Today Amazon offers The File on H. by Ismail Kadare just for $0.99
In the mid 1930s, two young Irish-American scholars voyage to the Albanian highlands with an early model of a marvelous invention, the tape recorder, in hand. Their mission? To discover how Homer could have composed works as brilliant and as long as the Iliadand the Odysseywithout ever writing them down. The answer, they think, can be found only in Albania, the last remaining natural habitat of the oral epic. But immediately on their arrival the scholars’ seemingly arcane research puts them at the center of ethnic strife in the Balkans. Mistaken for foreign spies, they are placed under the surveillance of a nearsighted informer with a prodigious gift for reproducing conversations he has overheard. He is soon generating a stream of floridly written reports about the visitors’ puzzling activities. News of their presence in the provincial town of N——- sets gossip to flying, and while the town’s governor speculates on their imminent capture, his pretty wife, from her bath, plots her delivery from a marital ennui worthy of Madame Bovary. Research and intrigue proceed apace, but it isn’t until a fierce-eyed monk from the Serbian side of the mountains makes his appearance that the scholars glimpse the full political import of their search for the key to the Homeric question. Part spy novel, part comedy of errors, The File on H. is a work of inventive genius and piercing irony that may be Ismail Kadare’s funniest and most accessible to date. From an author who has been called “one of the most compelling novelists now writing in any language” (Wall Street Journal),it is also a profound and eloquent comment on one of the most intractable conflicts of our time.
Some words about the Author
Ismail Kadare, born in 1936 in the mountain town of Gjirokaster, near the Greek border, is Albania’s best-known poet and novelist. Since the appearance of The General of the Dead Army in 1965, Kadare has published scores of stories and novels that make up a panorama of Albanian history linked by a constant meditation on the nature and human consequences of dictatorship. Kadare’s works brought him into frequent conflict with the authorities from 1945 to 1985. In 1990 he sought political asylum in France, and now divides his time between Paris and Tirana. He is the winner of the inaugural Man Booker Prize.
Spelling Bee is a game for your Kindle Fire which you can download for free today only.
Love it or hate it, spelling is here to stay. Embrace this reality and become a better speller with Spelling Bee, an easy-to-use educational app for your Android device.
Spelling Bee is an ideal study aid for children, but it’s also great for anyone who wants to improve their spelling skills. It features a database of more than 2,300 English words–along with definitions and clear audio clips of each word’s pronunciation–so you can expand your knowledge base quickly and easily.
As any seasoned competitor knows, you can’t just walk into a spelling bee cold and expect to win. You have to prepare–and that means studying as many words as you possibly can, learning definitions and pronunciations as you memorize each word.
The app’s Study mode gives you that opportunity, offering a no-pressure review of thousands of words. Each entry reveals the correct spelling of a single word and its definition. You can also touch an onscreen audio prompt to hear the word being spoken aloud.
When you’re ready, head to Spelling Bee mode for a virtual bee. Touch the onscreen prompt to hear a word spoken aloud, then type the word into a text box. You’ll know immediately whether you got it correct–and if you didn’t, the app will helpfully reveal the correct spelling so you can see your mistake.
Choose from four difficulty levels (Beginner, Easy, Medium, or Hard) and decide how many words you’d like to spell in a challenge (five, 10, or 20). If you want to improve your speed, select the Timer option; this keeps track of how long it takes you to complete a quiz.
The makers of Spelling Bee are busy (yes, you guessed it: busy like bees) adding more words all the time, so you’ll always find new challenges. Have fun and get spelling!