The Kings

Lemaître, Jules, 1853-1914Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 365K words
Chapters: 37

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.Les Rois by Jules LemaîtreAuthor: Lemaître, Jules, 1853-1914,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Dec 21, 2004

Editor's review

Les Rois is a work by the French writer Jules Lemaître, available as a French-language public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg. Lemaître was both a literary critic and a playwright; his writing is polished and his observations incisive, and this work continues his attention to human nature and the social scene. Presented in the original French, it carries the linguistic flavor of French literature from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. For Chinese readers, its value lies first at the level of language and text: it can serve as intermediate-to-advanced extensive reading material for French learners, and as reference for readers studying French literature, drama, or the intellectual tastes of the period. As a public-domain ebook, it is free to obtain and easy to search and excerpt, making it suitable as course support or thematic reading. Note that the book is in the original French and Lemaître's style carries the rhetorical habits of his era, so reading requires some French proficiency and patience; for readers unfamiliar with French or expecting a Chinese translation, the barrier is relatively high. Overall, this is a public-domain text suited for French readers and lovers of French literature to use as needed, rather than a popular work for a general audience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners with intermediate-to-advanced French reading ability who want to practice extensive reading in the original
Readers studying French literature or French-language texts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Teachers who need public-domain French texts as course or thematic materials
Enthusiasts interested in Lemaître's works and the linguistic style of French literature

Not a good fit for

General readers who do not know French and hope to read a Chinese translation
Beginners who have just started learning French and whose vocabulary and grammar foundations are not yet solid
Readers expecting light, entertaining stories and unwilling to engage with literary language

Reading tips

First learn about Lemaître's life and creative background before entering the text, to better grasp his satirical and observational perspective.
French learners can read closely in sections, noting new words and typical sentence patterns, with dictionaries and grammar tools.
Read in comparison with French literary or dramatic works of the same period to observe similarities and differences in language and theme.
If used for a course, assign reading tasks by chapter and focus discussion on characters and social description.

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 the original French? Can Chinese readers read it?

The book is in the original French with no Chinese parallel text. Readers with intermediate-to-advanced French reading ability can read it with a dictionary; readers who do not know French at all will find it hard to use directly and are advised to look for a relevant translation or introductory materials first.

What kind of writer is Lemaître?

Jules Lemaître was a French writer and literary critic who also wrote for the theater, known for polished prose and incisive observation. This book is part of his literary output and carries the linguistic and intellectual tastes of French literature of the period.

Is the Gutenberg edition suitable for academic citation?

The Gutenberg edition provides a public-domain electronic text that is convenient for reading and searching and can serve as course support or general reference. For formal academic citation, it is advisable to check a paper or authoritative edition and cite specific edition information.

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About the author

Lemaître, Jules, 1853-1914 Author

Jules Lemaître (1853–1914) was a French literary critic and essayist whose biographical details are limited in publicly available sources. Fourteen of his works are held in this Chinese-language book collection, most notably the series of literary criticism Les Contemporains, published in multiple series including the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, which shows that his critical work was sustained and systematic. He also wrote studies on Jean Racine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, reflecting his deep interest in French classical drama and Enlightenment thinkers. Lemaître was known for critical essays that combine literary appreciation with personal judgment, often commenting on writers and works through close reading, in clear and distinctive prose. His collections offer useful material for studying late nineteenth-century French literary taste and critical practice, and hold a place in the history of French literary criticism.