Labrador Days

Wilfred Thomason GrenfellProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 234K words
Chapters: 24

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. Labrador Days by Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell. Author: Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir, 1865-1940. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Mar 15, 2008

Editor's review

Labrador Days is a public-domain English-literature ebook by Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell. Grenfell spent years doing medical and relief work in Labrador, and that background gives the book a strong sense of place: it is about ordinary life in Labrador, not armchair imagining. Its value to readers lies in seeing the North's natural conditions, rhythm of life, and human circumstances through the eyes of someone who was there; the language is plain and the narrative has a documentary feel. It suits readers interested in polar and frontier life and in the history of missionary medicine as further reading, and works as a sample of English-language public-domain nonfiction. Note that it is an early English original whose perspective bears the marks of its time; read it to understand a historical setting, not as a modern travel guide.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Labrador's nature and daily life
Readers of frontier medicine, relief work, and missionary history
English learners wanting public-domain English documentary writing
Teachers seeking regional literature or historical background reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a modern travel guide or geography handbook
Beginners with limited English who need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer plot-driven fiction or fast-paced narrative

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and opening pages to establish the Labrador setting and the author's identity.
Take brief chapter notes on how natural descriptions relate to people's circumstances.
Mark unfamiliar place names and look them up together after finishing each chapter.
Read alongside other frontier documentary works to compare different authors' angles of observation.

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 fiction or nonfiction?

The listing classifies it under English literature, and given Grenfell's work in Labrador, the content leans toward documentary writing about regional life. The listing does not specify a genre, so readers should expect documentary-style prose.

Who was the author, Grenfell?

According to the public-domain listing, the author is Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (1865–1940). He long worked in medicine and relief in Labrador, and the book draws on life experience there, which helps explain its perspective.

What English level is needed to read it?

It is an early English original whose sentence patterns and vocabulary reflect its era. Intermediate readers who can use a dictionary for place names and older expressions should manage; beginners should start with Chinese background material first.

Is it suitable as a travel guide?

No. It is an early documentary work, not a modern travel guide, and its practical information on transport, lodging, and the like is of no use today. Read it to understand the historical life of Labrador.

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

Wilfred Thomason Grenfell Author · British · 1865–1940

Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (1865–1940) was a British medical missionary, born in 1865 at Parkgate, Cheshire, England, and died in 1940 in Vermont, United States. In 1892 he was sent by the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen to Newfoundland and Labrador, where he built hospitals, clinics and hospital ships for coastal residents and founded the International Grenfell Association; he was knighted in 1927. Four of his works are held here, including A Labrador Doctor, Adrift on an Ice-Pan, Labrador Days and What the Church Means to Me. His writing draws largely on the northern coastal region where he served, centering on medical practice and seafaring experience in a plain, warm style that is both documentary and moving, offering readers a view of local life and the author's humanitarian concern.