Green Fire: A Romance

Sharp, William, 1855-1905Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 279K words
Chapters: 28

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.Green Fire: A Romance by William SharpAuthor: Sharp, William, 1855-1905,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 2, 2013

Editor's review

This work is a full-length romance by the Scottish writer William Sharp, belonging to the romantic romance tradition in English literature. Sharp was himself both a poet and a critic, and his style is richly lyrical and symbolic; the image of "green fire" itself suggests the intertwined themes of passion and mystery in the work. As a public-domain ebook, its value lies in giving readers zero-cost access to the look of late nineteenth-century British romantic fiction and in showing how late Victorian writers handled love, fate, and the supernatural. The narrative pace is slow, with a large proportion of description of scenery and psychology; it suits slow reading in a quiet setting, and also serves as a textual sample for studying the evolution of British romantic romance or examining Sharp's creative style. Note that this is the original English text; readers need some English reading ability to appreciate its linguistic flavor.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy nineteenth-century British romantic romance
Scholars and students studying late Victorian literature and William Sharp
Readers who want low-cost access to classic English literature through public-domain ebooks

Not a good fit for

Chinese readers with no English reading ability at all
Modern genre-fiction readers who prefer fast pacing and strong plot and lack patience

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to get a feel for the language style and narrative pace, then decide whether to read it through
Prepare an English dictionary or electronic lookup tool to handle unfamiliar words while reading
Bearing in mind Sharp's identity as a poet, pay attention to the handling of imagery and lyrical passages

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 in Chinese or English?

This is the original English text, a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg. There is no Chinese translation in the book; some English reading ability is needed before reading, otherwise understanding the plot and the flavor of the language will be quite difficult.

Why is it called "Green Fire"? Is it a fantasy novel?

"Green Fire" is the title image of the work, with symbolic and mysterious overtones, but the information shows it is classified as a romance, not a fantasy genre novel in the modern sense. The specific meaning of the image needs to be felt in the main text; one should not presume the genre from the title.

Is this book suitable for learning English?

It can be used as extended reading, but it was written in the late nineteenth century, and its language is rather literary, with sentence patterns and vocabulary more difficult than modern popular reading. It is recommended for readers with a relatively good English foundation; beginners are better off starting with contemporary graded readers.

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About the author

Sharp, William, 1855-1905 Author

William Sharp (1855–1905) was a British writer of the late nineteenth century, best known for his pen name "Fiona Macleod." The library holds eight of his works, spanning fiction, biography, and retellings of folk tales. He was drawn to Celtic legend and the supernatural, producing Spiritual Tales, The Washer of the Ford, and Tragic Romances, whose ornate, mysterious prose often blends ancient myth with moral allegory; The Laughter of Peterkin retells old tales of the Celtic wonderworld. He also wrote Life of Robert Browning, along with romantic novels such as Pharais and The Mountain Lovers and Green Fire. Public information about his life is limited, but his works reveal a sustained interest in mysticism and Celtic tradition.