Bimmie Says

Sydney J. Van ScyocProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 18K 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.Bimmie Says by Sydney J. Van ScyocAuthor: Van Scyoc, Sydney J., 1939-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 30, 2015

Editor's review

"Bimmie Says" is an English-language science fiction short story by Sydney J. Van Scyoc (1939– ), released in electronic form by Project Gutenberg on December 30, 2015 and classified under American and Canadian literature. The author is known for science fiction, and this piece continues her approach of focusing on the situation of individuals in extraordinary circumstances; it is short and concentrated in its premise, making it a useful sample of the English-language science fiction short story in the mid-to-late twentieth century. The Gutenberg edition is a free electronic text, easy to obtain and convenient to open and sample at any time. There is no need to look for grand narrative here; it is better read as a brief thought experiment: notice how the premise gradually shapes the characters' judgments, and what attitude the author takes toward technology or human nature at the end. For English-language science fiction fans and students of short-story writing, it is a relatively light entry point; those who wish to study the author systematically will need to compare it with other works. Because the electronic edition is compiled from public-domain scans, individual layout or punctuation may differ from the print version; anomalies encountered while reading are normal.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English-language science fiction short stories and want a low-cost sample of classic public-domain works
Writing students who need short-story models for observing how premise and character relationships work
Fans interested in the character of American science fiction short stories in the mid-to-late twentieth century

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping for a full-length science fiction work with a complete world
Readers who are not comfortable with the English original and do not wish to use tools to read it
Readers expecting author biography or in-depth research materials on the work

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the direction of the story, then go back a second time to see how the premise drives the characters' choices.
Mark unfamiliar words first and look them up after finishing a passage, so as not to interrupt the rhythm.
Read it alongside English-language science fiction short stories from the same period, noting length and how endings are handled.
After reading, write down your judgment of the core premise in your notes to test whether your understanding holds up.

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 Gutenberg entry, "Bimmie Says" is a short work, and the electronic text is not long. The materials do not provide a specific word count; it is best to rely on the actual page count once opened. It is suitable for reading in one sitting or two.

What level of English is needed to read it?

The work is in the original English and is a science fiction short story, so the sentences are usually not overly complex. A reading ability around college English level 4 (CET-4) and a willingness to look up a few unfamiliar words are enough to try; if you are more comfortable in Chinese, you can use a dictionary or comparison tools for support.

Is the Gutenberg edition the same as the print book?

The Gutenberg edition is a free electronic text compiled and released from public-domain content; the main text should match the original, but layout and punctuation may differ due to the compilation process. If you encounter layout anomalies while reading, this is a normal part of electronic compilation and does not affect comprehension.

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About the author

Sydney J. Van Scyoc Author · American · 1939–2023

Sydney J. Van Scyoc (1939–2023) was an American science fiction writer born in Mount Vernon, Indiana. In 1962 she published her debut story "Shatter the Wall" in Galaxy magazine, and went on to write more than a dozen novels, including Saltflower and Assignment Nor'Dyren. Three of her works are held in this collection, alongside titles such as "Bimmie Says" and "Pollony Undiverted". Her fiction often centers on coming of age and human evolution, focusing on her characters' psychological shifts and self-discovery in unfamiliar settings, with a style that emphasizes speculation and emotional depth. She paused writing in 1992 to make jewelry, returned to short fiction after 2004, and died in 2023. Public information on her life and work is limited, and further details remain to be compiled.