The Wasted Generation

Owen McMahon JohnsonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 548K words
Chapters: 55

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 Wasted Generation by Owen JohnsonAuthor: Johnson, Owen, 1878-1952,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 8, 2015

Editor's review

The Wasted Generation is a novel by Owen Johnson, part of the American literary tradition, now offered as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. For Chinese readers, its value is mainly documentary and cultural: it serves as a primary text for understanding early twentieth-century American society and the mindset of its youth, and it gives a direct sense of the narrative rhythm and language style of fiction from that era. The Gutenberg edition is easy to access and convenient to search and cite, making it suitable for research or comparative reading. Note that this is the original English public-domain text, with no modern annotations or introduction, and both its plotting and diction are distant from contemporary works. Read it as an old novel that requires patience: first grasp the characters' circumstances and the mood of the era, then revisit the social sentiment behind the title's phrase "the wasted generation." If using it for coursework or writing reference, background material on American literary history will make the reading smoother.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American literature and society
Students who need a free original English text for coursework or papers
Readers who enjoy slow-paced old novels with a strong sense of period
Self-learners who want to expand their English reading through public-domain eBooks

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for fast-paced contemporary popular fiction
Those with weak English reading skills who need Chinese annotations
Researchers who need an authoritative translation or detailed scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to gauge the language difficulty, then decide whether to read closely or select key chapters.
Jot down questions about character relationships and historical background as you read, and look them up afterward.
Pair the reading with chapters on fiction of this period in American literary history for comparison.
If time is limited, prioritize passages related to the generational theme suggested by the title.

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 in Chinese or the original English?

This is the original English eBook released by Project Gutenberg, with no Chinese translation or annotations. Readers should be somewhat comfortable with the vocabulary and sentence patterns of older English fiction; if you mainly want a plot summary, you may prefer to start with background material before turning to the original text.

What are the features of the Gutenberg edition?

The Gutenberg edition is a free public-domain eBook that is easy to obtain and searchable, suitable for reading and citation. It usually does not include a modern editor's introduction, detailed annotations, or appendices, so readers must look up historical background and unfamiliar expressions themselves.

Is it suitable for academic citation?

It can be used as a source for the original text, but citations should note the edition and verify specific page or paragraph locations. Since this edition lacks scholarly annotations, judgments involving historical background and textual collation are best checked against authoritative editions or related research.

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About the author

Owen McMahon Johnson Author · American · 1878–1952

Owen Johnson (1878–1952) was an American novelist and short-story writer, born in New York, the son of the poet Robert Underwood Johnson. A Yale graduate, he became known for the "Dink Stover" series set at the Lawrenceville School and Yale, including The Varmint, Skippy Bedelle, and Stover at Yale, as well as works such as The Salamander and Making Money. His fiction often draws on school and campus life and youthful coming-of-age, written in a light, humorous vein with an eye for social reality; some works also touch on historical and mystery themes, such as In the Name of Liberty and Murder in Any Degree. He served as a war correspondent during World War I and died in Massachusetts in 1952.