The Inevitable

Couperus, Louis, 1863-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 479K words
Chapters: 48

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 Inevitable by Louis CouperusAuthor: Couperus, Louis, 1863-1923,Language: English, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jun 21, 2013

Editor's review

The Inevitable is an English translation of a novel by Dutch writer Louis Couperus, belonging to the late nineteenth-century European literary tradition concerned with fate, desire, and family ethics. Couperus excels at delicately rendering his characters' psychology and social circumstances; the book revolves around their choices and struggles within given situations, bearing a naturalistic sense of fatalism and symbolic coloring. The Project Gutenberg edition offers English-language readers free access to this important Dutch author. While reading, note the narrative rhythm and the turns of the characters' inner lives, and consider how the author uses everyday scenes to carry reflections on the theme of fate. Suitable as supplementary reading for those interested in minority-language European literature and fin-de-siècle fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in late nineteenth-century European and Dutch literature
Literature lovers who enjoy delicate psychological portrayal and novels about fate
Readers hoping to explore English translations of minority-language authors
Students and researchers studying Couperus or naturalist literature

Not a good fit for

Readers of genre fiction seeking strong plotting and fast-paced narrative
Readers sensitive to the feel of translated prose who wish to read the original Dutch
Beginning readers who need detailed annotations and scholarly introductions

Reading tips

Learn about Couperus's life and literary background first; the themes are easier to grasp once you enter the text.
Pay attention to interior monologue and scene symbolism, and slow down to take in the narrative rhythm.
After finishing, compare with naturalist or symbolist works of the same period and compare how they treat the theme of fate.
If the English is difficult, start with a Chinese translation or relevant criticism for support.

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 a representative work of Couperus?

The materials do not state its specific place in the author's oeuvre. What is certain is that it is one of Couperus's novels; readers can judge by comparing it with his other works and with literary-historical assessments.

How difficult is the English?

As an English translation of a late nineteenth-century novel, its sentence patterns and diction carry period features and may be more convoluted than contemporary fiction. Readers should have at least intermediate English proficiency, or read alongside a translation and a dictionary.

Is it suitable for classroom discussion?

It can serve as supplementary material for courses in European or comparative literature, but instructors need to supply the author's background, the historical context, and information about the translation; the electronic text alone offers little systematic framework.

Comments

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About the author

Couperus, Louis, 1863-1923 Author

Louis Couperus (1863–1923) was a Dutch novelist whose life is little documented in the Chinese-speaking world, and public information about him is limited. He was a prolific writer, and this site holds more than twenty-three of his works, many of which deal with personal growth and life transitions and are commonly classified under inspirational growth. His representative works include The Hidden Force: A Story of Modern Java, Eline Vere, Small Souls, The Later Life, Old People and the Things That Pass, The Twilight of the Souls, Noodlot, and Travel Impressions. His writing often reveals human fate through delicate psychological portrayal and an ironic tone, combining realism with aestheticism, and has had a lasting influence on Dutch literature.