Golden Deeds

Kieviet, Cornelis Johannes, 1858-1931Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 414K words
Chapters: 42

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.Gouden Daden by Cornelis Johannes KievietAuthor: Kieviet, Cornelis Johannes, 1858-1931,Language: Dutch, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jul 25, 2008

Editor's review

Gouden Daden (roughly "Golden Deeds") is a work by the Dutch author Cornelis Johannes Kieviet, part of his output of stories for young readers, released free in the original Dutch by Project Gutenberg. Kieviet is known in Dutch children's literature for adventure and coming-of-age themes, and this book continues in that vein: the plot moves briskly, courage, responsibility and comradeship are emphasized, and the language is straightforward, making it suitable as practice material for reading Dutch. For Chinese-speaking readers its value lies mainly in two directions: Dutch learners can use it to build vocabulary for narrative prose and grow accustomed to a somewhat traditional written style; and readers interested in European children's literature or Low Countries culture can use it to observe the thematic orientation and values expressed in Dutch reading matter for young people in the early twentieth century. The electronic edition has no notes and no introduction, so it is best to keep a dictionary at hand, read for overall comprehension first, and deal with details afterward.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Dutch learners with some foundation who want to consolidate their reading through a whole book
Readers interested in Dutch children's literature and adventure coming-of-age stories
Students of early European juvenile literature or public-domain e-books
Readers who enjoy traditional narrative and briskly paced short stories

Not a good fit for

Readers with no Dutch at all who want a Chinese translation
Literary readers who prefer modern psychological depth and complex narrative structures
Beginners who need detailed notes, introductions and background materials

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to gauge the difficulty, then decide whether to study chapter by chapter or read extensively.
Keep a Dutch dictionary ready and deal with new words chapter by chapter rather than looking them up as you go.
After each chapter, summarize the events in one Chinese sentence to keep hold of the main thread.
Read alongside other works by the same author to see how his narrative patterns carry over.

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

Can I read this book without knowing Dutch?

Not directly. This is the original Dutch text, and the Gutenberg edition has no Chinese translation or parallel notes. If you only want to know the story, you will need translation tools or a translation in another language; if your goal is learning Dutch, it is best to attempt it after you have basic grammar and common vocabulary, otherwise the density of unfamiliar words will seriously hamper comprehension.

What kind of work is this book?

Judging by Kieviet's usual orientation as an author and by the title, it is an adventure coming-of-age story for young readers, emphasizing action, courage and companionship, with a fairly traditional and straightforward narrative. It should be noted that the information provided by Gutenberg gives only the language and classification, not a detailed plot summary; readers need to open the book to confirm the specifics, and should not infer too much from the title alone.

What should I keep in mind when using the Gutenberg edition?

This edition is a free public-domain electronic text containing only the body text, with no illustrations, notes, introduction or modern punctuation editing, and the layout is plain. It is suitable for searching, copying and reading on the go, but not as a basis for textual scholarship. When reading, it is advisable to mark unfamiliar words and difficult sentences yourself, and to note that the spelling and usage of the early text may differ slightly from contemporary Dutch.

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

Kieviet, Cornelis Johannes, 1858-1931 Author

Kieviet, Cornelis Johannes (1858–1931) was a Dutch author of children's literature; details of his life are limited in publicly available sources, and nine of his works are held in this collection. He is best known for the series of stories about the boy Dik Trom, including Uit het leven van Dik Trom, De Zoon van Dik Trom and Dik Trom en zijn Dorpsgenooten, which portray village boyhood and mischief in a humorous tone. He also wrote books for young readers set in older Holland, such as Jongens van Oudt-Holland, as well as historical tales including De Kennemer Vrijbuiter, De Twee Broeders and Fulco de Minstreel, many drawing on medieval legends and events around Kennemerland. Writing for young readers in a lively, accessible style, he combined local colour with adventure and is a notable figure in Dutch children's literature on regional and historical themes.