Chasing the Sun

Robert Michael BallantyneProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 147K words
Chapters: 15

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.Chasing the Sun by R. M. BallantyneAuthor: Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael), 1825-1894,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Oct 31, 2007

Editor's review

Chasing the Sun is a work by R. M. Ballantyne, a prolific nineteenth-century British writer of juvenile fiction, and is classified as juvenile literature. Ballantyne was known for adventure stories and excelled at combining seafaring, exotic travel, and youthful growth. The book unfolds around a journey of chasing the sun that carries symbolic overtones, and readers can sense the optimism, curiosity, and moral instruction characteristic of Victorian adventure narrative. Its reading value lies in offering a sample of juvenile reading matter in its historical context: brisk in pace, plot-driven, with clearly drawn good and evil characters, it is well suited to understanding how nineteenth-century English juvenile fiction shaped courage and the spirit of exploration. As a public-domain ebook, the text is easily accessible and suitable as English reading material or as a teaching aid for the history of children's literature. One caveat: the ideas and expressions in the book bear clear period limitations, and modern readers should view its assumptions about gender, race, and civilizational hierarchy in historical perspective rather than treating it directly as a behavioral model for contemporary children.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers and adults who enjoy nineteenth-century English adventure stories
Teachers and students studying Victorian juvenile literature and adventure narrative
Intermediate to advanced English learners who need public-domain English readings for extensive reading practice
Readers with a nostalgic interest in seafaring and exotic travel themes

Not a good fit for

Parents and teachers who expect modern children's-literature values and diverse perspectives
Beginners with weak English who need annotated editions or translations
Serious fiction readers who prefer psychological depth and complex characterization

Reading tips

Learn about Ballantyne's background first, then read the text; the narrative conventions become easier to understand.
View the adventure plot and the period ideas separately, making notes as you read.
English learners can read chapter by chapter and retell the plot in their own words after each chapter.
If reading to children, an adult should read along and discuss the period prejudices in the book.

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 age of child is this book suitable for?

The original is nineteenth-century juvenile reading, and both language and ideas bear the marks of its time. Modern teenagers with good English can read it, but younger children are better served by an adult reading along and explaining the historical background; it should not be treated directly as reading matter for young children.

Are all of Ballantyne's books similar in style?

Ballantyne is known for adventure and youthful-growth themes, and his works often drive the plot through travel, seafaring, and exotic sights, with a plot-driven style and clear moral direction. For this specific book, the material provides only bibliographic information; readers can treat it as one example of his adventure narrative.

What English level is needed to read this book?

Nineteenth-century English has longer sentences and vocabulary colored by its period. Readers with intermediate to advanced English reading ability who can use a dictionary are best suited; beginners are advised to choose an annotated edition or start with a simplified version.

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About the author

Robert Michael Ballantyne Author · United Kingdom · 1825–1894

Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825–1894) was a Scottish writer of children's literature, born in Edinburgh. At sixteen he went to Canada and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company for six years, an experience that later supplied material for his adventure stories; after returning to Scotland in 1847 he devoted himself to writing and produced more than a hundred adventure novels, of which ninety-seven are held in this collection. His representative works include The Coral Island, The Dog Crusoe and his Master, Black Ivory, The Lighthouse and Martin Rattler, mostly drawing on seafaring, desert-island and frontier adventure, with tight plots and solid detail that combine instruction with appeal for young readers. He was also skilled in watercolour painting. Public information on his early education and private life is limited.