Contos e Lendas

Silva, Luiz Augusto Rebello da, 1822-1871Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 199K words
Chapters: 20

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.Contos e Lendas by Luiz Augusto Rebello da SilvaAuthor: Silva, Luiz Augusto Rebello da, 1822-1871,Language: Portuguese, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 29, 2009

Editor's review

This collection of short stories and legends comes from the nineteenth-century Portuguese writer Rebello da Silva and is a noteworthy part of the Portuguese Romantic literary tradition. The author was best known for historical novels, but here he turns to compact short narratives drawn from folk legends and local lore, carrying a strong flavor of oral tradition. Its value lies not in a grand epic scale but in preserving and retelling, with literary craft, folk narratives that might otherwise have been lost; readers can sense the nineteenth-century Portuguese literary interest in organizing national memory. For Chinese readers, it is also a small window into the forms of folk literature on the Iberian Peninsula. It suits readers interested in Portuguese-language literature, folk-story studies, and Romantic short fiction, and also works as graded reading material for language learners. When reading, one need not seek strong dramatic plotting; instead, appreciate the narrative rhythm and the stylistic features of the period.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying Portuguese literature or Romantic short fiction
Folklorists interested in legends and local lore
Language learners of Portuguese who wish to engage with original texts
Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century European short narratives and do not require strong plotting

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern suspense or fast-paced stories
Readers unwilling to read the Portuguese original and without access to a translation
Readers impatient with nineteenth-century style and slow narration

Reading tips

Begin with the shorter pieces, then read through once you are familiar with the author's narrative voice.
Keep a Portuguese dictionary or bilingual reference at hand and look up unfamiliar words as you read.
After reading, note how each story relates to folk legend to grasp the methods of collection and adaptation.
Read alongside other European Romantic folk-tale collections to appreciate regional differences.

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 language is this book written in? Can Chinese readers read it?

The original is in Portuguese. Readers with a foundation in Portuguese can read the original directly; readers who do not know Portuguese will need a translation or bilingual reference, otherwise the barrier to entry is fairly high.

What is the author's background?

Rebello da Silva (1822–1871) was a nineteenth-century Portuguese writer best known for historical novels. This book belongs to his short stories and legends, reflecting his attention to folk narrative.

Is this book suitable as language-learning material?

It can serve as advanced reading material for Portuguese. The pieces are short and the narratives complete, making segmented study easy; however, nineteenth-century style differs from modern Portuguese, so beginners should use it with annotations or a parallel text.

Comments

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About the author

Silva, Luiz Augusto Rebello da, 1822-1871 Author

Luiz Augusto Rebello da Silva (1822–1871) was a nineteenth-century Portuguese writer whose biographical details remain limited in publicly available sources; only three of his works are held in this collection. Judging from the surviving titles, he was drawn to short stories and legendary narratives: Contos e Lendas, meaning “Tales and Legends,” gathers fantastical tales from folk and literary tradition, while the two-volume A Casa dos Fantasmas (The House of Ghosts) revolves around a mansion and an atmosphere of the supernatural, showing a taste for Gothic subjects and suspense. His style carries Romantic colouring, with attention to atmospheric description and plot twists, giving him a place in nineteenth-century Portuguese narrative prose. These works appeared as short pieces or in volumes, suited to serial and popular reading and reflecting the literary production of the period. Owing to limited sources, his nationality, education and specific career still require further verification.