The Readjustment

Irwin, Will, 1873-1948Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 296K words
Chapters: 30

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 Readjustment by Will IrwinAuthor: Irwin, Will, 1873-1948,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 29, 2009

Editor's review

The Readjustment is by Will Irwin, an American journalist and writer known for reporting and social observation—a background that makes this book read more like a narrative of a period of social readjustment: characters often face not a single event but the reorganization of relationships and psychological adaptation after circumstances change. The title itself points to the core reading thread: readjustment is both the engine of the plot and the key to understanding the characters' choices. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, its value lies not in high-plot entertainment but in giving readers low-cost access to early twentieth-century American writing about changing order and individual circumstance; it suits readers interested in journalistic observation, narratives of social transition, and early American fiction. One caution: the narrative pace differs greatly from today's genre fiction, and readers must piece together character and background information themselves; those expecting a fast-paced story may be disappointed. It is better suited to slow reading aimed at seeing how an era writes adjustment and adaptation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in early twentieth-century American social transition and individual circumstance.
Readers who enjoy journalistic observation and are willing to read slowly for changes in character relationships.
Students who need free English public-domain texts for textual analysis or corpus study.
Readers interested in fiction about adaptation and readjustment who do not require strong plot.

Not a good fit for

Casual readers expecting fast pace, strong conflict, or genre plotting.
Readers who need modern annotations, introductions, and Chinese-English bilingual support to enter early English texts.
Nonfiction enthusiasts who want only the author's famous journalism rather than a novel.

Reading tips

Read the opening and chapter titles first to grasp at which levels of relationship readjustment occurs, then decide which passages to read closely.
Summarize each chapter's shift in the characters' circumstances in one sentence to avoid being slowed by the information density of early narrative.
Treat the title as a reading thread and keep asking: who is readjusting, what is being readjusted, and at what cost?
If the language is difficult, read summary-like passages first and then return to details so overall comprehension is not broken.

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 should the title The Readjustment be understood?

It can be understood as readjustment or re-adaptation, pointing to characters' repositioning after changes in circumstances or relationships. While reading, do not rush to look for a single event; instead, pay attention to how characters' circumstances, relationships, and attitudes are rearranged step by step, which is also the key thread for understanding the book's structure.

Is this book fiction or journalism?

This book is a work of fiction, but the author Will Irwin's journalistic background influences his way of observing and his narrative interests. Readers may notice detailed portrayals of social environment and individual circumstance, but it should not be read as news reporting or documentary writing; the genres and reading expectations differ.

Is the Gutenberg edition suitable as a direct introduction to early American literature?

It is free and readily available, making it suitable as a low-cost attempt; but it usually lacks modern introductions and annotations, so readers must fill in language and background themselves. If you have never read early American fiction, you might first pair it with brief historical background material or start with shorter works to build familiarity with the style.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Irwin, Will, 1873-1948 Author

Will Irwin (Irwin, Will, 1873–1948), born William Henry Irwin, was an American journalist and writer. Public information about him is limited, and many details of his life remain unknown, yet the five works held in this collection show the breadth of his writing. The City That Was: A Requiem of Old San Francisco recalls in elegiac prose the old city before the 1906 earthquake, combining a reporter's eye for fact with a literary nostalgia; The Readjustment and The Picaroons turn to social and character-driven subjects in a lighter, popular narrative manner; The House of Mystery unfolds suspense through an episode in the career of the clairvoyant Rosalie Le Grange; and Stanford Stories: Tales of a Young University draws on campus life with humor and warmth. His plain, fluent style excels at evoking an era through concrete scenes and characters, and his works were aimed at general readers.