There was, until a year ago, a little and very grimy looking shop near Seven Dials, over which, in weather-worn yellow lettering, the name of ”C. Cave, Naturalist and Dealer in Antiquities,” was inscribed. The contents of its window were curiously variegated. They comprised some elephant tusks and an imperfect set of chessmen, beads and weapons, a box of eyes, two skulls of tigers and one h…
1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of "negative utopia" a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel's hold on the imaginations of whol…
Learn letters the Montessori way! Based on the proven Montessori teaching method, the board book Letter Work introduces readers to letters by their sounds and shapes first—featuring illustrations by Alyssa Nassner. Written by Bobby and June George, founders of the Baan Dek Montessori School, Letter Work is part of the Abrams Montessori series that introduces young readers to key concepts b…
For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in thi…
Winston Smith berusaha menjalani hidupnya sebagai warga negara yang patuh terhadap aturan-aturan Partai, walaupun hati dan pikirannya memberontak. Winston tidak berani melawan terang-terangan, sebab Big Brother senantiasa mengawasi semua orang. Tak ada privasi bagi siapa pun. Segalanya diatur oleh Negara, bahkan sejarah pun ditulis ulang sesuai kebutuhan. Big Brother menuntut kepatuhan dan kese…
Suatu malam, Major, si babi tua yang bijaksana, mengumpulkan para binatang di peternakan untuk bercerita tentang mimpinya. Setelah sekian lama hidup di bawah tirani manusia, Major mendapat visi bahwa kelak sebuah pemberontakan akan dilakukan binatang terhadap manusia; menciptakan sebuah dunia di mana binatang akan berkuasa atas dirinya sendiri. Tak lama, pemberontakan benar-benar terjadi. Ke…