The Crow's Nest

Clarence Shepard DayProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 233K words
Chapters: 24

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 Crow's Nest by Clarence DayAuthor: Day, Clarence, 1874-1935,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 3, 2010

Editor's review

The Crow's Nest is a collection of essays by the American writer Clarence Day, part of Project Gutenberg's public-domain American literature category. Day, born in 1874, is known for humorous, autobiographical family sketches; his prose is light and keenly observant, finding wit in everyday trifles. This book continues in that vein, centered on family life and personal experience. The pieces are short and make a good introduction to the English familiar essay. Readers curious about middle-class American family life in the early twentieth century, or fond of the essay form, will find the reading warm and not dated. Because this is the original public-domain text, there are no Chinese notes; period background and slang require the reader's own lookup. On the whole, it is a relaxed collection to pick up and put down, suited to reading in spare moments, and not for those seeking deep social criticism or complex narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy English essays and humorous prose
Readers of history and literature curious about early twentieth-century American family life
Learners who need short English texts for reading practice
People who want light reading for the commute or before bed

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer novels or strongly plot-driven narratives
English beginners who need Chinese notes and background introductions
Readers expecting serious social analysis or theoretical discussion

Reading tips

Read the pieces at random rather than in order; each stands alone
Mark period slang as you go, then look it up together after finishing a piece
Read the humorous passages aloud to catch the rhythm of conversational prose
Write a two- or three-sentence summary after reading to build common essay expressions

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 suitable for English beginners?

The prose is fairly conversational and the sentences are not long, but it uses early twentieth-century American everyday language and slang, and there are no Chinese notes. Intermediate readers will find it fairly smooth going; beginners should use a dictionary or a bilingual edition alongside it.

Is the content a continuous story?

No. This is a collection of essays; the pieces are relatively independent, mostly drawn from family life and personal experience, with no plot line running through the whole book. You can start with any piece, which suits fragmented reading.

Why choose the Project Gutenberg edition?

The Project Gutenberg edition is free and easy to obtain, and the text is the original public-domain English version, suited to readers who want the original text without buying a paper book. The drawback is the lack of notes and introduction; readers must fill in the period background themselves.

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About the author

Clarence Shepard Day Author · American · 1874–1935

Clarence Day (1874–1935) was an American writer and cartoonist, born in New York on November 18, 1874, and died there on December 28, 1935. He is known for his autobiographical novel Life with Father and was a longtime contributor to The New Yorker, skilled at drawing gentle humor and satire from everyday family life. His 1920 humor collection This Simian World uses the world of apes as an allegory for human habits, while The Crow's Nest (1921) continues in an easy, essayistic tone, portraying the small details and warmth of Victorian family life. Three of his works are held in the collection; a common classification is unavailable, and public information is limited. His writing often observes family members in the first person, with plain yet witty language that conveys a fond backward glance at the old family order.