The Star Guardians 2: A Description of the Times and Characters from the Days of Queen Christina

Topelius, Zacharias, 1818-1898Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8
Word count
497K words
Chapters
50

Tags

Foreign Language Books Historical Fiction Portrait GalleryFate and FortunePower GamesSocial ObservationFemale Perspective

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.Tähtien turvatit 2: Aika- ja luonnekuvaus kuningatar Kristiinan ajoilta by TopeliusAuthor: Topelius, Zacharias, 1818-1898,Language: Finnish, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jul 25, 2017

Editor's review

This is the second volume of Tähtien turvatit by the Finnish writer Zacharias Topelius (1818–1898), subtitled "A description of the times and characters from the age of Queen Christina," classified under Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures and released free by Project Gutenberg. The work sketches, in historical narrative, the social scene and the group of characters of seventeenth-century Sweden in the age of Queen Christina, with Topelius's characteristic historical-novel manner: attention to period atmosphere, character, and moral observation. This second volume continues the threads of the first and suits readers interested in Nordic history, the Swedish Golden Age, and the Finnish literary tradition. Read it as historical character description rather than strict historiography; note how the author conveys his understanding of the spirit of the age through characters and scenes, and combine it with the political and religious background of Queen Christina's reign to better grasp the narrative intent.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the first volume first, or learn the earlier story, before entering the characters and events of the second.
  2. Briefly learn the political and religious background of Queen Christina's reign before reading.
  3. Record character descriptions alongside the period background to build your own map of relationships.
  4. If the language is difficult, use a translation or bilingual materials for support.

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
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50

FAQ

Can I read the second volume without having read the first? You can, but you will lose something. The second volume continues the characters and period threads of the first, and starting directly may leave relationships and narrative lines unfamiliar. It is best to know at least the main characters and background of the first volume, or to read a summary, before beginning the second; the reading experience will be more coherent.
Is this book historical research or literature? It is closer to historical literature. Topelius excelled at descriptions of times and characters, and the work has novelistic narrative and moral observation rather than strict historical verification. Read it as a literary text for understanding the atmosphere of the age and its figures; for historical detail, consult relevant historical studies.
How difficult is the Finnish? The original is nineteenth-century Finnish, whose sentence patterns and vocabulary differ from modern Finnish, and non-native readers will find it demanding. It is best attempted with some grounding in Finnish, or with a translation, bilingual text, and notes. If you only want the content, choose a reliable translation first and then look back at passages in the original.

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About the author

Topelius, Zacharias, 1818-1898 Author

Zacharias Topelius (1818–1898) was a Finnish author whose thirty-nine works are held in this collection, commonly classified under inspirational and coming-of-age reading. His output spans historical fiction, fairy tales, and the compilation of poetry. Representative works include the historical novel series Välskärin kertomuksia and Tähtien turvatit 2: Aika- ja luonnekuvaus kuningatar Kristiinan ajoilta, the fairy-tale collection Sagor af Z. Topelius., and works such as Talvi-iltain tarinoita 3 and The King‘s Ring. He also took part in compiling the Finnish folk-poetry collection Suomen Kansan Vanhoja Runoja ynnä myös Nykyisempiä Lauluja 1. His historical novels draw on Nordic history and combine plotting with character portrayal, while his fairy tales and stories are imaginative and warm in tone, carrying instructive and inspiring value. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted.