Bedridden and the Winter Offensive

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 17K 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.Bedridden and the Winter Offensive by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

Bedridden and the Winter Offensive is a short work by W. W. Jacobs, released as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg. The title's juxtaposition of being bedridden with a winter offensive carries Jacobs's light irony: he often drew on ordinary people's everyday predicaments and used dialogue and surprise turns to create humor. The piece is brief and in English, suitable as supplementary reading for understanding the author's short-fiction style and as close-reading practice for English learners. The public-domain electronic text has no modern annotations, so readers must handle period language and background themselves. Overall it works better as a light sketch or classroom extensive-reading material than for readers seeking weighty themes or complex structures.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read Jacobs and want to expand their reading
Self-learners and students needing short English extensive-reading material
Casual readers who enjoy light satire and everyday humorous sketches
Readers collecting public-domain English ebooks for personal reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting serious narrative on war subjects
Beginners who need modern annotations and background introductions
Readers who prefer the depth of full-length novels

Reading tips

Guess the content from the title before reading, then look back at the title's ironic effect afterward.
Record new words separately for dialogue and narration to review spoken expressions.
Read the dialogue aloud to feel how Jacobs creates humor through tone.
After reading, retell the plot twist in two or three sentences to check comprehension.

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

Does 'Winter Offensive' in the title refer to war?

The title is ironic and should not be read as military reportage. Jacobs often wraps everyday trifles in exaggerated language; the specific reference depends on the plot.

Is this book suitable for English learners?

It suits learners with some foundation. It is short and dialogue-heavy, good for close reading and imitating expressions; but the public-domain text has no annotations, so period language must be checked independently.

Is it related to the author's other short stories?

It is a standalone short story that can be read without other works. To appreciate the author's style, read it alongside his other family or everyday-themed stories.

Comments

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.