Gone Fishing

Schmitz, James H., 1911-1981Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 97K words
Chapters: 10

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.Gone Fishing by James H. SchmitzAuthor: Schmitz, James H., 1911-1981,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 30, 2009

Editor's review

Gone Fishing is a short work by James H. Schmitz, belonging to the vein of science fiction and fantasy narrative he is known for. The title carries the easy feel of everyday leisure, but the author habitually plants unexpected turns in seemingly ordinary settings, building suspense through crisp dialogue and scene progression. As a public-domain electronic text, it is short and well suited to observing the mid-twentieth-century American genre-magazine style: characters with clear goals, tight pacing, and endings that often carry an ironic twist. Readers can treat it as a brief reading experience, finishing it in one sitting on a commute or in spare moments, then going back to savor how the author completes the world-building with a few details. For readers studying the short science fiction tradition or Schmitz's style, this can serve as an introductory sample, though it should not be taken as representative of his longer works as a whole.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Genre readers who enjoy short science fiction with surprise endings
Fans wanting to understand the mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazine style
Intermediate learners needing short English texts for extensive reading practice
Researchers collecting material on Schmitz's short fiction or the history of science fiction

Not a good fit for

Deep science fiction readers who prefer long-form world-building and complex settings
Readers expecting hard science principles and technical detail
Contemporary readers sensitive to the narrative conventions of early genre fiction

Reading tips

Read it once through, then revisit the opening to note the foreshadowing and tonal hints the author planted.
After reading, note how the ending's twist changes the meaning of earlier details, and make a brief note of it.
Compare it with other science fiction shorts of the same period to observe the pacing and resolution of magazine fiction.
In English extensive reading, first grasp the characters' goals and conflicts; do not get stuck on individual unfamiliar words.

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

How long is this story, and when is a good time to read it?

It is a short work, usually readable in one or two spare moments. It suits short reading slots such as a commute or lunch break, and is also convenient for quickly revisiting key passages after finishing to appreciate the effect of the ending's twist.

Can I understand it without a background in science fiction?

Yes. Short fiction usually relies on the characters' situation and suspense, and does not require readers to master complex settings. Simply follow the characters' goals and conflicts to grasp the main plot; individual period terms can be skipped without affecting overall understanding.

Does this represent all of Schmitz's style?

No. It is only a short sample, showing his tight narration and taste for twists, but the author also has longer and series works with richer themes and world-building. This piece alone should not be used to summarize his overall style.

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About the author

Schmitz, James H., 1911-1981 Author

James H. Schmitz (1911–1981) was an American science fiction writer. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life are especially scarce in the Chinese-speaking world. The library holds eleven of his works, including The Winds of Time, An Incident on Route 12, Legacy, The Star Hyacinths, Lion Loose, Watch the Sky, Novice, and Ham Sandwich. Judging from their titles and themes, his writing often revolves around the interplay of interstellar adventure, future technology, and the human condition, presenting encounters and suspense of the space age with compact plots and a brisk tone. He was skilled at creating unexpected twists in short stories, with characters frequently facing choices in unfamiliar environments; his work combines entertainment with a gentle reflection on a technological society. Though not among the best-known science fiction authors, Schmitz occupies a place in the mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazine landscape, and his short stories have offered some inspiration for later space-adventure tales.