Cambridge Pieces

Samuel ButlerProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 104K words
Chapters: 11

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.Cambridge Pieces by Samuel ButlerAuthor: Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2002

Editor's review

Also by Samuel Butler, Cambridge Pieces is a public-domain English eBook released by Project Gutenberg and classified under English language and literature. The title points to Cambridge-related pieces, mostly short texts marked by the author's characteristic observation and argument. Unlike systematic works, the value of such a collection lies in showing the writing scene: short in length and flexible in angle, it is suited to understanding the style of Butler's early or occasional writings. Because the electronic edition lacks notes and publication information, readers must fill in the historical background themselves; the text is in the original English and poses a considerable language barrier. It is better as extended reading for literary enthusiasts or supplementary material for researchers than as a first choice for beginners. For those who want to see how Victorian literary figures handled everyday and conceptual topics in essays, this small collection offers a light and interesting entry point.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in Butler's life and writing style
Students and researchers studying nineteenth-century English prose
Readers who need public-domain English short pieces for close-reading practice
Readers who enjoy Cambridge themes or campus reminiscences

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping for a complete long narrative work
Beginners who need detailed notes and background introductions
Readers impatient with Victorian English prose style

Reading tips

Arrange the reading from shorter to longer pieces to lower the pressure of entering the text.
Mark passages involving Cambridge figures and scenes while reading, then check the background in one go afterward.
Read this book alongside Canterbury Pieces to observe the same author's different subjects.
Read short passages aloud to feel the rhythm and tone of nineteenth-century prose.

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 directly connected to the University of Cambridge?

The title points to Cambridge-related pieces, and the material indicates it is a collection of Butler's short texts classified as English literature. Which figures and scenes are actually involved must be determined from the main text of the electronic edition; it cannot be inferred from the title alone to be Cambridge institutional history or a memoir. It is best to browse the table of contents before reading.

Why is there no Chinese translation?

The book was released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain English eBook, so the original English text is provided. If a Chinese version is needed, one must find an introduced translation separately or read in comparison on one's own. Readers unfamiliar with English texts may first read a Chinese introduction to Butler's work before deciding whether to take it up.

Is it suitable for academic citation?

The Project Gutenberg electronic edition can be used for general reading and text verification, but it lacks edition information, editorial notes, and page numbers, so it is not suitable as a base text for strict academic citation. For papers, it is advisable to consult a collated edition from an authoritative publisher and rely on the print or academic database version.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Samuel Butler Author · British · 1835–1902

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) was a British novelist and essayist. Born into a clergyman's family in Nottinghamshire, he graduated from Cambridge University and later went to New Zealand to run a sheep station. He is known for the satirical utopian novel Erewhon and the posthumously published autobiographical novel The Way of All Flesh. The former uses an imaginary country as a mirror to critique Victorian education, religion, and morality, while the latter examines growth and family relations through a family narrative. He also wrote Erewhon Revisited, The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey, and works on life, art, science, evolution, and memory, spanning fiction, essays, and intellectual commentary, often with an ironic and skeptical tone.