Author: Lucy Pollard-Gott, PhD
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1440154406
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 499
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Book Description
Some of the most influential and interesting people in the world are fictional. Sherlock Holmes, Huck Finn, Pinocchio, Anna Karenina, Genji, and Superman, to name a few, may not have walked the Earth (or flown, in Superman's case), but they certainly stride through our lives. They influence us personally: as childhood friends, catalysts to our dreams, or even fantasy lovers. Peruvian author and presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa, for one, confessed to a lifelong passion for Flaubert's Madame Bovary. Characters can change the world. Witness the impact of Solzhenitsyn's Ivan Denisovich, in exposing the conditions of the Soviet Gulag, or Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom, in arousing anti-slavery feeling in America. Words such as quixotic, oedipal, and herculean show how fictional characters permeate our language. This list of the Fictional 100 ranks the most influential fictional persons in world literature and legend, from all time periods and from all over the world, ranging from Shakespeare's Hamlet [1] to Toni Morrison's Beloved [100]. By tracing characters' varied incarnations in literature, art, music, and film, we gain a sense of their shape-shifting potential in the culture at large. Although not of flesh and blood, fictional characters have a life and history of their own. Meet these diverse and fascinating people. From the brash Hercules to the troubled Holden Caulfield, from the menacing plots of Medea to the misguided schemes of Don Quixote, The Fictional 100 runs the gamut of heroes and villains, young and old, saints and sinners. Ponder them, fall in love with them, learn from their stories the varieties of human experience--let them live in you.
Author: James H. Pickering
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780131825871
Category : Short stories
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
International in scope, this collection contains fiction from the early 19th century to the present day, and features 130 traditional and contemporary works.
Author: Mike Ashley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780712353717
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 320
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Book Description
From the enrapturing tales of H. G. Wells to the punishing dystopian visions of 1984 and beyond, the evolution of science fiction from the 1890s to the 1960s is a fascinating journey to undertake. Setting out this span of years as what we can now recognize as the 'classic' period of the genre, Mike Ashley takes us on a tour of the stars, utopian and post-apocalyptic futures, worlds of AI run amok and techno-thriller masterpieces asking piercing questions of the present. This book does not claim to be definitive; what it does offer is an accessible view of the impressive spectrum of imaginative writing which the genre's classic period has to offer. Towering science fiction greats such as Asimov and Aldiss run alongside the, perhaps unexpected, likes of C. S. Lewis and J. B. Priestley and celebrate a side of science fiction beyond the stereotypes of space opera and bug-eyed monsters; the side of science fiction which proves why it must continue to be written and read, so long as any of us remain in uncertain times.
Author: Al Ewing
Publisher: Solaris
ISBN: 1786183072
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
“What’s it like, not being real?” In LA, where today’s star is tomorrow’s busboy, discarded “Fictionals”—characters spun into flesh-and-blood by technology—are everywhere. Screenwriter Niles Golan’s therapist is a Fictional. So is his best friend. So (maybe) is the woman in the bar he can’t stop staring at. It’s getting so you can’t tell who’s real and who’s not. Niles isn’t completely sure how real he is… “A fascinating tour-de-force” ***** SFX Magazine “Worthy of comparison with Philip K. Dick” ***** Starburst Magazine “A breathtakingly clever writer” ***** Amazing Stories “A book you want to endlessly quote” ***** Den of Geek
Author: Adrian Hon
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262539373
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 381
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Book Description
Imagining the history of the twenty-first century through its artifacts, from silent messaging systems to artificial worlds on asteroids. In the year 2082, a curator looks back at the twenty-first century, offering a history of the era through a series of objects and artifacts. He reminisces about the power of connectivity, which was reinforced by such technologies as silent messaging—wearable computers that relay subvocal communication; recalls the Fourth Great Awakening, when a regimen of pills could make someone virtuous; and notes disapprovingly the use of locked interrogation, which delivers “enhanced interrogation” simulations via virtual reality. The unnamed curator quotes from a self-help guide to making friends with “posthumans,” describes the establishment of artificial worlds on asteroids, and recounts pro-democracy movements in epistocratic states. In A New History of the Future in 100 Objects, Adrian Hon constructs a possible future by imagining the things it might leave in its wake. Many of these things are just an update or two away: improved ankle monitors, for example, and deliverbots. Others may be the logical conclusions of current trends—“downvote” networks that identify and erase undesirables, and Glyphish, an emoticon-based language that supersedes the written word. More benign are Braid Collective, which provides financial support for artists, and Rechartered Cities, which invites immigrants to revitalize urban areas hollowed out by changing demographics. With this engaging and ingenious work, Hon leads the way into an imagined future while offering readers a new perspective on the present.
Author: Randall D. Larson
Publisher: Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press
ISBN:
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 616
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Book Description
This book discusses the use of scores in horror, science fiction and fantasy films, covering the 1930's to the 1980's, with chapters on Herrmann, Goldsmith, Rózsa, Japanese monster movies, Hammer horror movies, John Williams, electronic music and how classical music has been integrated into these film genres.
Author: Mazen Maarouf
Publisher: Comma Press
ISBN: 1912697203
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
Palestine + 100 poses a question to twelve Palestinian writers: what might your country look like in the year 2048 – a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba? How might this event – which, in 1948, saw the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes – reach across a century of occupation, oppression, and political isolation, to shape the country and its people? Will a lasting peace finally have been reached, or will future technology only amplify the suffering and mistreatment of Palestinians? Covering a range of approaches – from SF noir, to nightmarish dystopia, to high-tech farce – these stories use the blank canvas of the future to reimagine the Palestinian experience today. Along the way, we encounter drone swarms, digital uprisings, time-bending VR, peace treaties that span parallel universes, and even a Palestinian superhero, in probably the first anthology of science fiction from Palestine ever. Translated from the Arabic by Raph Cormack, Mohamed Ghalaieny, Andrew Leber, Thoraya El-Rayyes, Yasmine Seale and Jonathan Wright. WINNER of a PEN Translates Award 2018. One of NPR's Favourite Books of 2019. 'It's necessary, of course. But above all it's bold, brilliant and inspiring: a sign of boundless imagination and fierce creation even in circumstances of oppression, denial, silencing and constriction. The voices of these writers demand to be heard - and their stories are defiantly entertaining.' - Bidisha 'This worthy collection excavates and probes, and reacquaints the west with the horrors of Palestinian existence right now.' - Middle East Eye 'Just as we do when Handmaids Tale or Black Mirror plots unfold on the screen, you are most likely to read Palestine +100 and say, this is now.' - Lithub
Author: Martin Seymour-Smith
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 532
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Book Description
The hundred books discussed here have radically altered the course of civilisation , whether they have embodied religions practised by millions, achieved the pinnacle of artistic expression, pointed the way to scientific discovery of enormous consequence, redirected beliefs about the nature of man, or forever altered the global political landscape. For each there is a historical overview, an analysis of the work's effect on our lives today and a lively discussion of the reasons for inclusion.
Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher: Pan
ISBN: 9780330261555
Category : Short stories, English
Languages : en
Pages : 302
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Book Description
Science fiction-noveller.
Author: John Sutherland
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192100368
Category : American fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The Literary Detective is an omnibus edition of John Sutherland's three best-selling collections of literary puzzles, Is Heathcliffe a Murderer?, Can Jane Eyre be Happy?, and Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet? Investigating a variety of anomalies, enigmas, and conundrums such as 'Why does RobinsonCrusoe find only one footprint?' and 'Where does Fanny Hill keep her contraceptives?', Professor Sutherland explores the questions readers often ask and critics rarely discuss. His forensic skills focus on authors from Defoe and Fielding to Wells and Woolf, relishing in particular thenineteenth-century novelists, Austen, Collins, Dickens, and the Brontes.By addressing 'real world' questions John Sutherland has brought lit. crit. Down from the rarefied heights of academe and into the everyday discourse of ordinary readers, who bring their own expertise to bear on these novels. In his introduction he quotes from some of the many letters he hasreceived, which demonstrate that we can all be astute and entertaining critics. The 'Sherlock Holmes of Literature', as he has been called, John Sutherland reminds us of the sheer pleasure and excitement that good books inspire, and of their endless ability to surprise and delight us.
