Books in Peter Owen Modern Classics series

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under -- maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

A new edition of what is commonly seen as the legendary Norwegian writer's masterpiece, this story tells the tale of Siss and Unn, two friends who have only spent one evening in each other's company. But so profound is this evening between them that when Unn inexplicably disappears, Siss's world is shattered. Siss's struggle with her fidelity to the memory of her friend and Unn's fatal exploration of the strange, terrifyingly beautiful frozen waterfall that is the Ice Palace are described in prose of a lyrical economy that ranks among the most memorable achievements of modern literature.

Two 11-year old girls, Unn and Siss, meet. Unn is about to reveal a secret, one that leads to her death in a formation of ice caused by a large waterfall. Siss's struggle with her fidelity to the memory of a friend, the strange frozen world of the waterfall, and the description of Unn's fatal exploration of the ice palace are described in prose of a lyrical economy that ranks among the memorable achievements of modern literature. Often short-listed for the Nobel Prize, Tarjei Vesaas (1897-1976) was awarded the Nordic Council Prize in 1973 for this novel. A modernist who maintained a degree of technical experimentation throughout his work, he is generally considered to be one of Norway's great modern writers. How simple this novel is. How subtle. How strong. How unlike any other. It is unique. It is unforgettable. It is extraordinary.""--Doris Lessing. ""It is hard to do justice to The Ice Palace. The narrative is urgent, the descriptions relentlessly beautiful, the meaning as powerful as the ice piling up on the lake.""--The London Times.

A spare, powerful, supremely graceful novel from a giant of Norwegian literature As strange, unsettling, and memorable as The Ice Palace, this remarkable novel carries with it all the compassion, human insight, and lyrical power of all great Vesaas novels. It describes the changing relationships between three adolescents—an unmarried mother who has drowned her newborn child and the girl and boy who befriend her. Their individual reactions to the tragedy and their efforts to communicate with each other form the central theme of the narrative.

Arguably the greatest horror novel ever written by the greatest horror novelist, this is a true Modern Classic that was first published in 1978, and then re-published in 1990, complete and unabridged, with 150,000 words cut from the first edition restored, and now accompanied by unusual and imaginative line art. The total copies for both editions, in hardcover and paperback, exceeds 4 million worldwide.The Stand is a truly terrifying reading experience, and became a four-part mini-series that memorably brought to life the cast of characters and layers of story from the novel. It is an apocalyptic vision of the world, when a deadly virus runs amok around the globe. But that lethal virus is almost benign compared to the satanic force gathering minions from those still alive to destroy humanity and create a world populated by evil.Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who has the uncanny gift of putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, giving readers an experience that chills and thrills on every page.

A fable about the disintegration of a good man. At the insistence of his wife, Eibenschutz leaves his job as an artilleryman in the Austro-Hungarian army for a civilian job as the inspector of weights and measures in a remote territory, near the Russian border. Attempting to exercise some proper rectitude in his trade duties, he is at a loss in a world of smugglers, profiteers, and small crooks. Eibenschutz soon finds he can no longer distinguish law from justice. When he discovers that his wife is pregnant by his own clerk, he spends more time away from home. Spending his hours at the border tavern, he finds himself hopelessly drawn to a beautiful gypsy woman, Euphemia. But she is prepared to share the bed of the landlord and Eibenschutz's enemy, Jadlowker, an unprincipled profiteer who has made the tavern a beacon for local smuggling activity.

Set amongst the hills, vineyards, and villages of Piedmont, this tale centers on three young men as they spend what is seemingly their last free summer talking, drinking, and enjoying life. Fascinated with their wealthy acquaintance, Poli, they soon find themselves embedded in his world—his cocaine addiction, his blasphemy, and his corrupt circle of friends.

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.