Farina

Meredith, George, 1828-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 7.1K words
Chapters: 1

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.Farina by George MeredithAuthor: Meredith, George, 1828-1909,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 2003

Editor's review

Farina is an early novella by George Meredith, tinged with romance and allegory. Relatively concise, it already reveals the ironic tone and the mockery of human weakness that the author would later master. The story centers on the character Farina, and beneath its light narrative surface lie playful observations on vanity, love, and social identity. Compared with Meredith's long novels of elaborate syntax, this book is more tightly structured and serves well as an entry point into his creative world. As a public-domain ebook, it is convenient for researchers comparing the author's stylistic evolution across periods, and suitable for literary enthusiasts as short reading material. When reading, note how the narrator's teasing tone shapes the evaluation of characters, and the tension between the romantic framework and the satirical content. If you prefer brisk plots with witty commentary, this book is a light but lingering choice.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers new to Meredith who prefer shorter works
Literary enthusiasts who enjoy ironic tone and romantic-legendary narrative
Students needing a short text for a British literature course
Readers of public-domain English novels in fragmented time

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer weighty realist novels with complex social panoramas
Readers uninterested in allegory and parody
Beginners with limited English reading experience who need annotated assistance

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the story's direction, then revisit the narrator's teasing remarks
Note the contrast between the romantic framework and the satirical content to appreciate the author's intent
Read it in one sitting as a short work; the overall tone is easier to grasp than if spread over days
After finishing, compare with Meredith's later works to observe stylistic changes

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 Farina a novel or a short story?

According to the provided information, this is a shorter work by Meredith; the specific word count is not stated in the materials. It is relatively tightly structured, suitable as short reading material, and often regarded as one of the entry points into the author's early style.

Is this book harder to read than Meredith's long novels?

It is relatively easier to get into. Meredith's long novels are known for circuitous syntax and dense psychological description, whereas this book is shorter, more focused in narrative, and more direct in ironic tone. However, its language still belongs to nineteenth-century English style and requires some foundation in English reading.

What should I focus on while reading?

It is advisable to focus on how the narrator's teasing tone shapes the evaluation of characters, and on the tension between the romantic plot framework and the satirical content. These are key to understanding the book's interest and can help readers connect to the more mature ironic techniques in Meredith's later works.

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About the author

Meredith, George, 1828-1909 Author

George Meredith (1828–1909) was a nineteenth-century British novelist and poet, whose works are represented here by as many as 111 titles, indicating that his writing has continued to circulate among readers and researchers. His representative work, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, centers on a father-son relationship and examines the conflicts of pride and emotion in a young man's growth; The Egoist, subtitled “A Comedy in Narrative,” uses marriage and social situations to portray character weaknesses and self-reflection. His novels are often marked by witty dialogue, psychological insight, and an ironic tone, with plot and character relationships unfolding layer by layer. Public information is limited, and biographical details remain to be supplemented, but the existing bibliography shows that narrative novels and multi-volume series form the main body of his work, reflecting the Victorian novel's detailed exploration of individual morality and emotional life.