Snow-Bound at Eagle's

Harte, Bret, 1836-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 187K words
Chapters: 19

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.Snow-Bound at Eagle's by Bret HarteAuthor: Harte, Bret, 1836-1902,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 14, 2006

Editor's review

Snow-Bound at Eagle's is a novel by Bret Harte set in the American West, centering on characters snowed in around Eagle's and advancing their relationships and conflicts within this enclosed setting. Familiar with Western mining camps and frontier life, Harte often populated his fiction with gamblers, frontiersmen, and travelers, and this work continues his attention to social manners and moral questions in Western society. The snowbound premise restricts outside action, making trust, suspicion, and past entanglements among the characters surface more readily, giving the book a strong sense of scene and dramatic tension. This Project Gutenberg edition is an English electronic text, convenient for searching and comparison. It suits readers interested in American Western literature and frontier narrative and can serve as one of the introductory works for understanding Harte's style. While reading, note how descriptions of the natural environment contribute to characterization and plot.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American Western literature and frontier narrative who want to know Harte's work
General fiction readers who enjoy ensemble stories in confined settings and the tension of character relationships
Students taking American literature courses who need a Western literary text as supplementary reading
Lovers of e-books in English who wish to broaden their reading of classic public-domain novels

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern fast-paced plots or suspenseful twists; this work leans toward traditional narration and characterization
First-time readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed historical and cultural annotations; this edition is the English original
Readers uninterested in Western subjects who prefer urban or contemporary fiction

Reading tips

First clarify each character's identity and purpose in the snowbound setting, then follow changes in their relationships.
While reading, note how descriptions of snow and confined space affect characters' emotions and plot turns.
Read alongside Harte's other Western short stories to observe continuity in his character types and narrative techniques.
If reading the English original, mark frontier colloquialisms as you go and revisit them in context after finishing.

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 novel long or short?

It is a novel set in the West, not very long, suitable for reading in one continuous sitting. For specific chapters and length, refer to the actual content of the Project Gutenberg electronic edition.

Do I need to know American Western history first to read it?

Not necessarily. The story is driven by characters and situations, and the basic plot can be understood on its own. Some knowledge of Western mining camps and frontier society helps in appreciating the context of characters' actions, but it is not required for a first reading.

What is a good way to read this electronic edition?

An English electronic text is convenient for searching character names and keywords on a computer or e-reader. Read through once to grasp the story, then revisit relevant passages by character thread; taking notes is also easy.

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About the author

Harte, Bret, 1836-1902 Author

Bret Harte (1836-1902) was an American writer best known for his stories of life during the California Gold Rush. He portrayed the varied characters of mining towns with a style that blends humor, sentiment, and realism, often using unexpected turns to reveal both the warmth and the absurdity of human nature. The collection here includes sixty-three of his works, among them The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales, Tennessee's Partner, Frontier Stories, Selected Stories of Bret Harte, East and West: Poems, Salomy Jane, and the Complete Poetical Works, covering both short fiction and poetry. These works draw largely on the everyday life and legends of the western frontier and have influenced later American Western literature. Public information on his life and education is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.