The Jervaise Comedy

Beresford, J. D. (John Davys), 1873-1947Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 374K words
Chapters: 38

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 Jervaise Comedy by J. D. BeresfordAuthor: Beresford, J. D. (John Davys), 1873-1947,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 20, 2005

Editor's review

The Jervaise Comedy is an English novel by J. D. Beresford, a public-domain text in Project Gutenberg's free eBook collection. Beresford was active in the early twentieth century, and his work often probes subtle conflicts in family relations and everyday life; this novel likewise centers on tensions within a family, with a light comic touch and gentle irony about human foibles. For readers who want to try English fiction of the modern period without starting with giants like Dickens or Hardy, this book offers a good alternative: moderate length, brisk narration, and dialogue that reveals middle-class tastes of the time. As a public-domain eBook, it costs nothing, making it a good transitional read for those tackling English originals and a handy volume for anyone studying popular British fiction of the early 1900s. Note that it is not a famous bestseller and lacks detailed notes or an introduction, so the reading experience depends more on the reader's English proficiency and literary interest.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate English readers who want to try an English novel at low cost
Readers interested in early twentieth-century British society and family themes
Those studying modern British popular fiction who need public-domain source texts
Readers who use e-readers and prefer flexible reading of short or long works

Not a good fit for

Beginners with weak English who need line-by-line notes
Readers of genre fiction expecting strong plots and fast pacing
Researchers needing an authoritative annotated edition or scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to get used to Beresford's dialogue rhythm, then decide whether to read closely or for pleasure.
If you hit unfamiliar old-fashioned expressions, skip them for now and keep track of plot and characters.
Read alongside background material on British fiction of the same period to appreciate the context.
If using it for English study, copy out dialogue to observe colloquial phrasing.

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

What English level is needed to read this book?

The text is an early twentieth-century British novel; its sentences are traditional but not very difficult. Readers with roughly CET-4 or above who can use a dictionary for new words should manage. Try the first few pages: if you can follow the gist of the dialogue, you can continue.

Why is there no Chinese translation information for this book?

The book comes from Project Gutenberg, a global collection of public-domain English eBooks that publishes original texts and does not include translations. What you get is the English original; translation status must be checked separately, and this listing makes no guesses.

Do I need to know the author's background before reading?

No preparation is needed. Beresford's work focuses on everyday family life, and you can follow the main plot directly. If you become interested afterward, learning about his life and times can deepen your sense of the novel's place in popular fiction.

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About the author

Beresford, J. D. (John Davys), 1873-1947 Author

J. D. Beresford (John Davys Beresford, 1873–1947) was an English novelist whose biography is sparsely documented, and whose personal details remain little known to general readers. Seven of his works are held in this collection, spanning science fiction, social satire, and supernatural tales. Early works such as The Hampdenshire Wonder and The Wonder centre on precocious children and explore the predicament of exceptional intellects in an ordinary society, with a distinctly speculative bent. Goslings imagines survival after the collapse of social order and is often placed in the tradition of disaster and dystopian fiction. The Jervaise Comedy leans toward social comedy, light in tone yet ironic. He also wrote a critical study of H. G. Wells, indicating his intellectual ties to a leading figure of contemporary science fiction, while The Psychical Researcher's Tale - The Sceptical Poltergeist and similar pieces venture into the supernatural. Overall, his writing combines scientific imagination with social observation in a cool, restrained style.