Small World

Nolan, William F., 1928-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 22K 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.Small World by William F. NolanAuthor: Nolan, William F., 1928-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 4, 2009

Editor's review

Small World is a short work by William F. Nolan, made available as a free e-book by Project Gutenberg. Founded by Michael Hart in 1971, Project Gutenberg is the earliest provider of free e-books, and its mission is to let written works circulate freely in digital form; this little book is a product of that idea. Nolan is skilled at building suspense and reversals within a limited space, and this piece likewise advances its plot through concise narration, making it a suitable introductory sample of twentieth-century American popular short fiction. The e-book is cleanly typeset and easy to read through in one sitting on a phone or e-reader. For readers who want to sample original English short stories in fragments of time, it is short and plainly written, so the reading burden is light; for those studying the early forms of e-books or Project Gutenberg's selections, it can also serve as lightweight material. Note that this is the original English edition, with no Chinese annotations or introduction, so readers need basic English reading ability. Overall, it is better suited to a short literary stroll than to deep study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to read English short stories in fragments of time
Beginners interested in twentieth-century American popular literature
Students who need lightweight original English material for reading practice
Those interested in Project Gutenberg's selections and early e-books

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a Chinese translation or a heavily annotated edition
Readers who need long, complex plots and deep character portrayal
Beginners with weak English who need a dictionary to read sentence by sentence

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the plot, then revisit the wording and foreshadowing at key turning points.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first and look them up after finishing the piece, to keep the reading rhythm.
Read it alongside other Project Gutenberg short stories to sense stylistic differences among similar selections.
After reading, note the most unexpected reversal and check whether the narration led you there.

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?

The main text is the original English edition, prepared and released by Project Gutenberg, with no Chinese translation or annotations; it is suitable for readers with some foundation in English reading.

What is Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg is the earliest project to offer free e-books, founded by Michael Hart in 1971. It is dedicated to digitizing written works and making them freely available, and this book is one of its prepared editions.

Is it long? How long does it take to finish?

This is a short work of limited length; readers with basic English ability can usually finish it in one or two reading sessions, making it suitable for reading in fragments of time.

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About the author

Nolan, William F., 1928- Author · American · 1928–2021

William F. Nolan (1928–2021) was an American writer of science fiction and suspense. Public information about him is limited; his work spans both the science fiction and suspense genres, and his best-known book is Logan's Run, alongside writing for film and television. Two of his works are held in this collection, Small World and Of Time and Texas, whose titles suggest themes moving between miniature worlds and shifts in time, colored by both science-fictional imagination and suspenseful tension. His style tends to be plot-driven, building tension and unexpected turns within a limited space, a trait that echoes his experience writing for film and television. Nolan holds a place in twentieth-century American genre fiction, and Logan's Run in particular brought him a wider readership. Overall, he was a genre writer working across fiction and screen, blending science fiction and suspense.