The Runaway

UnknownProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 84K words
Chapters: 9

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 Runaway by UnknownAuthor: Unknown,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: May 25, 2007

Editor's review

This is an English children's book in the Project Gutenberg collection, classified as juvenile literature. It is short, and its narrative centers on the event of running away, making it suitable as an introductory read for early English children's stories. The electronic edition is free to obtain and easy to read through in fragmented time such as commutes or breaks between classes. Reading it familiarizes you with the narrative tone of English children's literature from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and through the protagonist's experience of running away, you can observe how themes such as family, trust, and growing up are told. For readers who want to practice extensive English reading, its relatively simple sentences and clear plot lines can serve as a bridge from graded readers to original literature. Note that the author is unidentified and the documentary background is limited, so it is better suited for reading experience and language practice rather than as a core text for literary research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Lower-intermediate learners who want to practice extensive English reading in a short format
General readers interested in early English children's literature
People who need free English e-books to fill fragmented reading time

Not a good fit for

Those who want to research using detailed author biography and creative background
Readers who prefer contemporary narrative pacing and find early children's literature preachy

Reading tips

Read through once to understand the main line of running away, then revisit the dialogue and note sentences that express emotions
Read one or two chapters at a time and retell the plot in one sentence to check whether you have grasped the main events
When you meet unfamiliar words, first guess their meaning from context, and look them up together after finishing the chapter
Read it alongside children's literature of the same period and note how themes of family and growing up are presented

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 suitable for English beginners to read directly?

The sentences are generally not complex and the plot lines are clear, so intermediate learners with some vocabulary base are more suitable. Complete beginners are advised to start with graded readers before trying this book, and to use a dictionary for unfamiliar words.

Does the unidentified author affect reading?

It does not affect finishing the story. Limited author information means it is hard to understand creative intent from a biographical angle; readers can focus on plot, characters, and language expression, and read it as a standalone children's story.

What should be noted when reading the electronic edition?

The Project Gutenberg edition is a public-domain e-book, mainly in plain text. It is advisable to use reading software that supports adjustable font size and line spacing, and to pay attention to chapter divisions to avoid fatigue from long paragraphs.

Comments

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About the author

Unknown Author

"Unknown" is not the real name of a particular author but a general label used in book cataloging and publishing for works whose authorship is unidentified or anonymous. Public information is limited, and neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified. The collection contains 118 titles issued under this name, spanning a wide range of subjects: Icelandic sagas such as The Story of Burnt Njal and The Saga of Grettir the Strong, the Middle High German epic Das Nibelungenlied, the Old English religious verse manuscript Codex Junius 11, the Italian Renaissance comedy Gl'ingannati, widely circulated tales such as The Only True Mother Goose Melodies and Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, and a treatise on conjuring, Hocus Pocus Junior. These are mostly editions or translations of folklore, epics, and early drama, forming a cross-linguistic, cross-period compilation that offers readers various facets of the European narrative tradition.