Flames

Hichens, Robert, 1864-1950Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 965K words
Chapters: 97

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.Flames by Robert HichensAuthor: Hichens, Robert, 1864-1950,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 4, 2004

Editor's review

Flames is a novel by the English writer Robert Hichens, published in the early twentieth century and belonging to the late Victorian to Edwardian popular fiction that combines psychological tension with dramatic plotting. It succeeds not through grand spectacle but through character relationships, emotional conflict and turns of fate, making it suitable for readers curious about the landscape of English popular fiction of the period. The Project Gutenberg edition returns this public-domain work to circulation as a free electronic text, giving researchers and general readers low-cost access to the original. Note that the text is in English and the editing consists mainly of electronic transcription, with no modern introduction or detailed notes, so readers should bring their own background knowledge. As a documentary, literary-historical supplement, it shows another side of Hichens's narrative experiments beyond The Green Carnation; for casual reading, sample the first few chapters to see whether the language and pacing suit you before committing to the whole book.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers curious about English popular fiction of the early twentieth century
Literary researchers needing a free English-language original text
Readers who enjoy emotional conflict and turns of fate in plotting
Strong English readers happy to explore lesser-known works

Not a good fit for

Beginners needing a Chinese translation or detailed notes
Readers who prefer contemporary pacing and have little patience for older prose
Readers seeking in-depth scholarly introductions and criticism

Reading tips

Read the first two or three chapters to gauge difficulty and appeal before deciding to finish
Keep a dictionary or electronic lookup tool handy for archaic expressions and unfamiliar words
Track character relationships as you read to follow the emotional lines and causal chain of events
For research, compare with other works by Hichens to observe his themes and style

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 English? How demanding is it?

The book is in the original English, released by Project Gutenberg, with no Chinese translation. The text is an early twentieth-century English novel whose syntax and vocabulary are somewhat older than modern English; college-level reading ability and a dictionary are recommended. First-time readers can sample the opening pages to judge the difficulty.

Does the Gutenberg edition include notes or an introduction?

Project Gutenberg mainly provides electronic texts of public-domain works and typically does not include modern scholarly introductions, notes or chronologies. This edition suits readers who already have background knowledge or are willing to verify things themselves; those needing detailed annotation should consult scholarly editions in a library.

Is this a good introduction to Hichens?

Hichens is better known for works such as The Green Carnation, and Flames is relatively obscure. It can serve as a supplementary read for understanding his full output; if you are new to the author, start with his more widely discussed works and return to this book for a fuller picture.

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About the author

Hichens, Robert, 1864-1950 Author

Robert Hichens (1864–1950) was a British novelist, with 28 of his works held in this collection. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life are difficult to verify, but his writings offer a sense of his literary range. His best-known novel, The Garden of Allah, is set against an exotic desert landscape and blends romance with religious reflection; The Green Carnation became known for its thinly veiled portrayal of Oscar Wilde and the aestheticist circle around him. He also wrote novels such as The Woman with the Fan, The Dweller on the Threshold, Bella Donna, The Figure in the Mirage and The Call of the Blood, as well as a travel book on the Near East, The Near East: Dalmatia, Greece and Constantinople. His work often draws on foreign settings, social manners and psychological suspense, with carefully developed plots that combine popular readability with the tastes of their time, earning him a place in early twentieth-century British popular fiction.