John Galsworthy

Kaye-Smith, Sheila, 1887-1956Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 108K words
Chapters: 11

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.John Galsworthy by Sheila Kaye-SmithAuthor: Kaye-Smith, Sheila, 1887-1956,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 4, 2017

Editor's review

This is a critical biography, written in English, of the British novelist and playwright John Galsworthy. Its author, Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887–1956), was herself a novelist, so the book combines an account of Galsworthy's life and work with literary judgments from a fellow writer's perspective, and it reads well. The book is short and serves as an accessible introduction to Galsworthy and his work: it offers an overall assessment of his major works and conveys how the British literary world of the early twentieth century received this Nobel laureate. One caveat: the views expressed are the author's own and should not be taken as definitive, and her analyses of individual works are best appreciated alongside the originals. The text comes from Project Gutenberg and is in the public domain. It suits enthusiasts of English literature and students of foreign literature as supplementary reading, and also serves as early critical material for research papers on the author.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of English literature seeking a first overview of Galsworthy's life and work
Students of foreign literature needing early criticism for research reference
General readers who enjoy literary biographies and are interested in the early twentieth-century British literary scene
Readers planning to read The Forsyte Saga who want background first

Not a good fit for

Researchers expecting detailed textual analysis or modern scholarly annotation
Beginners unfamiliar with Galsworthy's works who want to start with the originals
Readers who prefer contemporary theoretical frameworks and are put off by the style of early criticism

Reading tips

Read a summary of a representative Galsworthy work first, then compare it with the judgments in the biography
While reading, distinguish biographical fact from the author's evaluation and note points worth verifying
Read alongside other Galsworthy scholarship and compare views from different periods
After finishing, sample a representative work to test whether the biography's account matches your own experience

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 as a main reference for research on Galsworthy?

It is better suited as an introduction or as early critical material than as a primary basis for research. The biography was written long ago, its views reflect the author's personal leanings, and it lacks modern scholarly annotation. For in-depth study, pair it with authoritative biographies, prefaces and afterwords to collected works, and contemporary scholarship, and treat the primary texts as the final authority.

Can I understand this biography without having read any Galsworthy?

You can follow the general sense, but you will get less out of it. The biography discusses characters and themes of specific works at length, and without firsthand knowledge of the originals it is hard to judge whether the author's assessments are fair. Reading at least a plot summary or excerpt from one major work first will make the biography more rewarding.

What was the relationship between Kaye-Smith and Galsworthy?

The available information shows only that Kaye-Smith was herself a novelist and wrote this critical biography of Galsworthy; it does not indicate any personal acquaintance between them. Readers may regard it as one novelist's account of another: it may reflect shared literary tastes, but also possible biases arising from differences in school or sensibility.

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About the author

Kaye-Smith, Sheila, 1887-1956 Author

Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887–1956) was an English novelist. Public information about her is limited, but her fiction is largely set against the rural life and landscapes of England, especially Sussex. Five of her works are held in this collection, including Sussex Gorse: The Story of a Fight, Joanna Godden, The Four Roads, The Three Furlongers, and a study of John Galsworthy. She was skilled at depicting country life and human destinies with delicate detail, and her plots often revolve around family, land, and personal struggle, marked by a strong sense of place and a realistic style. Her work holds a place in the twentieth-century English regional novel tradition and offers some insight into rural society and women's lives of her time.