The Dark Forest

Walpole, Hugh, 1884-1941Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 523K words
Chapters: 53

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 Dark Forest by Hugh WalpoleAuthor: Walpole, Hugh, 1884-1941,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 24, 2006

Editor's review

The Dark Forest is a novel by the British writer Hugh Walpole, classified as English literature and now released by Project Gutenberg as a free ebook. Walpole was known for finely drawn psychological portraiture and depictions of English social life, and this book continues his attention to the subtle recesses of human nature, with steady narration and a strong sense of atmosphere. For readers who want to understand the landscape of early twentieth-century English fiction or to encounter original English literature at little cost, this is a work worth including in their range. The Gutenberg edition is convenient to read and search on electronic devices, suitable as extensive reading material in English and as supplementary reading for literature lovers. Note that the book is in the original English and was written long ago, so its narrative pace differs from contemporary popular fiction; readers need some foundation in English reading and patience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English literature lovers who want to expand their reading of early twentieth-century British fiction
Readers with some English foundation who want to do extensive reading of original texts through free ebooks
Literature students and readers who study or follow Hugh Walpole's work
Readers who enjoy psychological characterization and steady narrative style

Not a good fit for

Readers whose English reading ability is still at an early stage and who struggle with long original sentences
Readers who prefer fast-paced, plot-driven fiction and immediate reading pleasure
Readers who need a Chinese translation or annotated edition to aid comprehension

Reading tips

First learn about Walpole's creative background and the historical context, then enter the text; this makes it easier to grasp character motivations.
Read alongside Chinese-language literary history materials and look up unfamiliar cultural references promptly.
Proceed chapter by chapter and take brief reading notes, recording character relationships and clues to psychological change.
Use the electronic edition's search function to revisit passages where characters appear, avoiding confusion when there are many characters.

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 in Chinese or English?

According to Project Gutenberg, the book is in the original English, with the language marked as English. There is no Chinese translation, so reading requires some English ability; prepare a dictionary or electronic search tools to aid comprehension.

What are the features of the Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was the first project to offer free ebooks, and this book is the electronic edition it released, easy to obtain and search free of charge on a computer or e-reader. It is suitable as an entry point to public-domain English literature, but usually contains no modern annotations or introduction.

Can I read it without a background in English literature?

You can try, but you need some English foundation. The book was written long ago, and its sentence patterns and narrative pace differ from contemporary works; it is advisable to read a few pages first to judge the difficulty and, if necessary, use literary history materials or Chinese reference works to lower the threshold.

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About the author

Walpole, Hugh, 1884-1941 Author

Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) was a British novelist, with 14 of his works held in this collection. His interests as a writer were wide-ranging; representative works include Fortitude, The Cathedral: A Novel, The Golden Scarecrow, The Duchess of Wrexe, Her Decline and Death: A Romantic Commentary, Joseph Conrad, Jeremy, The Gods and Mr. Perrin: A Tragi-Comedy, and The Captives. Besides full-length novels, he wrote Jeremy, a story centred on a boy's growth, and a study of Conrad as a writer. His fiction often follows characters' inner struggles and moral choices in difficult circumstances, combining romantic colour with realistic detail, with carefully developed plots and fairly full psychological portrayal of his characters. Public information about his life, education and honours is limited, and no inferences are made here.