The Substitute

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 24K 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 Substitute by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

W. W. Jacobs is known for short humorous and lightly satirical fiction, and "The Substitute" continues his method of creating unexpected turns within everyday scenes. It is brief and well suited to reading in spare moments. As a free Project Gutenberg eBook, the text is easily accessible and convenient for comparing against the English original to appreciate its colloquial dialogue and understated humor. For readers studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British short fiction, this piece can serve as a supplementary sample for understanding Jacobs's narrative pacing and character types. When reading, do not expect elaborate plotting; the focus should be on the sense of mismatch in the dialogue and the light, neat resolution at the end. If you prefer strong conflict or grand themes, you may find it slight; but if you want relaxed reading and the cleverness of a British short story, it is a good choice. A suggested approach is to read through once for the overall effect, then revisit key exchanges to see how the author sketches characters in just a few strokes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners who enjoy British humorous short fiction and want light reading
Literature students studying narrative techniques in British short stories
Commuter readers who need reading material for short breaks
Readers who want to practice reading English originals with public-domain eBooks

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer long, complex plots and grand themes
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are not used to reading English originals
Readers expecting strong twists in suspense or detective fiction

Reading tips

Read the whole piece first to grasp the direction of the story, mark dialogue-heavy passages, and on the second reading focus on the characters' tone and where the humor lands.
You can read aloud passages against the original version provided by Project Gutenberg to feel the rhythm of the colloquial dialogue.
After reading, try summarizing the turning point in two or three sentences to check whether you have grasped the sense of mismatch the author planted.

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 work suitable for English beginners?

It is fairly short and contains a good amount of dialogue, with overall moderate difficulty; learners with some vocabulary base can try it. It is advisable to read through with a dictionary first, then go back to the dialogue to appreciate tone and humor rather than puzzling over every word.

What kind of work is "The Substitute"?

It is a short work by W. W. Jacobs, featuring his usual British humor and light satire and creating unexpected turns through character interaction in everyday scenes. It works well as an introductory sample of his short fiction.

Where can I read this work?

It is published by Project Gutenberg as a free eBook in the public-domain English text and can be found on its website by title or author; it is suitable for reading directly on a computer or e-reader.

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.