No Hero

Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William), 1866-1921Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 208K words
Chapters: 21

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.No Hero by E. W. HornungAuthor: Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William), 1866-1921,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

No Hero comes from the pen of the English writer E. W. Hornung, a popular novelist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries known for gentleman-adventure and crime fiction. Through the eyes of an imperfect narrator who openly calls himself anything but a hero, the book unfolds a narrative tinged with irony and light comedy, casting an eye on reputation, duty and masculinity in late Victorian society. The prose carries a distinct period voice; dialogue is brisk, and the plot moves through misunderstanding and mistaken identity, with the flavour of an old-fashioned detective story. As a public-domain ebook, it works best as supplementary reading for understanding the popular-fiction tradition and English narrative style rather than as a first choice for readers seeking strong plotting and pace. Treat it as extensive-reading material for language learners, or read it alongside other works of the same period.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature lovers interested in late Victorian British popular fiction
English learners who want to practise extensive reading with public-domain originals
Readers who enjoy antiheroic narration and a light comic touch
Beginners studying early detective and adventure fiction as genres

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer tightly plotted, fast-paced modern suspense
Readers with little patience for late nineteenth-century English and period context
Researchers needing in-depth literary commentary or scholarly introductions

Reading tips

Read the first two or three chapters to get used to the narrator's self-mocking tone before entering the main plot.
Mark period slang and forms of social address as you go, then look them up together afterwards.
Compare it with Hornung's better-known gentleman-thief works to see how his characterisation differs.
Use it as分段 reading for bedtime or commuting, one or two chapters at a time.

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 a detective novel or an adventure novel?

It is closer to adventure and character narrative with a light comic touch; the narrator recounts his situation self-mockingly, and the detective element is not strong. Rather than forcing it into a strict genre, it is better seen as Hornung varying his gentleman-adventure formula.

How difficult is the English, and what level is it for?

The original is late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century English, with long sentences and period colloquial and social usage; overall difficulty is moderate to high. Readers with a university-level English foundation and patience for looking words up can try it; beginners would do better with an annotated or introduced edition.

Why does this edition have no translator or notes?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain English text offering only the work itself, without translator's notes or scholarly annotation. Readers who want background must consult research materials on the author and period themselves.

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About the author

Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William), 1866-1921 Author

E. W. Hornung (Ernest William Hornung, 1866–1921) was a British author best known for creating the gentleman thief A. J. Raffles. The collection here holds twenty-nine of his works, including the Raffles stories such as The Amateur Cracksman, Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman and A Thief in the Night, as well as crime and adventure novels like Stingaree and Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front, based on his experiences in the First World War. His writing is brisk and neatly plotted, with a polished tone suited to characters who live on the edge of the law, and it holds a place in the traditions of crime and adventure fiction. Public information about his life is limited, so this introduction concentrates on his subjects and style.