An Encore

Deland, Margaret Wade Campbell, 1857-1945Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 59K words
Chapters: 6

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.An Encore by Margaret Wade Campbell DelandAuthor: Deland, Margaret Wade Campbell, 1857-1945,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 2009

Editor's review

An Encore is a novella by the American writer Margaret Wade Campbell Deland, belonging to the early twentieth-century American realist tradition. Deland was known for depicting everyday life and character psychology in small New England towns, in a gentle tone with a note of social observation. This concise work serves as an accessible introduction to short-form narrative by American women writers. Through it, readers can sense the domestic ethics and modes of emotional expression of the middle class of the time. As a public-domain eBook, the text is easy to obtain and suited to reading in short segments on a commute or during brief breaks. Readers are advised to first grasp the author's historical context, then attend to the personality and relational tensions revealed in the characters' dialogue. Overall, this is not a tightly plotted popular story but a work weighted toward character portrayal and atmosphere; it is best read at a slower pace.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American realist short fiction
Literature students studying the narrative style of American women writers
Self-learners who want short English texts for extensive reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plot conflict and fast-paced narrative
Those without a basic feel for reading English source texts
Readers expecting a full author biography and detailed annotations

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the story's direction, then revisit the dialogue, noting shifts in tone.
Note vocabulary related to daily life in small New England towns as you read to build contextual understanding.
Consult background material on early twentieth-century American society to help make sense of the characters' behavior.
Read one section a day to avoid giving up midway because of the gentle pace.

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 suitable for English beginners to read directly?

Not really for readers at zero or elementary level. The work is a literary text from the early twentieth century, with sentence patterns and vocabulary characteristic of its era, requiring some vocabulary and feel for the language. It is best attempted after reaching upper-intermediate reading ability, or after first getting the plot from a Chinese translation and then returning to the original.

Do I need to know the author's other works before reading?

No. The book can be read on its own, though knowing that Deland tended to depict small-town New England life and character psychology makes it easier to enter the text's atmosphere. After finishing, readers can look up her other novels as interest dictates and compare styles.

Why do the recommendations stress reading slowly?

Because this work centers on character portrayal and atmosphere, and its plot unfolds relatively gently. Reading quickly for plot makes it easy to miss the personality hints and details of daily life in the dialogue. Slowing down helps in appreciating the author's delicate handling of human relationships and ethical situations.

Comments

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About the author

Deland, Margaret Wade Campbell, 1857-1945 Author

Margaret Wade Campbell Deland (1857–1945) was an American novelist. Public information about her life and education is limited, and she has received little attention in the Chinese-speaking world. The library holds eleven of her works, including Dr. Lavendar's People, The Rising Tide, The Iron Woman, The Voice, The Vehement Flame, An Old Chester Secret, The Wisdom of Fools and The Way to Peace, commonly classified under inspirational and personal growth. Her novels are mostly set in small-town and family life, using everyday moral conflicts to portray character. Her tone is gentle and morally engaged, and she is skilled at revealing ordinary people's inner struggles through delicate dialogue. Her works had some influence on American readers of her time.