Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine — Volume 16
La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 3.6- Word count
- 24K words
- Chapters
- 3
Tags
English Originals Foreign Literature Animal ImageryHuman NatureMoral AllegoryClassic MasterpieceFable StoriesFrench HumorSatirical StylePoetic NarrativeLively Narrative17th Century FranceSummary
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.Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine — Volume 16 by Jean de La FontaineAuthor: La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004Editor's review
This book is Volume 16 of the English translation of La Fontaine's Tales and Novels, a free eBook from Project Gutenberg. La Fontaine is best known for his verse fables, but his tales and novels likewise display his narrative gift and his observation of human nature and social manners. As an English translation, this volume retains the flavor of earlier English rendering; it serves as an accessible introduction to La Fontaine's non-fable work and as material for comparing the French original with its English translation. Being a public-domain eBook, the text is easy to obtain and well suited to reading on electronic devices in short sessions. Note that this is not a standalone complete work but one volume of a multi-volume set; read alone, it may lack the overall context, so it is advisable to use it alongside the complete set or relevant background materials. In terms of reading context, it suits literary scholars, lovers of French literature, and readers who need public-domain English texts for reference or leisure reading.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in French classical literature and La Fontaine's works
- Learners who need public-domain English texts for translation or comparative study
- Casual readers who enjoy short narrative and story forms
- Literature students studying European fable and story traditions
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting La Fontaine's famous verse fables
- Modern readers unaccustomed to the language style of early English translations
- Readers seeking a complete anthology rather than a single volume
Reading tips
- First understand the overall structure of La Fontaine's story collection, then locate this volume's place within the complete set.
- Read alongside the French original or a reliable Chinese translation, noting differences in the English wording.
- As a collection of short pieces, it suits reading one or two pieces a day rather than reading straight through in order.
- Note the story motifs as you read to facilitate comparison with the verse fables or other European stories.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project 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.
Contents
- 1
- 2
- 3
FAQ
Is this volume La Fontaine's verse fables?
No. This volume belongs to La Fontaine's Tales and Novels, a different genre from his famous verse fables. It shows his talent for narrative tales rather than short verse fables.Why only Volume 16? Can it be read on its own?
This is one volume of a multi-volume set. The volumes are relatively independent, so individual stories can be understood on their own, but the context of the complete set's arrangement is lacking. It is advisable to consult other volumes or the complete set's introduction to grasp the whole.How difficult is the language of this eBook?
The main text is in English, with vocabulary and sentence patterns characteristic of earlier English translations, which differ from modern English. Readers with a basic foundation in English reading can understand it with the help of notes or a parallel text.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
La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695 AuthorJean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) was a French fabulist, best known for his Fables de La Fontaine. The library holds 36 of his works, including the first and new editions of the Fables, its first and second volumes, A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, The Original Fables of La Fontaine, and the complete Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine. Drawing on Greek, Latin, and Eastern storytelling traditions, his fables feature personified animals, concise and lively verse, and gentle satire, using ordinary situations to reveal human nature and moral lessons. His works have circulated widely and are often used as children's reading and language-learning material; the library classifies them under inspirational growth. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.