Eidola

Manning, Frederic, 1882-1935Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 43K words
Chapters: 5

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.Eidola by Frederic ManningAuthor: Manning, Frederic, 1882-1935,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 15, 2011

Editor's review

Eidola is a literary work by the Australian-born British writer Frederic Manning, a public-domain English literary text. Manning is known for poetry and war writing; this book is short, its language compressed, and it carries the turn-of-the-century literary spirit of exploring form and feeling. Its value lies in offering a sample of early twentieth-century English literary taste: dense imagery and restrained emotion, suited to close reading rather than rapid reading. As a public-domain e-text it is convenient for textual analysis, version comparison, or classroom excerpts, and it also suits readers interested in the British literary circles around the First World War as supplementary reading. A caution: this is not a plot-driven novel, so readers expecting strong storytelling may feel distant; and since the metadata provides few details of content, readers should rely on the text itself and not presuppose its themes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century English literature and poetry
Students studying Manning's work or the background of war literature
Classes that need public-domain English texts for close-reading practice
Readers who enjoy short literary texts and are willing to read slowly

Not a good fit for

General readers expecting strong plot and fast pacing
Chinese readers who struggle with English and need detailed annotation
Readers hoping for a complete account of the author's life and the work's background

Reading tips

Read through once to feel the rhythm of the language, then read closely in sections for imagery and shifts of feeling.
Read alongside Manning's other works or contemporary English poetry to establish a literary frame of reference.
Keep reading notes on recurring images and changes of tone for later discussion.
For classroom use, select short passages for close reading rather than insisting on covering the whole text.

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 kind of work is Eidola?

It is a public-domain English literary work, short in length and compressed in language, with the early twentieth-century literary characteristic of exploring form and feeling. The metadata gives no more specific genre description, so readers should rely on the actual text and not expect a full-length novel.

Can it be understood without notes?

The text is limited in length, but its diction and imagery are dense, and without notes readers may miss some literary allusions and layers of tone. A college-level reading ability in English is advisable, and background material on contemporary literature can help.

Is it suitable as a first book for studying Manning?

It can serve as supplementary reading but is not necessarily the best entry point. Manning is noted for poetry and war writing; for research, it is better to understand his overall background first and then place this book within his body of work, rather than reading it in isolation.

Comments

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About the author

Manning, Frederic, 1882-1935 Author

Frederic Manning (1882–1935) has limited publicly available biographical information, including his nationality and the details of his life; two of his works are held in this collection. Eidola is a volume of poetry, while The Vigil of Brunhild: A Narrative Poem draws on Norse legend and classical material for its narrative, showing his preference for retelling old stories in verse, with careful attention to rhythm and imagery. His writing often conveys a restrained, somber quality within concise narration, and his subjects are frequently taken from myth and legend. Because sources are limited, a full picture of his work is difficult to describe, but these two works show him to be skilled in narrative poetry and give him a recognizable place in early twentieth-century English poetry, deserving attention from readers interested in narrative verse.