His Great Adventure

Herrick, Robert, 1868-1938Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 462K words
Chapters: 47

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.His Great Adventure by Robert HerrickAuthor: Herrick, Robert, 1868-1938,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 8, 2019

Editor's review

His Great Adventure is a novel by the American writer Robert Herrick, belonging to the social-themed works within early twentieth-century American literature. Herrick excelled at writing about urban life and human circumstances; despite its title, this book concerns not legendary adventure but more likely a character's turning point and self-understanding amid real-life choices. For Chinese readers, its value lies in offering a window onto early twentieth-century American society and narratives of individual fate; the language is relatively plain, and the plot unfolds with the leisurely pace of period fiction. As you read, note the tension between ideals and reality and the author's observational approach to urban life. If you are tracing the transition of the American novel from realism to modern narrative, this work of moderate length can serve as supplementary reading, though one should not expect strong dramatic conflict or a contemporary fast pace.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American fiction and social themes
Readers studying the realist current in American literature who need supplementary texts
Readers who enjoy plain narrative and attention to character circumstances and choices
Readers who wish to understand Herrick's writing style through a shorter work

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong dramatic conflict or fast-paced plots
Beginner readers hoping for detailed historical background annotations
Those completely unfamiliar with the early twentieth-century American social context who are unwilling to supplement background

Reading tips

Learn about the urbanization of early twentieth-century America first; the characters' circumstances will then be easier to understand.
Record each key choice the protagonist makes and observe how "adventure" shifts from external events to inner turning points.
Read alongside other American realist novels, noting differences in narrative pace and characterization.
After finishing, revisit the opening chapters to check the foreshadowing and thematic hints the author planted.

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 novel an adventure story?

The title can easily mislead; it is closer to a social novel, focusing on a character's choices and growth in real circumstances rather than wilderness exploration or legendary adventure. Read "adventure" as a metaphor for a turning point in life.

Do I need to read other works by Herrick first?

No. This book can be read independently. If you want to understand Herrick's writing style, you can look for his other urban novels afterward to compare and appreciate his sustained attention to human circumstances.

How is the English electronic edition best read?

This edition is the Project Gutenberg English text, suitable for proceeding chapter by chapter and taking notes on character relationships. Use an annotatable reader; when encountering period expressions, mark them first and look them up after finishing the chapter to avoid frequent interruption.

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About the author

Herrick, Robert, 1868-1938 Author

Robert Herrick (1868–1938) was an American novelist, with 11 of his works held in this collection. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life remain unclear, yet his surviving works show a novelist who examined social reality and individual destiny. His representative novel The Memoirs of an American Citizen uses its protagonist's first-person account to portray American society in transition, while The Web of Life and Clark's Field focus on individuals struggling and making choices within actual circumstances. He also wrote One Woman's Life, Together, The Master of the Inn, The World Decision, and Literary Love-Letters and Other Stories. His writing is largely realistic and calmly observed, often using personal experience to bring social issues into view, and his works offer a valuable reference for studying American society and literature of his time.