Tommy

Hocking, Joseph, 1860-1937Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 217K words
Chapters: 22

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.Tommy by Joseph HockingAuthor: Hocking, Joseph, 1860-1937,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 4, 2008

Editor's review

Tommy is a novel by the English writer Joseph Hocking, classified under English literature and made available as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. Hocking's works generally focus on ordinary people's choices in situations of morality and faith, and this book continues his method of driving the narrative through character fates; it is highly readable, with plot progression and character portrayal as its main attractions. As an English novel in the public domain, its value lies in offering readers a sample of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century popular English fiction, and it is also suitable for English literature reading practice. While reading, pay attention to the characters' moral dilemmas and the ideas of the era, and understand them within the tradition of the late Victorian novel. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and cite, and is suitable for self-reading, book club discussion, or as English extensive reading material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy classic English fiction and narratives of character fate
Self-learners and students who need English extensive reading material
Book club members interested in novels about morality and faith
Enthusiasts studying late nineteenth-century popular English fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer contemporary fast-paced suspense or science fiction
People who are still at the beginner stage of English reading and need annotation support
Readers expecting systematic literary criticism and detailed background research

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to grasp the character relationships, then proceed chapter by chapter, avoiding skipping around.
Keep a vocabulary notebook to record recurring period expressions and religious terms.
After finishing, look up Hocking's life and the historical background to help understand the novel's moral issues.
You can organize a book club discussion around the characters' choices and conflicts of faith.

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

How difficult is the English in this book?

As an English novel from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, the language is generally formal, with sentence patterns and vocabulary characteristic of the period. Readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability can attempt it; beginner readers are advised to use annotations or compare with a translation.

Is the Project Gutenberg edition available for free?

Yes. Project Gutenberg offers free eBook downloads, and this book is one of its English literature holdings, convenient for personal reading, searching, and citation; when using it, it is advisable to note the edition source.

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

Not strictly, but understanding Joseph Hocking's era and common themes will help grasp the novel's moral and faith threads. You can consult publicly available author information before or after reading as a supplement.

Comments

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About the author

Hocking, Joseph, 1860-1937 Author

Joseph Hocking (1860-1937) was an English writer active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information about his life and nationality is limited, and the library currently holds twelve of his works. The surviving titles suggest a prolific author with wide-ranging subjects. Representative works include The Day of Judgment, The Everlasting Arms, The Weapons of Mystery and The Man Who Rose Again, alongside Mistress Nancy Molesworth: A Tale of Adventure, Tommy, The Birthright and The Pomp of Yesterday. The titles point to a blend of adventure stories, suspenseful plots and moral or religious themes, with brisk narration and characters often placed amid tests and choices. His fiction combines the readability of popular novels with serious concerns, and may interest readers of late Victorian and Edwardian popular English literature.