A Cardinal Sin

Sue, Eugène, 1804-1857Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 250K words
Chapters: 26

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Cardinal Sin by Eugène SueAuthor: Sue, Eugène, 1804-1857,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jul 15, 2006

Editor's review

Eugène Sue was a major figure in nineteenth-century French popular fiction, and A Cardinal Sin continues in his signature vein of social critique and melodrama. Centered on religious power and personal destiny, the novel uses suspense and conflict to reveal human struggles within moral dilemmas. Readers can see how early serialized fiction drew a mass audience through dramatic narrative while reflecting the period's complex attitudes toward ecclesiastical authority. This edition is a free Project Gutenberg eBook, with clear, readable English text, and serves as an accessible introduction to Sue's work. As you read, consider how the novel links personal tragedy to social structure, and how the author treats serious moral questions in a popular idiom. For readers studying nineteenth-century French literature or the evolution of popular fiction, this is a valuable supplementary text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century French literature and popular fiction
Students studying Eugène Sue or socially critical novels
Those who enjoy melodramatic narrative and stories of moral conflict

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary suspense or a minimalist style
Those who need a Chinese translation and are not comfortable reading the English original

Reading tips

Start with the context of July Monarchy France before entering the story
Note the causal chain linking depictions of religious power to personal tragedy
Compare with other popular novels by Eugène Sue to observe his narrative patterns

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book the English original or a Chinese translation?

This is the English-language original eBook released by Project Gutenberg. It is in English and suited to readers with sufficient English reading ability to read the original directly.

Can I understand it without having read other works by Eugène Sue?

Yes. The plot stands relatively on its own and does not depend on earlier works. Still, knowing the author's era and the conventions of popular fiction beforehand helps in understanding his socially critical intent.

Is this book suitable for academic citation?

As a public-domain electronic text, it can be used for general reading and preliminary research. For academic citation, however, verify authoritative editions and page numbers, and consult relevant scholarship.

Comments

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About the author

Sue, Eugène, 1804-1857 Author

Eugène Sue (1804–1857) was a French novelist best known for his serial novels. His masterpiece Les mystères de Paris (The Mysteries of Paris) is set among the poor of Paris and depicts the extremes of wealth and poverty and the darker side of urban life, causing a great sensation in the mid-nineteenth century; his other series, Les mystères du peuple (The Mysteries of the People), uses historical narrative to express social criticism. The library holds sixty-six of his works, mostly volumes and English translations of these two series, showing that he wrote chiefly long serial fiction focused on social issues and historical legend. Public information is limited, so details of his life cannot be expanded here, but his works reveal a talent for presenting social reality in a popular, dramatic style that influenced later social novels and serial literature.