Fed up with his family, Ralph hops onto his toy motorcycle (given to him by Keith in the first book, The Mouse and the Motorcycle), and speeds down the road away from the Mountain View Inn toward Happy Acres Camp, where he encounters Sam, a nosy watchdog, and is captured by a boy named Garfield (or Garf) and kept as a pet. Separated from his motorcycle, Ralph must endure life in a cage with an obnoxious hamster named Chum. Over time, Ralph and Garf form a relationship that is similar to the one Ralph had with Keith in the first book in the series. Ralph''s adventures at Happy Acres Camp include escapades with an evil cat, the return of a missing watch, the escape from his cage, and being reunited with his beloved motorcycle. Ralph eventually begins feeling homesick and strikes a bargain with Garf: return the motorcycle and bring him back to the Mountain View Inn, in exchange for clearing Garf''s name (the rest of the children at Happy Acres Camp believe Garf was the one who took the missing watch). Eventually the watch is returned, and Garf reassures Ralph that he will go back home the next day.

Runaway Ralph

In The Country and the City, Raymond Williams analyzes images of the country and the city in English literature since the 16th century, and how these images become central symbols for conceptualizing the social and economic changes associated with capitalist development in England. Williams debunks the notion of rural life as simple, natural, and unadulterated, leaving an image of the country as a Golden age. This is, according to Williams, “a myth functioning as a memory” that dissimulates class conflict, enmity, and animosity present in the country since the 16th century. Williams shows how this imagery is embedded in the writings of English poets, novelists and essayists. These writers have not just reproduced the rural-urban divide, but their works have also served to justify the existing social order. The city, on the other hand, is depicted in English novels as a symbol of capitalist production, labor, domicile, and exploitation, where it is seen as the “dark mirror” of the country. The country represented Eden while the city became the hub of modernity, a quintessential place of loneliness and loss of romanticism. In the novels of Hardy and Dickens, there seems to be a feeling of loss, and at the same time a sense of harmony among the lonely and isolated souls. For Williams, “the contrast of the country and city is one of the major forms in which we become conscious of a central part of our experience and of the crises of our society” (p.&nbsp;289). What kinds of experience do the ideas appear to interpret, and why do certain forms occur or recur at this period or at that? To answer these questions, Williams argues that “we need to trace, historically and critically, the various forms of the ideas” (p.&nbsp;290). It is this historical perspective that makes Williams''s work essentially important for it rejects a simple, dualistic explanation of the city as evil in search of peace and harmony in the countryside. Instead, Williams sees the country as inextricably related to the city. In search of the historical, lived form, Williams distinguishes two of his best-known categories: “knowable communities” and the “structure of feeling.” Over the centuries, Williams describes the prevailing structure of feeling—traces of the lived experience of a community distinct from the institutional and ideological organization of the society—in the works of poets and novelists. In the same vein, Williams sees most novels as “knowable communities” in the sense that the “novelist offers to show people and their relationships in essentially knowable and communicable ways” (p.&nbsp;163). In sum, Williams notably said: “It was always a limited inquiry: the country and the city within a single tradition. But it has brought me to the point where I can offer its meanings, its implications and its connections to others: for discussion and amendment; for many kinds of possible cooperative work; but above all for an emphasis—the sense of an experience and of ways of changing it—in the many countries and cities where we live” (p.&nbsp;306).

The Country and the City

We are told at the beginning of the novel that Ariane is a figment of his imagination, yet we learn her life story in intimate detail and the lines between reality and imagination are blurred throughout the story. Named for Ariadne, the heroine of Greek myth who helps Theseus escape the Minotaur, Ariane begins as the promiscuous beauty of the fictional town of Babbington, Long Island. We follow as she tries to escape her demeaning job at a clam shack and bad-girl reputation, going through several phases of personal examination and reinvention. Ariane is an energetic storyteller, and she relates her story to Leroy and the reader through a series of funny and poignant episodes that explore the power of personal fantasy. In one sequence, Leroy''s grandfather, with Ariane''s help, comforts his dying wife by pretending their home is a ship making the journey to the tropical destination of Rarotonga. Later, we learn that much of Ariane''s life has been a public exhibition in a very literal way. As Ariane weaves her story, Leroy acts as a foil and guide, often finishing her sentences and filling in details.

What a Piece of Work I Am

Claudine, a fifteen year old girl, lives in Montigny, with her father, who is more interested in mollusks than his daughter. Claudine attends the small village school, which is the primary location of her many adventures, presented as an intimate journal. The journal begins with the new school year, marked by the arrival of the new headmistress, Miss Sergent, and her assistant, Miss Aimée Lanthenay, as well as the boys'' instructors, Mr. Duplessis and Mr. Rabastens. Although Claudine begins an affair early on with Miss Lanthenay, Miss Sergent soon discovers the liaison and discourages Miss Lanthenay, ultimately taking her on as her own lover. Claudine feels betrayed and causes trouble for the two women with the help of her friends, cynical Anaïs and childlike Marie Belhomme. Miss Lanthenay''s sister Luce arrives at school, and Claudine mistreats her, but Luce idolizes Claudine nonetheless. Some major events of the school year documented in the novel are the final exams, the opening of the new school, and a ball to mark the visit of an important political minister to the town.

Claudine at School

The book is alternately comic and serious, charting Durrell''s experiences on Cyprus and the people he met and befriended, as well as charting the progress of the Cypriot "Enosis" (union with Greece and freedom from British rule) movement, which plunged the island into chaos and violence. Comic moments include Durrell''s successful house-buying adventure, and the visits of his mother and brother, naturalist Gerald Durrell. Durrell settled in the village of Bellapais (purposely spelt "Bellapaix" by Durrell to evoke the old name Paix), which is now part of the Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus. During his stay, Durrell worked first as an English teacher at the Pancyprian Gymnasium, where several of his female students reportedly fell in love with him: Invited to write an essay on her favourite historical character, [Electra] never failed to delight me with something like this: ''I have no historical character but in the real life there is one I love. He is writer. I dote him and he dotes me. How pleasure is the moment when I see him came at the door. My glad is very big.'' Eventually, however, &#34;the vagaries of fortune and the demons of ill-luck dragged Cyprus into the stock-market of world affairs&#34; and as armed groups emerged demanding an end to British rule and Cyprus&#39; reunion with Greece, Durrell accepted a job as press adviser to the British governor. Durrell was not enamoured with the Cypriot militants, however, and felt that they were dragging the island to a &#34;feast of unreason&#34; and that &#34;embedded so deeply in the medieval compost of religious hatreds, the villagers floundered in the muddy stream of undifferentiated hate like drowning men.&#34; The account ends with him fleeing the island without saying goodbye to his friends, approaching the &#34;heavily guarded airport&#34; by taxi in conversation with the driver who tells him &#34;Dighenis, though he fights the British, really loves them. But he will have to go on killing them—with regret, even with affection.&#34;

Bitter Lemons

The novel begins shortly after the end of Enemy of God. Arthur has taken full control of Dumnonia, Guinevere is imprisoned, Mordred who, while still king, has had his power taken away from him. Lancelot has joined with the Saxons and Derfel is trying to deal with both his daughter''s death and his service to Arthur. Merlin is preparing for Mai Dun, a pagan ceremony that is said will bring the old gods back to Britain. Before the ceremony though Derfel must go and try to make his father Aelle turn against his ally Cerdic. Upon arrival Cerdic demands Derfel''s death but Aelle says his son must fight a Saxon in single combat and if he wins he will be allowed to live. Derfel wins and stays the night but is unable to get his father to stop his attack on Britain. It is finally the time of Mai Dun the ceremony is not completed though due to Arthur realising that Nimue intends to sacrifice his son to bring the gods forth. Finally the Saxons invade, Derfel, who along with Ceinwyn and Guinevere, leads a group of survivors who are trapped at Mount Baddon. Derfel is impressed by Guinevere''s efforts in the battle. Eventually, Arthur arrives along with Saragmor and Cuneglas and manage to win a victory over the Saxons. Derfel eventually finds Aelle and kill him. Lancelot is caught and hanged. Cuneglas is killed in battle and thus Arthur loses one of his greatest allies, also the price Arthur has to pay for Gwent''s help is giving up his power. After gives up his power he leaves Derfel and Saragmor in charge of Dumnonia''s army while Mordred is given back his power. At the same time Mordred goes on war raids later a messenger says he is dying while also being besieged. Derfel trying to avoid a succession issue goes to Arthur. He learns that Arthur does not want to be king but Arthurs son does. Pleased returns to Dumnonia to find Mordred still alive and learns that he faked his injuries and plans to take revenge on both Derfel and Arthur. Derfel manages to escape with the help of Taliesin. Derfel returns to find Ceinwyn is deathly sick, he tries everything to save her, but nothing works. He is taken to meet Nimue who says that she caused Ceinwyn''s sickness and will only remove it if Derfel gives her Arthur''s sword and Arthur''s son. Derfel, having no were else to turn, goes to Morgan who offers to remove the fever if Derfel will agree to convert to Christianity and serve her husband, Sansum. To complete the spell, Derfel''s hand is cut off. Mordred comes for Arthur and faces him at Camlan where Mordred is killed and Arthur is wounded. Derfel stops Nimue by throwing Arthur''s sword into the sea (The English Channel) and watches as his friend and his lord sails away with Guinevere back to Armorica.

Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur

The plot of Relentless picks up in Dilawa. Jack Geary, commander of the fleet, after much deliberation, mostly due to struggling with potential losses regardless of his decision, sets the fleet on a course to Heradao, a system that is holding many Alliance POW''s. After a fleet engagement and a lengthy land battle, during which the Syndicate system planets all rebel and plunge into a civil war, Geary manages to free many of the prisoners, despite suicidal attack attempts, including nuclear strikes against the camp. After recovering the prisoners and available supplies, Geary sets course for Padronis, only after learning of a massive "reserve flotilla" fleet of Syndicate ships that the Syndicate had held in reserve to fight off the still unseen alien race. Shortly after arriving at Padronis, another sabotage attempt is made, this time claiming heavy cruiser Lorica and nearly battle cruiser Dauntless herself. After receiving vital information from Commander Gaes, Geary unmasks the traitor during a fleet conference, as well as the identity of a second participant, and despite attempts by Captain Kila to silence her collaborators, Geary manages to capture several of the main saboteurs, though the leading dissenter, Captain Kila, herself manages to commit suicide rather than face a trial of her peers. Arriving at the Atalia star system, Geary comes across the aftermath of a fleet action between the reserve flotilla and a fleet of Alliance warships. Continuing to be true to his word, Geary accepts the pseudo-defection of a Syndicate commander, who informs him that the hypernet gate at Kalixa, the system where her ship had initially been stationed, spontaneously exploded, utterly destroying all human life in the system, though the Syndicate officer believes the Alliance to be responsible for purposefully using the gate as a weapon of mass destruction. Finally jumping to Varandal, Geary leads a successful attack against the Syndicate fleet, managing to prevent them from making a retaliatory strike using the Alliance hypernet gate. This is the moment he unites with his grandniece Jane Geary, captain of Dreadnaught. Dreadnaught plays an important part in holding of the Syndic attack on the hypernet gate. After the Syndicate fleet flees, Geary puts his fleet, at this point nearly completely out of munitions, fuel, and overloaded with rescued POWs, in for refitting and repair.

The Lost Fleet: Relentless

The plot takes place in the same house in two different time periods divided by the gap of two hundred years (1799 and 1999). The play questions the basic principles of scientific (medical) research, such as the right of the scientist to cross ethical limits: the right to perform dissection on the recently deceased (1799) and use of embryos in stem-cell research (1999). Both years are symbolic&mdash;they stand at the turns of new centuries and have to face the challenges the new times are about to bring. There will be a great development in medicine in the 19th and of genetics in the 21st centuries. The play also implicitly deals with gender roles and questions the stereotypes of women scientists. While in 1799, it is the father (Fenwick) who is the enlightened soul and his male friends are also scientists (Armstrong, the physician, and Roget, the to-be-author of the thesaurus), his wife (Susannah) is a stereotypical wife of the time and their two daughters (Maria and Harriet) are expected to be such, too. The decision of one of them to become a scientist leads to disapproval. In 1999, the roles somehow change: Ellen, the wife, is the geneticist, and her husband, Tom, is historian. Ellen''s friend, Kate, is also a young genetic researcher. There are also two "uneducated" characters: Isobel, the 1799 maid, and Phil, the 1999 handyman. An additional theme of this play involves the ethics of using human life, in any form, for the advancement of science. Though the topic is not specifically discussed in 1799, the characters in 1999 do talk about the issue, though no concrete conclusions are drawn. Besides the general questions about a scientist''s responsibilities and limits, the play is in part a detective story. In the modern times, a skeleton is found in the basement. The skipping between the two time periods highlights, then resolves, questions about the identity of the corpse and the means of their death. After Armstrong seduces Isobel, he confesses to Roget that he feigned love for Isobel because then she would agree to have intercourse with him. If she is naked, then he can examine her twisted spine more thoroughly. Isobel overhears and is moved to kill herself by hanging. Armstrong finds her hanging and speeds up the process. The characters in 1799 ring in the new year with the death of Isobel, whereas, the characters in 1999 begin the new millennium leaving their old home, and the certainties it possessed for them, behind.

An Experiment with an Air Pump

On being called in to investigate a dead body, NYPSD homicide detectives Eve Dallas and Delia Peabody discover that the woman is a fellow officer, Detective Amaryllis Coltraine, who worked out of another precinct. To add to the emotion of the case, Coltraine was the lover of Li Morris, the Chief Medical Examiner and a good friend of Eve and Peabody. Coltraine was shot with her own police stunner; it also appears that she may have known her killer. Meanwhile, Eve''s contact from Internal Affairs Bureau Donald Webster clues her on the victim''s connection with Alex Ricker Max Ricker''s son back in Atlanta, Georgia, from where the victim requested a transfer to New York following a fallout. Initial evidence suggests that the kill may have been ordered by Alex Ricker. The suspect''s reactions, however, as well as Roarke''s impressions from a private discussion they have, tend to steer the blame away from him. Eve is beginning to sense that the killer may have been one of the detectives Coltraine worked with at her precinct. A humorous minor subplot revolves around Eve''s performing another duty of friendship she has never tackled before: hosting a wedding shower for Louise Dimatto, who is marrying former "licensed companion" Charles Monroe. In the middle of the shower, Eve gets a call from dispatch informing her of the death of Rod Sandy, Alex''s Personal Assistant. After she gets back, Eve requests Charlotte Mira and Cher Reo to sit in for a debrief and ends up explaining the case to all her friends which leads Mavis to point out the killer who was the victim''s partner at her precinct. Further digging reveals the killer to be the illegitimate daughter of Max Ricker,who set her up to extract his revenge on Eve and Roarke for putting him in a cage.

Promises in Death

By the 21st century, the Moon has been colonized, and although still very much a research establishment, it is visited by tourists who can afford the trip. One of its attractions is a cruise across one of the lunar seas, named the Sea of Thirst, (located within the Sinus Roris) filled with an extremely fine dust, a fine powder far drier than the contents of a terrestrial desert and which almost flows like water, instead of the common regolith which covers most of the lunar surface. A specially designed "boat" named the Selene skims over the surface of the dust in the same manner as a jetski. But on one cruise, a moonquake causes an underground cavern to collapse, upsetting the equilibrium. As the dustcruiser Selene passes over, it sinks about 15 meters below the surface of the dust, hiding the vessel from view, and trapping it beneath the dust. Immediately there are potentially fatal problems for the crew and passengers inside. The sunken Selene has a limited air supply, there is no way for heat generated to escape, communications are impossible, and no one else is sure where Selene has been lost. As precious time begins to run out and the Selene heats up and the air becomes unbreathable, young Captain Pat Harris and his chief stewardess Sue Wilkins try to keep the passengers occupied and psychologically stable while waiting to be rescued. They are helped by a retired space ship captain and explorer, Commodore Hansteen, who is initially traveling incognito. Chief Engineer (Earthside) Robert Lawrence is skeptical that a rescue can be mounted, even if the Selene can be located. He is ready to abandon an initially unsuccessful search, when he is contacted by Thomas Lawson, a brilliant but eccentric astronomer who, from his vantage point on a satellite high above the Moon, Lagrange 2, believes he has detected the remains of a heat trail on the surface. An expedition is organized and Lawrence indeed makes contact with the Selene. However the completely alien environment results in numerous unforeseen complications. The rescue mission decides to sink a tube supplying oxygen to the Selene first, in an effort to buy time to think of a way to get the passengers out. However, this becomes a race against the clock, as the heat in the Selene knocks out the chemical air purification system and the passengers are suffering from CO2 poisoning. To preserve air, most passengers enter a chemically induced sleep, with only Pat Harris and physicist Duncan McKenzie staying awake. Just in time, the rescuers manage to drill a hole in the roof and sink the air supply. A plan is hatched to save the passengers of the Selene by sinking several concrete caissons to the roof of the ship and cutting a hole. When the first caisson is sunk, disaster strikes again: the liquid wastage of the passengers had been expelled out of the ship, turning the dust around it into mud, which causes another, smaller, cave-in. The Selene sinks once more, this time only a small distance, but crucially, at a slope. This means the caissons cannot be connected anymore to the sloping roof. Also air supply and communications have been damaged. After restoring these latter two, a new plan is made to sink the caissons, but now the bottom one has a flexible tube attached to it which can be mounted to the sloping roof of the Selene. The rescue mission works according to plan: the caissons are sunk, the dust is scooped out and the connection is made, but now time is running out again. When the air supply holes were drilled, Selenes double hull was breached and the space in between slowly filled with dust. The metal-rich dust reached the battery packs and short-circuited them. This causes the inner hull to be burning slowly. The resulting breach is barricaded by the passengers, but dust is still pouring in and there is a fear that the burning material will cause the liquid oxygen supply to explode. Meanwhile, Robert Lawrence is working in the rescue shaft: he sets a small ring charge to make a hole in the roof. Just in time, the hole is made and the passengers escape through the shaft. Captain Harris is the last to leave, up to his waist in dust. Just when he is clear of the shaft, the liquid oxygen explodes, destroying the Selene. A short epilogue sees Lawrence writing his memoirs, Pat and Sue married, and Pat hoping to transfer to the space service.

A Fall of Moondust

Scully Christopher Crockett La Cruz is an actor, fortune seeker and adventurer from the long isolated orbital technocratic democracies of Circumluna and the Bubbles Congeries. He lands in what he believes to be Canada to reclaim family mining interests only to discover that Canada is now North Texas and what is left of civilization in North America is ruled by primitive, backslapping, bigger than life anti-intellectual "good ole boys" convinced of their own moral superiority. In the tortured version of history known to the giant hormone-boosted Anglo-Saxon inhabitants who rule a diminutive Mexican underclass, the original Texas, or Texas, had actually secretly ruled the pre-nuclear war United States since 1845. Texas escaped the nuclear destruction of the rest of the United States because of the foresight of Lyndon the First. An enormous bunker then known as the Houston Carlsbad Caverns-Denver-Kansas City-Little Rock Pentagram and now referred to simply as the Texas Bunker had saved the heartland during a war that destroyed both American coasts, Europe, Russia, China, and Africa. Texas then conquered the rest of the continent, although Hawaii and Cuba remain stubbornly "unconquered".

A Specter is Haunting Texas

On Beauty centres on the story of two families and their different, yet increasingly intertwined, lives. The Belsey family consists of university professor Howard, a white Englishman, his African-American wife Kiki, and their children Jerome, Zora and Levi, living in the fictional university town of Wellington, outside Boston. Howard''s professional nemesis is Monty Kipps, a Trinidadian living in Britain with his wife Carlene and children Victoria and Michael. The Belsey family has always defined itself as liberal and atheist, and Howard in particular is furious when his son Jerome, a newly born-again Christian, goes to work as an intern with the ultra-conservative Christian Kipps family over his summer holidays. After a failed affair with Victoria Kipps, Jerome returns home. However, the families are brought into proximity again nine months later when the Kippses move to Wellington, and Monty begins work at the university. Carlene and Kiki become friends despite the tensions between their families. Rivalry between Monty and Howard increases as Monty challenges the liberal attitudes of the university on issues such as affirmative action. His academic success also highlights Howard''s inadequacies and failure to publish a long-awaited book. Meanwhile the Belsey family is facing problems of its own, as they deal with the fallout of Howard''s affair with his colleague and family friend Claire. Zora and Levi both become friends with Carl, an African-American man of a poorer background than their own middle-class lifestyle. Zora uses him as a poster child for her campaign to allow talented non-students in university classes. For Levi, Carl is a source of identity, as a member of a more ''authentic'' black culture than Levi considers his own background to be.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Runaway Ralph

By Beverly Cleary

The Country and the City

By Raymond Williams

What a Piece of Work I Am

By Eric Kraft

Claudine at School

By Colette

Bitter Lemons

By Lawrence Durrell

Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur

By Bernard Cornwell

The Lost Fleet: Relentless

By John G. Hemry

An Experiment with an Air Pump

By Shelagh Stephenson

Promises in Death

By Nora Roberts

A Fall of Moondust

By Arthur C. Clarke

A Specter is Haunting Texas

By Fritz Leiber

On Beauty

By Zadie Smith