Until Life Do Us Part

Marks, Winston K. (Winston Kinney), 1915-1979Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 19K words
Chapters: 2

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.Until Life Do Us Part by Winston K. MarksAuthor: Marks, Winston K. (Winston Kinney), 1915-1979,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 15, 2019

Editor's review

Winston K. Marks was a mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazine author. This public-domain electronic reprint of Until Life Do Us Part collects his short fiction. Taking marriage and partnership as its entry point, the story uses a science fiction premise to discuss commitment, contract, and personal autonomy, with the light-handed speculation and twist-ending pleasure characteristic of Golden Age science fiction. The original is short, with a brisk narrative rhythm; it serves as a sample of postwar American short science fiction and suits segmented reading on a commute or before sleep. While reading, note how the author turns everyday emotional questions into conflicts of premise, and how the ending redefines "separation" and "union." Because this is the original English edition without an introduction, first-time readers may read the opening premise before the dialogue to avoid being interrupted by period vocabulary.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Golden Age short science fiction and want light English-language originals
Literary readers interested in themes of marriage, contract, and personal choice
English learners and science fiction writing enthusiasts who need short-story material

Not a good fit for

Hard science fiction readers seeking a full-length, fully built world
Beginner readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed annotations

Reading tips

Read the whole piece first to grasp the premise and the twist, then revisit the dialogue details at the beginning.
Extract the passages about the marriage contract and take notes against the characters' choices.
The English original can be read in two or three sittings; after each, summarize the plot advance in one sentence.

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 a novel or a short story?

According to the public-domain record, this is a short work by Marks, not long and suitable for reading in one or two sittings; it is not the length of a novel.

There is no Chinese edition; how difficult is the English?

The original is mid-twentieth-century American popular science fiction, with short sentences and much dialogue; it is not especially difficult overall, but period terms and colloquial expressions appear, so basic English reading ability is advised.

Do I need to know the author's background before reading?

No. The story's premise is relatively self-contained, so you can go straight into the text; if you want to understand its magazine science fiction style, briefly look up common Golden Age science fiction themes afterward for reference.

Comments

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About the author

Marks, Winston K. (Winston Kinney), 1915-1979 Author

Winston K. Marks (1915–1979) was an American science fiction writer, born Winston Kinney Marks. Public information about his life and education is limited, and what is known comes mainly from his published work. The library holds 15 of his works, including "...So They Baked a Cake," "The Mind Digger," "Tabby," "Mate in Two Moves," "Unbegotten Child," "Brown John's Body," "Backlash," and "Breeder Reaction." These are mostly short science fiction stories dealing with technological ethics, human weakness, and social absurdity. They often use a light, humorous tone to frame a cool-headed look at technology out of control and the human condition; some titles are also classified under inspirational growth. He was active during the mid-twentieth-century boom of American science fiction magazines, and his stories appeared in popular science fiction periodicals, exerting some influence on later short-form science fiction writing.