Erik Dorn

Hecht, Ben, 1894-1964Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 498K words
Chapters: 50

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.Erik Dorn by Ben HechtAuthor: Hecht, Ben, 1894-1964,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 19, 2007

Editor's review

Erik Dorn is an early novel by the American writer Ben Hecht, now available as a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, giving readers free access to this early twentieth-century American literary work. Hecht later became known for screenwriting and journalism, and his fiction carries a newspaperman's cool observation and sense of urban rhythm; the portrayal of character psychology and social setting is worth attention. The book suits readers interested in the transitional period of American modernist literature, in novels by newspaper writers, or in Hecht's development as a writer. Read it against the backdrop of social and cultural change in America around the 1920s, and note how narrative perspective and characterization reflect the mood of the era. As an English-language public-domain ebook, it offers limited publication information, so approach it through close reading of the text rather than expecting detailed notes or an introduction. Overall, it is an accessible, low-barrier textual entry point for studying and collecting early modern American fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American literature and the shift to modernism
Those studying the novelist's development of Hecht, a newspaperman turned writer
Readers with good English who are willing to read a public-domain original closely
Teachers and students needing an early modern American novel text for a literature course

Not a good fit for

General readers who prefer the pace and strong plotting of contemporary bestsellers
Readers who find English hard going and need a Chinese translation or detailed notes
Beginners seeking a complete introduction to the author's life and background

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to get a feel for the narrative voice and urban atmosphere before deciding to read it through.
Keep background material on American society and culture around the 1920s at hand and look things up as you read.
Track character relationships and shifts in point of view so the newspaper-style jumps in narrative do not lose you.
For course use, read it alongside other American novels of the period to discuss modernist features.

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 the English original?

This is the English original, a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, not a Chinese translation. It suits readers with some English reading ability who can go straight to the source; those who want notes or an introduction will need to find supplementary material themselves.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was one of the earliest projects to offer free ebooks, and this book is one of its public-domain texts, available free of charge. Such editions usually present the original text with little annotation, introduction or publication detail, so readers need to supply background material themselves.

I haven't read any other Hecht, can I start with this?

Yes. It can be read as a standalone novel without prior reading. But to understand its place in American literary history, it helps to know something about early twentieth-century American fiction and the writing atmosphere of newspapermen; the reading will be more rewarding.

Is this novel suitable as English-learning material?

It is less suitable for beginning English learners. The narrative and sentence style carry the flavor of the period and demand a certain vocabulary and feel for the language. It suits intermediate-to-advanced readers reading for literature; those starting out in the language should choose graded readers instead.

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About the author

Hecht, Ben, 1894-1964 Author

Ben Hecht (1894–1964) was an American writer active in the first half of the twentieth century. Details of his life are limited in publicly available sources, and five of his works are held in this collection. These works span several genres: A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago captures everyday urban life through city sketches; Erik Dorn and Gargoyles show his novels' observation of society and human nature; Fantazius Mallare: A Mysterious Oath carries a mysterious and fantastic quality; and The Florentine Dagger: A Novel for Amateur Detectives ventures into detective fiction. Overall, his style is distinctive, blending sharp social observation and psychological portrayal into popular narrative forms. His varied subjects gave his work a notable presence in American letters and popular reading of his time.