The Worn Doorstep

Sherwood, Margaret Pollock, 1864-1955Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 172K words
Chapters: 18

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 Worn Doorstep by Margaret Pollock SherwoodAuthor: Sherwood, Margaret Pollock, 1864-1955,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 24, 2013

Editor's review

The Worn Doorstep is a novel by the American writer Margaret Pollock Sherwood, belonging to the strain of early twentieth-century American fiction that dwells on domestic life and inner character. The image of the threshold in the title suggests dwelling, coming and going, and the wearing away of time; the work generally turns on human relationships within everyday spaces, in a restrained manner that values detail and the slow accumulation of feeling. For readers familiar with Sherwood's essays and fiction, it fills out her profile as a writer; for those studying early twentieth-century American women's writing, it offers a sample of domestic narrative and a female perspective. It requires patience: the plot advances not through strong conflict but through dialogue, scene and slight shifts of psychology, so it is suited to reading in quiet stretches, noting how recurring images of the threshold, the house and old objects carry changes in relationships. Readers expecting strong plot or forceful social criticism may find the pace slow.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature specialists studying early twentieth-century American women's fiction
English-language readers who enjoy domestic subjects and delicate psychological portraiture
Readers interested in dwelling, spatial imagery and everyday narrative
Enthusiasts wishing to broaden their knowledge of American literary history

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plots and fast-paced stories
General readers who need a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
Readers who prefer social criticism and grand historical narrative

Reading tips

Read in sections by chapter, reviewing characters and changes of scene after each.
Note the recurrence of images such as the threshold, the house and old objects, and record how their contexts differ.
Begin with Sherwood's essays to grow used to her restrained rhythm before entering the novel.
After finishing, look back at the opening chapters and compare the characters' circumstances and states of mind.

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 the plot strong?

No. The work relies more on everyday scenes, dialogue and slight psychological shifts; the conflicts are inward and there is little drive from external events. It suits readers willing to read slowly and attend to subtle changes in relationships; those who read mainly for plot twists may find the pace slow.

Can it be read without a Chinese translation?

The book is an English-language original e-book in an early twentieth-century American style; the syntax is not very difficult, but some grounding in English reading is needed. Readers not yet comfortable with English may use a dictionary and annotated editions for support, or move on from a similar work available in translation.

What does the threshold in the title mean?

The threshold is both the physical boundary of the dwelling and a symbol of the characters' position between the family and the outside world. Worn points to time and the traces of repeated passage. As you read, watch for spatial details such as the threshold, the hall and old objects in key scenes; they often echo the loosening or confirming of relationships.

Comments

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About the author

Sherwood, Margaret Pollock, 1864-1955 Author

Margaret Pollock Sherwood (1864–1955) was an American writer; three of her works are held in this collection. Public information about her is limited, and the dates given here follow the library record, while details of her life are not available in the existing material. Judging from the works at hand, she wrote fiction and essay-like narrative, often with pastoral and allegorical coloring. Daphne: An Autumn Pastoral is set against an autumn pastoral landscape and written in a lyrical vein; The Princess Pourwhy uses a fairy-tale frame to develop a reflective narrative; The Worn Doorstep turns to everyday settings and the situations of its characters. Together these three works show a writer who folds observations on feeling and life into light narrative frames, with clear, graceful language and simple structures. Her works circulated among English-language readers in the early twentieth century and are now mainly reprinted as older literary reading.