Chimneysmoke

Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 107K words
Chapters: 11

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.Chimneysmoke by Christopher MorleyAuthor: Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Oct 26, 2011

Editor's review

Chimneysmoke is a collection of English essays and poems by Christopher Morley. The title evokes the image of chimney smoke curling up at home, and the contents mostly revolve around daily life, books, the city, and nostalgia. The tone is gentle and humorous, carrying the leisurely charm of early twentieth-century American men of letters. Morley excels at drawing poetry from ordinary things; the short pieces suit fragmented reading time and also work as an introductory reader for English prose. This ebook edition is released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain resource, easy to obtain and search free of charge. There is no need to seek plot momentum when reading; it is better dipped into at random on a quiet afternoon, to feel the author's keen observation of life's details. For readers who want to understand the essay tradition in American literature, this book offers a light and friendly entry point, though its language is somewhat old-fashioned and some cultural background requires readers to fill in on their own.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English essays and want light reading in fragmented time
Readers interested in early twentieth-century American literature and the pleasures of life
Learners who want to practice reading English prose and build up expressions
Readers who prefer gentle humor and observations of everyday life

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete plot or long-form narrative
Beginners unused to old-fashioned English expression and literary allusions
Readers who need systematic literary history or annotations

Reading tips

Read one or two pieces a day, in no particular order; just dip in at random
Skip unfamiliar allusions at first and return to the context after finishing the piece
Keep a notebook to copy out favorite sentences and accumulate English expressions
Learn a little about early twentieth-century American society for smoother understanding

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 novel or an essay collection?

Judging from the title and the author's style, this book is a collection of short pieces in the nature of essays and poetry, not a novel with a continuous plot. The contents mostly revolve around daily life and personal reflections; it suits casual dipping, not readers expecting a complete story.

How difficult is the English? Is it suitable for beginners?

The language carries the old-fashioned style of early twentieth-century English prose, and its sentence patterns and vocabulary are somewhat distant for contemporary beginners. Readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability who are willing to use a dictionary will find it smoother; complete beginners are advised to start with contemporary easy readers.

Is the ebook free, and where can I get it?

This book is published by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook resource and is usually available for free download. To obtain it, visit the Project Gutenberg website and search for the title, taking care to choose the edition that matches the information here.

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About the author

Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957 Author

Christopher Morley (Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957) was an American writer, editor, and essayist with a prolific output; fifteen of his works are held in this collection. His representative works include Parnassus on Wheels (the source of the Japanese title Yūrei Shoten), Where the Blue Begins, Tales from a Rolltop Desk, Shandygaff, Mince Pie, Chimneysmoke, and Plum Pudding. These titles show that Morley's writing spans fiction, essays, and short sketches, often centering on bookshops, books, and the reading life, with a light, humorous tone and a strong bookish, nostalgic flavor. He also frequently drew on everyday trifles and city life, revealing warmth and wit through plain narration. Parnassus on Wheels, built around a traveling bookshop, is well known among book lovers and best embodies his distinctive blend of storytelling and essay. Given the limited materials in the collection, details of his life, education, and career are not well documented publicly, so no conjecture is offered here; this note confines itself to a brief account of his subjects and style.