Quick Action

Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William), 1865-1933Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 322K words
Chapters: 33

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.Quick Action by Robert W. ChambersAuthor: Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William), 1865-1933,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 25, 2011

Editor's review

Quick Action is a collection of short works by Robert W. Chambers, an American writer active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries known for suspense, romance, and weird fiction. The book is released as a free e-edition by Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain literary resource that is easy to access and requires little of readers. The works continue the author's trademark fast-paced narration and plot twists; the pieces are concise and well suited to casual reading during commutes, lunch breaks, or other fragmented time. Readers can experience the narrative appeal and language style of early twentieth-century American popular fiction, and the collection can also serve as an introduction to Chambers's creative profile. Because it is an original English-language e-book and not a scholarly critical edition, it is best treated as leisure reading rather than a base text for textual research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Casual readers who enjoy early twentieth-century American popular short stories
Learners who want to read English short stories in fragmented time and build language intuition
General readers interested in suspense, romance, and weird fiction
Readers who need free public-domain English e-books

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a meticulously edited, annotated edition suitable for scholarly citation
Readers who are not used to reading original English and need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer long, complete narratives and find short-story collections unsatisfying

Reading tips

Read each story independently; after finishing one, look back at the opening to appreciate the setup and the twist.
Mark unfamiliar words and keep reading; look them up together after finishing the whole story.
Compare with other works by the same author to sense commonalities in subject matter and narrative technique.
Read one or two stories at a time during commutes or before bed to avoid fatigue from continuous long reading.

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 in Chinese or English?

This is an original English-language e-book published by Project Gutenberg. The main text is in English, not a Chinese translation. If English reading is difficult, you can use a dictionary or bilingual comparison tools, or treat it as extensive English reading material.

Why does the introduction repeatedly mention Project Gutenberg?

Most of the introduction describes Project Gutenberg itself, including its founder Michael Hart and the origin of free e-books; it is not an overview of the content of Quick Action. As for this book, it is a public-domain English literary work included in Project Gutenberg.

Is it suitable as a scholarly base text for studying Chambers?

Not very suitable. This is a free e-edition published by Project Gutenberg, convenient for reading and access, but it is not a critical edition with scholarly collation, annotations, and textual notes. For textual research, consult a revised edition from an authoritative publisher instead.

In what order should I read this book?

You can read in table-of-contents order, or start with the shorter pieces or the ones whose openings attract you most. The stories in a collection are relatively independent, so there is no need to read from beginning to end; after each story, pause briefly to sort out the plot threads and character relationships before moving on to the next.

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About the author

Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William), 1865-1933 Author

Robert W. Chambers (1865–1933) was an American novelist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His birth and death years and nationality are relatively clear in public sources, though detailed biographical information and educational background remain limited. He was a prolific writer, with 38 works held in the collection. He is best known for the short-story collection The King in Yellow, which blends weird, horror, and supernatural elements and became an important early work of weird fiction, exerting a certain influence on later horror and fantasy writing. Beyond weird fiction, his works also span romance, historical, and popular fiction, including Athalie, The Mystery of Choice, The Hidden Children, The Common Law, The Dark Star, In Search of the Unknown, and The Slayer of Souls, demonstrating a diversity of subjects and styles. Overall, his writing is notable for atmospheric construction and narrative tension, securing him a place in popular literature and the weird tradition.