Light Freights

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 255K words
Chapters: 26

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.Light Freights by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jun 25, 2007

Editor's review

Light Freights is a short-story collection by the English writer W. W. Jacobs, in the nautical and everyday-humor vein he excelled at. Jacobs was known for depicting the daily lives of sailors, dockworkers and lower-class townspeople, with a light, humorous touch and a knack for springing unexpected twists in ordinary settings. Through a series of short stories, the book presents a cross-section of English port life in the early twentieth century, with lively dialogue, tight plots and a strong period flavor and British humor. For readers who enjoy short fiction, these moderately sized stories are easy to read in spare moments; each stands alone, so there is no worry about continuity. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it is easy to obtain and makes a good introduction to Jacobs's style, as well as casual reading for those interested in British maritime and humorous literature. Note that the language carries period features and some dialect, which may take some getting used to.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy British humorous short stories
Readers interested in nautical and port-life themes
Readers who want standalone stories for spare moments
Readers studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British popular literature

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer long, continuous narratives with a complete story arc
Beginners who struggle with period-flavored English and dialect

Reading tips

Read one or two stories a day, enjoying them during commutes or before bed
When encountering dialect or nautical terms, guess from context first rather than checking every word
After finishing, pick a favorite story and retell its twist to appreciate the author's technique

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

Does this book need to be read in order from start to finish?

No. The stories are relatively independent, with no tight continuity of characters or plot, so readers can pick any story from the contents that interests them without losing comprehension.

What English level does the book require?

The book is in English and includes everyday dialogue and some dialect, so intermediate reading ability or above is recommended. Beginners can use a dictionary, grasp the main plot first, then savor the language.

Is this book consistent with the author's other works in style?

The book continues Jacobs's usual nautical and everyday humor, presenting fragments of ordinary people's lives in short form. It is close to his signature style and serves as a sample of his work.

Comments

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.