Fortuna

Pérez Escrich, Enrique, 1829-1897Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 127K words
Chapters: 13

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.Fortuna by Enrique Pérez EscrichAuthor: Pérez Escrich, Enrique, 1829-1897,Language: Spanish, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jul 27, 2005

Editor's review

Fortuna is a novel by the Spanish writer Enrique Pérez Escrich, belonging to the 19th-century Spanish tradition of popular narrative. Its readability comes from plot momentum and the ups and downs of its characters' fates; the title "Fortuna" itself signals the work's narrative interest in chance, opportunity, and social mobility. The Spanish-language public-domain electronic edition provided by Project Gutenberg is suitable as a text for reading practice in 19th-century Spanish fiction: the language is closer to modern Spanish than Golden Age works, the length is moderate, and the plot threads are clear. The editor recommends viewing it within the context of popular fiction and social imagination rather than as a classic for close literary study; for Spanish learners, it is a suitable step from short stories to full-length novels.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate to advanced Spanish learners wanting to practise reading with a long public-domain novel
Readers studying 19th-century Spanish popular literature and the newspaper serial tradition
Novel readers interested in themes of fate, class, and chance
Instructors of Spanish literature courses needing freely usable public-domain texts

Not a good fit for

Spanish beginners whose vocabulary and ability with long sentences are not yet sufficient for a full-length novel
Readers expecting modernist or experimental narrative
Readers who only read Chinese translations and do not intend to engage with the Spanish original

Reading tips

Read the chapter titles and first few chapters first, and build a character relationship chart before continuing.
After each section, write a three-sentence summary in Spanish to test comprehension rather than translating word by word.
Compare the theme of "fate" with contemporary Spanish social novels and take brief notes.
Look up historical place names and institutional terms in batches to avoid interrupting the reading rhythm.

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

How difficult is the Spanish in this book?

It is 19th-century narrative prose; sentences are longer than in contemporary Spanish, but the grammar is regular and the plot is strongly driven. Readers at around B2 reading ability can make progress with a dictionary; those who have just passed A2 should start with adapted versions or short stories. The book may involve the old regime and local customs, so background reading and lookup will be needed along the way.

Why is the book titled "Fortuna," and is it about fatalism?

The title points to the work's attention to chance and life's turning points, but whether it amounts to fatalism must be judged after reading the whole book. 19th-century popular novels often use the motif of fate to organize plot and create suspense while also expressing imaginings of social mobility. Readers should not assume in advance and expect a philosophical treatise.

Is the text of the public-domain electronic edition reliable?

Project Gutenberg texts come from public-domain sources and have been proofread, but they are not scholarly critical editions. They are usually sufficient for reading and language learning; for citation or textual scholarship, check the original facsimile or an authoritative edition, and note that the electronic edition may contain typographical differences and differing paragraph divisions.

Comments

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About the author

Pérez Escrich, Enrique, 1829-1897 Author · Spanish · 1829–1897

Enrique Pérez Escrich (1829–1897) was a nineteenth-century Spanish writer of popular fiction and drama. Public information about his life is limited; what can be confirmed is that his works circulated widely among readers of his time and that he wrote in both the novelistic and the dramatic vein. Two of his works are held in this collection, Fortuna and Historia de um beijo. Judging from these titles and from the general direction of his writing, his subjects tend to revolve around fate, emotion, and social life, with the narrative drive and readability characteristic of popular literature. He wrote for ordinary readers, in plain language, and shaped his plots to hold their attention, which earned him a place in nineteenth-century Spanish popular reading. On the whole, Pérez Escrich is a Spanish author known for popular fiction and plays whose works reached a broad readership.