The Lost Child

François CoppéeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 4

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 Lost Child by François CoppéeAuthor: Coppée, François, 1842-1908,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 17, 2007

Editor's review

François Coppée was a nineteenth-century French poet and playwright whose work often draws on Parisian street life and ordinary people, written in a warm, gently melancholic register. "The Lost Child" continues in the short narrative mode he excelled at: brief in length, concentrated in plot, turning on the fate of a single child and revealing the kindness and helplessness of ordinary people within spare scenes. The prose is unshowy and the feeling restrained, leaving a sense of old Paris alleys and a faint sorrow. For readers curious about nineteenth-century French literature who would rather not begin with a long novel, such short pieces are a friendly entry point. While reading, notice how the author uses a small amount of dialogue and detail to build emotion, and appreciate the restrained beauty of his poetic narration. As a public-domain electronic text, it also suits parallel reading of translations or light sampling for those interested in French literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers new to nineteenth-century French literature
Readers who prefer short fiction and restrained lyricism
Those interested in Parisian working-class life as subject matter
Students needing a short text for literary analysis practice

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting complex suspense or strong dramatic conflict
Readers who prefer long, sweeping novels
Readers averse to a sentimental tone

Reading tips

Best read in one sitting; the short piece's afterglow needs continuous reading to be felt.
After reading, revisit the key scenes' descriptive details to see how emotion accumulates.
Read alongside other Coppée stories to observe common themes and techniques.
If reading a translation, compare with the English original to sense differences in rhythm.

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

How long is this work?

It is a short story of limited length, usually readable in an hour or two. It suits being read in one sitting on a commute or in spare moments to keep the emotion连贯 and avoid diluting the ending's impact through divided reading.

What kind of writer was Coppée?

He was a nineteenth-century French poet and playwright whose works mostly depict Parisian common people and street life, in a warm, subtle style with a sentimental tinge. This piece also reflects that approach of revealing human feeling through small events.

Is it suitable for learning French?

It can serve as supplementary material, but note that this is an English version, not the French original. If your goal is learning French, find the French original for comparison; this book is better as an entry point for understanding the work's content and style.

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About the author

François Coppée Author · French · 1842–1908

François Coppée (1842–1908) was a French poet, playwright, and novelist, born in Paris in 1842 and died there in 1908. Associated with the Parnassian school, he is best known for his collection of poems on ordinary people's lives, Les Humbles, which earned him the title "the poet of the humble." In 1884 he was elected to the Académie française, and his play Le Passant brought him his first major success. The library holds 11 of his works, including Ten Tales, Contes rapides, Henriette, Promenades et intérieurs, The Lost Child, and the complete A Romance of Youth along with its first two volumes. These works often deal with everyday life and the emotions of ordinary people, written in a delicate, accessible style that combines poetic feeling with realism and reflects his enduring attention to the lower classes. Public information is limited, and further research is needed on the details of his life and the full scope of his writing.