The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler

 Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep is the definitive hardboiled detective story and Philip Marlowe the perfect expression of the cynical, world-weary gumshoe. Hired by the crippled General Sternwood to shake off a blackmailer, Marlowe also has to deal with the general's two rebellious daughters, the gamb...

The Last Days of Socrates - Plato: Translated by Christopher Rowe - Penguin Classics

Plato

"Consider just this, and give your minds to this alone: whether or not what I say is just"   Plato's account of Socrates' trial and death (399 BC) is a significant moment in Classical literature and the life of Classical Athens. In these four dialogues, Plato develops the Socratic belief in responsibili...

Three Japanese Buddhist Monks (Penguin Great Ideas Series)

Saigyo; Kamo no Chomei; Yoshida Kenko

'I have relinquished all that ties me to the world, but the one thing that still haunts me is the beauty of the sky' These simple, inspiring writings by three medieval Buddhist monks offer peace and wisdom amid the world's uncertainties, and are an invitation to relinquish earthly desires and instead ta...