Sentence Deferred

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 23K 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.Sentence Deferred by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

Sentence Deferred is a short work by the English author W. W. Jacobs, made available as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg. Jacobs is known for his humor, often writing about ordinary people's embarrassments and turns of fortune in everyday situations; the title itself hints at a deferred ending or verdict, carrying a sense of suspense and irony. As a public-domain electronic text, its value lies in giving readers zero-cost access to late Victorian to Edwardian English short narrative: it is not long, its language carries the flavor of its era, and it suits beginners or casual readers of English literature. While reading, note the irony in the characters' dialogue and the way the plot is resolved, and see how the author uses a light touch to create dramatic effect. Since this is an electronic transcription, it is advisable to use notes or a dictionary for unfamiliar expressions. Overall, this is a light text suited to reading in spare moments and getting a feel for the tradition of English short-story humor, rather than a classic demanding deep study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to read English short stories casually in spare moments
Readers interested in English humorous literature and short narrative
Learners who need free public-domain English texts to practice reading
General readers who enjoy light suspense and ironic endings

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting long, complex plots or deep character development
Readers with weak English who are unwilling to look up words to handle period language
Serious researchers who need scholarly annotations or an authoritative translation

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the plot, then read again to notice irony and foreshadowing in the dialogue.
Mark period expressions as you go and look them up together after finishing, so as not to interrupt the reading rhythm.
Read it alongside other Jacobs short stories to see how his humorous patterns repeat and vary.
After finishing, try to retell the ending in two or three sentences to check whether you caught the title's hint.

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 novel or a short story?

From the Project Gutenberg record, this is a short work by W. W. Jacobs, not long, and suitable to finish in one sitting or a few. It is not the length of a novel, so readers need not worry about investing too much time.

How difficult is the English?

The text is in the original English, with vocabulary and sentence patterns from the late Victorian to Edwardian period, and some expressions are uncommon today. Intermediate readers can finish it smoothly with a dictionary; beginners may need more support.

Why do the recommendations mention humor and irony?

W. W. Jacobs is known for humorous short stories, and the title Sentence Deferred itself carries suspense and irony. Paying attention to the dialogue and the resolution makes it easier to appreciate the author's light touch, which is the main pleasure of reading this piece.

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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.