Coniston — Complete

Winston ChurchillProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 950K words
Chapters: 95

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.Coniston — Complete by Winston ChurchillAuthor: Churchill, Winston, 1871-1947,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Oct 17, 2004

Editor's review

This complete edition of Coniston is one of the representative works of Winston Churchill (1871–1947, the American novelist, not the British statesman of the same name) and belongs to the tradition of American local color literature, a novel of politics and small-town life. Substantial in length, it is set in a New England town and unfolds its narrative around local politics, social class, and personal relationships, combining the tone of a comedy of manners with close observation of public life. For readers who wish to understand the social texture of American towns and the workings of local politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the book offers a vivid literary sample. The Project Gutenberg edition is a public-domain ebook, convenient for searching and citation, and suitable as supplementary material for American literature courses or for self-learners studying regional fiction. One caveat: the book is in English and was written long ago, and its narrative pace differs markedly from that of contemporary fiction; readers would do well to slow down, proceed chapter by chapter, and understand the characters' political positions and social logic in light of the period.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature students studying American local color and small-town fiction
Readers interested in the history of American local politics and small-town society
English learners seeking to expand their reading of public-domain classics
Teachers and researchers needing public-domain electronic texts for teaching or citation

Not a good fit for

Readers of contemporary genre fiction who prefer fast-paced plots and strong suspense
Readers with weak English proficiency who cannot yet read a long novel in the original
Readers expecting content related to the British statesman Churchill

Reading tips

Begin with the opening depiction of the town setting and the cast of characters, and take brief notes on relationships before entering the main plot.
Read in chapter-sized segments, and after each chapter summarize in two or three sentences the political events and shifts in the characters' positions.
Consult background material on late-nineteenth-century American local politics to aid comprehension, and avoid applying contemporary assumptions directly.
For course use, select passages such as political rallies or public debates and read them alongside comparable regional 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

Is the author of this book Churchill, the British Prime Minister?

No. The author, Winston Churchill (1871–1947), is an American novelist and not the same person as the British statesman of that name. He wrote several novels set in American small-town life, and readers should keep the distinction in mind, lest the American local politics in the book be mistaken for the experience or views of the British statesman.

What are the features of this edition?

This edition is released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain English ebook; the text is in English and convenient for full-text searching, copying and citation, and offline reading. It contains no modern scholarly notes or introduction, so readers needing background knowledge are advised to consult relevant works on American literary history and local political history separately.

What if I find the English original difficult?

First read chapter summaries to grasp the main thread, then read each chapter closely; where passages of political discussion and dialect are dense, mark them first and deal with them together afterward. You may also consult a Chinese translation or a literary history for period background, but do not treat such aids as a substitute for the original. Set a fixed amount to read each day and keep it up.

Is it suitable as a text for an American literature course?

It is suitable as supplementary reading on local color fiction and small-town politics. Teachers may select passages on public gatherings and class interaction for discussion and compare them with works by other writers of the same period. Because the book is long and has no modern annotations, it is best used with reading guides and background handouts, so that students do not lose their bearings amid the barriers of language and period.

Comments

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About the author

Winston Churchill Author · American · 1871–1947

Winston Churchill (1871–1947) was a bestselling American novelist. Born in St. Louis and a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he died in Florida in 1947. A prolific writer, he is represented here by 64 works. He is best known for historical and political novels that weave real historical settings and political issues into the lives of individuals, with solid plotting and characters marked by a strong sense of their era. His representative works include Richard Carvel, The Crisis, and The Crossing, as well as Mr. Crewe's Career, Coniston, The Inside of the Cup, and The Celebrity. His fiction often engages with social change and political life, and holds a place in American popular historical fiction. Public information on his early life and literary career is limited; this introduction is based mainly on the key facts of his life and an overview of his works.