Crooked Trails

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 192K 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.Crooked Trails by Frederic RemingtonAuthor: Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 1, 2005

Editor's review

Crooked Trails is a Western narrative work by Frederic Remington, belonging to frontier writing in the American literature category. Remington is known as a painter and illustrator, and his prose also carries a strong visual quality: marches, camps, tracking, horses, and wilderness all emerge in concise, restrained narration. This book is not a romanticized Western legend but closer to an eyewitness account, with observations of military life and cool records of people and events on the frontier. For Chinese readers, its value lies not in intricate plots but in providing a raw slice of late nineteenth-century American Western experience, which can be read alongside historical works and Western genre fiction. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to obtain and suitable as a light choice for reading in the original English. It is best treated as historical atmosphere reading rather than a fast-paced story; read it in separate pieces and pay attention to the spatial and character details in the author's writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American Western history and frontier culture
Readers who enjoy English essayistic works with strong visual imagery and restrained narration
Readers who want to engage with late nineteenth-century American literature in short pieces
Art enthusiasts studying the relationship between Remington's paintings and writing

Not a good fit for

Fiction readers expecting complete plots and strong dramatic conflict
Readers with weak English foundations who need Chinese translation and annotation
Readers seeking a systematic knowledge framework of Western history

Reading tips

Read the table of contents first and select pieces to read separately according to interest; no need to finish in one sitting.
Read alongside a map of the American West or a historical timeline to help locate the scenes.
When encountering unfamiliar military and equestrian vocabulary, mark them first and look them up later to avoid interrupting the rhythm.
After reading, compare one or two pieces with Remington's paintings to appreciate how his writing organizes visual scenes.

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 a non-fiction work?

According to the information, it is classified under American and Canadian literature, with content mainly consisting of Western observations and narrative fragments, carrying a clear eyewitness quality. It should not be read with the expectations of a full-length novel. A more appropriate positioning is frontier narrative between essay and story; the exact genre should be determined by the main text.

What is Remington's connection to the West?

The information only identifies the author as Frederic Remington (1861–1909). In public-domain common knowledge, he is known as a painter and illustrator depicting the American West, and this book's writing also draws on Western themes. Beyond this basic information, one should not supplement specific biographical details for him.

What reading scenarios is this edition suitable for?

The Project Gutenberg edition is a free English ebook, suitable for segmented reading during commutes, travel, and other fragmented time, as well as an entry material for reading in the original English. Since the language is English, basic reading ability is recommended, and it should be treated as atmospheric reading rather than a systematic textbook.

Do I need to know Western history in advance to read this book?

Not necessarily, but a basic background in the late nineteenth-century American West, the military, and frontier life will make it easier to enter. If you have no relevant concepts at all, read one or two introductory historical articles first, then return to the original text; understanding characters' situations and spatial relationships will be much smoother.

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About the author

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909 Author

Frederic Remington (1861–1909) was an American author and illustrator known for his depictions of nineteenth-century life in the American West. Five of his works are held in this collection, including John Ermine of the Yellowstone, Pony Tracks, The Way of an Indian, and Crooked Trails, as well as an index of his Project Gutenberg works. His writing draws largely on the frontier world of cavalry, cowboys, and Indians, with vivid scenes and direct narrative, often presenting frontier life through firsthand observation. His texts, accompanied by illustrations, convey the visual atmosphere of the West. Because public information is limited, details of his life, nationality, and education are not recorded here and are not speculated upon. Overall, his works are important material for the study of Western American literature and illustration.