The Compleat Angler

Izaak WaltonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.1

Word count: 344K words
Chapters: 35

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.The Compleat Angler by Izaak WaltonAuthor: Walton, Izaak, 1593-1683,Language: English, Class: SH: Agriculture: Aquaculture, Fisheries, Angling, Release Date: Oct 1, 1996

Editor's review

The Compleat Angler is a classic of the English angling and essay tradition. Written as a dialogue, it interweaves fishing craft, riverside scenery, country life and reflections on living. Its value lies not only in teaching angling methods but in presenting a calm, gentle, nature-loving attitude to life, in prose that carries the rhythm and flavor of seventeenth-century English. For today's readers it can serve both as an introduction to angling culture and as an English essay collection to be savored slowly, for its close observation of rivers, fish and everyday conversation. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and free to read, and suits browsing in sections on an e-reader. Note that some of its fisheries knowledge and assumptions bear the marks of their time; readers should approach it as cultural reading rather than a practical manual.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in angling culture, country life and nature essays
Readers who want to encounter seventeenth-century English life through English prose
Readers who enjoy dialogue-form, slow-paced classics
Students who need free public-domain English reading for extensive practice

Not a good fit for

Practical readers seeking modern angling technique instruction
Readers of fiction who prefer tight plots or strong dramatic conflict
Beginners with little patience for seventeenth-century English and dialogue-form structure

Reading tips

Read the opening dialogue first to get used to the characters' voices and the rhythm of the style, then proceed in sections.
Separate the angling knowledge from the nature writing: treat the former as cultural history and enjoy the latter as essay.
Pair it with an English audiobook or annotated edition to ease the difficulty of archaic expression.
Read only a short section at a time, and after each, note one riverside description or line of dialogue that struck you most.

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 mainly about angling technique or about life?

Both, but its center of gravity leans toward angling culture, nature observation and an attitude to life. It does contain angling experience and fish lore, but it unfolds as dialogue, with much space given to riverside scenery, conversation among companions and country pleasures. Treat it only as a technical manual and you miss its essayistic value.

Can I read this book if my English is only average?

You can try, but it takes patience. The language bears seventeenth-century prose features: long sentences and vocabulary used differently from today. An annotated edition helps, or you might first read a Chinese abridged translation to grasp the structure, then return to the English original in sections.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

It is a free public-domain e-book, convenient for searching, copying and reading in sections on a computer or e-reader, and suited to extensive reading and reference. It usually lacks the detailed notes of a modern edited edition, so archaic expressions require other resources for support.

Is the angling knowledge in the book still applicable today?

Some basic experience remains instructive, but many specific practices, ideas about fish and the fisheries environment have changed over time. The safer reading is to treat it as angling cultural history and nature essay rather than a modern angling guide; for actual fishing, consult local regulations and contemporary sources.

Comments

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About the author

Izaak Walton Author · English · 1593–1683

Izaak Walton (1593–1683) was an English biographer. Born in Stafford, he ran a linen business in his early years and was closely associated with clergymen such as John Donne. In 1653 he published The Compleat Angler, a pastoral dialogue on the pleasures of fishing; revised and enlarged in later editions, it became a classic of English prose. The library also holds his multi-volume biographical works, including lives of Donne, Wotton, Hooker, and Herbert, later known collectively as Walton's Lives. Public information on the details of his life is limited, but his writings, combining leisurely tone with pious feeling, have influenced later English essays and biographical writing.