Ignorant Essays

Dowling, Richard, 1846-1898Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 201K words
Chapters: 21

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.Ignorant Essays by Richard DowlingAuthor: Dowling, Richard, 1846-1898,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 29, 2016

Editor's review

Ignorant Essays is a collection of essays by Richard Dowling (1846–1898), classified under English literature and released by Project Gutenberg as a free eBook. Judging from the title and genre, it is a set of discursive pieces in essay form, carrying the unhurried tone and personal voice common to nineteenth-century English prose; under the title of "ignorance" the author often adopts a posture of self-deprecation and irony, so the reading offers both the edge of argument and the ease of the essay. Its value lies in opening a window onto late Victorian English essay writing: sentences are long, allusions and rhetorical figures are frequent, and topics are drawn mostly from daily life and books, making it suitable for readers interested in the essay as a form and in the prose style of that era. As a public-domain eBook it is easy to search and excerpt, and can serve as supplementary reading for anthologies of English essays. There is no need to read it straight through; reading piece by piece and using notes to understand allusions will better convey its tone and wit.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in English essays
Students of nineteenth-century English prose style
Readers who prefer slow, careful reading and excerpting lines
English majors in need of essay selections in English

Not a good fit for

Genre-fiction readers accustomed to fast-paced plotting
Beginners with weak English who are daunted by long sentences
Readers seeking systematic historical knowledge rather than style

Reading tips

Read piece by piece and write a two- or three-sentence summary after each.
Mark allusions and archaic expressions first, then look them up together after finishing a passage.
Consult a Chinese translation or annotated edition to understand long sentence structures, then return to the original.
Choose passages with a distinctive tone and read them aloud to feel the rhythm and irony of the essay.

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 does the title "Ignorant Essays" mean?

Literally it can be understood as "essays of ignorance." Given the essay genre and the self-deprecating manner common in nineteenth-century prose, the title is more likely an ironic modest disclaimer than a genuine advocacy of ignorance. Its specific meaning needs to be felt in context while reading each piece; the available materials provide no more detailed explanation of the title.

How difficult is the English in this book?

It is fairly difficult English prose. Written in the nineteenth century, it has long sentences and frequent rhetorical figures and allusions, and it demands a certain vocabulary and grounding in grammar. Readers with some accumulated English reading experience are advised to try it, with notes or a reference translation; it is not suitable as a first reader.

Should it be read in order from beginning to end?

Not necessarily. The essays are relatively independent, so you can pick them by interest or arrange them by length. To get a sense of the overall style, read one or two pieces first to feel the tone, then decide which to read closely; taking notes and excerpting is more effective than reading it all at once.

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About the author

Dowling, Richard, 1846-1898 Author

Richard Dowling (1846–1898) was an English-language novelist active in the late nineteenth century. Public information about him is limited, and reliable records of his life, nationality, and education are scarce. Sixteen of his works are held in the collection, most of them long romance novels with intricate plots. Representative titles include Miracle Gold: A Novel, the three-volume The Weird Sisters: A Romance, and The Last Call: A Romance. These works show that he excelled at advancing narrative through extraordinary incidents and emotional entanglements, with stories steeped in romantic legend, densely plotted and attentive to suspense and the turns of his characters' fortunes. In Chinese library classification his works are often placed under inspirational growth, perhaps because of the choices and transformations of characters facing adversity. Although biographical material about him is sparse, these novels offer a concrete sample of nineteenth-century popular romance fiction.