A Lover's Diary, Complete

Sir Horatio Gilbert George ParkerProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 64K words
Chapters: 7

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 Lover's Diary, Complete by Gilbert ParkerAuthor: Parker, Gilbert, 1862-1932,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 18, 2004

Editor's review

A Lover's Diary, Complete gathers Gilbert Parker's diary-form work in one volume, sparing readers the interrupted thread of reading it in separate parts and offering a more convenient way into the work. The book unfolds its emotions in diary form, in a language carrying the lyrical temperament of late Victorian English literature: unhurried in pace and dense in imagery, its focus lies not in advancing events but in the day-by-day settling of mood and state of mind. The complete edition makes it easier to grasp the overall structure and trace the shifts in the narrator's feelings, and it also serves as a useful counterpart text for courses on diary and epistolary narrative in English literature. The free electronic edition from Project Gutenberg is convenient for full-text searching, excerpting, and note-taking, and suits a combination of close reading and fragmented reading. Readers who prefer tightly plotted stories may find the book static; but for those willing to slow down and savor the language, it offers a quiet and complete reading space.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-literature readers who want to read the work in one volume without tracking separate parts
Teachers and students studying diary narrative and late-nineteenth-century English lyrical prose
Advanced learners who need public-domain English texts for close reading and excerpting practice
Readers who enjoy slow-paced reading centered on mood and atmosphere

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strongly plotted, fast-paced genre fiction
Beginners with weak English who rely on sentence-by-sentence annotation
Readers who need abundant plot events to sustain their reading momentum

Reading tips

Read straight through in diary order to grasp the emotional arc, then return to marked passages for close reading
Keep a notebook of recurring images and mood keywords, and observe how they change
Limit each reading session to a few diary entries to avoid fatigue from the high density of lyricism
Read alongside other diary novels to compare narrative perspective and structural differences

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 the complete edition different in content from the separate volumes?

The complete edition combines the two volumes into one book; the text itself is identical to the separate volumes, and the difference lies mainly in arrangement and reading continuity. The complete edition saves the trouble of switching files and is better for reading straight through; the separate volumes make it easier to plan reading by volume. Choose according to your reading habits.

What English level is needed to read this book?

The text is late-nineteenth-century English, with long sentences and literary vocabulary, so upper-intermediate to advanced reading ability is recommended. If your vocabulary is limited, use an electronic dictionary and annotation tools: first read through to grasp the emotional direction, then return to difficult sentences rather than wrestling with every word.

Is this book suitable as material for English writing?

Yes. The book has a high density of lyrical passages and imagery that can serve as material for imitation and excerpting. It is more effective to copy passages by theme and try rewriting short paragraphs in imitation of the sentence patterns than simply to memorize. Note that the style is rather classical and needs adjustment when used in modern writing.

Why is the electronic edition recommended?

The Project Gutenberg edition is free and in plain text, convenient for full-text searching, annotation, and excerpting, and well suited to close reading and note-taking. Readers can use it on a tablet or computer with dictionary software, or print selected chapters for paper annotation, arranging it flexibly according to personal habit.

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About the author

Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker Author · Canadian · 1862–1932

Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker (1862–1932), known as Gilbert Parker, was a Canadian author and politician. Born in Ontario, he worked as a teacher and journalist before settling in London. He is known for novels depicting the lives of French Canadians, notably Pierre and His People and The Seats of the Mighty, the latter held in the library as a complete edition and in several volumes. From 1900 to 1918 he served as a Member of the British House of Commons, making him one of the few Canadian-born figures to achieve distinction in both literature and politics. His works often draw on Canadian history and French-Canadian society, with romantic narrative and attention to character and local setting. The library holds 134 of his works; classification information is limited, as are public records of the details of his writing.