Philistia

Allen, Grant, 1848-1899Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 813K words
Chapters: 82

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.Philistia by Grant AllenAuthor: Allen, Grant, 1848-1899,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 2004

Editor's review

Philistia is a novel by the British writer Grant Allen, a work of late Victorian English literature marked by social observation and a satirical bent. The title borrows the allusion of "the Philistines" to point at the materialistic, aesthetically conservative middle-class tastes of the author's time. Allen himself was an intellectually active popular-science writer and novelist whose work often interweaves intellectual speculation with depictions of everyday life, so this book is not merely a plot-driven read but also material for understanding the shifts in social ideas and artistic taste in late nineteenth-century Britain. As a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to obtain and textually complete, suitable as supplementary reading for English literature survey courses or book clubs, and also for readers with a sustained interest in Victorian fiction to read in segments during commutes or travel. Note that the language and narrative pace bear clear marks of their era; on a first reading, focus on dialogue and discursive passages, then return to the plot thread.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Victorian English literature who want to expand their reading list
English majors or literature students who need public-domain primary texts
Adult readers who enjoy social satire and novels of intellectual discussion
Ebook users who want free English primary texts that are easy to annotate and search

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and strong conflict
Beginners with little English reading experience who need annotated editions
Readers seeking a Chinese translation or an edition with an introduction

Reading tips

Read through chapter titles and character dialogue first, then return to the discursive passages to grasp what the author is satirizing.
Read alongside material on late nineteenth-century British social or literary history to understand the cultural meaning of "Philistia."
Use the ebook's search function to record recurring keywords and character relationships, building your own reading map.
If time is limited, read first the chapters that most clearly stage conflicts of ideas among the characters, then fill in the rest.

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 suitable for English beginners?

Not really. It is a late nineteenth-century English novel whose syntax and vocabulary bear the marks of its time, and it contains a good deal of discussion. Beginners without annotations and background knowledge will struggle with long sentences and cultural allusions; it is better to build some experience with nineteenth-century English literature first.

What does "Philistia" in the title mean?

The word derives from "Philistine," which in English cultural usage often refers to philistine taste—materialistic, aesthetically conservative, and indifferent to art and ideas. Allen's title carries a satirical point aimed at the spiritual state of the middle class of his day; watch for echoes of this concept in the characters' words and deeds.

What are the features of this edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain ebook: the text is complete, freely available, and convenient for searching, annotating, and reading across devices. It usually includes no modern scholarly annotations or introduction, so readers must supply background knowledge themselves; it suits readers with some grounding in literary history.

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About the author

Allen, Grant, 1848-1899 Author

Grant Allen (1848–1899) was a late nineteenth-century British writer known both for science writing and fiction. Thirty of his works are held in the collection, spanning science fiction, detective stories, social novels, and popular science essays. His novel The Woman Who Did stirred controversy for its treatment of female independence and marriage morality; An African Millionaire presents humorous satire through the serial exploits of the swindler Colonel Clay; Hilda Wade and Miss Cayley's Adventures create determined female protagonists. In popular science, Falling in Love With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science and Anglo-Saxon Britain show his skill in making science accessible, while Biographies of Working Men focuses on ordinary laborers. Public information on his life is limited, but his works reveal a gift for combining scientific reason with popular narrative, giving him a place in late Victorian popular literature.