The Captain

Henri-Émile ChevalierProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 291K words
Chapters: 30

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.La capitaine by H. Emile ChevalierAuthor: Chevalier, H. Emile (Henri Emile), 1828-1879,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jun 8, 2006

Editor's review

This is a novel by the French author Henri Émile Chevalier, released free of charge in the original French by Project Gutenberg. As a specimen of nineteenth-century French popular fiction, it preserves the period's blend of adventure narrative and emotional intrigue, making it a useful sample for studying French popular novels and the reading tastes of French readers of the time. The electronic edition is easy to search and cite, and is suitable as supplementary reading for French majors and as supporting material for comparative literature scholars examining the evolution of popular literary genres. It is best read within the context of nineteenth-century French literature and publishing, and should not be judged by the structural standards of the modern novel.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Upper-level and advanced French majors seeking to expand their reading of original texts
Scholars of nineteenth-century French popular literature using it as a genre sample
General readers interested in public-domain books in the original French, as casual reading material

Not a good fit for

Readers with no French, for whom the original text poses a high barrier
Readers expecting a modern, fast-paced plot, as the narrative pace is rather old-fashioned
Readers seeking authoritative translation notes or a scholarly introduction, as this electronic edition has no supplementary notes

Reading tips

Read one chapter first to get a feel for the style and narrative pace, then decide between close and casual reading
Keep a French dictionary at hand to check nineteenth-century usage and old spellings
Read it alongside French adventure novels of the same period, noting similarities and differences in genre elements

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 French or English?

The main text is in the original French. The metadata lists the language as French and classifies it under French literature, so it suits readers with French reading ability.

Does this edition include notes or an introduction?

The metadata does not indicate that this electronic edition includes notes, an introduction, or translator's remarks; the content is primarily the text of the work itself. For background, consult separate research on the author and nineteenth-century French literature.

Is it suitable for learning French?

It can serve as casual reading material for intermediate and advanced French learners, but since it was written in the nineteenth century, its spelling and syntax bear period features; beginners should read it with the help of a teacher or dictionary.

Comments

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About the author

Henri-Émile Chevalier Author · French · 1828–1879

Henri-Émile Chevalier (1828–1879) was a French journalist, novelist and librarian, born in Châtillon in 1828 and died in Paris in 1879. For political reasons he went into exile in the United States and Canada, where he edited the periodical La Ruche and became familiar with the geography and peoples of North America. The collection holds thirteen of his works, including Le chasseur noir, Les derniers Iroquois, La Tête-Plate, La fille des indiens rouges and Jacques Cartier. Most are adventure novels about Native Americans, combining exotic settings and historical narrative with tight plotting and attention to indigenous life and tribal conflict. Public information is limited, and a full survey of his output and literary standing remains to be compiled, but existing sources show him to be a representative nineteenth-century French writer of North American adventure fiction.