18 books like The Essays of Elia

What to read after The Essays of Elia — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Defendant Gilbert Keith Chesterton · 1901 · ★ 4.1 · 53p · ≈ 1h · Challenging Covering topics ranging from literature to philosophy, history to social criticism, this is a snapshot of thought on 20th-century Europe (and the world) by one of Europe's sharpest wits and ablest pens. With chapter titles ranging from “The Miser and His Friends” to “The Red Reactionary,” from “The Separatist and Sacred Things” to “The New Theologian” and “The Romantic in the Rain,” this volume… Shares: English essays, English Authors, Essays, History

Shooting an Elephant and other essays George Orwell · 1950 · ★ 4.0 · 206p · ≈ 6h · Moderate 'Shooting an Elephant' is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The other masterly essays in this collection include classics such as 'My Country Right or Left', 'How the Poor Die' and 'Such, Such were the Joys', his memoir of the horrors of public… Shares: English essays, Essays

Abinger harvest E. M. Forster · 1936 · 384p · ≈ 12h · Challenging When Adela Quested and her elderly companion Mrs Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, they quickly feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced 'Anglo-Indian' community. Determined to escape the parochial English enclave and explore the 'real India', they seek the guidance of the charming and mercurial Dr Aziz, a cultivated Indian Muslim. But a mysterious incident occurs while they are… Shares: Collected works, Essays

Changing my mind Zadie Smith · 2009 · ★ 3.8 · 306p · ≈ 10h · Moderate A sparkling collection of Zadie Smith's nonfiction over the past decade.Zadie Smith brings to her essays all of the curiosity, intellectual rigor, and sharp humor that have attracted so many readers to her fiction, and the result is a collection that is nothing short of extraordinary.Split into four sections—"Reading," "Being," "Seeing," and "Feeling"—Changing My Mind invites readers to witness… Shares: English essays, Essays, Travel, History

A coat of many colours Herbert Edward Read · 1945 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Challenging This book, first published in 1947, is collection of critical essays by Herbert Read that had not been previously published in book form. The essays cover several different subject areas, including literature, art, architecture, and film, from a span of twenty years. This title will be of interest to a variety of readers. Shares: English essays, Essays

Heretics Gilbert Keith Chesterton · 1905 · ★ 4.2 · 164p · ≈ 5h · Challenging Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London, England on the 29th of May, 1874. Though he considered himself a mere rollicking journalist, he was actually a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every area of literature. A man of strong opinions and enormously talented at defending them, his exuberant personality nevertheless allowed him to maintain warm friendships with people - such as George… Shares: English essays, English Authors, Essays

The Lands of the Saracen Bayard Taylor · 1854 · 451p · ≈ 15h · Challenging This volume comprises the second portion of a series of travels. This work includes author's adventure travels in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain. Shares: Description and travel, Travel

Journey Without Maps Graham Greene · 1936 · 249p · ≈ 8h · Challenging This is an account of a trip Graham Greene made in 1935 with his cousin, Barbara Greene, through the previously unexplored interior of Liberia. It was an extremely uncomfortable journey, with Greene falling seriously ill halfway through the trip. Possibly as a result of this he also made a point of noting the many illnesses with which the local inhabitants were assailed, particularly malaria and… Shares: Description and travel, Travel

America Theodor de Bry · 1590 · 42p · ≈ 1h · Demanding Coastal/territorial waters included: Shares: Indians of South America, Description and travel, Travel, History

Works of Thomas de Quincey Grevel Lindop · 2001 · 3024p · ≈ 100h · Moderate Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is considered one of the most important English prose writers of the early-19th century. This is the first part of a 21-volume set presenting De Quincey's work, also including previously unpublished material. Shares: English essays, English Authors

On a Chinese screen William Somerset Maugham · 1922 · 242p · ≈ 8h · Challenging On a Chinese Screen was first published in 1922 by Heinemann Publishers, London. Its 58 short vignettes are based on Maugham’s travels along the Yangtze River from 1919 to 1920. Although later editions of the book added the subtitle “Sketches of Life in China,” there are actually only a few descriptions of the places he visited and the local Chinese people he met; rather, Maugham focuses on… Shares: English Authors, Description and travel, Travel

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1902 · ★ 3.8 · 31p · ≈ 1h · Challenging A new, wide-ranging selection of Ralph Waldo Emerson's most influential writings, this edition captures the essence of American Transcendentalism and illustrates the breadth of one of America's greatest philosophers and poets.The writings featured here show Emerson as a protester against social conformity, a lover of nature, an activist for the rights of women and slaves, and a poet of great… Shares: Collected works, Essays, History

The essays of Francis Bacon Francis Bacon · 1900 · ★ 3.8 · 227p · ≈ 7h · Challenging The perfect addition to any literary buff’s library (or even if you’re not!), download and add Sir Francis Bacon's timeless essays to your collection. This humorous collection of essays offers a unique view on the common issues we all face. Sir Francis Bacon discusses Love, Truth, Death, Religion, and many other social problems that have been debated for centuries in these classic essays. This… Shares: English essays, Essays

Tent-life in Siberia and adventures among the Koraks and other tribes in Kamchatka and northern Asia George Kennan · 1870 · 425p · ≈ 14h · Challenging An account of a period living in Siberia in pursuit of a plan to carry a telegraph line across land to Europe through Siberia in consequence of the failure of efforts to carry a telegraph line to Europe under the Atlantic. Shares: Description and travel, Travel

Modern essays Christopher Morley · 1921 · 351p · ≈ 11h · Challenging "A collection of representative contemporary essays" written by British and American authors. Shares: English essays, Essays

Wild Wales George Henry Borrow · 1798 · 608p · ≈ 20h · Demanding Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery is a travel book by the English Victorian gentleman writer George Borrow (1803–1881), first published in 1862. Shares: English Authors, Description and travel, Travel

When the Going Was Good Evelyn Waugh · 1934 · 316p · ≈ 10h · Challenging With the publication of When the Going Was Good Little, Brown takes great pleasure in returning to print a classic of travel journalism. Between 1928 and 1935 Evelyn Waugh wrote four travel books: Labels, Remote People, Ninety-Two Days, and Waugh in Abyssinia, about journeys he made in Africa, South America, and the Middle East. In 1945 he excerpted five long pieces from these books and published… Shares: English Authors, Description and travel, Travel, History

Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes Robert Louis Stevenson · 1879 · ★ 3.6 · 191p · ≈ 6h · Challenging A classic of travel writing, this book recounts Stevenson's adventures on an extended walk through uplands and mountains in south-western France. Humorous on his own failings as a traveller, and on his travails with Modestine the self-willed donkey, it is also an exploration of peasant life in an area marked by the violence of the wars of religion. This version includes the fragment "A mountain… Shares: English Authors, Description and travel, Travel

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