Half-Past Bedtime

Henry Howarth BashfordProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 238K words
Chapters: 24

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.Half-Past Bedtime by Sir H. H. BashfordAuthor: Bashford, H. H. (Henry Howarth), Sir, 1880-1961,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jan 21, 2011

Editor's review

Half-Past Bedtime is a children's work by the British author and physician Sir Henry Howarth Bashford, belonging to juvenile literature and released free by Project Gutenberg. Its pleasure lies not in plot tension but in the relaxed narrative tone and sense of imaginative proportion: it suits slow reading before bed or in leisure, letting the story glow softly like a lamp. As an early twentieth-century English children's book, it also offers a window onto the tastes and language style of children's literature of the time, and can be used as lightweight material for studying English children's literature or for extensive English reading. Note that this is the original English text; Gutenberg provides an electronic text with limited formatting and annotation, so readers need to set their own pace. If you expect complex plots and grand modern fantasy settings, it may seem quiet; but if you are willing to accept a gentle, period-flavored way of storytelling, it can offer an unhurried reading experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want light bedtime reading in English children's literature
English majors or researchers who want to understand early twentieth-century children's books
Young readers with some English foundation who want short extensive reading practice
Casual readers who enjoy gentle narrative and do not seek strong plot

Not a good fit for

Genre fiction readers who need strong plot, fast pace, and complex settings
Beginners with weak English who need detailed annotation and Chinese comparison
Teachers who want systematic literary analysis or lesson design

Reading tips

Read a small section each night before bed, not rushing, letting the tone and rhythm come naturally.
Mark unfamiliar words first, look them up together after finishing a passage, to avoid interrupting the story's atmosphere.
Read alongside English children's literature of the same period, noting differences in narrative voice.
After finishing, write down the most memorable scenes in a few sentences as output practice for extensive English 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 suitable for English beginners?

Not very suitable for readers at zero or weak foundation. It is an early twentieth-century English children's work with period language, and the Gutenberg edition lacks Chinese annotation and comparison, so beginners may be blocked by vocabulary and syntax. It is better suited to those with some English reading experience who are willing to look up words slowly and accept old-fashioned expression.

What should I note about the Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides a free electronic text focused on readable content, with relatively simple formatting and annotation, and no modern introduction or detailed notes. When reading, it is advisable to have a dictionary at hand and to distinguish the main text from the file header information. For close reading or research, it is best to compare with other editions.

How does this book differ from modern children's literature?

It is closer to the storytelling tradition of the early twentieth century, with a gentle tone and slow pace, not relying on dense conflict and reversals to advance. Readers used to the strong plots of modern fantasy may find it quiet, but precisely for that reason it suits bedtime reading and makes it easy to observe the language taste and imaginative mode of children's literature of the time.

Comments

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About the author

Henry Howarth Bashford Author · British · 1880–1961

Sir Henry Howarth Bashford (1880–1961) was a British physician and writer, born in Kensington, London, and died at Easton Royal, Wiltshire. He served as Chief Medical Officer of the General Post Office and as physician to King George VI. Alongside his medical career, he wrote steadily, and his work combines humour, fantasy and satire. He is best known for the satirical novel Augustus Carp, Esq., By Himself, which uses a first-person narrative to portray a smug middle-class gentleman with restrained, sharp irony. The library also holds three of his works—Half-Past Bedtime, The Corner of Harley Street and Tommy Wideawake—which touch on children's fantasy and urban medical life, written in a light style with gentle social observation. His writing draws on everyday experience and professional anecdote, giving him a modest place in twentieth-century British popular literature. Public information is limited, so details of his life and the influence of his works remain to be further documented.