The Valley of Vision: A Book of Romance and Some Half-Told Tales

Van Dyke, Henry, 1852-1933Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
282K words
Chapters
29

Tags

English Originals Foreign Literature Life PhilosophySpiritual ComfortSlow ReadingDaily ReflectionsTender SentimentBeautiful Essays

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 Valley of Vision : A Book of Romance and Some Half-Told Tales by Henry Van DykeAuthor: Van Dyke, Henry, 1852-1933,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 2004

Editor's review

This collection brings together Henry Van Dyke's short fiction in a vein of romance and half-told tales; the title's "valley of vision" hints at the author's fondness for the spiritual, the allegorical, and the textures of lived experience. Van Dyke was at once a clergyman, an essayist, and a novelist, and his writing often folds moral and religious questioning into plain narrative. This volume reflects that manner: the stories do not strive for violent plot conflict but dwell on atmosphere, symbol, and lingering suggestion. Readers used to fast-paced modern fiction may need some patience, but those who enjoy classic short stories, essay-like narration, and a religious or reflective coloring will find here quiet, rewarding texts. The "half-told" pieces are especially suited to reading in spare moments: finish one, then leave room for it to echo—more so than reading straight through—to catch their reserved pleasure. As a public-domain eBook, it is also an entry point into the romantic tradition in American literature from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

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Reading tips

  1. Read one or two pieces a day; pause after each and note the images or questions a story leaves behind.
  2. Start with the shorter, more self-contained pieces before moving on to the "half-told" texts.
  3. If reading in English, first read paragraphs dense with unfamiliar words for the gist, then go back to look words up.
  4. Bearing in mind Van Dyke's roles as clergyman and essayist, watch for lines of moral metaphor in the stories.

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
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29

FAQ

Is this a novel or a short-story collection? From the title and the materials, it is a collection of short stories—romantic tales and "half-told" pieces—not a continuous novel. Each piece can be read on its own, with no worry about plot continuity.
How difficult is the English? The author lived from the nineteenth into the early twentieth century; the language is rather formal and literary, with long sentences and some words no longer common today. Readers with college-level English who are willing to look words up can try it; those seeking easy diversion may find the pace slow.
Why are they called "half-told tales"? The phrase suggests that some pieces are not fully closed narratives but leave hints and blank space for the reader to fill in. Don't rush to find a clear ending; attend to atmosphere, symbol, and the questions the narrator leaves.
Is this book suitable for learning English? It can serve as extensive reading material, but not as a beginner's textbook. Read mainly for the feel of the stories rather than word-by-word precision; choose shorter pieces to practice summarizing the gist, then collect recurring classical expressions.

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

Van Dyke, Henry, 1852-1933 Author

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) was an American author best known for his essays and Christmas stories. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are not further documented in this collection. Judging from the works available here, he wrote in a clear, quietly poetic style, dealing with themes of faith, goodwill, and inner growth; his narratives are gentle and carry a strong sense of festival and reflection. The Story of the Other Wise Man, his most widely read short work, follows the journey of a fourth Magi and is often regarded as a classic of Christmas literature; The Lost Word: A Christmas Legend of Long Ago continues in this legendary vein. The Mansion uses allegory to explore life and the world to come, brief in length but lingering in meaning. The essay collection Little Rivers: A Book of Essays in Profitable Idleness turns to nature and leisurely pleasure in an unhurried tone, reflecting his love of outdoor life. Thirty-three of his works are held here, showing that his writing spans fiction, parable, and essay, and that he earned a place in early twentieth-century American popular and holiday reading.