Blindfolded

Walcott, Earle Ashley, 1859-1931Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 491K words
Chapters: 50

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.Blindfolded by Earle Ashley WalcottAuthor: Walcott, Earle Ashley, 1859-1931,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2005

Editor's review

Blindfolded is an English novel by Earl Ashley Walcott, categorized under American and Canadian literature and made freely available through Project Gutenberg. As a popular narrative work from the early twentieth century, it carries the rhythm of adventure and suspense fiction of its era: the plot advances through characters' judgments and choices under limited information, and the title "Blindfolded" itself hints at the tension between perception and truth. For readers accustomed to modern suspense structures, its narrative manner may seem leisurely or even slow, but precisely for this reason it preserves the authentic feel of early genre fiction and serves as a sample for understanding the lineage of American popular literature. When reading, one need not pursue dense plot reversals; instead, notice how the author builds suspense through dialogue and scene, and how characters are shaped who remain passive yet must still act. As a public-domain e-book, it is easily accessible, making it a lightweight choice for reading English originals and suitable for readers interested in Project Gutenberg and early e-book culture to browse at leisure.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who want low-barrier access to early American popular fiction
Readers interested in suspense and adventure who are willing to accept a slower narrative pace
Enthusiasts studying Project Gutenberg and public-domain e-book culture
Learners who need lightweight English originals to maintain their reading habit

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong reversals and fast-paced modern suspense
Researchers hoping for author biography or in-depth critical commentary
Beginners whose English reading is not yet proficient and who need annotations or a translation

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to feel the narrative pace before deciding whether to read straight through
When encountering unfamiliar period diction, don't check every word—first grasp the direction of the plot
Read alongside other Project Gutenberg novels from the same period to observe genre evolution
After each chapter, retell the suspense clues in your own words to test comprehension

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 very. It is an early twentieth-century English novel whose sentence patterns and vocabulary bear the marks of its time, and public-domain e-books usually have no annotations. Readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability who can tolerate occasional unfamiliar words will find it smoother; beginners can treat it as a challenging read but should not make it their first choice.

Why is this book available for free through Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg specifically collects works whose copyright has entered the public domain and provides them free in electronic text form. The author of Blindfolded, Walcott, was born in 1859 and died in 1931, so the work is in the public domain and can therefore be published by the project. This also means the text usually has no modern editorial processing or introduction.

What should I focus on while reading?

You can focus on how suspense is built, how characters make judgments when information is insufficient, and the dialogue-driven manner common in early popular fiction. Don't insist on plot density; treating it as a sample for understanding the feel of early American genre fiction will actually make it easier to get into.

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About the author

Walcott, Earle Ashley, 1859-1931 Author · American · 1859–1931

Earle Ashley Walcott (1859–1931) was an American lawyer and novelist. Public information about his life is limited, but his professional background and writings suggest that he pursued literary work alongside his legal career. Two of his works are held in this collection, Blindfolded and The Apple of Discord, both of which center on detective and adventure fiction. Such works typically emphasize suspense, plot momentum, and characters in action, reflecting the appeal of early popular mystery literature and his interest in crime, deduction, and adventure narratives. Although Walcott did not enter the mainstream of classic literature, his works occupy a place in the popular tradition of early twentieth-century American detective and adventure fiction, offering readers of the genre tense and engaging experiences. Studying his writing helps illuminate one path from legal practice to popular literary authorship.