The Daft Days

Munro, Neil, 1864-1930Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 489K words
Chapters: 49

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 Daft Days by Neil MunroAuthor: Munro, Neil, 1864-1930,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 7, 2015

Editor's review

The Daft Days is a novel by the Scottish writer Neil Munro, presented here by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain eBook. Munro wrote extensively about life in the western Highlands and the small towns along the Clyde, in a style marked by local colour and gentle humour, and this work continues his attention to everyday human relations and small-town society. As a public-domain eBook, its primary value lies in accessibility: readers can read, at no cost and on an electronic device, a complete long novel by an important Scottish regional writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, well suited to understanding the regional narrative tradition within Scottish literature that differs from the mainstream English literary tradition. It should not be read with the pacing of modern genre fiction; rather, it is better placed within the context of Scottish regional writing and read slowly, noting the dialect flavour of the dialogue, the portrayal of the ensemble of characters, and the author's amused observation of daily life in which respectability and hardship coexist. For readers studying Munro's work or collecting Scottish regional literature, this is a conveniently available primary text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Scottish literature and regional fiction
Literary scholars studying the development of Neil Munro's work
Advanced learners who need a public-domain English source text for reading practice
Readers who enjoy slow-paced small-town ensemble portraits and regional humour

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong plot conflict and fast-paced narrative
Beginners unaccustomed to English dialect forms and older syntax
Readers who want only the author's major works and are unwilling to read secondary ones

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to adjust to the dialect dialogue and narrative rhythm before deciding on a reading pace.
Note recurring place names and character relationships as you read to grasp the small-town ensemble.
Read alongside background material on western Scottish geography and nineteenth-century regional life.
If using it for research, focus on the dialogue and the narrator's tone rather than on plot development.

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 the original English text or a translation?

This is an English public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English, not a Chinese translation. Readers need a reasonable ability to read long English fiction, and may consult notes or a dictionary when encountering dialect spellings and older syntax.

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Munro?

Yes. It is a standalone novel and does not depend on prior works. Munro's writing is strongly regional, however, so readers new to him may find it easier to enter his narrative tone and sense of humour if they first learn a little about Scottish regional literary conventions.

Is the electronic edition suitable for academic citation?

It can be used as a public-domain electronic text, but academic citation should check page numbers and wording against an authoritative print edition or one with textual notes. The layout and paragraphing of the electronic edition may differ from the printed book, so version information should be confirmed before citing.

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About the author

Munro, Neil, 1864-1930 Author

Neil Munro (1864-1930) was a Scottish writer whose biographical details are limited in publicly available sources, yet the ten works held in this collection show that he was a prolific author. His representative works include John Splendid: The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn; Gilian The Dreamer: His Fancy, His Love and Adventure; Doom Castle; The Shoes of Fortune; The Lost Pibroch, and Other Sheiling Stories; Erchie, My Droll Friend; Jaunty Jock, and Other Stories; and The Daft Days. Judging from these titles and contents, Munro drew heavily on the history and everyday life of the Scottish Highlands, writing with humour, warmth and a touch of sentiment about ordinary people's fortunes and fancies. His stories often weave in local legend, regional custom and adventure, with vivid language and lively characters that combine popular readability with a distinctive regional flavour. His work was influential among Scottish readers of his day and remains a lively literary record of Highland culture.