Weighed and Wanting

MacDonald, George, 1824-1905Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 880K words
Chapters: 89

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.Weighed and Wanting by George MacDonaldAuthor: MacDonald, George, 1824-1905,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 1, 2005

Editor's review

Weighed and Wanting is a novel by George MacDonald, a classic of English literature now available as a free eBook from Project Gutenberg. MacDonald is known for his Victorian novels and fantasy works, and this book continues his detailed portrayal of characters' inner lives and moral situations; the title itself suggests the tension between weighing and desire. For readers interested in the nineteenth-century English novel tradition or in MacDonald's work, this is a title worth keeping in view. The electronic edition is easy to search and excerpt, making it suitable as a course companion or research material. When reading, pay attention to the moral debates in the characters' dialogue and to the narrative rhythm, and note how the author uses everyday scenes to present spiritual themes. As a public-domain electronic text, it has limited formatting and annotation; first-time readers may wish to learn the novel's background before entering the main text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students of nineteenth-century English literature
Readers interested in George MacDonald's work
General readers who enjoy Victorian moral novels
Teachers who need public-domain English texts for course materials

Not a good fit for

Casual readers who read only contemporary fast-paced fiction
English beginners who need detailed annotations and introductions
Readers who prefer Chinese translations and are unused to English originals

Reading tips

Read the preface or learn about MacDonald's life before entering the main text.
After each chapter, note the character relationships and key moral conflicts.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century British society to understand the context.
Use the electronic edition's search function to revisit key dialogue and turning points.

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 suitable for English beginners?

Not very. The original is nineteenth-century English, and its sentence patterns and vocabulary pose some difficulty for beginners; the public-domain electronic text also lacks annotations and a glossary. Intermediate or higher English reading ability is recommended, or read a Chinese introduction first before attempting the original.

Is the content of the electronic edition different from the paper edition?

Project Gutenberg provides a public-domain electronic text organized from the original work; its content is basically consistent with the main text of the paper edition, but formatting, page numbers, and annotations may differ. The electronic edition is easy to search and excerpt and is suitable for reading and research reference, but it does not replace an edition with scholarly annotations.

Do I need to know MacDonald's other works before reading?

No. This book can be read independently. To better understand his moral concerns and narrative style, you may first learn about MacDonald's background or read an author introduction, but you do not need to finish his other novels beforehand.

Comments

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About the author

MacDonald, George, 1824-1905 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.