The Seafarers

John Bloundelle-BurtonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 318K words
Chapters: 32

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 Seafarers by John Bloundelle-BurtonAuthor: Bloundelle-Burton, John, 1850-1917,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 10, 2016

Editor's review

This novel comes from the pen of the late nineteenth-century English writer John Bloundelle-Burton and belongs squarely to the tradition of maritime adventure narrative. Set against a seafaring life, its plot advances through the interweaving of encounters at sea and the fates of its characters, and its pages retain the pacing and moral concerns of Victorian popular fiction. For readers familiar with the maritime subjects of Conrad or Stevenson, this book can serve as further reading in the same vein, offering a sense of the common techniques of popular adventure fiction in characterization and scene-setting. As a public-domain electronic text from Project Gutenberg, it is flexible to read and well suited to being taken up in segments during a commute or on a journey. Note that the original language bears the marks of its era, and some nautical terms and narrative turns of phrase will feel distant to contemporary readers; it is best approached with an interest in how genre fiction evolved rather than with a expectation of modern psychological depth. Overall, this is a work suited to serving as a sample of maritime adventure fiction, for genre reading and for broadening an interest in English literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century English maritime adventure fiction
Learners seeking to broaden their English-literature reading through public-domain ebooks
Genre readers who enjoy narratives interweaving a seafaring setting with the fates of characters

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary suspense or plot twists
Readers impatient with Victorian English expression and nautical terminology

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters first to get a feel for the characters and narrative voice before deciding on a pace.
No need to look up every nautical term; follow the plot and the characters' motives instead.
A map or some basic nautical background can strengthen your sense of the setting in space.
Read in segments of one or two chapters a day to avoid fatigue from long stretches of old-fashioned expression.

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?

Not very. The work dates from the late nineteenth century, its sentence patterns and vocabulary bear the marks of the era, and there is a good deal of nautical terminology. Beginners are likely to be held up by long sentences and old-fashioned expression. It is better to have intermediate or higher English reading ability, or to start with a simplified version or introductory material before tackling the original.

Is this a paper book or an ebook?

According to the information, this book is released by Project Gutenberg as a free public-domain ebook. Readers can read it on electronic devices; the specific layout and file format depend on the channel through which it is obtained, and no paper edition is involved.

Do I need to know the author's life before reading?

It is not a prerequisite. Knowing the author's era and the background of maritime adventure fiction's popularity helps, but the book can be read on its own. Focus on the plot and the relationships between characters; you can fill in the author's life afterward as interest dictates.

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About the author

John Bloundelle-Burton Author · British · 1850–1917

John Bloundelle-Burton (1850–1917) was a British novelist, born John Edward Bloundelle-Burton around 1850. He began his career as a journalist for the London Standard and turned to full-time fiction writing in 1885, publishing some sixty works. He wrote mainly historical and adventure novels, often set against European dynastic wars, religious conflict, and sea voyages, with plots centering on reversals of fortune, unjust accusation, and loyalty, in a popular and dramatically vivid style. Fourteen of his works are held in the collection, including Fortune's My Foe: A Romance, Across the Salt Seas: A Romance of the War of Succession, In the Day of Adversity, Clash of Arms: A Romance, Denounced: A Romance, The Scourge of God: A Romance of Religious Persecution, The Hispaniola Plate, and The Seafarers, along with such representative titles as The Silent Shore, The Denounced, and Bitter Heritage. Public information is limited, and details of his life remain largely uncertain; later readers chiefly regard him as a prolific author of late Victorian popular historical adventure fiction.