A Simpleton

Reade, Charles, 1814-1884Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 712K words
Chapters: 72

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 Simpleton by Charles Reade. Author: Reade, Charles, 1814-1884. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: May 17, 2006.

Editor's review

A Simpleton is a novel by Charles Reade, here presented as an electronic text by Project Gutenberg and classified as a public-domain work of English literature. Reade was a Victorian novelist whose work often observes social conditions with a moral concern, and this book follows that vein: it centers on a character regarded as a "simpleton" and uses that figure's fortunes to display the complexity of human nature and social life. As a public-domain e-book, its value lies not in binding or marketing but in the accessibility of the text, which is easy to search and compare across editions and suited to studying the narrative pacing and language habits of nineteenth-century English fiction. Read it as a specimen of its era: notice the class-inflected tones in dialogue and the coincidences that drive the plot, and what the author intends behind them. Because it is the original English, the language bears the marks of its time, and first-time readers may need notes or a parallel translation. Overall, it is a book to read slowly with pen in hand, not a diversion built for relentless plot excitement.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners who want to explore Victorian fiction
Researchers who need a public-domain English text for edition comparison
Readers who enjoy character-driven narrative and do not rush toward plot
Readers interested in nineteenth-century social customs and moral questions

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for fast-paced, plot-heavy stories
Beginners whose English reading is still labored and who need Chinese notes
Readers who want only canonical names such as Shakespeare

Reading tips

Read through once for the gist, then read again and note character relationships and key turns.
When you meet period usage, guess from context first, then check a dictionary and add it to a vocabulary list.
Read alongside a social history of nineteenth-century England to understand the background.
After each chapter, summarize it in two or three sentences to check that you have followed the main narrative line.

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 a Chinese translation?

No. It is released by Project Gutenberg with the original English text, as a public-domain e-book. Chinese readers need some English reading ability, or a dictionary or parallel translation to assist them.

What is Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg was the first project to provide free e-books. Michael Hart founded it in 1971 to digitize public-domain books for free reading. This book is one of the electronic texts it has released.

Do I need to know the author before reading?

Not necessarily. You can read the text first and respond to the narrative and characters, then go back to learn about Charles Reade's background. Applying his biography in advance may actually limit your experience of the text itself.

Is the electronic edition suitable for scholarly citation?

It can be used for reading and preliminary checking, but formal citation should verify page numbers and collation against an authoritative edition. The Project Gutenberg text is easy to search, but confirm the source and accuracy before quoting.

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About the author

Reade, Charles, 1814-1884 Author

Charles Reade (1814–1884) was an English novelist and playwright of the Victorian era. Fifteen of his works are included in the collection, among them The Cloister and the Hearth: A Tale of the Middle Ages, Hard Cash, It Is Never Too Late to Mend, Peg Woffington, Put Yourself in His Place, A Perilous Secret, and Griffith Gaunt, or, Jealousy. Public information about his life is limited, and biographical details are difficult to verify, yet his works show a gift for blending history with modern social concerns. The Cloister and the Hearth is a meticulously researched medieval tale, while his other novels draw on Victorian social reality, addressing such themes as the law, prisons, money, and marriage with intricate plots and vivid characters. Reade also wrote for the stage, and his works are tightly structured with lively dialogue, combining a sense of theatre with readability and forming a distinctive style between the Victorian novel and drama.