Self-Help

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 20K words
Chapters: 3

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. Self-Help by W. W. Jacobs. Author: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

Self-Help is a short work by W. W. Jacobs, released as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. The title may suggest an inspirational self-help book, but Jacobs is known for humor, irony, and small twists in everyday life, so readers should not approach it as a self-help manual. The book is short and serves as a sample of the author's short fiction style, and it is also convenient for English learners using public-domain resources for light reading. Because it is an original electronic text, it lacks Chinese notes and background introduction, so readers must handle period language differences on their own. Overall, it is better appreciated as a literary short story for its narrative technique than as a source of practical advice.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who enjoy British humorous short stories and appreciate ironic style
Learners who want to use public-domain eBooks for light English reading
Readers interested in W. W. Jacobs who wish to expand their reading
Organizers who need short materials for reading sharing or book club discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers genuinely seeking self-improvement methods or psychological self-help tools
Beginners expecting a modern annotated edition or a bilingual edition
Readers who prefer long, continuous narratives and are not interested in the short story form

Reading tips

Read it once to clarify the relationships between characters, then revisit key dialogue to appreciate the irony.
Do not read it expecting an inspirational book; enjoy it as a short story and appreciate its narrative twists.
Compare it with other public-domain British short stories to see how different authors handle everyday subjects.
After reading, try summarizing the story in two or three sentences to check whether you have grasped the turning point.

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 self-help or inspirational book?

Judging from the author W. W. Jacobs's background and Project Gutenberg's literary classification, this book is a literary work rather than a practical self-help manual. The title may cause misunderstanding; it is best read as a short story, with attention to its narrative and ironic techniques.

What English level is needed to read this book?

The text is in the original English and its language has period features. Readers with intermediate English reading ability can try it, but may need to consult a dictionary; readers with weaker English can first choose an annotated edition or a bilingual reader as a transition.

Does this edition include an introduction or notes?

Project Gutenberg provides public-domain electronic texts that usually contain no Chinese introduction, detailed notes, or exercises. Readers who need background information can look up relevant introductions to the author and work, or read alongside other reference materials.

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.