Kennedy Square

Smith, Francis Hopkinson, 1838-1915Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 695K words
Chapters: 70

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.Kennedy Square by Francis Hopkinson SmithAuthor: Smith, Francis Hopkinson, 1838-1915,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 1, 2003

Editor's review

Kennedy Square is a work by Francis Hopkinson Smith, classified under American and Canadian literature and released free in English by Project Gutenberg. Judging from the title, the story unfolds around a place called Kennedy Square; Smith's narration consistently attends to the interplay between scene and atmosphere on the one hand and character on the other, and he is skilled at developing emotion and conflict through everyday interaction. For readers, the value of this book lies not in intricate plotting but in the entry it offers into old American urban life and human relationships; it suits slow reading driven by study or personal interest. It should also be noted that this is a public-domain English original with no Chinese translation or introductory notes, so a real language barrier exists; those seeking light entertainment may find it less smooth going than a modern novel.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in old novels set in American urban life
Literary enthusiasts used to reading English originals who are willing to read slowly
Those who need supplementary texts for American literature study or related courses
Readers who enjoy sensing the spirit of an era through place and scene

Not a good fit for

General readers who need a Chinese translation or introductory notes
Readers seeking fast-paced plots and strong dramatic conflict
Those with limited English reading experience who give up easily over unfamiliar words

Reading tips

Learn about the work's period background and setting before starting the text.
Proceed chapter by chapter and keep track of character relationships to avoid interruptions caused by confusing English names.
Mark unfamiliar expressions first and look them up later; maintaining reading continuity matters more than checking every word in the dictionary.
After finishing, revisit key scenes to appreciate how the author uses place to heighten characters' emotions.

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 does this book relate to the author's other works?

It belongs, like the author's other works, to the American literature category and was released by Project Gutenberg; stylistically it continues his attention to character and scene, but the specific plots and characters stand alone, so there is no need to read other works first.

Is Kennedy Square in the title a real place?

The available information only shows the title and the work's classification; it does not say whether it is a real place. Readers can judge from the descriptions in the text rather than assuming it corresponds to a real place of the same name.

What should I keep in mind when reading the electronic edition?

Project Gutenberg provides a plain-text electronic edition with simple formatting and no notes or translation. A reading app that supports word lookup and annotation is recommended, making it easy to check unfamiliar words and record reading progress.

Can I read it if my English is average?

You can try, but patience is required. The language carries period features, and sentence structure and word choice differ from modern English. Starting with chapters of moderate difficulty and reading with a dictionary is advisable; do not force yourself to read quickly.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Smith, Francis Hopkinson, 1838-1915 Author

Francis Hopkinson Smith (1838–1915) was an American author whose biographical details are only sparsely documented in public sources. The library holds twenty-six of his works, including novels and short stories, with representative titles such as Colonel Carter's Christmas, Forty Minutes Late, Felix O'Day, The Tides of Barnegat, and A Gentleman's Gentleman. These works show that he excelled at depicting, in a gentle and humorous vein, the daily life of upper-class English and American society and the Southern gentlemanly class, with plots often revolving around etiquette, family relations, and character, conveying both the warmth and the irony of an old-fashioned genteel world. His writings occupy a place in early twentieth-century American popular literature, and some of his stories were widely read.