A Friend of the Earth is the story of Tyrone O''Shaughnessy Tierwater, a U.S. citizen born in 1950, half Irish Catholic and half Jewish ("I''m a mess and I know it. Jewish guilt, Catholic guilt, enviro-eco-capitalistico guilt: I can''t even expel gas in peace."), whose personal tragedy fits in with, and adds to, the gloomy atmosphere created in the novel. Egged on by Andrea, the woman he loves, he becomes a committed "Earth Forever!" activist (an allusion to the radical environmental group Earth First!) in the 1980s, is imprisoned for ecotage, but eventually cannot change anything. On top of that, he suffers the loss of his first wife when their daughter is only three and of his daughter when she is only 25. When the novel opens, Tierwater is a 75-year-old disillusioned ex-con living on the estate of a famous pop star in the Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, in California and looking after the latter''s private menagerie. Maclovio Pulchris, the singer, has had the idea of preserving some of the last surviving animals of several species in order to initiate a captive breeding programme at some later point in time, choosing to preserve the animals no-one else would. Tierwater has been working for Pulchris ("Mac") for ten years when, in 2025, Andrea, his ex-wife and stepmother to his daughter Sierra, contacts him after more than 20 years. She and a friend of hers, April Wind, move in with Tierwater, officially for April Wind to write a biography, or rather hagiography, of Sierra Tierwater, his daughter, who died in 2001 as a martyr to the environmentalist cause. (A "tree-hugging cunt", as their opponents called her, she falls off a tree in old growth woodland in which she has been living for about three years.) In the course of the next few months the situation deteriorates even more. The rain and the wind destroy the animals'' cages, and subsequently they have to be kept in Pulchris''s basement. One morning one of the lions gets loose and attacks and kills the singer, as well as a number of employees. As a consequence, the other lions are shot—and thus lions as a species become extinct. (There is just one surviving lion in the San Diego Zoo left.) Jobless and penniless, Tierwater, who has fallen in love all over again with Andrea, is evicted from the estate by Pulchris''s heirs. Along with Andrea, Tyrone leaves the compound, heading for a mountain cabin owned by Earth Forever! somewhere in the forest which decades ago served as a hideout. They arrive there with only one of Pulchris''s animals in tow: Petunia, the Patagonian fox, which they now keep as their domestic animal, passing it off as their dog. In the final scene of the book, a teenaged girl comes hiking along the trail where the forest surrounding the dilapidated cabin would have been. Tierwater and Andrea, who again call themselves husband and wife now, have a glimmer of hope that life will soon be like life 30 years before, as the novel ends on an optimistic note.

A Friend of the Earth

Beka''s story continues when she gets sloppy with her reports to Ahuda, and she decides to practice again by starting a new journal. Now a first year Dog, Beka works the Evening Watch with her loathsome partner, Silsbee. His attitude of letting Day Watch catch the criminals they see annoys Beka to no end. Silsbee eventually dumps her as a partner, and she is partnered with Clara Goodwin and Matthias Tunstall, her former trainers. Beka learns of the existence of coles, or counterfeit coins, from her friend Tansy. As she and her partners investigate, they get word of a thin harvest, which bodes ill for the poor of the Lower City. Beka and Pounce--a speaking constellation in the form of a cat--find Achoo, a bloodhound, being hurt by her handler. When Beka steps in to stop the abuse, she takes Achoo as her scent-hound. Meanwhile, due to the thin harvest, bread prices go up and a riot starts in the city. Beka, Goodwin and Tunstall get caught up in the fight, and Tunstall gets both of his legs broken. After the riot, Lord Gershom, the Lord Provost, sends Beka, Goodwin and Achoo to Port Caynn to further investigate the coles while Tunstall recovers. Pounce, for once, cannot go with her as he is actually a constellation and he must deal with some troublesome stars. They depart and on board the ship are reacquainted with Dale Rowan, a banker who helped them during the Bread Riot. Together Goodwin and Beka make friends and try to pry information, pretending to be corrupt, or "loose." Beka''s romance with Dale blossoms, and Goodwin too flirts playfully, though she never forgets her husband Tomlan back home. When Goodwin returns to Corus to deliver reports to Lord Gershom, Beka comes across several pieces of evidence that point to Pearl Skinner, the Port Caynn Rogue, as the colemonger. She goes to Sir Lionel of Trebond, the Deputy Provost, but Sir Lionel''s fear of Pearl (who had previously murdered his children) prevents him from acting. Beka loses her temper with him, and Sir Lionel orders her sent to Rattery Prison. With the help of one of the loyal Dogs, Beka is able to escape and goes to Pearl for shelter. Through use of a gift, flattery and an amusing tale degrading Sir Lionel, Beka is able to convince Pearl to let her stay for now. However, one of Lionel''s men goes to Pearl and tells her that Beka has evidence that Pearl is the one behind the coles, and Beka is forced to flee once more. This time, Beka goes to Nestor Haryse, Lord Gershom''s younger cousin, and his transgender lover, Okha Soyan (Amber Orchid). With Nestor''s help, Gershom is able to bring in a large squad of Dogs to arrest Pearl and her conspirators. Pearl and her bodyguards escape, but Beka follows them down into the city''s sewers, where, with Achoo and Goodwin''s help, she manages to arrest Pearl. They suffer numerous wounds, and when Beka wakes, she must face the sad reality that she and Dale must part; they live too far apart, and their jobs leave no time for each other. When they return to Corus, Goodwin tells Beka that the Evening Watch Sergeant, Ahuda, was offered a position in Corus''s Flash District, and that Goodwin was going to take Ahuda''s place, leaving Beka with Tunstall as a partner. She says that she is tired of being a street dog, and that desk sergeant will be the perfect position for her. The novel ends at Beka and Goodwin''s welcome home party, as Beka and Tunstall agree to stay partners. She gains a new nickname, Bloodhound, from the public and her friends.

Bloodhound

Elizabethan stages did not use scenery. Acknowledging the difficulty of conveying great battles and shifts of location on a bare stage, the Chorus (a single actor) calls for a "Muse of fire" so that the actor playing King Henry can "[ā]ssume the port [bearing] of Mars". He asks, "Can this cockpit [i.e. the theatre] hold / The vasty fields of France?" and encourages the audience to use their "imaginary forces" (imaginations) to overcome the stage''s limitations: "Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts." The early scenes deal with the embarkation of Henry''s fleet for France, and include a real-life incident in which the Earl of Cambridge and two others plotted to assassinate Henry at Southampton. (Henry''s clever uncovering of the plot and his ruthless treatment of the plotters show that he has changed from the earlier plays in which he appeared.) When the Chorus reappears, he describes the country''s dedication to the war effort – "They sell the pasture now to buy the horse." The chorus tells the audience "We''ll not offend one stomach with our play", a humorous reference to the fact that the scene of the play crosses the English Channel. The Chorus appears again, seeking support for the English navy: "Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy" he says, and notes that "the ambassador from the French comes back / Tells Harry that the king doth offer him / Katherine his daughter." At the siege of Harfleur, Henry utters one of Shakespeare''s best-known speeches, beginning "Once more unto the breach, dear friends..." Before the Battle of Agincourt, victory looks uncertain, and the young king''s heroic character emerges in his decision to wander around the English camp at night, in disguise, so as to comfort his soldiers and determine what they really think of him. He agonizes about the moral burden of being king, noting that a king is only a man. Before the battle, Henry rallies his troops with the famous St. Crispin''s Day Speech, referring to "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers". Following the victory at Agincourt, Henry attempts to woo the French princess, Catherine of Valois. This is difficult because neither speaks the other''s language well, but the humour of their mistakes actually helps achieve his aim. The action ends with the French king adopting Henry as his heir to the French throne and the prayer of the French queen "that English may as French, French Englishmen, receive each other, God speak this Amen." But before the curtain descends, the Chorus re-appears one more time and ruefully notes, of Henry''s own heir''s "state, so many had the managing, that they lost France, and made his England bleed" – a reminder of the tumultuous reign of Henry VI of England, which Shakespeare had previously brought to the stage in a trilogy of plays: Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3. As with all of Shakespeare''s serious plays, there are also a number of minor comic characters whose activities contrast with and sometimes comment on the main plot. In this case, they are mostly common soldiers in Henry''s army, and they include Pistol, Nym, and Bardolph from the Henry IV plays. The army also includes a Scot, an Irishman, an Englishman and Fluellen, a comically stereotyped Welsh soldier, whose name is an attempt at a phonetic rendition of "Llywelyn". The play also deals briefly with the death of Falstaff, Henry''s estranged friend from the Henry IV plays, whom Henry remembers fondly.

Henry V

The tale begins with Tommy Brock, a badger, being entertained by old Mr. Bouncer, the father of Benjamin Bunny. Mr. Bouncer has been left to tend his grandchildren while his son and daughter-in-law Flopsy are away, but, after smoking a pipe of rabbit-tobacco, he falls asleep in Tommy''s company. Tommy puts the bunnies in his sack and slips out. When the parents return, Benjamin sets off in pursuit of the thief. Benjamin finds and brings his cousin Peter Rabbit into the rescue venture, and the two discover Tommy has invaded one of Mr. Tod''s homes. Peeping through the bedroom window, they see Tommy asleep in Mr. Tod''s bed, and, peeping through the kitchen window, they see the table set for a meal. They realize the bunnies are alive, but shut in the oven. They hide when Mr. Tod suddenly arrives in a very bad temper. The fox discovers the badger asleep in his bed, and decides to play a trick upon him involving a pail of water balanced on the overhead tester of the bed. Brock however is awake, escapes the trick, and makes tea for himself in the kitchen. When Mr. Tod discovers him, a violent fight erupts that continues outdoors. The two roll away down the hill still fighting. Benjamin and Peter quickly gather the bunnies, and return home in triumph.

The Tale of Mr. Tod

An Australian family, struggling with the recent recession are finding it hard with money. While spending one evening watching television, their youngest oand speaks to a doctor who refuses to help, which discourages Colin. He walks out to the lobby where he meets a Welsh man named Ted crying, claiming that his friend also has cancer. Colin attempts to cheer him up, so in appreciation, Ted requests Colin that they meet up again so Ted can introduce Colin to one of the world''s leading cancer experts. Colin meets Ted and Doctor Graham the next day, where Doctor Graham tells Colin that she called up Luke''s doctors in Sydney. She then informs Colin that Luke''s cancer is terminal and incurable. Colin storms back to his Aunt''s house distraught, where Alistair gives Colin the idea that South America may provide an unknown cure for Luke''s cancer. Colin convinces Alistair to join him to stowaway on a cargo ship to South America the next day, until Colin tells Alistair that he used his pocket-knife to slash a group of doctors cars and that Ted caught him. Alistair tells Colin that Ted will be blamed for this, so Colin decides to delay their trip to South America, so he can go see Ted the next day. Colin goes to visit Ted at his home and finds that he has been moderately injured. Ted tells him that he was beaten by people in the street who disliked him because he is a homosexual. He then tells Colin that his friend dying of cancer is instead his lover, Griff, who is dying of AIDS. Ted is unable to walk, so Colin promises to visit Griff for him. Colin goes to the hospital and meets Griff, bringing him a letter from Ted and Griff''s favourite food, tangarines. After enjoying a conversation with Colin, Griff requests Colin that he come to visit him again. After Griff is taken back to his ward by a nurse, Colin finds a spare wheelchair in the hospital which he takes back to Ted''s house. Colin then takes Ted to the hospital to see Griff using the wheelchair and the couple thank Colin greatly for reuniting them. A while later, when Ted can walk again, Colin goes to visit the couple in the hospital, but upon arrival, finds that Griff has died. When Colin arrives home, Aunt Iris tells Colin that she found out everything from Alistair. They are both sentenced to having only cold baked beans for dinner, and the house is made much harder to sneak out of. Colin gives up on his South America plan and decides to accept Luke''s fate. He requests to Aunt Iris that he go back to his family, but she forbids it, telling him that breaking out will not help either, because they will not allow him on the plane with his return ticket unless he is seen off by an adult guardian. The next morning, with much difficulty, Colin sneaks out of the house and meets Ted at the airport. Ted signs Colin''s forms and they say their goodbyes. After Ted leaves, Colin is about to board the plane until Aunt Iris, Uncle Bob and Alistair show up. Iris and Bob try to take him back home, but Alistair shouts up, convincing them to let Colin go back to Australia. They see him off, and Colin travels back to Sydney to see Luke. The story ends with Luke waking up, happily seeing Colin.

Two Weeks with the Queen

Chris Guthrie''s mother, broken by repeated childbirths, commits suicide and poisons her baby twins. Two younger children go to live with their aunt and uncle in Aberdeen, leaving Chris, her older brother Will and her father to run the farm on their own. Will and his father have a stormy relationship and Will emigrates to Argentina with his young bride, Molly Douglas. Chris is left to do all the work around the house. Soon after this, her father suffers a stroke, leaving him bedridden. For a time he tries to persuade her to commit incest with him, but as he is badly hurt he is not able to force her. He dies shortly afterwards. At his funeral, Chris realises what happened to her father and breaks down in tears as she never knew the hardship he has endured for them. Chris, who has had some education, considers leaving for a job as a teacher in the towns, but realises she loves the land and cannot leave it. Instead, she marries a young farmer called Ewan Tavendale and carries on farming. For a time they are happily married, and they have a son, who they also call Ewan. However when the First World War breaks out Ewan senior and many other young men join up. When he comes home on leave he treats Chris badly, evidently brutalised by his experiences in the army. Ewan is killed in the war and Chris subsequently hears from Chae Strachan. who is home on leave, that Ewan was shot as a deserter, but he died thinking of her. She begins a relationship with the new minister and she watches as he dedicates the War Memorial at the Standing Stones above her home. The Sun sets to the Flowers of the Forest, bringing an end to their way of life, forever.

Sunset Song

Volga Se Ganga is about the history of Indo–European people who were later known as the Aryans. The 20 stories are woven over a time span of 8000 years and a distance of about 10,000&nbsp;km. This is a very good attempt at freeing our brains of the clutches of space and time. The first story Nisha is about cavemen living in Siberia about 6000 BC. The society or its precursor at that time was matriarchal and so the story is named after the leader of the family ''Nisha''. Although all the 20 stories are independent and equally enjoyable in their own right, the sequence in which they are arranged nevertheless serves a very important purpose. It is an indispensable aid to anyone who has been baffled by discontinuities in the evolution of societies and their cultures. Here one can find a gradual transformation from a matriarchal society (the first two stories) to a patriarchal one (the rest), a gradual change from freedom to slavery, from acceptance of slavery to its loathing and the likes. If we are to believe Sankrityayan then an apprehension for technological advancement is nothing new. People were wary of the newly better armament which was fast replacing the older stone equipment (Fourth story – Puruhoot (Tajikistan 2500BC.)). The same story tells us how an arms race was started during that period and how southerners amassed great wealth at the expense of the northerners. The sixth story Angira (Taxila 1800 BC) is about a man who wants to save the Aryan race from losing itself to other races by teaching about their culture (precursor to Vedic Rishis). The eighth story (Pravahan (700 BC. Panchal, U.P.). is about the upper class manipulating religion for their own vested interests and conspiring to keep people in dark for at least 2000 years). One can see how easily and frequently the Indians, the mid easterners and the Greeks mingled with each other in the times of Chanakya and Alexander by reading the tenth story Nagdatt about a philosopher classmate of Chanakya who travels to Greece and learns how Athens fell to Macedonia. The eleventh story (Prabha, 50 AD) is about the famous (also the first Indian) dramatist Ashwaghosh, who adopted the Greek art of drama into Indian culture in a very beautiful and authentic way, and his inspiration. Baba Noordeen (1300), the 15th story is about the rise of Sufism. The seventeenth story Rekha Bhagat (1800 is about the barbarous rule of the East India company and the anarchy it brought to India. The last story (Sumer, 1942) is about a man who goes on to fight the Japanese because he wants Soviet Russia to triumph, for this nation (i.e., the Communist Party) is the only hope left for humanity.

Volga Se Ganga

Part One: Andry, the new Lord of Goddess Keep, has visions of war and death. He sees the destruction of Radzyn, its proud towers ablaze. To prevent his visions, he reworks the teachings and rituals of Goddess Keep based on the findings of the Star Scroll. He also trains Sunrunners in sorcery. Meanwhile, true sorcerers ready themselves to challenge Pol''s right to Princemarch. Ruval, Ianthe''s oldest, undisputed son, prepared for the challenge by learning sorcery, while Marron infiltrates Chiana of Meadowlord''s personal guards. When he gets close enough, he allows Mireva to enter Chiana''s chamber and enspell the Princess with a mirror. Chiana then begins to amass an army, which will invade Princemarch. Part Two: Year 728: Pol, now Ruling Prince of Princemarch, seeks to become the man and Prince that his parents, High Prince Rohan and High Princess Sioned raised him to be, but his spirit is impatient and restless. When word comes that dragons are being hunted, Pol follows Riyan and Sorin to Elktrap Manor. They find a dying dragon nearby, who shows them that men had attacked it using sorcery. The attackers were Ruval and Marron, who had been trying to get Pol''s attention. A battle ensues. Sorin is killed. As the Desert mourns, Ruval enlists Prince Miyon of Cunaxa''s aid in overthrowing Pol. He and Marron hide in Miyon''s entourage as the Prince travels to Stronghold on business before the Rialla, while Mireva becomes a servant of Miyon''s illegitimate daughter, Meiglan. Meiglan would - unknowingly - be used to ensnare Pol. As Pol prepares for the challenge Ruval will make, he begins to fall for Meiglan despite his suspicions of her. Before Ruval can make his challenge, however, Marron challenges Pol himself for Feruche, their birthplace. Riyan, who had only moments ago had been made Lord of Feruche, accepts Marron''s challenge of sorcery. As Marron forms his first spell, Andry turns it back on the sorcerer by using his knowledge of the Star Scroll. He kills Marron in retribution for Sorin''s death. This act results in Andry''s banishment from the Desert. When Ruval''s challenge finally comes, on starlight, Rohan realizes that Pol needs to be told the truth about birth: that Ianthe bore him and he was a diarmadhi. Pol is horrified and angry, but uses his new found knowledge to study the sorcery in the scrolls. He and Ruval meet at Rivernrock and the rabikor begins. During the battle, Ruval tries to pull a dragon from the sky, but Pol bonds with it. The dragon, Azhdeen, kills Ruval, ending the threat to Pol''s claim on Princemarch.

Sunrunner''s Fire

After Angus Thermopyle was framed and arrested for stealing station supplies from Com-Mine, Morn Hyland escaped with Captain Nick Succorso aboard his ship, the Captain''s Fancy. As part of a deal Morn made with Angus, she will not reveal to anyone that she has a zone implant - a device Angus installed in her brain allowing him to control her while he raped and abused her - meaning that Angus will not face death for unauthorized use of a zone implant, and in turn Angus gave Morn the zone implant control. With the control in her hands she soon becomes addicted to the effects of a zone implant. Nick misinterpreted Morn''s intentions and expects her to ''repay'' him by being his new lover. The abuse Morn suffered under Angus has left her unable to stand the touch of another man, but she soon works out how to use the zone implant to induce artificial sexual desire to fulfil NIck''s desires. While on board the Captain''s Fancy, the data first Orn Vorbuld repeatedly molests Morn whenever they end up alone together, eventually leading to a showdown with Nick after Orn attempts to rape her. Orn reveals that he has planted a virus in the ship''s computer that, if not deactivated by him, will wipe the computer''s memory and leave the ship stranded in space. In spite of this, Nick still kills him and the ship soon falls under the effects of the virus. Meanwhile, Morn discovers that she has become pregnant, and the age of the fetus indicates that Angus Thermopyle is the father. Reflecting on the death of her family, she decides to keep it, which Nick allows her on the condition that she is able to stop the virus. She does so, and Nick keeps his end of the bargain, but not in a way Morn expected: Nick sets course for Enablement Station, an outpost in Forbidden Space, a region of space controlled by the mysterious Amnion. The Amnion are a race of creatures whose society is centered around their ability to manipulate DNA. They intend on dominating the human species through use of mutagens that would turn humans into Amnion themselves, but for now are held at bay in their section of the universe - what humans call forbidden space. No one but pirates and other illegals ever deal with the Amnion for fear that they themselves will be turned into Amnion, but Nick maintains that they would never go back on their word for fear that if they did no humans would deal with them. Once they arrive at the station Nick convinces the Amnion to give them enough credit to fix their gap drive (which was damaged previously) and to force grow Morn''s unborn child to adulthood, in exchange for a phial of Nick''s blood, which the Amnion mistakenly believe holds the key to genetic immunity to their mutagens (the "immunity" is actually caused by a drug, of which the Amnion are unaware). The Amnion keep their promises and give Nick the credit he asked for and force grow Morn''s baby to the approximate age of 16. Her mind is copied onto her son, a process which she survives only due to the effects of her zone implant. Nick becomes enraged when he sees Morn''s child, named Davies Hyland after her father; Davies is the spitting image of his real father, Angus Thermopyle. After getting back to the ship the Amnion inadvertently reveal the existence of Morn''s zone implant when they explain that it protected her from the brain damage a mind imprint would cause. Nick realizes that Morn''s love for him was all a masque and when the Amnion request that they return Davies Hyland to them for experimentation, Nick complies in return for parts to fix his gap drive. Morn soon manages to hold the ship and Enablement station hostage by putting the ship''s self-destruct on a pressure release trigger so she can get her child back, as well as the parts needed to fix the ship. They enable their gap drive but it begins to fail. Vector Shaheed, the ship''s engineer, manages to avert a disaster and they survive, coming ''back into tard'' with a slagged gap drive far from Enablement, but still in Amnion space. To everyone''s surprise the ship is travelling at an unprecedented .9C, or nine tenths the speed of light. In the ensuing chaos, Nick is able to retake command of the ship. Setting course for Thanatos Minor where an illegal trade outpost called Billingate resides, two Amnion warships catch up and Nick negotiates to have Davies transferred to one in an ejection pod. After being released from her cabin by some of the crew who no longer trust Nick, Morn manages to get the pod reprogrammed so that it misses the Amnion ship and heads toward Billingate. In the meantime, the incarcerated Angus Thermopyle is tortured and interrogated on Com-Mine by Milos Taverner, the head of Com-Mine security. Eventually he is requisitioned by the UMCP and transformed into a cyborg, (a process known as "welding) under the complete control of the computers connected to his brain. The UMCP then prepares to send Milos and Angus together on a highly classified mission against Thanatos Minor.

Forbidden Knowledge

The protagonist of this novel, Anthony Greville, is a Member of Parliament who is married with two children. His son Adam is seventeen and his daughter Sophie is eight. Despite the outward perfection of his life, Greville is having an affair with sculptress Natalia Jones, an enigmatic mother of two who is married to a husband in politics who cheats on her. Greville''s wife is away at the family''s country retreat for weeks on end and his children at their respective schools, so Greville enjoys his lover''s company with minimal risk of being discovered. However, as smitten with Natalia as Greville is, he has a brief fling with a woman named Madeleine, as well. In spite of his easy lifestyle, Greville is not a happy man. The focus of this novel is based on Greville''s dissatisfactions and confusions. For instance, although Natalia does not make any demands on him, and his wife prefers not to see what is going on, Greville is torn between the two women. He wants to be with Natalia when he is with his wife and vice versa. What is more, he sees two people in his lover. To Anthony Greville, Natalia is an angelic figure who also symbolizes a diametrical opposite, specifically demonic. This dual perception of his lover leads him call her by two different names (Natalie and Natalia). Greville becomes disillusioned with politics, because he feels that political gaming prefers stalemate to partisanship,and therefore, opposes real change. Subsequently, Greville states that he is going to resign from Parliament as soon as possible. This is a startling announcement because Greville comes from a family of politicians, and his son is already active in grassroots politics. However, before his intended resignation, he must complete a final diplomatic mission as an MP; he journeys to Central Africa to meet Ndoula, a controversial freedom fighter who has been imprisoned by the colonial powers. While he is in Africa, without the emotional chaos of his personal life, Greville begins to introspect, writing and trying to make sense of his life. When Greville returns to England, he finds that both his wife and his idealistic son are leaving for Africa in order to help the current crisis. Greville sees them off at the airport, and then returns to Natalia, even though she has not answered his letters from abroad. Although interesting and similar in content and intent to the works of Graham Greene, the plot line of Natalie Natalia can be construed as "difficult to follow" because the linear narration is interrupted by segments where Greville''s thoughts, dreams, and fantasies become the focus of the prose. An example of such an interruptive/introspective segment in Greville''s POV (from Chapter 7) follows : […] I had rowed into the harbour from the sea; the oars had made whirlpools. A light appeared in the window: your breast, above the candle, burned. We wrapped our cloaks round us: ran with our shoulders against the drawbridge. Hands came through the door and held us; they were tendrils through the stone. You watched from an upstairs window. We were in the hallway of the castle. You stood with the candle and one hand against your breast. The candle burned: it made blood against the snow. The man with the beak of a bird put his head down to embrace you: with one arm round his neck, you were a tunnel through which he could breathe. On the stairs were figures in suits of armour. Firelight flickered. You were laid on a table with one leg raised. The man with the mask of a bird rummaged inside you. He was looking in you like a suitcase. I had been in the cell all winter alone. Turning you on your front, you had been split up the back by an axe. Men in white coats stood around you. They had instruments in their hands with which to handle coals. They flipped them over. You had your face to the wall and were fastened to iron rings. The man with the beak of a bird tore the lining. Hands had come through the wall and held me. Your arms were round the neck of the man with the mask like a swan. He reached to the entrails and the liver. Men leaned over tables and shovelled coal. Their pink cheeks glowed. You stood with a hand at your breast and the candle burning you. On the stairs were men in armour; their swords flickered. With your back towards them, they heated irons in the coal. They lifted your leg up and put it on the table. Moving with my hands behind me, I felt an iron ring in the stone. If I pulled, there would be a tunnel: I could put an iron bar across the hole. At the end of it would be a cell. There I had been all winter. […]

Natalie Natalia

The story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend of the Whites who has been part of the British Armed Forces in India, leaves them with the monkey''s paw, telling of its mysterious powers to grant three wishes, and of its journey from an old fakir to his comrade, who used his third and final wish to wish for death. Mr. White wishes for £200 to be used as the final payment on his house. Following that, Herbert is killed by machinery at his company, but they do get compensation of £200. Ten days after the funeral, Mrs. White, almost mad with grief, asks her husband to wish Herbert back to life with the paw. Reluctantly, he does so. After a delay, there is a knock at the door. Mrs. White fumbles at the locks in an attempt to open the door. Mr. White knows, however, that he cannot allow their son in, as his appearance will be too grotesque. Mr. White was required to witness and identify the body, which had been mutilated by the accident and then buried for more than a week. He wishes his third wish for Herbert to remain dead, and the knocking stops. Mrs. White opens the door to find no one there. The theme of the story is contained in this description of the paw: ''"It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people''s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow."

The Monkey''s Paw

The plot of Murphy follows an eponymous "seedy solipsist" who, urged to find a job by his lover Celia Kelly, begins work as a male nurse at the Magdalen Mental Mercyseat in north London, and finds the insanity of the patients an appealing alternative to conscious existence. Murphy, gone to ground in London lodgings and then in the hospital, is pursued by a ragtag troupe of eccentrics from his own country, each with their own often-conflicting motivations. Neary, a practitioner of eastern mysticism, seeks Murphy as a love rival and then as compatible friend in the absence of all others. Miss Counihan''s attachment to Murphy is romantic. Among Wylie''s motivations, Miss Counihan is perhaps the strongest. And Cooper, Neary''s simpleton servant and fixer, joins the trail for money, alcohol, and to serve his master. Among other things, Murphy is an example of Beckett''s fascination with the artistic and metaphorical possibilities of chess. Near the novel''s end, Murphy plays a game of chess with Mr. Endon, a patient who is "the most biddable little gaga in the entire institution". But Murphy cannot replicate his opponent''s symmetrical and cyclical play, just as he is unable to will himself into a state of catatonic bliss. He resigns "with fool''s mate in his soul", and dies shortly afterwards. Beckett relates the game in full English notation, complete with a comically arch commentary. Moving between Ireland and England, the novel is caustically satirical at the expense of the Irish Free State, which had recently banned Beckett''s More Pricks Than Kicks: the astrologer consulted by Murphy is famous ''throughout civilised world and Irish Free State''; ''for an Irish girl'' Murphy''s admirer Miss Counihan was ''quite exceptionally anthropoid''; and in the General Post Office, site of the 1916 Rising, Neary assaults the buttocks of Oliver Sheppard''s statue of mythic Irish hero Cúchulainn (the statue in fact possesses no buttocks). Indeed, the censor is roundly mocked: Celia, a prostitute whose profession is described tactfully in a passage by the author, who writes that "this phrase is chosen with care, lest the filthy censors should lack an occasion to commit their filthy synecdoche." Later, when Miss Counihan is sitting on Wylie''s knee, Beckett sardonically explains that this did not occur in Wynn''s Hotel, the Dublin establishment where earlier dialogue took place. The novel also contains a scabrous portrait of poet Austin Clarke as the dipsomaniac Austin Ticklepenny, given to unreciprocated ''genustuprations'' of Murphy under the table; against Oliver St. John Gogarty''s advice, Clarke declined to sue. Murphy indeed cannot go insane to achieve freedom. What he turns to instead is nothingness, and his ashes are properly spread amidst the grime of a bar after immolating himself with the assistance of gas in his bedroom at the hospital. Celia also discovers the beauty of nothingness, as she loses her love, Murphy, and her grandfather''s health declines. Beckett seamlessly converts comedy to terror of non-existence, as he does in his later work, Waiting for Godot. Among the many thinkers to influence Murphy''s mind-body debate are Spinoza, Descartes, and the little-known Belgian occasionalist Arnold Geulincx.

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