The Conflict

Phillips, David Graham, 1867-1911Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 535K words
Chapters: 54

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 Conflict by David Graham Phillips. Author: Phillips, David Graham, 1867-1911. Language: English. Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature. Release Date: Feb 1, 1996

Editor's review

The Conflict is a novel by David Graham Phillips, an American author active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century whose writing often engages with social realities and the predicaments of individuals. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, its main value lies in offering low-threshold access to the themes and prose style of American fiction from this period, making it suitable as supplementary reading within a literary-historical framework. While reading, pay attention to how character relationships carry ideological conflict, how the narrative shifts between social issues and personal fate, and how the author presents the atmosphere of the era. It is not a work that succeeds through spectacular plotting; it is better read slowly, savoring the social observation embedded in dialogue and scene. For English-language readers the text is of moderate difficulty and flows more smoothly with some background knowledge; for researchers it can serve as a sample for observing how popular literature of the time interacted with social issues.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American fiction and social themes
Students who need public-domain English texts for supplementary reading in literary history
Readers who want to understand the social and ideological conflicts of the period through fiction
Readers with some English proficiency who prefer realist subject matter

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plotting and a fast-paced reading experience
Readers entirely unfamiliar with late nineteenth-century American social context who are unwilling to consult background materials
Readers with weak English reading skills who want to start with simpler texts

Reading tips

Before reading, learn the basic social context of the author's era to enter the work's world more quickly.
Track changes in characters' positions and relationships chapter by chapter so that discussions of ideas do not blur the main thread.
Mark unfamiliar expressions and look them up together later, keeping your reading rhythm uninterrupted.
After finishing, write a short review summarizing the core conflicts the work presents and your personal response.

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

How difficult is this novel to read?

The text is an early twentieth-century American novel with long sentences and many passages of reflection, making it harder than ordinary popular fiction. Readers with at least CET-4 level English who are willing to look up words can attempt it; if entertainment and plot are your main goal, the pace may feel slow, so read a summary first before deciding whether to read it in full.

Why is it suitable as supplementary reading in literary history?

Phillips was active during a period of pronounced social change in America, and his novels often present personal fate alongside social ideas. Reading this book against other works of its time reveals how fiction then handled social issues and shaped characters' positions, giving a more concrete picture of American literature in that era.

Any suggestions for using the public-domain ebook edition?

The Project Gutenberg edition is free and easy to obtain, well suited to reading on electronic devices. Use reading software with table-of-contents and bookmark functions for easy chapter review; also note the punctuation and spelling conventions of early texts and do not agonize over details that do not affect comprehension—simply keep the overall reading flowing.

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About the author

Phillips, David Graham, 1867-1911 Author

David Graham Phillips (1867–1911) was an American novelist. Twelve of his works are held in this collection, including Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise, The Plum Tree, The Second Generation, The Cost, The Price She Paid, The Grain of Dust, The Fortune Hunter and The Fashionable Adventures of Joshua Craig. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are difficult to verify, but these works show that he used fiction to engage with social realities, often centering on wealth, class, marriage and the fate of women. His writing has a critical edge, with carefully developed plots and a realistic style that reflects the manners of his time and comments on its social problems. Susan Lenox in particular shows his sustained concern with the lives of women.