Dombey and Son

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 2M words
Chapters: 200

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.Dombey and Son by Charles DickensAuthor: Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 1997

Editor's review

Dombey and Son is a major novel from Dickens's middle period, built around the family tragedy of the merchant Dombey and examining with a cold, exacting touch how money relations erode family affection. The novel is well constructed and rich in its cast of characters, offering both a critique of Victorian business ethics and Dickens's characteristic humor and sentiment. It is long, and its plot moves with the rhythm of serial fiction, suiting readers willing to enter patiently into the context of nineteenth-century English society. This edition is a Project Gutenberg electronic text in the original English, convenient for searching and citation and suitable as a base text for coursework or independent study. As you read, note the emotional shifts within the Dombey household and the symbolic function of new things such as the railway, and through them see how the author weaves social change into individual fate.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature who need to study Dickens's middle-period novels in depth
General readers interested in Victorian society and family ethics
Readers with some experience of reading English originals who are willing to take on a long novel
Teachers and researchers who need an electronic text for searching, citation, or course preparation

Not a good fit for

Casual readers hoping to finish a light story quickly
Beginners whose English reading is not yet proficient and who need Chinese annotation
Readers who prefer short stories or tightly plotted narratives

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters to sort out the Dombey family relationships, then proceed volume by volume at a serial pace; there is no need to look up every word.
Jot down three threads as you read—the railway, money, and family affection—and return to see how they converge after finishing.
Read alongside Dickens's works from the same period and note changes in his characterization and satire.
Use the electronic text's search function to locate key terms and trace how themes are distributed through the book.

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

What kind of reader is the English difficulty of this book suited to?

The original is nineteenth-century English, with long sentences and period usage and London dialect. Readers at university English reading level who are used to long novels can attempt it; beginners are advised to read a Chinese translation or an annotated edition first, then return to the original.

What are the features of this edition?

This edition is released by Project Gutenberg as a free electronic text in the original English, convenient for searching, copying, and citing on a computer or e-reader. It contains no modern editorial notes; readers who need background material must look elsewhere.

Do I need to know other works by Dickens before reading?

No. The plot stands alone and can be entered directly. But if you have read middle-period works such as David Copperfield, it will be easier to see how the author continues and varies his family theme and narrative structure.

Comments

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About the author

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 Author

Charles Dickens (Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870) is one of the most influential novelists in the history of English literature. The library holds 115 of his works, including novels, novellas and short stories; representative titles include The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol. He was known for serialized fiction, with plot twists and vivid characters, and he used humor and satire to portray Victorian society, paying particular attention to poor children, the lower classes and education, and his works often convey warmth and moral concern. In the library his works are often classified under "inspirational growth," and many of his novels have been adapted for stage and screen and are widely circulated. Public information about the details of his life is limited, so no speculation is offered here.