SKU: 34633189196
a book about monsters

a book about monsters Hopeful Monsters – Dalkey Archive Press

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a book about monsters Hopeful Monsters – Dalkey Archive PressBy Nicholas Mosley Introduction by Sven Birkerts ISBN: 9781628975741 Publication Date: 3 10 2026 Thirty five years after its original publication, Hopeful Monsters reemerges as one of the grand intellectual dramas of the 20th century (The New York Times). A sweeping, comprehensive epic, Hopeful Monsters tells the story of the love affair between Max, an English student studying physics and biology, and Eleanor, a German Jew and political radical.

By Nicholas Mosley
Introduction by Sven Birkerts

ISBN: 9781628975741

Publication Date: 3/10/2026

Thirty-five years after its original publication, Hopeful Monsters reemerges as one of the “grand intellectual dramas” of the 20th century (—The New York Times).

A sweeping, comprehensive epic, Hopeful Monsters tells the story of the love affair between Max, an English student studying physics and biology, and Eleanor, a German Jew and political radical. Together, Max and Eleanor participate in the great political and intellectual movements which shape the twentieth-century, taking them from Cambridge and Berlin to the Spanish Civil War, Russia, the Sahara, and finally to Los Alamos to witness the first nuclear test.

Originally published as the culminating volume of a series of five works of fiction entitled “Catastrophe Practice” that The Chicago Tribune called “one of the most important extended literary projects of [the 20th] century,” Hopeful Monsters is the first reissue in a new Dalkey Archive initiative to bring Mosley’s epistolary genius back into circulation for modern readers.

"The two things that are extremely impressive about this book are, first, its intellectual energy and rigour and, secondly, Mosley's gift, rivalling Koestler's or Bertrand Russell's, for summarising extremely difficult ideas in an easily intelligible manner." Spectator

"This is a major novel. I read it barely stopping to eat and sleep. It is the sort of book that one reads again and again, making new discoveries at each reading." Hampstead & Highgate Express

"Fascinating. . . . The novel achieves grand intellectual drama." —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

"The most ambitious English novel written in the past 50 years ... an amazing achievement." Washington Post Book World

"The culminating volume of a series of five fictions called 'Catastrophe Practice' that may be one of the most important extended literary projects of this century . . . Mosley has been feeling his way toward what is ultimately a hopeful vision of the human prospect after having comprehended—in virtually every sense of the term— the turbulence and torments resulting from this century's fierce intellectual and ideological conflicts." —Chicago Tribune

"A brilliant literary performance." —Forward

"What makes Hopeful Monsters a successful book is not so much its big ideas but the passionate intelligence through which they're refracted." —San Francisco Chronicle

"A rich panorama of 20th-century politics and ideas and an affecting love story, the novel combines the epic sweep and narrative drive of popular fiction and the intellectual authority of the best of Milan Kundera or Saul Bellow." —Newsday

"Intellectual and emotional history become delicately and provocatively joined in an agile narrative of the wages of hope in a monstrous century. . . . One of the grandest novels of ideas of our time." —Voice Literary Supplement

"Hopeful Monsters's success lies in Mosley's skill at personalizing sweeping historical events and complex theories ... an extraordinary novel." Boston Globe

"There is, as always in Nicholas Mosley's writing, the pleasure of eloquent ideas eagerly and warmly shared." —Washington Times

Nicholas Mosley (b. 1923) was raised in London, England. He is the author of a dozen novels and a half-dozen works of non-fiction, including an acclaimed biography of his father, the late Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the fascist party in England in the 1930s. Films have been made of two of his novels, Accident (using a screenplay by Harold Pinter and directed by Joseph Losey) and Impossible Object. Mosley passed away in London in 2017 at the age of 93.

Sven Birkerts is the author of 12 books of essays and memoir, most recently The Miro Worm and The Mysteries of Writing. Former Director of the Bennington Writing Seminars, he co-edits the journal AGNI. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with his wife.

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SKU: 34633189196

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Ryan Mease
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent Tool for Approaching Homer via English
Format: Hardcover
I love the Loeb editions of Homer. I've already ready the Odyssey, now moving on to the Iliad. What I've especially started to enjoy with this volume of the Iliad is the editors decision to "call out" which lines were rejected by which ancient commentators (Aristarchus, etc.). This adds some fun to the reading because you get to review the line in Greek and try to surmise why they rejected it, or how the passage would work without the line. The translation is reasonably modern but still "lordly" and has the tone of a war epic. It was enjoyable to read aloud in both English and Greek.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2025
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Bryan Kerr
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 5
2,800 years worth of people have heard/read Homer
Format: Hardcover
I just finished reading volume 1 of Homer's Iliad published by The LOEB Classical Library in conjunction with Harvard University Press. The translation is by A.T. Murray with revisions made by William F. Wyatt. The LOEB Classical Library is a academically trusted collection of Greek and Latin publications. The translations are normally more literal than those you might find at your local Barnes and Noble, therefore they read more like an archaic form of English. Homer's Iliad can be found on nearly every great works of literature list. Harold Bloom considered Homer to be in the same family with Cervantes, Dante, and Shakespeare. The Iliad has been read for thousands of years, and every reputable honors program includes his works in their required readings lists. His writings influenced Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. His descriptions of war are grotesque and inspiring. The pantheon of deities he created in his stories set the stage for the Greek mythology that followed him. This is the understanding I had when approaching the book. The bar was set rather high and unlike most expectations these ones were surpassed. As I finished reading volume 1, I asked myself, "how could a writer from the 8th century B.C. have achieved so much, when so many from our era have achieved so little?" Homer had no paper trail of literary criticism to follow. He had no classes in writing style and technique, and yet the Iliad is of such a high caliber that we still read him today. Wayne C. Booth brought to our attention Homer's "leave nothing up to the reader" style of reading. If Homer wants you to favor one group over another, he is going to come out and say it. He can tell you every thought and intent of each character. Homer doesn't care that it would be impossible for anyone to know the thoughts of Agamemnon or Hector. He knows what they thought and that's enough. Many writers today shy away from such literary techniques in favor of modes that demand "reader response." This is not necessarily bad, it's just a different approach but many of their works, if not all, will not demand the attention of 2,800 years worth of readers.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2012
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Tunc
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent for learning Homeric Greek
Format: Hardcover
The book is bilingual Homeric Greek-English. It is a Word to word translation of the wonderful ancient text... Reading Iliad is a must for all modern man. With this book, with the help of the opposite page English translation, you can read it in its original too. Homeric Greek is not biblical Greek. It's even older and more beautiful.. So, It may not be the best book for biblical greek readers or learners. But if you are serious about learning ancient Greek and want to do it by reading it word by word with the help of English translation, this book is the right one to start with. Homeric Greek is a dead language, therefore people don't know how to pronounce it. There are many theories about it but there is an interesting guy on YouTube with the nickname "kleber kosta", and he is the best reader of Iliad when it comes to pronouncing it.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2012
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Patricia Spicer
Boise, US
★★★★★ 5
Homer's Iliad, Books 1-12
Format: Hardcover
This is a wonderful adjunct to any text for anyone interested in Homeric Greek. It reads well in and of itself and seems to be highly accurate. Of course I recommend it.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2014
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Jo Ann Singer
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
Good standard pony
Format: Hardcover
I recommend this book for scholars who want to read the original Greek but don't want the burden of translating. I like the small size of the book that can be toted around to the doctor's and on an airplane. There are enough notes on difficult passages to make the casual reader aware of the specialist's debate.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2014

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