Burl

James Morrison HeadyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 325K words
Chapters: 33

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.Burl by Morrison HeadyAuthor: Heady, Morrison, 1829-1915,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 29, 2008

Editor's review

Burl is a full-length work by American author Morrison Heady (1829–1915), available in the Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook collection. Heady, who was bedridden and had limited sight and hearing for much of his life, nonetheless persisted in writing, and his works often show a concern with ordinary people's fates and resilience. The book falls under American and Canadian literature; its pacing is traditional, and its characterization and depiction of local life are the main draws. For readers curious about the shape of nineteenth-century American popular fiction, or about the literary history of writers with disabilities, it offers an uncommon but worthwhile sample. The electronic edition makes it easy to search characters and chapters, and it can serve as supplementary reading for courses in literary history. Readers may wish to note the narrative perspective and period values, and need not judge it by the pace of modern fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century American fiction and regional literature
Researchers concerned with the writing history of disabled authors and literary marginality
Readers of classic literature who enjoy traditional narrative and a leisurely pace
Students who need public-domain English texts as supplementary reading for literature courses

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast pacing, strong plotting, and contemporary narrative techniques
Those hoping for a complete author biography and a detailed critical introduction
Readers with limited stamina for English who give up easily on old-fashioned prose

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to gauge the narrative pace and language style, then decide whether to read straight through or selectively.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century American society to understand characters' behavior and values.
Make a simple character chart to help follow the many threads typical of traditional fiction.
If used for a course, set it against other American novels of the same period to discuss the era's popular fiction.

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

What kind of work is Burl?

According to the available information, it is classified under American and Canadian literature and is a full-length literary work by Morrison Heady. The electronic edition is issued by Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain text. Specific plot and characters should be checked against the original book rather than guessed at.

Who is the author, Morrison Heady?

Morrison Heady (1829–1915) was an American author who kept writing despite long-term physical limitations. The source material gives only his birth and death years and the work's classification, without biographical detail. Readers who want more should consult biographies or literary histories rather than trusting unsourced secondhand accounts.

Is this book suitable for a literature course assignment?

It can serve as supplementary material, especially for discussing nineteenth-century American popular fiction, regional narrative, or the writing of disabled authors. But it is not a common required text, so instructors should provide their own background introduction and discussion questions, and students should allow time to adjust to the old-fashioned prose.

Any practical advice for reading the electronic edition?

Use reading software with full-text search so you can look up character names and chapters. Read the table of contents and the opening and closing chapters first to grasp the structure, then decide how much to read closely. If quoting, note the Project Gutenberg edition information and check page or paragraph locations against the original.

Comments

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About the author

James Morrison Heady Author · American · 1829–1915

James Morrison Heady (1829–1915) was an American writer and poet who was both deaf and blind, and was known as the "Blind Poet of Kentucky." He wrote children's biographies, frontier stories, and poetry; his representative works include The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-Chief, Burl, and The Red Moccasins: A Story. In 1864 he published his first book, The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-Chief, under a pseudonym, and it was well received. Beyond writing, Heady devoted his life to advocating reading materials for the blind, invented devices such as a "talking glove" and a Braille typewriter, and helped promote the establishment of the American Printing House for the Blind. Public information about his life and work is limited, but the available material shows his contributions in both literature and public welfare.