Books like 'Sonnets to Orpheus'
Readers who enjoyed Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy 20th century classics myths retellings
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Frederick by Leo Lionni
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIllus. in full color. "While other mice are gathering food for the winter, Frederick seems to daydream the summer away. When dreary winter comes, it is Frederick the poet-mouse who warms his friends and cheers them with his words."--Wilson Library Bulletin... -
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Roberto Calasso, Tim Parks
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPresenting the stories of Zeus and Europa, Theseus and Ariadne, the birth of Athens and the fall of Troy, in all their variants, Calasso also uncovers the distant origins of secrets and tragedy, virginity, and rape. "A perfect work like no other. (Calasso) has re-created . . . the morning of our world."--Gore Vidal. 15 engravings... -
Telephone Tales by Gianni Rodari
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsReminiscent of Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights, Gianni Rodari's Telephone Tales is many stories within a story. Every night, a traveling father must finish a bedtime story in the time that a single coin will buy... -
രണ്ടാമൂഴം | Randamoozham by M.T. Vasudevan Nair
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsRandamoozham is the masterpiece of Jnanpith winning writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair. It was translated into English as Second Turn in 1997. M. T. Vasudevan Nair won Vayalar Award, given for the best literary work in Malayalam, for the novel in 1985. Later, in the year 1995, Mr. Nair was awarded the highest literary award in India, Jnanpith Award, for his overall contribution to Malayalam literature... -
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The House of Asterion by Jorge Luis Borges
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne of Borges's shortest stories, The House of Asterion was written over a period of two days. The story explores themes of death, redemption, and the nature of monstrosity. Its narrative style has been referred to as a "literary puzzle", with the narrator's identity not fully revealed until the end of the story... -
Flower Fairies of the Summer by Cicely Mary Barker
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsExperience the beauty and the magic of Cicely Mary Barker's famous Flower Fairies, with a new edition of Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies of the Summer.The magic and loveliness of Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies is being reissued with an updated, contemporary look that is a perfect gift for Flower Fairies fans and a new generation of readers... -
Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet Ahlberg, Allan Ahlberg
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsViking is proud to reissue a special 25th anniversary hardcover edition of Each Peach Pear Plum, Janet and Allan Ahlberg's engaging and beloved adaptation of "I spy." A true classic, this book starring a cast of familiar nursery rhyme characters is the winner of the 1978 Kate Greenaway Medal (the U.K. equivalent of the Caldecott Medal) and an American Library Association Notable book... -
Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSince its first publication in 1981, Daughters of Copper Woman has become an underground classic, selling over 200,000 copies. Now comes a new edition that includes many pieces cut from the original as well as fresh material added by the author. Here finally, after twenty-two years of gathering dust, is the complete version of the groundbreaking bestseller... -
Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia by David Day
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe first encyclopedic illustrated guide to the world of Middle Earth and the Undying Lands, this book brings together every important aspect of Tolkien's vast cosmology. More than five hundred alphabetical entries cover five major subject areas: history, geography, sociology, natural history and biography... -
Tales from Ovid by Ovid
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhen Michael Hofmann and James Lasdun's ground-breaking anthology After Ovid (also Faber) was published in 1995, Hughes's three contributions to the collective effort were nominated by most critics as outstanding... -
The Little Witch by Otfried Preußler
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsOnce upon a time there was a little witch who was only a hundred and twenty-seven years old. And so begins the delightful story of the little Witch and her talking raven Abraxas. It's Walpurgis Night, when all the witches of the land meet to dance on the Brocken mountain, but the little Witch isn't invited as the other witches say she is still too small... -
The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsKaren Wynn Fonstad's THE ATLAS OF MIDDLE-EARTH is an essential volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. Here is the definitive guide to the geography of Middle-earth, from its founding in the Elder Days through the Third Age, including the journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and the Fellowship of the Ring...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure anthologies epic female-author -
The Mahabharata by Jean-Claude Carrière
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA unique dramatization of India's greatest epic poem, fifteen times longer than the Bible, The Mahabharata has played to enthralled audiences throughout Europe, the Far East and America. Regarded as the culmination of Peter Brook's extraordinary research into the possibilities of theatre, the production has been hailed as the 'theatrical event of this century' (Sunday Times)... -
Flower Fairies of the Garden by Cicely Mary Barker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCelebrates and introduces children to the flowers and plants that grow in the garden by making them magical... -
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Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life by Peter J. Leithart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the tradition of Grimm's fairytales, Peter Leithart has produced a wonderful collection of whimsical, yet meaningful, bedtime stories. The characters in each story are as varied as the biblical proverbs they reveal. Meet a chatty squirrel with a secret, or find out what happens when you run up against the Ministry of Nasty Smells... -
Flower Fairies of the Trees by Cicely Mary Barker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor the first time in over 10 years all eight Original Flower Fairies Books[trademark] are being re-designed. Inspiration has been drawn from the original publishers' connections with The Glasgow School of Art to produce an exquisite new cover... -
Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida by Robert Chandler, Various
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the reign of the Tsars in the early 19th century to the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond, the short story has long occupied a central place in Russian culture... -
Flower Fairies of the Spring by Cicely Mary Barker
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSuitable for all Flower Fairy enthusiasts, this title celebrates the annual rejuvenation of the natural world at spring and introduces children to the season's flowers by making them magical... -
The Singer: A Classic Retelling of Cosmic Conflict by Calvin Miller
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Singer quickly became a favorite of evangelists, pastors, artists, students, teachers and readers of all sorts when it was originally published in 1975... -
Про Федота-стрельца, удалого молодца by Leonid Filatov
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings`В нашей пишущей стране пишут даже на стене. Вот и мне пришла охота быть со всеми наравне!` Так в шутливом интервью объяснил когда-то Леонид Филатов, с чего это он вдруг взял и сочинил `Про Федота`. Его сказки - блистательные, искрометные, живые - не перестают смешить и восхищать нас... -
Flower Fairies of the Autumn by Cicely Mary Barker
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis new edition of Cicely Mary Barker's classic Flower Fairy title features a beautiful and catwalk-inspired cover. Intricate and reminiscent of lace, the new cover pays homage to the delicate beauty of Cicely's original illustrations... -
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic by Alberto Manguel, Gianni Guadalupi
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom Atlantis to Xanadu and beyond, this Baedeker of make-believe takes readers on a tour of more than 1,200 realms invented by storytellers from Homer's day to our own. Here you will find Shangri-La and El Dorado; Utopia and Middle Earth; Wonderland and Freedonia. Here too are Jurassic Park, Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, and the fabulous world of Harry Potter... -
Transformations by Anne Sexton, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe fairy tale-based works of the tortured confessional poet, whose raw honesty and wit in the face of psychological pain have touched thousands of readers... -
Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsIn this collection of six tales, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić masterfully fuses her original narrative plots with ancient Slavic folk mythology. The result is a rich, fantastic world often compared to those of Hans Christian Andersen or J. R. R. Tolkien... -
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The Classic Fairy Tales by Iona Opie, Peter Opie
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis volume contains twenty-four of the best known fairy tales in the English language, presented here in the exact words of their first English publication or of the earliest surviving text...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century anthologies children children-books fairy-tale -
Little Long-nose by Wilhelm Hauff
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLittle Long-nose is the mysterious tale of little Jacob, stolen from his family to serve a wicked witch for seven years. While the author, Wilhelm Hauff, is not as well known today as the Brothers Grimm, he was considered in his time to be a literary phenomenon... -
The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World by Ethel Johnston Phelps
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Maid of the North weaves together tales about a woman's right to freedom of will and choice. In this collection of mostly nineteenth-century folk and fairy tales, Ethel Johnston Phelps's heroines successfully portray women as being spirited, courageous and smart... -
A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFirst published in 1932, here is John Cowper Powys's masterwork, an epic novel of terrific cumulative force and lyrical intensity... -
Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov by Robert Chandler, Aleksandr Afanasyev
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor fans of fairy tales and the literary supernatural: a unique collection of Russian short stories from the last 200 years In these folk tales, young women go on long and perilous quests, wicked stepmothers turn children into geese, and tsars ask dangerous riddles, with help or hindrance from magical dolls, cannibal witches, talking skulls, stolen wives, and brothers disguised as wise birds...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies fairy-tale -
Helen in Egypt by H.D.
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe fabulous beauty of Helen of Troy is legendary. But some say that Helen was never in Troy, that she had been conveyed by Zeus to Egypt, and that Greeks and Trojans alike fought for an illusion. A fifty-line fragment by the poet Stesichorus of Sicily (c. 640-555 B.C.), what survives of his Pallinode, tells us almost all we know of this other Helen, and from it H. D. wove her book-length poem... -
The White Deer by James Thurber
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHere is a Thurber world of enchanted deer and seven-headed dragons, of wizards and witches, of riddles and spells, of false love and true. It is the story of a beautiful princess, transformed from a deer, who assigns each of three princes a perilous labor to perform in order to win her hand. Drawings by the Author... -
The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAlong with I, Claudius, The Golden Fleece is considered one of Robert Graves's most exciting and transporting historical novels. The Golden Fleece was at one time the most sacred religious object of the ancient Greeks, and had been sent away as the result of a power struggle between the Greeks and earlier inhabitants of the Greek peninsula...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult ancient-civilization audiobook -
Ka by Roberto Calasso, Els van der Pluym
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWith The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Calasso turned ancient legends into modern literature and created a postmodern novel out of the ancient myths of classical Greece...in Ka, Calasso attempts to do the same with the far more sprawling and elusive corpus of classical Sanskritt literature...The result is a book as brilliantly original as anything I have ever read on Hinduism.. -
The Brown Fairy Book: Illustrated by Andrew Lang
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Brown Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. This wonderful collection of fairy stories, put together by Andrew Lang at the end of the 19th century, gathers many of the best loved tales of childhood to have pleased generations... -
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Cinderella by Amy Ehrlich, Charles Perrault
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCinderella's transformation from poor girl to princess never fails to captivate young ones, and this stellar retelling, exquisitely illustrated by Susan Jeffers, is a must for every library. When the original version of this book was published in 1985, Publishers Weekly called it "a treasure for all ages," and The New York Times declared, "Fairy-tale aficionados will be mesmerized... -
The Lays of Beleriand by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThis is the third volume of the History of Middle-earth, which comprises here-tofore unpublished manuscripts that were written over a period of many years before Tolkien's Simlarillion was published. Volumes 1 and 2 were the Book of Lost Tales, Part One and The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two... -
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratings?What a sweet child,? says a newcomer in town about Goldilocks. ?That?s what you think,? a neighbor replies. For Goldilocks is one of those naughty little girls who does exactly as she pleases?even if that means sampling the three bears? porridge, breaking Baby Bear?s chair, and sleeping in his bed... -
Old Mother West Wind by Thornton W. Burgess
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsPerfect for gift-giving--a classic illustrated by Michael Hague, in a beautifully redesigned edition.Thornton W. Burgess said that imagination was "the birthright of every child." His Old Mother West Wind stories, first published in 1910, have worked their magic on generations of children...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism book -
Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe definitive collection of Tolkien’s classic “fairie” tales, in the vein of The Hobbit, illustrated by Oscar winner Alan Lee. The book is the perfect opportunity for fans of Middle-earth to enjoy some of Tolkien’s often overlooked yet most creative storytelling...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook children -
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA continuation of Homer’s epic poem, Kazantzakis’s own Odyssey finds Odysseus once again leaving Ithaca on finding that the satisfactions of home and hearth are not as he remembered them...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult ancient-civilization book -
The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this sequel to The King Must Die Theseus defies the Gods’ and claims the throne of Athens a move that culminates in the terrible, fateful destruction of the house of Minos -- the Minotaur...Categorized as:
classics myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure ancient-civilization audiobook book -
Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis brilliant reconception of the Arthurian epic cuts through the familiar myths and tells the story of the real King Arthur: Artos the Bear, the mighty warrior-king who saved the last lights of Western civilization when the barbarian darkness descended in the fifth century... -
L'Enchanteur by René Barjavel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsQui ne connaît pas Merlin ? Il se joue du temps qui passe, reste jeune et beau, vif et moqueur, tendre, pour tout dire Enchanteur... -
Norma Jeane Baker of Troy by Anne Carson
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNorma Jeane Baker of Troy is a partly spoken, partly sung performance piece by poet, essayist, and scholar Anne Carson, and an exploration of the lives and myths of Marilyn Monroe and Helen of Troy—iconic beauties who lived millennia apart... -
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Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa by Gerald McDermott
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsZomo the rabbit, a trickster from West Africa, wants wisdom. But he must accomplish three apparently impossible tasks before Sky God will give him what he wants. Is he clever enough to do as Sky God asks? “The tale moves along with the swift concision of a good joke, right down to its satisfying punch line... -
An Encyclopedia of Tolkien by David Day
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA comprehensive, illustrated guide to the history, lands, and inhabitants of Middle-earth. The fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth contains a rich assortment of people, cities, and creatures—as well as a deep, intertwined history that spans thousands of years... -
Rhinegold by Stephan Grundy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsProudly dedicated to both J. R. R. Tolkien and Richard Wagner, Rhinegold is a tour de force that will enthrall devotees of either master of magic, casting a fascinating new light on the stories they have told. What The Mists of Avalon did for Celtic culture, Rhinegold does magnificently for its Nordic counterpart... -
Mythologies by W.B. Yeats
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBanshees and faeries, demons and curses, village ghosts and mystic poets work their Gaelic magic in this enthralling collection of supernatural tales from the pen of William Butler Yeats... -
Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa by Kenji Miyazawa
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe magic of Miyazawa's tales reaches out to people of all ages and lands. The sophisticated reader can savor them consciously as literature, while the younger reader can delight in them as imaginative stories that comment on and deepen his own experience. The underlying themes are universal, but the forms and treatment can be appreciated at many levels and vary subtly from piece to piece... -
The Shamutanti Hills by Steve Jackson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFar away in the land of Kakhabad, chaos is brewing... The evil Archimage has stolen the precious Crown of Kings, intending to use its power to further his tyrannous ends. In this first book of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series, you embark on a quest in the turmoil of Kakhabad, progressing through four books in order to achieve your ultimate goal - the Crown of Kings...
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