Five Acres Too Much

Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell, 1829-1906Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 362K words
Chapters: 37

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.Five Acres Too Much by Robert Barnwell RooseveltAuthor: Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell, 1829-1906,Language: English, Class: S: Agriculture, Release Date: Jul 29, 2017

Editor's review

Five Acres Too Much is a pastoral-life work by the nineteenth-century American author Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, classified under agriculture. The title itself carries an ironic edge: buying a small plot and retiring to the countryside was an ideal much praised in its day, and the author exposes, through personal experience or parody, its pettiness, awkwardness, and impracticality. Its charm lies in that self-mocking, practical tone—not teaching how to farm, but reminding readers of the gap between the pastoral dream and real management. For readers familiar with the nineteenth-century American essay tradition and interested in rural-urban migration and the family farm, this book offers both literary diversion and material for the history of social attitudes. The language and context are distant, and some allusions and farming details require patience. It is best read in sections as essays, without expecting plot momentum.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who enjoy nineteenth-century American essays and humorous styles
Urban readers interested in pastoral life and moving to the countryside
Scholars and students studying American agricultural history and rural-urban migration attitudes
Casual readers who prefer a light, ironic tone and reading in sections

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for a practical farm management guide or manual
Readers accustomed to fast-paced modern narrative and lacking patience
Beginners wholly unfamiliar with nineteenth-century English context and allusions

Reading tips

Treat it as an essay collection rather than a novel; read one or two chapters at a time and keep a relaxed attitude.
Note the author's self-mockery and irony while reading, and distinguish playful remarks from real experience.
Consult background material on nineteenth-century American rural-urban migration to understand the origins of the pastoral ideal.
Skip unfamiliar farming terms or allusions at first and return to them after finishing for smoother reading.

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 a guide to running a farm?

No, it is not a practical farm guide. It is closer to essays on pastoral life, and the title is ironic. Its focus is on revealing the pettiness and gaps of retiring to the countryside, not on providing planting or management methods.

Can I read it without knowing nineteenth-century American background?

You can, but your understanding will be reduced. The book involves contemporary rural-urban ideas, farming details, and literary allusions, and basic background knowledge makes the irony easier to grasp. It is advisable to read a brief overview of the period before starting the main text.

How should I pace my reading of this book?

It suits slow reading in sections. It does not rely on plot momentum, and reading it straight through can be tiring. Read one or two chapters at a time and digest the banter and experience as independent essays for a more relaxed experience.

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About the author

Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell, 1829-1906 Author

Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell (1829–1906) was an American writer of outdoors subjects in the later nineteenth century. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are difficult to verify, but the five works held here show that his writing was almost entirely devoted to fishing, hunting, and the natural scenery of North America. His subjects were quite specific: the game fish of the northern states and British provinces, the waterfowl and wild birds of the coasts and lakes, the game water-birds of Florida, and lake angling in Superior Fishing. These books combine natural history description with practical field experience in a plain, matter-of-fact style typical of nineteenth-century sportsman writing. He also wrote Five Acres Too Much, a light account of country living that reveals another side of his work. His books remain useful for understanding the fishing and hunting culture of his time.