Looking Further Forward

Michaelis, Richard, 1839-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 171K words
Chapters: 18

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.Looking Further Forward by Richard MichaelisAuthor: Michaelis, Richard, 1839-1909,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 22, 2019

Editor's review

Looking Further Forward is a work by Richard Michaelis (1839–1909) included in Project Gutenberg and classified under American and Canadian literature. Judging from the title and the author's period, such texts often contain speculation and extrapolation about society's prospects; their value lies not in tight plotting but in observing how a nineteenth-century author imagined a future of "looking forward." It suits readers interested in early future narratives and imaginations of social reform, and it can also serve as supplementary material for literature history classes. Because it is a public-domain electronic text, the book has no modern editor's annotations, so readers must fill in the historical background themselves; but this also offers room for close reading: notice how the author sets out issues and arranges levels of argument or narrative. It is best treated as a small book that requires slow reading; do not try to finish it at once. Break it down by chapter, note the author's core concerns as you read, and compare it with other contemporary texts imagining the future. For research readers, it is a citable primary document; for ordinary readers, it is more like a window onto nineteenth-century thought.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century future narratives and social imagination
Teachers and students who need public-domain North American literary texts as course supplements
Readers who like slow reading and are willing to supply historical background themselves
Enthusiasts studying early utopian or social reform writing

Not a good fit for

Readers who want strongly plotted novels or complete storylines
Readers who need modern annotations, introductions, and detailed background explanation
Readers with limited English reading stamina who prefer short, light texts

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and opening first to judge whether the text is mainly argumentative or narrative.
Read in chapter batches and summarize the author's core claims in your own words after each chapter.
Note period issues mentioned in the book as you go, then look up the background afterward.
Read it alongside other contemporary works imagining the future to form a comparison.

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 a novel or an argumentative work?

The information only states that it belongs to American and Canadian literature and does not specify the genre. Judging from the title and the author's period, it may contain social speculation or argument, so read the opening and table of contents before deciding; do not assume it is a fully plotted novel.

Who was Richard Michaelis?

The information only provides the name and the dates 1839–1909, with no further biographical details. To avoid fabrication, no account of the author's life is added here; readers can consult reliable biographical or bibliographic sources for background.

Why does reading this book require historical background?

Because it is a public-domain electronic text released by Project Gutenberg and usually lacks modern editor's annotations and introductions. The nineteenth-century social issues and modes of expression in the book require readers to look up the background themselves in order to understand the author's intent more accurately.

Is it suitable as classroom reading material?

It can be used as supplementary material for courses in North American literature or intellectual history, but teachers need to prepare their own background introductions and annotations. It is better as extended reading than as the only textbook for beginners.

Comments

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About the author

Michaelis, Richard, 1839-1909 Author

Richard Michaelis (1839–1909) was a late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century author known for writings that imagine future societies. Public information about his life is limited: his nationality, education, and professional career cannot be firmly established, and what remains verifiable is chiefly a small body of work. Three of his titles are held in this collection—Kommunistinen yhteiskunta vuonna 2000, Looking Further Forward, and Ein Blick in die Zukunft. These works speculate about the shape of society to come and share the character of early utopian and science-fictional social prediction, often projecting a picture of society around the year 2000. Looking Further Forward circulated relatively widely in English, suggesting that his writing spanned both German- and English-language contexts. On the whole, he is not noted for systematic theory but uses future-oriented narrative to express concern about social organization and human prospects; his works may serve as reference material for the study of late nineteenth-century futurism and utopian literature.