The Simple Ones

Abílio Manuel Guerra JunqueiroProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 49K words
Chapters: 5

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.Os Simples by Abílio Manuel Guerra JunqueiroAuthor: Junqueiro, Abílio Manuel Guerra, 1850-1923,Language: Portuguese, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jan 16, 2006

Editor's review

Os Simples is a poetry collection by the Portuguese poet Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro, a lyrical work of Portuguese literature imbued with social concern and human warmth. Junqueiro was active from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth, and his style often blends the lingering echoes of Romanticism with realist observation. The title of this collection means "the simple people," and from the title alone the author's attention to ordinary life is apparent. For Chinese readers, it is a valuable text for understanding the modern transformation of Portuguese poetry and a window through literature onto the society of the Iberian Peninsula. The ebook edition is issued by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain work, making it freely accessible to researchers and literature lovers. It is best read in the context of nineteenth-century Portuguese literature, with attention to the interweaving of lyricism and critique in the poems. It is suitable as supplementary reading for comparative literature and Portuguese language and literature courses, and also for readers curious about Southern European poetry who wish to savor it slowly, rather than as a plot-driven popular read.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Portuguese majors expanding their reading of nineteenth-century Portuguese poetry
Comparative literature researchers examining realist tendencies in Southern European poetry
Literature lovers interested in Iberian culture and social history
Readers used to public-domain ebooks who are willing to read lyric poetry slowly

Not a good fit for

General readers hoping for a Chinese translation, as this book is in the Portuguese original
Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narrative, which a poetry collection is unlikely to satisfy
Beginners with little interest in the nineteenth-century European poetic tradition

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and the title poem first to grasp the overall tone of the "simple" theme, then read poem by poem.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century Portuguese history to understand the social concern in the poems.
Use a Portuguese-Chinese parallel text or an annotated edition to lower the barrier of reading the original.
Limit each reading session to a few poems and leave time for reflection and notes rather than rushing through.

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 Chinese translation?

No. According to the information, the book is in Portuguese and is published as an ebook by Project Gutenberg. Chinese readers need some ability to read Portuguese, or should use a dictionary or a parallel translation for reference.

What kind of poet was Junqueiro?

Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro (1850–1923) was a Portuguese poet who lived from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth. His work is often placed in a line of poetry marked by social criticism and human concern; his specific style should be judged from the text of this book, as the information provided gives no more detailed biography.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was the first project to provide free ebooks, founded by Michael Hart in 1971. This book is a public-domain ebook available free of charge and suitable for researchers and readers, but it usually contains no modern scholarly notes or introduction.

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About the author

Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro Author · Portuguese · 1850–1923

Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro (1850–1923) was a Portuguese poet, journalist and politician. Born in Trás-os-Montes and a law graduate of the University of Coimbra, he was elected to parliament in 1878. He is best known for his satirical verse: The Death of João and The Old Age of the Eternal Father attacked Romanticism and the Church, while the long poem Fatherland stirred national feeling and earned him a reputation as the spirit poet of the 1910 republican revolution; he later served as minister to Switzerland. The library also holds Os Simples, O Melro and the children's stories Contos para a infância, showing a gentler side that embraces simple life, nature and childhood.