The Plague

Keller, TeddyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 27K words
Chapters: 3

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 Plague by Teddy KellerAuthor: Keller, Teddy,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 22, 2009

Editor's review

The Plague is a short English-language work by Teddy Keller, released free of charge by Project Gutenberg. As the earliest provider of ebooks, Project Gutenberg was founded by Michael Hart, who pioneered the ebook in 1971, and that background alone lends the book significance in the history of digital reading. The work is classified under American and Canadian literature, and its short length makes it a light choice for reading English literature. Keller's narrative has the flavor of early science fiction or popular fiction and unfolds around the theme of plague, though it is not the heavy philosophical inquiry of Camus's work of the same name; it leans more toward genre plotting. For readers who want to sample public-domain English fiction in spare moments, this book is a low-threshold entry point; it is also a sample of the selection tastes of early ebooks. Read it without expecting a grand system of thought, and attend instead to its narrative pacing and period feel. As a free public-domain book, it suits exploratory reading rather than systematic study, and it is best understood alongside background material on Project Gutenberg and its dissemination value.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Casual readers who want to read short English fiction in spare moments
Readers interested in the history of early ebooks and public-domain books
Students who need short English texts for reading practice
Readers who enjoy genre plague fiction and do not seek philosophical depth

Not a good fit for

Serious literary readers expecting Camus-style existential depth
Newcomers who need a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
Readers who prefer long, complex narratives and large casts of characters
Those who find the idiom of early popular fiction hard to get used to

Reading tips

Read the Project Gutenberg release note first to understand the book's digital publishing background.
Read through once for the plot, then a second time to note period language and narrative pacing.
Read alongside other public-domain plague stories and compare how they handle the theme.
Note unfamiliar words and old-fashioned expressions as material for English study.

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 the same work as Camus's The Plague?

No. This is a short English-language work by Teddy Keller, differing from Camus's novel of the same name in author, length, and depth of thought. The two share only a similar theme, and it should not be read with the standards of Camus's work in mind.

Why is this book released by Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg is the earliest provider of free ebooks, founded by Michael Hart in 1971, and it specializes in public-domain works. This book falls within its scope and is therefore available free of charge, which also explains the introductory text about the project included in the book.

Can I read this book with only average English?

The book is fairly short and is a public-domain English novel of moderate difficulty. Readers with basic English reading ability can finish it with a dictionary, though the usage of early works may take some getting used to; try the first few pages before deciding.

Is this book suitable for literary research?

As a single popular work, it is better suited to casual reading or as a case study in the selection of public-domain ebooks than to systematic literary research. For research, examine it within the framework of the history of early ebook dissemination rather than analyzing the text in isolation.

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About the author

Keller, Teddy Author

Teddy Keller is an author about whom little public information is available. The Chinese book database currently holds only one work under this name, The Plague. Since basic details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background cannot be verified, a full picture of the author is difficult to sketch, and readers can only catch a glimpse of his or her writing orientation through this single work. Judging from the title, the book is likely to deal with the theme of plague, falling into narrative writing concerned with disease, disaster, or public health issues; such subjects often use epidemic situations to present the circumstances of individuals and groups and to explore fear, order, and human nature. On the basis of the available information, it is not possible to confirm the book's specific genre, publication date, or full content, nor to judge its position and influence in literary or genre writing. The introduction to Keller must therefore remain at the level of textual clues, and a fuller account of the author's work and future directions awaits more public information.