The Shaving of Shagpat an Arabian entertainment — Volume 1

Meredith, George, 1828-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
177K words
Chapters
18

Tags

English Originals Folk Literature Oriental LegendLegendary LivesFantasy AdventureVengeance and GratitudeJianghu FeudHumorous SatireSatirical StylePopular ExplanationExotic CultureArabian Fantasy

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 Shaving of Shagpat; an Arabian entertainment — Volume 1 by George Meredith. Author: Meredith, George, 1828–1909. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Sep 1, 2003

Editor's review

The Shaving of Shagpat; an Arabian entertainment — Volume 1 is the first volume of a fantasy narrative by the English writer George Meredith, written in the style of Arabian tales and freely distributed in English by Project Gutenberg. The work borrows the framework and Oriental imagery of The Arabian Nights, using the story of the barber Shagpat as its thread; its language is ornate and its allegory thick, reflecting a Victorian writer's literary re-creation of Oriental subjects. Its value lies more in stylistic experiment and narrative interest than in recording authentic Eastern culture. Read it as an English classic with parody and allegory, noting its density of rhetoric and chapter structure. Since it dates from an earlier era and its style is elaborate, slow, sectional reading is advised. The book suits readers interested in nineteenth-century English literature, Oriental-themed fantasy narrative, and public-domain eBooks.

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Reading tips

  1. First read the preface or learn about the work's background as an imitation of Arabian tales, then enter the text.
  2. Read section by section within the volume; when rhetoric becomes elaborate, grasp the main plot first.
  3. Note elements of allegory and parody, and consider how the author uses Oriental subjects to express literary interest.
  4. Read it alongside selections from The Arabian Nights and compare framework narrative and language style.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18

FAQ

Is this book a genuine collection of Arabian tales? No. It is an English literary work by George Meredith written in the style of Arabian tales, borrowing Oriental subjects and the framework manner of The Arabian Nights. It is a Victorian literary re-creation and cannot be treated as authentic Arabian folk tales or cultural material.
Why does the language feel difficult when reading this book? The work dates from the nineteenth century; its style is elaborate, its rhetoric dense, its sentences long, and it carries parody and allegory, differing markedly from modern English fiction. Read slowly in sections, first clarifying the main plot, then returning to savor the language and allegory, with notes or a dictionary as needed.
Does this edition contain the complete story? According to the source, this book is Volume 1 of The Shaving of Shagpat, a public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg, not a complete collection. Check the volume number before reading; to read the whole story, look for later volumes or another complete edition.

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

Meredith, George, 1828-1909 Author

George Meredith (1828–1909) was a nineteenth-century British novelist and poet, whose works are represented here by as many as 111 titles, indicating that his writing has continued to circulate among readers and researchers. His representative work, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, centers on a father-son relationship and examines the conflicts of pride and emotion in a young man's growth; The Egoist, subtitled “A Comedy in Narrative,” uses marriage and social situations to portray character weaknesses and self-reflection. His novels are often marked by witty dialogue, psychological insight, and an ironic tone, with plot and character relationships unfolding layer by layer. Public information is limited, and biographical details remain to be supplemented, but the existing bibliography shows that narrative novels and multi-volume series form the main body of his work, reflecting the Victorian novel's detailed exploration of individual morality and emotional life.