Pines and Plains Libraries

"In the whole of European literature there is no poet who can furnish the texts for a more significant variety of discourse than Virgil. [He] symbolizes so much in the history of Europe, and represents such central European values..." —T.S. Eliot The Eclogues (38 BC), also known as the Bucolics, is a work by Roman poet Virgil. Although less prominent than The Aeneid, Virgil's legendary epic of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his discovery of what would...

In one of his finest achievements, Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow presents a multifaceted portrait of a modern-day hero. A suffering and persecuted intellectual, Moses E. Herzog passively accepts the disasters of his private and public affairs in an effort to survive modern civilization

Plato is both one of the great philosophers of ancient Greece and the brightest disciple of Socrates. Among his works is a series of titles collectively called Socratic dialogues. In these dialogues, certainly, Plato's most prominent work is The Republic (Politeia in the original Greek). It was written around 380 BC and is particularly rich in philosophical, political, and social terms. The central concern is the search for a formula that ensures...

'Lupin follows me everywhere. He is not my shadow. I am his shadow.' - Maurice Leblanc In his first appearance, Leblanc's charming burglar, Arsène Lupin, finds himself behind bars as the police congratulate themselves on capturing the notorious criminal. But little did they know that Lupin had them exactly where he wanted them... This book features nine astounding adventures of the gentleman thief. Sparkling with wit and filled with elaborate plots...

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. While in prison awaiting a brutal execution, Boethius produced arguably the most famous work of early medieval philosophy and literature, the celebrated Consolation of Philosophy. In alternating sections of prose and poetry, Boethius describes the circumstances of his rapid fall from the upper echelons of society and power. In a conversation with lady Philosophy,...

The story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultramodern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event," a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys-radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic...

On his new ranch in California, Joseph Wayne sees a huge tree as the symbol of his father's spirit. But then one of his brothers, terrified by Joseph's pagan beliefs, kills the tree...

'It was unnecessary for all to perish, when, by the death of one, it was possible, and even probable, that the rest might be finally preserved.' Travelling aboard a whaling vessel, a young stowaway is swept up in myriad misadventures - mutiny, shipwreck, cannibalism - narrowly escaping numerous brushes with death. This rousing story of a daring sea voyage also presents its antihero with a host of psychological dilemmas, and offers an important insight...