Arctic Adventures

William Henry Giles KingstonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 211K words
Chapters: 22

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.Arctic Adventures by William Henry Giles KingstonAuthor: Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814-1880,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Sep 6, 2012

Editor's review

Kingston is known for writing adventure stories for young people, and Arctic Adventures announces its subject in its title: the polar environment, voyaging and survival form the narrative backdrop. Works of this kind typically weigh the harshness of the natural environment against youthful courage, discipline and teamwork, letting readers experience the pleasures and values of nineteenth-century adventure literature within a tense plot. As a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to obtain free of charge and to search, making it suitable material for extensive English reading, the history of children's literature or the study of adventure narrative. It should be noted that early adventure literature often carries a pronounced period perspective; while enjoying the story, readers may also attend to how it handles nature, otherness and danger. Overall, it is better read as a juvenile adventure book with a historical context than as a thriller pursuing a modern suspense rhythm.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy polar settings and seafaring adventure stories
Teachers and students studying nineteenth-century juvenile adventure literature
English learners who wish to use public-domain English originals for themed extensive reading
Parents and teachers choosing classic adventure reading for children

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting fast-paced modern thriller narrative
Beginner readers who find old-fashioned English sentence patterns and period attitudes hard to accept
Readers who need extensive scientific verification or contemporary polar knowledge

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents and chapter titles first to grasp the overall course of the adventure before reading closely.
While reading, mark descriptions of the environment and the characters' decisions, and compare how courage, discipline and cooperation are presented.
English learners can read chapter by chapter, retelling the plot in two or three sentences after each chapter.
Use a map or basic polar knowledge to aid understanding of spatial movement, but do not judge the original harshly by modern knowledge.

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 factual account or a fictional story?

Judging from the classification data, it falls under juvenile literature and is a narrative work aimed at young readers rather than a strict record of polar exploration. Readers may understand the characters and plot within the framework of an adventure story and should not cite it as a scientific record.

Do I need to know about polar science before reading?

No special preparation is needed. Basic geographical knowledge is enough to enter the story, and a map can help with directions when reading descriptions of the environment. If reading for research, relevant historical background can be added, but the original should not be judged by modern polar knowledge.

Why choose the public-domain electronic edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free electronic texts that are easy to obtain and convenient for searching words and sentences and for textual comparison. For readers who want low-cost access to nineteenth-century English originals, this is a practical entry point.

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About the author

William Henry Giles Kingston Author · British · 1814–1880

William Henry Giles Kingston (1814–1880) was a British author of adventure stories for young readers. Born in London, he spent part of his youth with his father in Porto, Portugal. He rose to fame in 1851 with Peter the Whaler and thereafter devoted himself to tales of the sea and exploration, writing more than a hundred books over his lifetime and also translating works by Jules Verne. His notable works include The Three Midshipmen, Captain Cook: His Life, Voyages, and Discoveries, and Great African Travellers: From Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley, most of them drawing on seafaring, exotic adventure, and the deeds of the British Navy. He excelled at linking the adventures of young protagonists with informative and moral content, in briskly paced stories rich in maritime atmosphere that were widely popular with young readers in the Victorian era. The collection here contains 133 of his works. Public information on his early education and specific experiences is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.