Undertow

Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 197K words
Chapters: 20

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.Undertow by Kathleen Thompson NorrisAuthor: Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

Undertow is one of Kathleen Thompson Norris's early novels and belongs to the American tradition of fiction depicting social manners and family ethics. The work unfolds through fluent narrative the characters' struggles over emotion and life choices, and suits readers who want to understand early twentieth-century American popular fiction. As a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, it is free and easy to obtain, and the text preserves the language habits and narrative rhythm of its time. While reading, notice how the author shapes characters through everyday details and the social observation implicit in the story. Readers used to fast-paced modern fiction may need patience in the first few chapters, but once the plot takes hold they will feel the leisurely storytelling characteristic of the era. Overall, this is a public-domain literary work suited to slow reading in leisure time, valuable for its period imprint and narrative style.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Literature lovers who want to read public-domain English originals for free
Readers who enjoy family ethics and character-driven emotional themes
Students or researchers needing to study Norris's style

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced modern suspense with strong plots
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are not used to English originals
Readers with little patience for the language style of early American literature

Reading tips

Read the first three chapters to become familiar with the relationships and period context before deciding whether to read the whole book.
Learn about early twentieth-century American social background to help understand the characters' choices.
For the English original, read one chapter a day at a fixed time to maintain narrative continuity.
When encountering unfamiliar expressions, read the whole paragraph for the gist rather than checking every word.

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 English?

According to the Project Gutenberg record, the book is in English and is a public-domain English e-book. Chinese readers need some English reading ability or a dictionary tool.

Do I need to read Norris's works in order?

No. This novel is a standalone story and does not require reading the author's other works first. If you want to understand her style, you can choose other public-domain works after finishing this one.

How should I read the electronic edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free electronic texts that can be read on a computer, tablet or e-reader. Choose a reader with adjustable font size and use bookmarks to record chapters where characters appear.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966 Author

Kathleen Thompson Norris (1880–1966) was an American writer of popular fiction, with twelve of her works held in this collection. Public information on her nationality, life, and education is limited, and no speculation is offered here. Judging from the works available, she excelled at writing about family, marriage, and women's growth, with a delicate and sympathetic touch, often depicting ordinary people struggling and persevering amid emotional turmoil and the pressures of life. Her representative works include Harriet and the Piper, Mother: A Story, Martie, the Unconquered, Saturday's Child, The Heart of Rachael, Undertow, Sisters, and Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby. Set mostly in everyday scenes, these works feature vivid characterization and plain yet moving plots, showing her sustained attention to women's circumstances and family ethics, and offering readable examples for understanding early twentieth-century American popular fiction.