Driven Back to Eden

Edward Payson RoeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 356K words
Chapters: 36

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.Driven Back to Eden by Edward Payson RoeAuthor: Roe, Edward Payson, 1838-1888,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

Driven Back to Eden is a novel by the 19th-century American writer Edward Payson Roe, classified under American literature (PS), and released free by Project Gutenberg. Judging from the title and the author's background, the work continues the pastoral moral narrative popular at the time, telling of characters who return to the land and rebuild order amid life's upheavals. Its value lies in presenting the details and values of 19th-century American rural life; the language is plain and the plot carries a moralizing tone, making it a useful sample for understanding 19th-century American popular fiction. Readers should keep its historical context in mind; its descriptions of nature, family, and labor can be read alongside contemporary works. The Gutenberg edition is an English-language original eBook, suited to readers who can read English and wish to access public-domain literature at low cost. As light reading it is rather slow-paced, but as literary source material or English extensive-reading material it has its own distinct value.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy 19th-century American fiction and pastoral themes
Learners who need public-domain English material for extensive reading practice
Literature enthusiasts studying American popular fiction and rural narratives
Readers who want free access to classic eBooks

Not a good fit for

Readers who only read Chinese translations and are not used to English originals
Readers seeking strong plots and fast-paced modern fiction
People with little interest in 19th-century moralizing narrative

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to understand the characters' situation and the historical background, then decide whether to read it through
Read alongside materials on 19th-century American rural history to understand the book's ideas about land and family
As English extensive-reading material, read one or two chapters a day and note new words and period expressions
After finishing, compare it with pastoral novels of the same period to sort out the common patterns of this kind of narrative

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 in Chinese or English?

This is an English-language original eBook released by Project Gutenberg, in English, classified under American literature (PS). The available information shows no Chinese translation, so readers need some English reading ability.

Do Project Gutenberg books cost money?

Project Gutenberg is a provider of free electronic books, and the books it releases are generally available free of charge. This book is released by that project, so readers can read the English original without paying.

Is this book suitable for English beginners?

The language carries 19th-century English usage, and the sentence structures and vocabulary pose some difficulty for beginners. Those with intermediate or above reading ability can read it extensively with a dictionary; beginners are better off starting with adapted versions or short stories.

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About the author

Edward Payson Roe Author · American · 1838–1888

Edward Payson Roe (1838–1888) was an American novelist, Presbyterian minister, and horticultural writer, born in Moodna, New York, who served as a chaplain during the Civil War. His fiction is known for its moral instruction and themes of personal growth, and his strongly moralistic works were once bestsellers in the late nineteenth century. His representative works include Barriers Burned Away, He Fell in Love with His Wife, and The Face Illumined, as well as A Knight of the Nineteenth Century, Miss Lou, Nature's Serial Story, and Success with Small Fruits. Nineteen of his works are included in the collection, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Public information is limited, and details of his life are largely unavailable; scholarship relies mainly on his novels and gardening essays to understand his ideas and style.