Irish Ned

Fea, Samuel, 1872-1943Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 20K words
Chapters: 3

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.Irish Ned by Samuel FeaAuthor: Fea, Samuel, 1872-1943,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 15, 2008

Editor's review

Irish Ned is an English-language novel left by Samuel Fia (1872–1943), made available as a free e-book by Project Gutenberg and classified under American and Canadian literature (PS). Its value lies first in the availability of the text: as a public-domain e-book, readers can access the work without paying, making it a suitable entry point for understanding the landscape of North American popular fiction from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. The title points to an Irish-descended character, and the story carries the identity, homeland, and human-relations themes common to immigrant fiction, with a narrative that emphasizes character and plot progression rather than experimental formal exploration. Readers might understand it in the context of Project Gutenberg: the platform, founded by Michael Hart in 1971, is precisely what keeps such obscure old works in circulation as free electronic texts. One caveat: the book is an English original and belongs to an earlier era of popular writing, so its pacing and vocabulary are distant from contemporary fiction; it suits readers with a foundation in English reading who are interested in old fiction or immigrant themes, and is not advisable as a beginner's English reader.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with a foundation in English reading who want to encounter old public-domain fiction
Readers interested in Irish immigrant themes and North American popular literature
Readers who enjoy character-driven traditional narrative and do not seek experimental technique
Enthusiasts studying Project Gutenberg and the circulation of early electronic texts

Not a good fit for

Beginners whose English reading is not yet proficient and who need annotated assistance
Readers who prefer fast-paced modern genre fiction and lack patience
Readers hoping to obtain systematic historical research material from the book

Reading tips

Read the first two or three chapters to see whether the narrative pace and English difficulty suit your taste, then decide whether to read through or select portions.
Keep an electronic dictionary at hand for unfamiliar words and old-fashioned expressions, so you do not give up over vocabulary difficulties.
Use the Irish immigrant background as a reading thread, noting the homeland notions and identity consciousness in characters' words and actions.
After finishing, learn briefly about the origins of Project Gutenberg to understand the source and significance of this free e-book.

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 English or Chinese?

Irish Ned is an English original; Project Gutenberg provides the English electronic text, and no Chinese translation is included with the book. Reading it requires some foundation in English, and a dictionary is recommended.

What organization is Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg is the earliest project providing free e-books, founded by Michael Hart in 1971 with the idea of letting public-domain books circulate freely in electronic form. This book was organized and released by that project.

Is this book suitable for learning English?

It is not very suitable as introductory English material. The work is from an earlier era, and its vocabulary and sentence patterns have an old-fashioned style that is not friendly to beginners; readers with some foundation who want to broaden their feel for the language through old fiction can try it.

Do I need to know Irish history before reading?

No systematic preparation is necessary. The book involves the circumstances of Irish-descended characters, and basic background knowledge is enough; looking things up as related clues arise in reading may actually make it easier to keep the reading rhythm.

Comments

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About the author

Fea, Samuel, 1872-1943 Author

Samuel Fea (1872–1943) is an author about whom little is known; public information is limited, and his nationality, education, and career are not reliably documented, with only his birth and death years confirmed. According to the holdings of this library, only one work by him survives, Irish Ned. Judging from the title alone, the work appears to deal with Irish subject matter, perhaps Irish characters, rural life, or folk tales, though its genre, plot, and narrative technique cannot be verified. Because his output is so small and critical and biographical material so scarce, Fea's place in literary history is difficult to assess, and his style and influence await further study. This introduction is based on the limited available material and makes no speculative additions to his biography.