American Notes

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 148K words
Chapters: 15

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.American Notes by Rudyard KiplingAuthor: Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936,Language: English, Class: E151: History: America: United States, Release Date: Jul 1, 1997

Editor's review

American Notes is an observational work by Rudyard Kipling based on his travels in America, recording in essay form his impressions of American society, cities and public life. Kipling captures detail with a reporter's sharpness and a literary touch; the prose is concise and vivid, describing the external environment while also mixing in personal judgments and humour. Classed under American history, the book works as a supplementary read for understanding sides of late nineteenth-century American life, and also as English essay reading material. Because it is travel observation rather than systematic history, readers should treat it as a subjective record of impressions and weigh its impressions and prejudices against historical context. While reading, note the author's choice of perspective, shifts in narrative tone, and which descriptions have value as period records.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in travel literature and essays
History enthusiasts who want to see sides of late nineteenth-century American society
English learners who want to practise reading with short English essays
Readers who like Kipling's style and want to explore his non-fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who need systematic American history or academic material
Readers of fiction who expect full plots and character stories
Readers sensitive to travel records coloured by personal, subjective impressions

Reading tips

Read one piece at a time and briefly note the object of observation and the author's attitude after each
Use background material on late nineteenth-century American history to weigh the book's impressions and period limitations
When reading in English, grasp the main idea of a paragraph first, then return to details and rhetoric
Read alongside other travel literature to compare differences in observers' perspectives

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 history work?

It is neither strictly a novel nor a systematic history. It is an observational essay collection based on Kipling's travels in America, part travel literature and part record of impressions, with both social description and personal impression; it should be treated as supplementary reading.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

It is an English essay collection; the language is generally concise, but the social observation and personal commentary require a certain vocabulary and ability to handle long sentences. Intermediate English readers are best suited, and a dictionary can help when reading piece by piece.

Do the book's observations still have reference value today?

As a period record of sides of late nineteenth-century American society, many details retain historical reference value, but it is a personal record of impressions with subjective judgments and period limitations. Read it against background material rather than quoting it directly as objective fact.

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About the author

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936 Author

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was a British writer, and this library holds sixty-five of his works. Publicly available material on his life is limited, so the following introduction focuses on his writings. He is known chiefly for fiction and fairy tales, often dealing with animals, the jungle, exotic adventure and youthful growth. His language is vivid, his narrative pace brisk, and his stories combine imagination with moral meaning. The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book, set in the Indian jungle, tell of the boy Mowgli among the animals and have been widely read; Just So Stories explains in a light manner how animals came by their features; Kim portrays growth and the search for identity in an Indian setting; Puck of Pook's Hill draws on history and legend to tell of England's past; and The Man Who Would Be King displays adventure and ambition. His works are often classed as inspirational coming-of-age reading and have had a lasting influence on children's literature and English-language readers.