Darry the Life Saver Or, The Heroes of the Coast

Frank V. WebsterProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.7
Word count
232K words
Chapters
24

Tags

English Originals Children's Literature Coastal RescueMaritime SettingTeam FriendshipHeroic AdventureHeroismInspirationTest of CourageComing of AgeAdventure TaleYouth Reading

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.Darry the Life Saver; Or, The Heroes of the Coast by Frank V. WebsterAuthor: Webster, Frank V.,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Aug 8, 2007

Editor's review

This is a typical boys' adventure novel centered on Darry, a coastal lifesaver, preserved within Project Gutenberg's free ebook program as an example of early English-language juvenile literature. Its value lies not in complex literary technique but in preserving the narrative appeal of early twentieth-century boys' fiction: courage, responsibility, composure in danger, and teamwork. The story moves briskly, with scenes largely tied to coastal rescue, making it a light reading sample for understanding the shape of Anglo-American juvenile fiction. Readers might focus on how characters face sudden peril, assess risk, and shoulder responsibility—themes still worth discussing today. Since the original text is an English public-domain work, Chinese readers are better served using it as extensive English reading material or as a documentary source for the history of children's literature rather than as a serious novel of deep psychological portrayal. Pairing it with background on early twentieth-century values and narrative conventions in youth fiction will make the reading more rewarding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the first two chapters to gauge the English difficulty, then decide whether to read through or select the rescue scenes.
  2. Treat each perilous situation as a case study: note the characters' judgments and actions, then briefly retell them after reading.
  3. For English study, pick three to five action verbs and maritime terms per chapter and compile a list.
  4. Read alongside contemporary juvenile adventure novels to observe stock characters and plot patterns.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24

FAQ

Is this book suitable for English beginners to read directly? Not really for absolute beginners. It is an early twentieth-century English juvenile novel with period sentence patterns and vocabulary, so basic English reading ability is advisable first, or start with selected rescue scenes.
How does it differ from modern lifeguard-themed works? It is closer to early boys' adventure fiction, emphasizing courage, responsibility, and teamwork, with direct plotting and fairly stock characters. Readers expecting modern professional rescue detail or complex character arcs should adjust expectations.
What should readers note about this public-domain ebook? This is an English public-domain text preserved by Project Gutenberg, without modern Chinese notes or introduction. Check the edition and formatting first, read with a dictionary or background materials, and skip unfamiliar maritime terms to follow the main plot.

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About the author

Frank V. Webster Author · American

Frank V. Webster was not a real person but a collective pen name used by the American Stratemeyer Syndicate for boys' adventure novels. According to available records, the actual books were mostly written by Howard Garis and others, while Webster was presented to the public as a signed author. Between 1909 and 1915, Cupples & Leon published 25 titles in the Webster Series for Boys, of which 19 are held here. The works center on boys' adventures, with settings including warships, pony express riders, lake flying, Alaska treasure hunting, firefighting, and coastal rescue; the plots are fast-paced and stress courage and honor. Representative titles include Two Boys of the Battleship, Jack of the Pony Express, and The Boy Pilot of the Lakes. Public information is limited, and biographical details cannot be verified, but the series behind this pen name is a typical example of early twentieth-century American assembly-line publishing for juvenile adventure fiction.