Le Cocu cover

Le Cocu

Rating 2.8
Word count
669K words
Chapters
67

Tags

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.Le Cocu (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XVIII) by Paul de KockAuthor: Kock, Paul de, 1793-1871,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 6, 2012

Editor's review

"Le Cocu" is the English translation of the eighteenth volume in the Novels of Paul de Kock, a French popular novelist, and is distributed free of charge by Project Gutenberg. Kock excelled at depicting the marriages, love affairs, and domestic turmoil of nineteenth-century Parisian commoners and the middle class. His style is light and brisk, and he was skilled at advancing the plot through dramatic scenes and dialogue. This book revolves around suspicion and misunderstanding in marriage, with the teasing and satire common to the popular comedy of the period, and can serve as a sample for understanding nineteenth-century French novels of manners and popular tastes. The Gutenberg edition is convenient for searching and reading through on electronic devices, and is suitable for readers interested in French literary history, popular fiction, or old-fashioned marriage themes to dip into in their spare time. It should be noted that this edition is an early English translation whose language style is remote from present-day English, and that the gender views and moral judgments in Kock's works bear a distinct mark of their era; readers should maintain a historicized perspective and need not treat it as serious material for social research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers interested in nineteenth-century French popular fiction and low-life themes
  • Literature lovers who want to understand Paul de Kock's style through an English translation
  • General readers studying historical representations of marriage, family, and gender views
  • People accustomed to using Project Gutenberg e-books who enjoy light narrative for casual reading

Not a good fit for

  • Serious readers expecting profound social critique or a pinnacle of classic literature
  • Readers sensitive to old-fashioned gender views and teasing humor
  • Foreign-language beginners unaccustomed to the language style of nineteenth-century English translations

Reading tips

  1. Read the opening note and table of contents first to understand this book's place in Kock's novel collection before starting the text
  2. Treat the marital misunderstandings in the book as period customs material and jot down interesting low-life details as you go
  3. When encountering unfamiliar French names or old-fashioned expressions, skip them for the moment and keep up the reading rhythm
  4. After finishing, compare with French popular comedy of the same period to appreciate the patterns of Kock-style teasing

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67

FAQ

Is this book a complete novel or an anthology?
According to Project Gutenberg, this book is the English translation of the eighteenth volume of Paul de Kock's Novels; it is one work within that novel collection, not a compilation of all the author's works. It can be read as a single novel; there is no need to read the other volumes first.
Can I read it directly without having read other works by Kock?
Yes. Kock's novels mostly unfold through independent plots and characters, and the volumes need not be read in strict order. Starting directly with this book will not create comprehension obstacles; you may just need a little time to get used to the author's habitual marital teasing.
What should I note when reading the electronic edition?
The Gutenberg edition is a free electronic text, mainly in plain text, and its notes and paragraphing may differ from a paper book. It is advisable to use a reader that supports font adjustment; when encountering old spellings or layout misalignments, judge from context—they do not affect overall understanding.

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About the author

Paul de Kock (1793–1871) was a French writer whose biography and education are poorly documented in public sources; the library holds no confirmed details of his nationality or dates beyond his name. The Chinese book site currently lists twenty-one of his works, including The Milkmaid of Montfermeil, Monsieur Cherami, Jean, The Bath Keepers; or, Paris in Those Days, The White House, My Neighbor Raymond, Paul and His Dog, and Madeleine. His writing draws on everyday life in nineteenth-century French towns and countryside, with brisk plots, vivid characters, a humorous tone and a touch of social satire, often centering on the fortunes and feelings of ordinary people. The library classifies his works under inspirational growth, reflecting how Chinese readers tend to receive them through the lens of personal destiny and life experience.

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