The Old Game

Samuel George BlytheProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 35K 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 Old Game by Samuel G. BlytheAuthor: Blythe, Samuel G. (Samuel George), 1868-1947,Language: English, Class: HV: Social sciences: Social pathology, Social and Public Welfare, Release Date: Jul 2, 2009

Editor's review

This is a social-themed work by Samuel G. Blythe, classified under social pathology and social welfare within the social sciences, indicating that its focus is not on plot-driven entertainment but on the observation and discussion of social phenomena. Born in 1868 and active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, the author writes with the flavor of periodical commentary of his time, often opening with a concrete social scene before moving to judgments about human nature and institutions. For today's readers, its value lies more in historical material and perspective: one can see how people of the time understood certain social problems and how they discussed public issues in language colored by moral judgment. Readers should not expect a tight narrative; it is better treated as an old mirror against which to compare the continuities and changes in present-day social issues. As a public-domain ebook, the text has not been modernized by editors, so readers are advised to be patient, skip unfamiliar background when necessary, and grasp the core points the author repeatedly emphasizes. Suitable for readers interested in social history, periodical commentary, and writing on public issues, to be read in segments during commutes or before sleep.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in social history and commentary on social issues
Researchers who need to understand the public writing style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Readers who enjoy slow reading of discursive prose and do not seek strong plot
Thinkers who hope to find comparisons for contemporary social problems in old texts

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting tense plots and a complete storyline
People who lack patience for old-style discursive language and are likely to give up midway
Readers who need a systematic academic theoretical framework and contemporary data support

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and opening first to determine the range of social issues the author addresses, then decide which chapters to read closely
Mark unfamiliar names and places and skip them for now; after finishing a section, return to sort out the thread
Keep a sheet of paper to record the core judgments that recur in the author's writing, making it easier to review the whole after finishing
Limit each reading session to about half an hour to avoid fatigue from old-style long sentences

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 novel or social commentary?

Judging from its classification, it belongs to social pathology and social welfare within the social sciences, and is closer to social commentary and observational writing than to a plot-driven novel. When reading, focus on the author's judgments and discussion of social phenomena rather than looking for a complete storyline.

Is the English original difficult to read?

The author was active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and the language carries the style of periodical commentary of that time, with many long sentences and much discussion, but it is not Old English. Readers with a college-level foundation in English can make progress section by section with a dictionary, and can skip unfamiliar background for the time being.

What should be noted about the public-domain ebook edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg, and the text has not been processed by modern editors, so there may be old-style spellings and plain formatting. It is advisable to use a reader with adjustable fonts and to use the search function to locate key passages, so that formatting issues do not affect the pace of reading.

Comments

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About the author

Samuel George Blythe Author · American · 1868–1947

Samuel G. Blythe (1868–1947) was an American writer and journalist. Born on May 19, 1868, in Geneseeo, New York, and died in 1947 in Monterey, California, he worked successively for newspapers such as the Buffalo Express and the New York World, and served as an editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, remaining active in the press for many years. He wrote the bestsellers The Fun of Getting Thin and Cutting It Out, the former discussing weight loss and the pleasures of life in a lighthearted tone. In 1933, his article "Buy American" in The Saturday Evening Post sparked a nationwide buy-American movement. His work drew on everyday life and public issues, in a plain, reader-friendly style that combined entertainment with practical concern.