There & Back cover

There & Back

Rating 3.3
Word count
916K words
Chapters
92

Tags

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.There & Back by George MacDonaldAuthor: MacDonald, George, 1824-1905,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 2005

Editor's review

George MacDonald was a nineteenth-century British author whose work is known for its intertwining of fantasy and faith. There & Back belongs to the more realistic strain of his fiction, centering on a character's movement between worldly ambition and spiritual homecoming; the title itself signals a structure of departure and return. The book is best read as a supplement to a fuller picture of MacDonald's fiction, not merely as an extension of the author of Phantastes or The Princess and the Goblin. The Project Gutenberg edition is an English-language ebook with no Chinese notes, and reading it requires some grounding in English literary prose. For readers studying the Victorian novel, literature of faith, or MacDonald's development, it offers a text worth close reading; casual readers should weigh the language barrier against the pacing of the narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Literary scholars studying George MacDonald's fiction
  • Readers interested in Victorian fiction of faith and realism
  • Readers accustomed to English-language originals who are willing to read a long novel closely
  • Collectors of public-domain English literary ebooks

Not a good fit for

  • Beginners with limited English who need a Chinese translation
  • Casual readers who prefer strong plots and fast pacing
  • Readers who only want MacDonald's fantasy and fairy tales

Reading tips

  1. Learn about MacDonald's life and faith background before entering the text; the characters' spiritual threads are easier to follow.
  2. Read it alongside his fantasy works to observe how the same themes echo across his realistic and fantastic writing.
  3. For the English original, use a dictionary or an annotated e-reader to ease the difficulty of long sentences and period vocabulary.
  4. After finishing, map the specific moments of "leaving" and "returning" in the characters' actions and make your own structural notes.

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
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  42. 42
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  50. 50
  51. 51
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  53. 53
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  55. 55
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  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
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  68. 68
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  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
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  77. 77
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  80. 80
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FAQ

Is this a fantasy novel by MacDonald?
No. The available information places it in English literary fiction, a long novel unlike fantasy works such as Phantastes. MacDonald's range was wide; this book is closer to realistic fiction combined with spiritual themes, so readers should not approach it expecting fairy-tale fantasy.
What characterizes the Project Gutenberg edition?
It is a free public-domain English ebook released by Project Gutenberg, in English, with no Chinese translation or introduction. It suits readers who can read English originals and gives researchers easy access to the text, but you need your own reading aids.
Can I read it without a Chinese translation?
The information provided gives no details on a Chinese translation. If English is difficult, first read MacDonald works already available in Chinese to build familiarity with his style, then try the original; or use bilingual tools for support. Starting from zero with the original is not advisable.

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About the author

George MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish author known for his fairy tales, fantasy novels and religious sermons. This library holds 68 of his works, including The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, At the Back of the North Wind, Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women, Sir Gibbie and the three series of Unspoken Sermons. His fairy tales often centre on children, weaving adventure with questions of morality and faith in plain, imaginative prose, while his fantasy works are regarded as forerunners of modern fantasy literature and have influenced later writers of the genre. Public information is limited, so no biographical details are speculated here; his works alone show him to be skilled in both storytelling and spiritual reflection, writing for children and adults alike.

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