Farmington

Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 300K words
Chapters: 30

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.Farmington by Clarence DarrowAuthor: Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 24, 2017

Editor's review

Farmington is a work by Clarence Darrow, available in Project Gutenberg's public-domain eBook collection. Darrow is best known as a lawyer and public speaker, and his writing typically carries a clear argumentative awareness and attention to social realities, as this book does. As a work in the American literature category, it is well read at the intersection of American literary and intellectual history: it offers both a literary rendering of American social life from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century and a sense of the value judgments implicit in the author's narrative. The value of the Gutenberg edition lies in its being free, searchable, and easy to cite; readers can use it as a supplementary text for studying Darrow's thought or American regional narrative. When reading, one need not look for strong dramatic plotting; it is better to attend to the social relations in which the characters are situated, the clashes of ideas in dialogue, and the narrator's tone. Reading it alongside Darrow's speeches or biographical materials will be more rewarding. Overall, this is a text that requires historical context; its value lies not in bestseller-style reading pleasure but in its dual character as a period document and a literary specimen.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American literature and intellectual history
Researchers who need to study Darrow's works or the related historical background
Readers who like public-domain eBooks and are used to reading free texts
Readers who wish to observe American social ideas from a literary perspective

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular fiction seeking strong plot and fast pacing
Readers hoping for direct discussion of contemporary issues
Beginners unaccustomed to the reading pace of English public-domain texts

Reading tips

Learn about Darrow's life and historical background first; the text will be easier to understand.
Pay attention to dialogue and narrative tone while reading, and note passages that reflect conflicts in social ideas.
Read it alongside other American regional narratives to observe differences in writing styles.
Use the search function of the electronic edition to map character relationships and key scenes before reading through.

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 suitable as an introductory reader in American literature?

It can serve as supplementary reading, but is not recommended as a first introductory book. It is more a period document and expression of ideas, with weak plot drive. Readers with some foundation in American literature will grasp its value more easily; beginners may start with more narrative works and then return to this book.

What reading conveniences does the Gutenberg edition offer?

The Gutenberg edition provides a free electronic text that is easy to download, search, and cite, making it suitable for research reading and classroom use. Readers can quickly locate characters, place names, or keywords, and it is convenient for comparison with other public-domain texts. Note that the electronic edition usually lacks detailed annotations, so background knowledge must be supplied by the reader.

Do I need to know about Darrow beforehand to read this book?

You need not read a full biography, but knowing the basic background of Darrow as a lawyer and public figure helps. His writing often carries argumentative awareness and social concern; with this in mind, readers can more easily understand the value orientations in the narrative. If time is limited, read a brief biographical introduction before starting the text.

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About the author

Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938 Author

Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) was a prominent American lawyer and one of the most influential public defenders of the early twentieth century. The library holds five of his works, spanning a wide range of subjects: Crime: Its Cause and Treatment, a study of the causes and correction of crime from social and psychological perspectives; Industrial Conspiracies, a commentary touching on labor–capital conflict and economic power; and A Persian Pearl, and Other Essays, Farmington, and An Eye for an Eye, which show his attempts at essay writing and narrative. Overall, his writing carries a lawyer's argumentative temper and practical concern, with clear reasoning and firm positions, often starting from specific cases and institutional abuses to ask about social justice and individual responsibility. Public information is limited, so the circumstances and textual history of these books cannot be established with certainty, yet it is clear that he did not confine himself to legal writing but extended his observations to social reform, ethics, and human nature, exerting an influence on American public debate.