Running Water

Alfred Edward Woodley MasonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 469K words
Chapters: 47

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.Running Water by A. E. W. MasonAuthor: Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley), 1865-1948,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 12, 2004

Editor's review

This is a novel by the British writer A. E. W. Mason, prepared as a free electronic edition by Project Gutenberg. Mason is known for tight plotting and suspense, and this work likewise continues his hallmarks of fluid narration and gradually unfolding relationships, making it a good entry point for understanding early twentieth-century English popular fiction. The electronic edition preserves the original text of the public-domain book, allowing readers to observe early e-book layout and chapter organization. While reading, note how environmental description echoes characters' psychology and how the author uses dialogue to drive plot turns. For readers studying English literature or interested in classic suspense narrative, this is a lightweight and accessible text; those seeking deep literary analysis will need to pair it with relevant background materials. Overall, it is better suited as material for leisure reading and close reading than as a core source for academic research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy classic English popular fiction and want to read originals casually
Literature enthusiasts interested in early twentieth-century British narrative fiction
Students who need public-domain English texts for reading practice or textual analysis
Readers who habitually use e-books and prefer free access to reading material

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
Readers seeking profound social critique or modernist experimental writing
Readers with low tolerance for early e-book formatting and OCR text

Reading tips

Skim the chapter titles first to grasp the story's framework, then read dialogue and scene descriptions closely chapter by chapter.
When encountering unfamiliar words, guess from context first and look them up together after finishing the chapter.
Keep notes on character relationships and key turning points to help sort out plot threads.
If using the book to study English, read one or two chapters at a fixed time each day and retell the gist.

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

Where does this e-book come from, and is it reliable?

The book comes from Project Gutenberg, which has provided free public-domain e-books since 1971; the text is drawn from works in the public domain and is suitable for personal reading and study. The e-edition may show traces of early formatting, but this does not affect basic reading.

What English level is needed to read this book?

The text is an early twentieth-century English novel with period features in sentence structure and vocabulary; intermediate or higher English reading ability is recommended. If your vocabulary is limited, use a dictionary or read slowly chapter by chapter, grasping the plot first and handling details later.

Is this book suitable as a source text for academic research?

As a public-domain electronic text, it can be used for general reading and preliminary textual analysis, but for rigorous academic research you should check against a print edition or authoritative scholarly edition and supplement with biographical and historical background materials.

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About the author

Alfred Edward Woodley Mason Author · British · 1865–1948

A. E. W. Mason (Alfred Edward Woodley Mason, 1865–1948) was a British novelist and playwright born in Camberwell, London, and educated at Trinity College, Oxford. His work spans adventure, detective fiction, and romance; his best-known novel, The Four Feathers, is celebrated for its conflict between battlefield duty and honour. His French detective Inspector Hanaud is regarded as one of the prototypes for Hercule Poirot, and such mystery works as At the Villa Rose and The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel also drew readers' attention. Mason served as a Liberal MP in the House of Commons and worked in naval intelligence during the First World War, experiences that lent a realistic texture to his narratives. Twenty of his works are held in the collection; public information is limited, yet his writing retains a place in the history of popular and detective fiction.