Voluntary Reading #2 (2001)

Explore our curated list of 2001 books for voluntary reading. Discover top literary picks, hidden gems, and must-read titles from the year 2001 to enrich your reading journey.

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Cover
Book

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

by Italo Calvino

Introduction by Peter Washington; Translation by William Weaver Italo Calvino’s masterpiece combines a love story and a detective story into an exhilarating allegory of reading, in which the reader of the book becomes the book’s central character. Based on a witty analogy between the reader’s desire to finish the story and the lover’s desire to consummate his or her passion, IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER is the tale of two bemused readers whose attempts to reach the end of the same book—IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER, by Italo Calvino, of course—are constantly and comically frustrated. In between chasing missing chapters of the book, the hapless readers tangle with an international conspiracy, a rogue translator, an elusive novelist, a disintegrating publishing house, and several oppressive governments. The result is a literary labyrinth of storylines that interrupt one another—an Arabian Nights of the postmodern age.
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ID: 0375407561
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ID: 0816630984
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ID: 0374505322
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ID: 0805031057
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ID: 0805044582
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Seven Gothic Tales Cover
Book

Seven Gothic Tales

by Isak Dinesen

Originally published in 1934, Seven Gothic Tales, the first book by "one of the finest and most singular artists of our time" (The Atlantic), is a modern classic. Here are seven exquisite tales combining the keen psychological insight characteristic of the modern short story with the haunting mystery of the nineteenth-century Gothic tale, in the tradition of writers such as Goethe, Hoffmann, and Poe.
The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake Cover
Book

The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake

by William Blake

Since its first publication in 1965, this edition has been widely hailed as the best available text of Blake's poetry and prose. Now revised, if includes up-to-date work on variants, chronology of poems and critical commentary by Harold Bloom. An "Approved Edition" of the Center for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.
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ID: 0192835807
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ID: 0520223128
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ID: 0811212882
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ID: 0465032753
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ID: 0879234628
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ID: 0452262054
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ID: 1883642418
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ID: 067960250X
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ID: 0679641025
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Homage to Catalonia Cover
Book

Homage to Catalonia

by George Orwell

Contains primary source material.
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ID: 0195095901
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ID: 0745308198
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ID: 0393301583
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Cosmicomics Cover
Book

Cosmicomics

by Italo Calvino

Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from mathematical formulae and cellular structures. “Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines?” Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
Three Plays Cover
Book

Three Plays

by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

No summary available.
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ID: B00005VPXE
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ID: 0670891673
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