SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2017 From the award-winning best-selling writer a deeply moving tale of a father & son's transformative journey in reading
- & reliving
- Homer's epic masterpiece When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enrol in the undergraduate seminar on the Odyssey that his son Daniel teaches at Bard College the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual For Jay a retired research scientist who sees the world through a mathematician's unforgiving eyes this return to the classroom is his one last chance' to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth
- & even more a final opportunity to understand his son But through the sometimes uncomfortable months that follow as the two men explore Homer's great work together
- first in the classroom where Jay persistently challenges his son's interpretations & then during a surprise-filled Mediterranean journey retracing Odysseus' legendary voyages
- it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn too For Jay's responses to both the text & the travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the Daniel to understand his difficult father at last As this intricately woven memoir builds to its wrenching climax Mendelsohn's narrative comes to echo the Odyssey itself with its timeless themes of deception & recognition marriage & children the pleasures of travel & the meaning of home Rich with literary & emotional insight An Odyssey is a renowned writer's most revelatory entwining yet of personal narrative & literary exploration




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Please note this is a region B Blu-ray & will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play Loner Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) enters Officer Candidate School to become a Navy pilot & in thirteen tortuous weeks he discovers what it means to be a man of honour Louis Gossett Jr won an Oscar for his portrayal of Foley the drill instructor who teaches Zack that no one can make it alone While Foley tries to warn the young officer about the local girls trying to land themselves pilot husbands he finds himself caught by one (Debra Winger) His fellow candidate & friend Sid (David Keith) struggles with a very different fate Winner of 2 Academy Awards a rich story & amazing performances make An Officer & A Gentleman stand apart as one of the greats Actors Richard Gere Debra Winger David Keith Robert Loggia Lisa Blount Lisa Eilbacher Louis Gossett Jr Tony Plana & David Caruso Director Taylor Hackford Certificate 15 years & over Year 1982 Screen Widescreen 1781 Anamorphic Languages English
- DTS-HD Master Audio (51) Additional Languages Italian ; Castilian Spanish ; German ; Parisian French ; Latin American Spanish ; Brazilian Portuguese Subtitles English ; English for the hearing impaired Closed Captions Yes Duration 2 hours & 4 minutes (approx)
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region Free DVD Player in order to play Return to the disco days of the 1980s in this exclusive collection featuring ALL NEW ARTWORK that celebrates Generation X&s neon dream decade & the movies that defined it Loner Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) enters Officer Candidate School to become a Navy pilot & in thirteen tortuous weeks he discovers what it means to be a man of honour Louis Gossett Jr won an Oscar for his portrayal of Foley the drill instructor who teaches Zack that no one can make it alone While Foley tries to warn the young officer about the local girls trying to land themselves pilot husbands he finds himself caught by one (Debra Winger) His fellow candidate & friend Sid (David Keith) struggles with a very different fate Winner of 2 Academy Awards a rich story & amazing performances make An Officer & A Gentleman stand apart as one of the greats Language English Number of discs 1 ...

IN THE HUNT FOR A SPY HE EXPOSED A CONSPIRACYWinner of the 2014 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Paris 1895 an army officer Georges Picquart watches a convicted spy Alfred Dreyfus being publicly humiliated in front of a baying crowd Dreyfus is exiled for life to Devil&s Island; Picquart is promoted to run the intelligence unit that tracked him down But when Picquart discovers that secrets are still being handed over to the Germans he is drawn into a dangerous labyrinth of deceit & corruption that threatens not just his honour but his life A breathtaking historical spy thriller from Robert Harris author of Munich Conclave & the acclaimed Cicero trilogy ...

National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year 2013 They lied to protect their country He told the truth to save it A gripping historical thriller from the bestselling author of FATHERLAND January 1895 On a freezing morning in the heart of Paris an army officer Georges Picquart witnesses a convicted spy Captain Alfred Dreyfus being publicly humiliated in front of twenty thousand spectators baying ‘ Death to the Jew!’ The officer is rewarded with promotion Picquart is made the French army’s youngest colonel & put in command of ‘the Statistical Section’ – the shadowy intelligence unit that tracked down Dreyfus The spy meanwhile is given a punishment of medieval cruelty Dreyfus is shipped off to a lifetime of solitary confinement on Devil’s Island – unable to speak to anyone not even his guards his case seems closed forever But gradually Picquart comes to believe there is something rotten at the heart of the Statistical Section When he discovers another German spy operating on French soil his superiors are oddly reluctant to pursue it Despite official warnings Picquart persists & soon the officer & the spy are in the same predicament… Narrated by Picquart An Officer & a Spy is a compelling recreation of a scandal that became the most famous miscarriage of justice in history Compelling too are the echoes for our modern world an intelligence agency gone rogue justice corrupted in the name of national security a newspaper witch-hunt of a persecuted minority & the age-old instinct of those in power to cover-up their crimes ...

Storytelling kept alive the myths legends & history of the Blasket Islands In her old age Peig Sayers recounted her life to her son who recorded the tale in this book She recalls the events of her life & her simple philosophy in a moving poetic style Such everyday tasks as collecting turf for roots catching & eating seals & preparing for a wake are depicted alongside such momentous events as drownings at sea pilgrimages & the spread of the news of the Easter uprising in 1916 There were 'clouds of sorrow' but helping to lift them was the friendship she found in the community which 'was like a little rose in the wilderness' The Blasket Islands are three miles off Irelands Dingle Peninsula Until their evacuation just after the Second World War the lives of the 150 or so Blasket Islanders had remained unchanged for centuries A rich oral tradition of story-telling poetry & folktales kept alive the legends & history of the islands & has made their literature famous throughout the world The 7 Blasket Island books published by OUP contain memoirs & reminiscences from within this literary tradition evoking a way of life which has now vanished ...

Mark Stevenson has been to the future a few years ahead of the rest of us
- & reckons it has a lot going for it His voyage of discovery
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An unfortunate accident as a toddler left both of Malcolm Linsell's hands burned At the age of 13 a Plastic surgeon released a burns scar contracture on his right hand & it was from this day on that unknowingly inspired Malcolm to become a plastic surgeon ...

War rages but the women & children of Liverpool's Dr Barnado's Home cannot give up hope An Orphan in the Snow is the perfect heartwarming saga to curl up with this winter LIVERPOOL 1941 Haunted by the death of her sister June Lavender takes a job at a Dr Barnardo's orphanage June couldn't save Clara from their father's violence but perhaps she can help children whose lives have been torn apart by war A WORLD AT WARWhen June bumps into Flight Lieutenant Murray Andrews on the bombed streets of Liverpool the attraction is instant But how can they think of love when war is tearing the world apart? A FIGHT FOR HOPEAs winter closes in & the war rages on can June find the strength & courage to make a better life for herself & the children? A gripping story of love friendship & hope in the darkest of places Molly Green is an exciting new voice in saga fiction perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries & Katie Flynn ...

Jeremy Oakshott Fellow of Jerusalem Hall & an authority on the Crusades is content with life until renowned archaeologist Mrs Lestrange urges him to join her expedition to Syria His wealthy uncle Ambrose Littlemore refuses to help him & is murdered soon afterwards Detective Inspector Antrobus has already investigated the savage murder of one of Oakeshott's old friends but the scholar's alibis are completely water-tight Assisted by his doctor friend Sophia Jex-Blake Antrobus looks further afield visiting two criminal lunatic asylums a remote nunnery & a quiet country village where at last they uncover the truth about five savage murders & the identity of their perpetrator ...