Jaffery

Locke, William John, 1863-1930Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 568K words
Chapters: 57

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.Jaffery by William John LockeAuthor: Locke, William John, 1863-1930,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 11, 2005

Editor's review

Jaffery is a novel by the English writer William John Locke, in the tradition of social comedy and character fiction for which he was known. It revolves around the title character, Jaffery, and his dealings with those around him, moving the narrative through dialogue and clashes of personality, in a gentle, humorous tone with the social scenes and emotional entanglements common to early twentieth-century English fiction. Locke excelled at vivid, slightly eccentric characters, letting readers observe human nature and shifting relationships in easy reading. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain e-book, it offers low-cost access to a now little-mentioned English novelist. Its pleasure lies not in strong plot suspense but in voices, details of daily life, and understated irony. Suited to readers who like English social fiction and want to broaden their reading of early twentieth-century popular literature; those expecting tight plotting or modern narrative pacing may find it slow.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English social fiction and comedy of character
Enthusiasts seeking to broaden their reading of early twentieth-century English popular fiction
Readers who prefer dialogue-driven, gently paced narrative
Readers studying Locke's work or public-domain English literature

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plots, fast pacing, and suspenseful twists
Readers hoping for fiction with clear modern concerns and innovative structure
Readers impatient with old-fashioned English and social scenes

Reading tips

First learn about the English novel tradition the author belonged to, then enter the social scenes.
Focus on dialogue and characterization rather than plot progression.
Read the English original slowly, chapter by chapter, attending to its humorous and ironic tone.
Afterward, compare with other works by Locke to observe his methods of characterization.

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

What kind of story does Jaffery mainly tell?

It is English social fiction, centered on personal dealings, emotional relationships, and social scenes, driven by dialogue and clashes of personality, with gentle humor and understated irony rather than strong adventure or suspense.

What kind of writer is William John Locke?

Locke was an early twentieth-century English novelist who mostly wrote social fiction and comedy of character, skilled at vivid, slightly eccentric figures and a gentle, humorous tone. He is not widely known today, but his work retains the human warmth of the popular fiction of his time.

Is this book suitable for beginner English readers?

Not really for complete beginners. The original is an early twentieth-century English novel whose sentence patterns and social idiom bear the marks of its era and require intermediate reading ability or above. If you only want English practice, start with contemporary graded readers, then try this book.

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About the author

Locke, William John, 1863-1930 Author

William John Locke (1863–1930) was a British novelist, with 23 of his works held in this collection. His representative works include The Belovéd Vagabond, The Mountebank, The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol, Septimus, The Rough Road, The White Dove, The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne: a Novel, and Jaffery. Public information about his life is limited, so this entry offers only a brief account based on the works in the collection and the clues they provide. Judging from these titles and the character of the works, Locke's novels are largely character-centered, with brisk plots that often carry a romantic and humorous tone, blending vagabondage, adventure, and social observation, and creating many vividly drawn figures whose fortunes rise and fall. His works found a readership in the early twentieth century, and some were adapted for the stage and screen, leaving a mark on popular literature and general reading.