Here we are again with a great line up of authors and their first published works. The novel that launched them into literary fame. We have so many classic authors we would love to cover, we are going to split this into a series of blog posts. So here is Volume 3 of our favourite authors here at World of Rare Books.
Evelyn Waugh – Decline and Fall (1928)
Arthur Evelyn St John Waugh was an English writer of novels, biographies and travel books. He was also a journalist and a reviewer of books.
Decline and Fall is a novel about a modest theology student Paul Pennyfeather, and he falls victim to the drunken antics of the Bolinger Club. This novel was dramatised as a 1969 film starring Robin Phillips.
Evelyn Waugh went on to write 16 other novels after Decline and Fall and many other short stories. His book Brideshead Revisited is one of our favourites here at World of Rare Books
“Have you at any time been detained in a mental home or similar institution? If so, give particulars.’
‘I was at Scone College, Oxford, for two years,’ said Paul.”
― Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall
John Steinbeck – Cup of Gold (1929)
John Steinbeck published Cup of Gold in 1929. Henry Morgan, a pirate and outlaw with a legendary background rules the Spanish Main. The book follows his two ambitions, firstly to possess a beautiful woman La Santa Roja and secondly to conquer Panama (Cup of Gold). It is Steinbeck’s first novel that is the sole work of historical fiction, and it will take you on a journey filled with swashbuckling pirate fantasy!
“He has come to be the great man he thought he wanted to be. If this is true, then he is not a man. He is still a little boy and wants the moon.”
― John Steinbeck, Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional Reference to History
P.G. Wodehouse – The Pothunters (1902)
P.G. Wodehouse published The Pothunters in 1902 in the UK. The novel follows the lives of several of the schoolboys as they study, take part in sports and enjoy tea in their studies. When the school’s sport’s trophies are stolen in a burglary (The Pots) the schoolboys, masters join the police in a hunt of the pots.
P.G. Wodehouse, went on to become a household name in literature and his Jeeves and Blanding’s series remain just as popular today.
“There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.”
― P.G. Wodehouse
H.G. Wells – The Time Machine (1895)
H.G. Wells published his science fiction novel in 1895. Wells is credited with the popularisation of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows it’s driver to travel in time. The term “Time Machine” coined by H.G. Wells is now almost universally used to refer to such a vehicle. His science fiction novels paved the way for the classic sci-fi that we know and love today.
“Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.”
― H.G. Wells, The Time Machine
Ernest Hemingway – The Sun Also Rises (1926)
The Sun Also Rises is Ernest Hemmingway’s first novel published in 1926. It is about a group of American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermin to watch the bulls and bullfights. It received mixed review upon publication. The basis of the novel was Hemmingway’s trip to Spain in 1925.
Ernest Hemmingway went on to become a great American author and hs economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction. Many of Hemmingway’s work are considered as great American classics.
“I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Did you miss Volume One and Volume Two? Not to worry, follow the links and you will find our previous blog posts. Don’t forget to visit our store here at World of Rare Books, for all you vintage and unique book needs.