Something New

Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 419K words
Chapters: 42

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.Something New by P. G. WodehouseAuthor: Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2000

Editor's review

Wodehouse's Something New is a quintessential English comic novel, built around misunderstandings and coincidences among a country estate, its aristocrats, and its servants. It moves briskly, with witty dialogue and a gift for absurd situations that generate laughter. As a public-domain eBook, it preserves the author's signature relaxed narration and comic talent; it suits casual reading in spare moments and serves as an accessible introduction to early twentieth-century English social fiction. Its teasing of class manners is gentle rather than sharp, making it light and effortless to read. Note that this is the original English edition, with period slang and syntax that pose some difficulty for non-native readers. As a free eBook, it is better suited to readers with some English reading ability who want classic light comedy than to those seeking deep social critique or complex narrative structure.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English humor and light comic novels
Readers with some English ability who want to read classic originals
Office workers looking for easy reading on commutes or before bed
Readers interested in early twentieth-century English country life

Not a good fit for

Readers whose English reading skills are still at an early stage
Those who prefer serious social critique or weighty themes
Readers seeking complex plots and deep character arcs

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to feel the language rhythm before deciding whether to continue.
Don't look up every period slang term; grasp the tone of the dialogue instead.
Listen along with an audiobook to ease the difficulty of the original.
Read it like a story collection, one or two chapters at a time.

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 the original English?

This is an original English eBook released by Project Gutenberg. The language reflects early twentieth-century usage and slang; readers with some English reading ability are advised to try it.

Can I read this without having read other Wodehouse works?

Yes. It is a standalone story that doesn't depend on earlier works. It works well as an introduction to Wodehouse's comic style; if you enjoy it, seek out his better-known series.

Is this book good for learning English?

It can serve as extensive reading material, but not for absolute beginners. Its sentence patterns and slang feel dated; it suits readers with a reasonable vocabulary who want to build language sense through original fiction.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975 Author

P. G. Wodehouse (Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, 1881–1975) was a British humorist and novelist known for his light, witty comic style. The library holds 41 of his works, including the Jeeves books Right Ho, Jeeves, My Man Jeeves, and The Inimitable Jeeves, as well as The Clicking of Cuthbert, The Girl on the Boat, A Damsel in Distress, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories, and Psmith, Journalist. These works often turn on the mismatched relations between idle aristocrats, clumsy young men, and shrewd servants, with plots driven by misunderstanding, coincidence, and role reversal, and prose marked by irony and exaggeration. Wodehouse's easy elegance, brisk dialogue, and comic invention had a lasting influence on twentieth-century English humorous writing. Public information is limited, so no biographical details are conjectured here.