Reade, Charles
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Hard Cash
Charles Reade
Manufacturer: Hard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1406955167 |
Book Description
THE subsiding sea was now a liquid Paradise: its great pellucid braes and hillocks shone with the sparkle and the hues of all the jewels in an emperor's crown. Imagine--after three days of inky sea, and pitchy sky, and Death's deep jaws snapping and barely missing--ten thousand great slopes of emerald, aquamarine, amethyst and topaz, liquid, alive, and dancing jocundly beneath a gorgeous sun.
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THE subsiding sea was now a liquid Paradise: its great pellucid braes and hillocks shone with the sparkle and the hues of all the jewels in an emperor's crown. Imagine--after three days of inky sea, and pitchy sky, and Death's deep jaws snapping and barely missing--ten thousand great slopes of emerald, aquamarine, amethyst and topaz, liquid, alive, and dancing jocundly beneath a gorgeous sun.
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CLOISTER AND THE HEARTH
CHARLES READE
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BLFE1S |
Average customer rating:
- A must-read
- Spectacular
- The Cloister and the Hearth
- A Sublime Evocation of a Distant Era
- The Cloister and the Hearth
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Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade
Manufacturer: Dodd Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0396055125 |
Customer Reviews:
A must-read.......2002-04-17
... This is a great book. I would rank it among my top 20 favourite novels, perhaps even the top 10, along with works by Tolstoy, Dickens, Austen and others of that calibre... I urge you to read this book if you have not yet done so. It succeeds on several levels: It is an adventure yarn, with daring escapes, chases, intrigues and battles. It is a philosophical novel, raising thought-provoking questions about priestly celibacy and religious observance. It is a war novel, presenting a convincing portrayal of men in combat. It is a psychological novel, probing the nature of male companionship. Well written, absorbing and satisfying, read it before it disappears from booklists completely.
Spectacular.......2002-04-03
It's hard to believe this book is largely forgotten and unavailable. Despite what some of the other reviewers claim, you do not need to be a Medievalist to enjoy it--or even be thrilled by it, as I was. Get a used copy while you still can.
The Cloister and the Hearth.......2001-10-25
I don't think it fair for the editorial review to give away the ending.
A Sublime Evocation of a Distant Era.......2001-07-29
The Cloister and the Hearth is one of the most powerful reading experiences I have had. It is a great pity, but no surprise, that this masterpiece is not familiar even to lovers of Victorian literature, and has not had a fashion in recent times like the works of, say, Austen or Trollope. I say no surprise because Cloister is challenging in ways that those authors are not. First, it is long, 750 pages, far longer than anything by the Great Jane, and most of Trollope. Second, the dialogue is written in a deliberately archaic style intended to evoke the Middle Ages, an ersatz 15th century English in the mouths of characters who are Dutch, German, French, Italian, but none English. To my ear, it was tremendously effective, but it will not come easily to modern readers who find Shakespeare and the King James Bible difficult. Third, it takes the values of the era it describes seriously, rather than looking back from an arch, "modern" 19th century perspective. That third point is the most important. As the title suggests, the theme of the work is the tension between domestic private life and the spiritual domain of the Church. Most of the dramatic conflict arises from the demands of priestly celibacy, which Reade reveals as a "vile heresy" only three pages from the end. Such is his skill that, despite their lives having been devastated by it, neither of the two lover/ protagonists ever questions the rule's propriety or justice, and both honor it absolutely. (Perhaps the female utters a doubt or two somewhere, but if so, they are feebly stated and soon forgotten.) The two main characters are not subtle, but are medieval virtue personified. Yet they work, especially Gerard, the male. Unlike Dickens's goody-two shoes heroes (think David Copperfield or Esther Summerson), the extraordinary virtues of Gerard and Margaret never made this reader roll his eyes. Reade considered himself a dramatist, not a novelist, and the reconciliation scenes in this book are as emotionally driven as anything you will see on the stage. It is shorter than War and Peace, and once you get the hang of it, the pages turn much faster than Tolstoy's. I've only read an abridged W&P, years ago, but I'd put Cloister up there on the same level, as historical literature, not just historical fiction, of the very highest order.
The Cloister and the Hearth.......2000-03-09
My first year at university it was a required reading. Back then reading wasn't my favourite hobby; However when I started to the novel, I just couldn't put it down. It was very exciting and a pleasure to read. Highly recommended. I lost my book and I'm hoping that Amazon.com will locate a copy for me,please!
Average customer rating:
- Greatest Novel Ever Written
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The Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Classics
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Contemporary
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Similar Items:
- The Cloister and the Hearth
- The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume One
- The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume Four
ASIN: 1592247318 |
Book Description
Cloister and the Hearth, Volume III: "The Cloister and the Hearth" is Charles Reade's greatest work--and, I believe, the greatest historical novel in the language. . . . " -- from Walter Besant's introduction
Customer Reviews:
Greatest Novel Ever Written.......2004-01-11
When I was in college (1962) our professor of English off-handedly mentioned The Cloister & The Hearth as the "greatest novel ever written."
I found a copy, read it, and must agree with his assessment.
Average customer rating:
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The Cloister and the Hearth: A Tale of the Middle Ages
Charles Reade
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
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Historical
| Genre Fiction
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ASIN: 1417926759 |
Book Description
1922. Reade was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth relates the adventures of the father of Erasmus, and is considered one of the best examples of historical novels. The book begins: Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Of these obscure heroes, philosophers, and martyrs, the greater part will never be known till that hour, when many that are great shall be small, and the small great; but of others the world's knowledge may be said to sleep: their lives and characters lie hidden from nations in the annals that record them.
Average customer rating:
- Watch Out! This is Volume 1 of a three volume set.
- A nineteenth century novelist who wrote about the 15 century
- Must Read for Medievalists, etc.
- A must-read
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The Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade , and Walter Besant
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
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Similar Items:
- The Cloister and the Hearth
- The Cloister and the Hearth
- The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume Four
- The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
- Suite Francaise
ASIN: 1592249221 |
Book Description
Cloister and the Hearth, Volume I "The Cloister and the Hearth" is Charles Reade's greatest work--and, I believe, the greatest historical novel in the language. . . . "One can only say that this great writer--there is no greater praise--paints women as they are, men as they are, things as they are. What we call genius is first the power of seeing men, women, and things as they are--most of us, being without genius, are purblind--and then the power of showing them by means of "invention"--by the grafting of "invention" upon fact. No man has shown greater power of grasping fact and of weaving invention upon it than Charles Reade." -- from Walter Besant's introduction
Customer Reviews:
Watch Out! This is Volume 1 of a three volume set........2006-08-22
Beware that this is only volume 1 of three volumes, and that all three will cost you about $60, an outrageous price for a book which is not copyrighted. You can purchase the complete book in a single volume from a (non-Amazon) used bookseller for $5, or $12.49 from an Amazon listed used bookseller, which prices include shipping. You can also download the entire book for free from ebook sources on the internet.
A nineteenth century novelist who wrote about the 15 century.......2005-01-31
Charles Reade really knew how to tell a story! This is a wonderfully long historical book, that keeps your interest right through. Mr. Reade's descriptions of the English countryside rank right up there with the best, and his characters are great too. We don't only read about his characters, but we actually become friends with them as we read. Reade pictures his hero Tito's spiritual decay as one long undulating spiral. In fact it is that that keeps this long book so wonderfully held together. We see a wealth of human emotions and duplicity in this book. Reade combines this with superb historical research to make an awesome novel. The book is lifelike, interesting and compelling reading. He's probably one of the best historical writers out there from any time.
Must Read for Medievalists, etc........2004-10-16
Charles Reade was a 19th century author who wrote this historical romance about the 15th century. He was very interested in Medieval times and used the best resources available to him to tell this story of the parents of Desiderius Erasmus, the famous 16th century clerical sceptic and forerunner of the Reformation. It tells of the struggle between man and Church and of both with God without being "preachy." It is a long tale of the romance between a woman and a religious man that is subject to many trials and tribulations - a times the trials become almost comic as one succeeds the other in rapid succession. The author's world is filled with duplicity, false religion, true love and friendship, the essence and the terrible edifice of medieval Christianity, etc.
Along the way you can learn a lot about how the people of the 15th century expressed themselves and how they lived as the author attempted to be true to the times. There are both preachy and inspirational religious passages based, probably, on the common teachings of the church and on the teachings of Erasmus and other sceptics. Within and without the church are the divine, the indifferent and the venal as Reade tells of them.
Reade shows a remarkable capacity to realistically represent men AND women at both their worst and best. He is clearly fond of women and they often put the men to shame in this story. The maid (Margaret Brandt) saves the cleric (Gerard Eliasoen) from his melodramatic self and helps him be of actual service to a congregation that needs him rather than wallow in false religiousity. Together they bring Erasmus into this world and then are parted in a "nail-biter" of a romace-action drama with a lot of religious commentary thrown in. For its time it must have been very daring.
Although this long book is at times wearying, it is also hard to put down as we keep wanting to know about the ultimate resolution of the romance between the cleric (the Cloister) and the maid (the Hearth). I recommend it to anyone wanting a good action-romance as well as one interested in the information on the times and on the interplay of religion with society of the times.
A must-read.......2003-09-17
A neglected masterpiece of English literature. I urge you to read this book if you have not yet done so. It succeeds on many levels: It's an exciting adventure yarn, with escapes, chases, intrigues and treachery; a philosophical novel, questioning the value of priestly celibacy; a war story, presenting a convincing portrayal of men in combat; a psychological novel, probing the nature of male companionship; a medieval romance. Well written, absorbing and satisfying, this is one novel you must read.
Average customer rating:
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The Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
- The Cloister and the Hearth
- The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume One
- The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume Four
ASIN: 1592247334 |
Book Description
Cloister and the Hearth, Volume II: "The Cloister and the Hearth" is Charles Reade's greatest work--and, I believe, the greatest historical novel in the language. . . . " -- from Walter Besant's introduction
Authors:
- Reardon, Lisa
- Reaves, Michael
- Rechy, John
- Reddy, Sharon L.
- Redmann, J.M.
- Reed, Henry
- Reed, John
- Reed, Philip
- Reid, Elwood
- Remarque, Erich Maria
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