A Likely Story

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 56K words
Chapters: 6

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.A Likely Story by William Dean HowellsAuthor: Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 11, 2009

Editor's review

A Likely Story is a work by the American writer William Dean Howells, included in a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook. Howells is known for realistic fiction and literary criticism; he was an editor of The Atlantic Monthly, and his writing often concerns everyday American society and character psychology. This book is not long, and the English original is clear, making it suitable as an introductory text for understanding late nineteenth-century American literary style. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and can be used for classroom teaching, literature selected readings, or English reading training. Readers can observe Howells’s handling of narrative pace and character dialogue, and appreciate realistic literature‘s attention to details of daily life. Note that the given information does not provide a detailed plot summary, so readers should not expect complex suspense or strong dramatic conflict; it is better suited as a short piece within the context of literary history, and reading it together with other works by the author yields better results.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English majors, for understanding short works of American realism
Enthusiasts of American literature, as an introductory selected reading of Howells’s works
English reading teachers, selecting public-domain short texts as teaching materials
Readers needing light English reading material for daily reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong plot conflict and suspenseful twists, who may find it plain
Beginners unused to nineteenth-century English expression, whose reading speed will be affected
Readers needing detailed annotations and background introductions, as this electronic edition provides no supplementary materials

Reading tips

First read about Howells‘s life and the background of realistic literature, then enter the text
Mark character dialogue and scene description to observe the features of realistic narrative
After reading through once, review the structure and sort out the story threads and character relationships
Can be read in comparison with other American realistic short stories to compare writing styles

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?

The given information does not specify the exact length; judging from its inclusion in Project Gutenberg, it is a relatively short work, suitable for reading as a short story or novella.

What level of English is needed?

The text is nineteenth-century English, with syntax more complex than contemporary English; it is advisable to have intermediate or above English reading ability and to have a dictionary ready for unfamiliar words.

Does this edition have a Chinese translation?

According to the given information, this book is an English public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, with no indication that it contains a Chinese translation; readers need to read the English original.

Can it be used for classroom discussion?

It can be used as selected classroom reading material for American realism, but teachers need to supplement the author’s background, historical context, and discussion questions themselves, since the electronic edition contains no teaching aids.

Comments

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About the author

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 Author

William Dean Howells (1837–1920) was an American author and literary editor, with 107 works held in the collection. His writing spans novels, travel books, memoirs, and literary essays, and his representative works include My Mark Twain, Indian Summer, A Boy's Town, A Modern Instance, and A Hazard of New Fortunes. Howells drew on close observation of everyday life, writing in a plain style with gentle irony and attending to moral questions and human situations amid social change; his travel book Venetian Life and his memoir Literary Friends and Acquaintance record his journeys and personal recollections of American literary figures. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here; readers may turn to the works above to learn about his subjects and style.