Comic Tragedies

Pratt, Anna Bronson Alcott, 1831-1893Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 246K words
Chapters: 25

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.Comic Tragedies by Louisa May Alcott and Anna Bronson Alcott PrattAuthor: Pratt, Anna Bronson Alcott, 1831-1893,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 24, 2010

Editor's review

Comic Tragedies is a collaborative work by Louisa May Alcott and her sister Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt, collecting short stories that blend playful humor with sentiment. The title itself signals the style: lighthearted treatment of tragic material, showcasing the fun and rapport of the sisters' joint writing. As a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, it makes this little-known work freely available to Chinese readers and will appeal to those interested in the Alcott family's writing, nineteenth-century American literature, and short-form narrative. While reading, note the differences and echoes in the two authors' narrative voices, and how familial collaboration shapes a distinctive textual character. The original is in English, and its length suits reading in installments.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love Little Women and want to explore more of Alcott's work
Scholars of nineteenth-century American literature and women's writing
Readers interested in sisterly collaboration and family literary culture
Learners seeking English short stories for extensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers who only accept full-length novels
Beginners unaccustomed to reading in English
Readers expecting serious tragedy or tightly plotted structure

Reading tips

Read one story first to get a feel for the tone, then read through in order, noting differences in the two authors' styles.
As you read, mark which passages lean humorous and which sentimental, to appreciate the title's double meaning.
Read alongside biographical material on Alcott to understand the context of the sisters' collaboration.
For English extensive reading, read one story at a time and retell the plot in your own words afterward.

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

How is this book related to Little Women?

It is co-written by Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, and her sister Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. It is a product of the same family's writing but is neither a sequel nor a spin-off of Little Women. It collects short works blending comic and tragic tones, related in style to Little Women but standing on its own.

How should the title "Comic Tragedies" be understood?

The title literally means "comic tragedies," suggesting that the works treat sentimental or tragic material in a light, humorous tone. Readers should not expect strict tragedy or pure comedy, but rather the irony and warmth produced by the interweaving of both, which is where the book's interest lies.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for language learning?

The text is nineteenth-century American English, with period features in syntax and vocabulary; overall difficulty is above average. It suits learners with some English reading foundation as extensive reading material, but beginners may need annotations or a translation alongside, and it is not recommended as a first English original.

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About the author

Pratt, Anna Bronson Alcott, 1831-1893 Author · American · 1831–1893

Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt (1831–1893) was an American writer, a daughter of the transcendentalist thinker Bronson Alcott and the elder sister of the novelist Louisa May Alcott. The only work by her held in this collection is Comic Tragedies. The book treats serious, even tragic, subjects in a playful and exaggerated manner, using a light surface to convey wry comment and observation on life; it may be seen as a product of her family's literary atmosphere combined with her personal interests. Public information about her life and writing is limited, and scholarly attention has focused mainly on her father and her younger sister, so she is usually mentioned as the eldest daughter and elder sister. Even so, Comic Tragedies offers a concrete and interesting sample for understanding the cultural life of the Alcott family and the everyday side of nineteenth-century American women's writing.