The Tiger Hunter

Reid, Mayne, 1818-1883Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 748K words
Chapters: 75

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 Tiger Hunter by Mayne ReidAuthor: Reid, Mayne, 1818-1883,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 22, 2008

Editor's review

Mayne Reid was a 19th-century British writer of adventure fiction, and The Tiger Hunter continues in his characteristic vein of wilderness hunting and exotic adventure, with a tight plot and vivid imagery; it works well as an introductory text for understanding the style of Victorian adventure narrative. This book has been prepared by Project Gutenberg as a free electronic edition, easy to obtain; the English is not especially difficult, with limited long sentences and obscure words, making it suitable as a transitional exercise in reading English originals. The descriptions of hunting scenes and the natural environment also let readers sense how Western adventure literature of that era imagined "distant lands." It is worth reading as a period text: enjoy the pace of the story, but also note the issues of human–nature relations and colonial perspective behind the narrative, which will be more rewarding than simply following the plot.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy stories of wilderness adventure and hunting
Those wanting to try English-language fiction and needing a transitional read of moderate length
Readers interested in the forms of 19th-century British adventure literature
Learners who want to use free public-domain e-books for extensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer contemporary suspense or fast-paced genre fiction
Readers sensitive to hunting descriptions and colonial-era perspectives
Learners who need heavily annotated editions with teaching support

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then a second time marking unfamiliar words and long sentences, balancing reading fluency with language building.
Read alongside background material on 19th-century British adventure literature to understand the historical context of the hunting narrative.
Read one or two chapters at a fixed weekly pace and take brief notes on character relationships and scene progression to avoid setting it aside midway.

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 entirely suitable for complete beginners. The original is 19th-century English, with sentence patterns and word choices bearing the marks of the era; though not especially difficult overall, it still requires some vocabulary. A high-school-level reading ability or above is recommended, or read a Chinese translation first to grasp the plot before attempting the original.

Where can I get the electronic edition, and is it free?

This book is released by Project Gutenberg as a free public-domain e-book; you can search for it by title on their website and download it, commonly in plain text and EPUB formats, at no cost.

Do I need to know the author's background to read this book?

No prior study is necessary, but knowing that Mayne Reid was a 19th-century adventure novelist helps in understanding the hunting and exotic-adventure narrative conventions in the book. Reviewing the author and historical background afterward will make the takeaways clearer.

Comments

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About the author

Reid, Mayne, 1818-1883 Author

Mayne Reid (1818–1883) was a prolific nineteenth-century writer of English-language adventure fiction. Details of his life are limited in publicly available sources; what is relatively reliable is that he was born in 1818 and died in 1883. The library holds 57 of his works, commonly classified as inspirational coming-of-age stories, which shows that his writing centered on adventure and growth for young readers. Representative works include The Headless Horseman: A Strange Tale of Texas, set on the Texas frontier, along with Ran Away to Sea, The Forest Exiles, The Desert Home, The Maroon, The Quadroon, and The Land of Fire, which carry readers to the Amazon jungle, the wilderness, the sea, and the Far West. His novels feature tight plots and wide-open settings, often depicting separated families, survival in foreign lands, and youthful adventure; they were widely read in the English-speaking world and have had some influence on later adventure literature.