'a supreme anecdotalist, endowed with vast self-confidence and the gift of imagery ten times the size of life.'

An Aspidistra in Babylon

An Aspidistra in Babylon PDF Author: H.E. Bates
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1448215374
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
First published in 1960, this collection of four novellas continue Bates's sensitive, often witty, explorations of unhappy love. The title story, 'An Aspidistra in Babylon', is a reminiscence of a girl's loss of innocence. Christine, who describes herself at eighteen as 'dull as one of the aspidistras that cluttered up ... our little boarding house' is seduced by the forty-year-old Captain Blaine, who charms her imagination with stories of a life on the Continent. 'A Month by the Lake' is a comedy of errors set in 1920s Lake Como revolving around two middle-aged vacationers unable to express their affection for each other. A film version starring James Fox, Vanessa Redgrave, and Uma Thurman was directed by John Irvin in 1995. Also featured in this collection is 'A Prospect of Orchards', as narrated by a familiarly mild-mannered Bates character, concerning unfolding affections and blossoming relationships in this quirky tale of extra-marital intrigue. In contrast to this is the darker tone of 'The Grapes of Paradise', where the narrator relates the tale of a fellow traveller in Tahiti, laced with callousness, jealousy, and violence. Included in this edition is bonus story 'The Duet', first published in 1935 and never before featured in any collection. It is the tale of a young choirmaster's son, eager for the autographs of two famous singers. Ignored throughout the day, he follows the players he now considers haughty to a private room where, though the keyhole, he spies an intimate and affectionate scene between them that changes his perceptions completely. The Spectator calls Bates 'a supreme anecdotalist, endowed with vast self-confidence and the gift of imagery ten times the size of life.'

The Indestructible Houseplant

The Indestructible Houseplant PDF Author: Tovah Martin
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1604697059
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
“Tovah Martin has weeded through the world of indoor plants to find over 200 options tough enough for anyone to grow.”—The American Gardener Brown thumb? No problem. The Indestructible Houseplant is packed with indoor plants that are tough, beautiful, reliable, and virtually impossible to kill. In addition to plant profiles with concise information on water, light, and blooming times, this gorgeous book includes tips on care, maintenance, and ideas for combining houseplants in eye-catching indoor displays. Follow Martin’s sage advice and you’ll have a thriving urban jungle in no time.

A Cultural History of Plants in the Modern Era

A Cultural History of Plants in the Modern Era PDF Author: Stephen Forbes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350259411
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
A Cultural History of Plants in the Modern Era covers the period from 1920 to today - a time when population growth, industrialization, global trade, and consumerism have fundamentally reshaped our relationship with plants. Advances in agriculture, science, and technology have revolutionised the ways we feed ourselves, whilst urbanization and industrial processing have reduced our direct connection with living plants. At the same time, our understanding of both ecology and conservation have greatly increased and our appreciation of the meanings and aesthetics of plants continue to suffuse art and everyday culture. The modern era has witnessed a revolution in both the valuation and the destruction of the natural world - more than ever before, we understand that the vitality of our relationship with plants will shape our future. The 6 volume set of the Cultural History of Plants presents the first comprehensive history of the uses and meanings of plants from prehistory to today. The themes covered in each volume are plants as staple foods; plants as luxury foods; trade and exploration; plant technology and science; plants and medicine; plants in culture; plants as natural ornaments; the representation of plants. Stephen Forbes is an independent scholar and writer, based in Australia. Volume 6 in the Cultural History of Plants set. General Editors: Annette Giesecke, University of Delaware, USA, and David Mabberley, University of Oxford, UK.

H.E. Bates

H.E. Bates PDF Author: Dean R. Baldwin
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
ISBN: 9780941664240
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Reevaluates the accomplishments of the British writer within the context of major literary movements and cross-currents. It considers all areas of his work including his stories of country life; war stories and novels; his best work, Love for Lydia; and his highly acclaimed nonfiction on environmental issues.

H.E. Bates

H.E. Bates PDF Author: Peter Eads
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description


Spirits of Community

Spirits of Community PDF Author: K. D. M. Snell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474268854
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
Concern about the 'decline of community', and the theme of 'community spirit', are internationally widespread in the modern world. The English past has featured many representations of declining community, expressed by those who lamented its loss in quite different periods and in diverse genres. This book analyses how community spirit and the passing of community have been described in the past – whether for good or ill – with an eye to modern issues, such as the so-called 'loneliness epidemic' or the social consequences of alternative structures of community. It does this through examination of authors such as Thomas Hardy, James Wentworth Day, Adrian Bell and H.E. Bates, by appraising detective fiction writers, analysing parish magazines, considering the letter writing of the parish poor in the 18th and 19th centuries, and through the depictions of realist landscape painters such as George Morland. K. D. M. Snell addresses modern social concerns, showing how many current preoccupations had earlier precedents. In presenting past representations of declining communities, and the way these affected individuals of very different political persuasions, the book draws out lessons and examples from the past about what community has meant hitherto, setting into context modern predicaments and judgements about 'spirits of community' today.

House Plants

House Plants PDF Author: Mike Maunder
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1789145449
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Exploring the economics, science, and cultural significance of houseplants, a many-tendrilled history of our domestic, pot-bound companions. Our penchant for keeping houseplants is an ancient practice dating back to the Pharaohs. House Plants explores the stories behind the plants we bring home and how they were transformed from wild plants into members of our households. A billion-dollar global industry, house plants provide interaction with nature and contribute to our health, happiness, and well-being. They also support their own miniature ecosystems and are part of the home biome. Featuring many superb illustrations, House Plants explores both their botanical history and cultural impact, from song (Gracie Fields’s “Biggest Aspidistra in the World”), literature (Orwell’s Keep the Aspidistra Flying), and cinema (Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors) to fashion, technology, contemporary design, and painting.

More than an Actor

More than an Actor PDF Author: W. Grey Champion
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1641383453
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Well-bred, educated at Eton and the Central School for Speech and Drama in London, the youngest of four boys in an upper-class family, Peter H. was in many ways the embodiment of Englishness, from the way he took his tea to his love of Shakespeare. Encouraged by his wonderful mother, he chose a career in acting and, under the tutelage of Sir Laurence Olivier at the British National Theatre Company, became a stellar performer - a classical actor in the postwar era of gritty realism. W. Grey Champion's narrative, relying on contemporary accounts of people who knew Peter, tells the haunting story of the man himself - beset by misfortune and tragedy, which aggravated mental and physical disorders ending his life too soon. The author withholds Peter's stage name early on in order to accentuate his vision of a truly superlative person, who was much more than an actor. A compelling imaginative read that pays tribute to the memory of the venerable Jeremy Brett (Peter Jeremy William Huggins). - Linda Pritchard

Granada Television--The First Generation

Granada Television--The First Generation PDF Author: John Finch
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719065156
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This is a rich and readable collection of memoirs of those who worked at Granada during the first thirty years of its existence. It captures a climate of creative activity unique in the history of broadcasting, referred to now as the Golden Years of British Television. Lords Birt and Macdonald, Sir Denis Forman, Michael Parkinson, Michael Apted, Stan Barstow, Nick Elliott, Victoria Wood, Kenith Trodd, Jack Rosenthal, Anna Ford, Chris Kelly and Alan Plater are just a few of the many well known contributors who were responsible for creating the foundations on which Granada's considerable worldwide reputation was based. Shows like World in Action, Brideshead Revisited, A Family at War, Coronation Street, What the Papers Say, and many more described in this book were pioneers in their respective fields.

The Cambridge History of the English Short Story

The Cambridge History of the English Short Story PDF Author: Dominic Head
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316739147
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 1082

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Book Description
The Cambridge History of the English Short Story is the first comprehensive volume to capture the literary history of the English short story. Charting the origins and generic evolution of the English short story to the present day, and written by international experts in the field, this book covers numerous transnational and historical connections between writers, modes and forms of transmission. Suitable for English literature students and scholars of the English short story generally, it will become a standard work of reference in its field.