In Kedar's Tents

Merriman, Henry Seton, 1862-1903Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 408K words
Chapters: 41

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.In Kedar's Tents by Henry Seton MerrimanAuthor: Merriman, Henry Seton, 1862-1903,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2004

Editor's review

Henry Seton Merriman was a late nineteenth-century British novelist whose works were mostly historical adventures set in exotic locales. In Kedar's Tents follows the same vein, set amid the turbulence where the Mediterranean meets the East, centering on turns of fate that overtake characters in unfamiliar lands. The book's appeal lies chiefly in its pacing and atmosphere: the author advances the plot through terse dialogue and builds tension from geographic and political uncertainty, with his characters' choices between loyalty, opportunity and conscience as the reader's anchor. As a public-domain electronic text from Project Gutenberg, it also offers a sample of late Victorian popular fiction tastes—the era's imaginings of exotic adventure, gentlemanly character and imperial frontiers are all traceable here. A caveat: such works bear clear marks of their time, and their depiction of foreign cultures sits at a distance from today's perspective; readers would do well to read historically. Suited to reading in installments on commutes or journeys, and as supplementary material for the study of late nineteenth-century British popular fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy late nineteenth-century British adventure and historical novels
Scholars of late Victorian popular literature and imperial narrative
Upper-intermediate to advanced English learners seeking to expand their reading in the original
Readers who prefer traditional storytelling driven by fast plotting and dialogue

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern psychological depth or complex narrative structure
Readers sensitive to the period biases in exotic subjects
Beginners who still need annotations to read English

Reading tips

Familiarize yourself first with the Mediterranean and Near Eastern historical background the novel draws on; it helps in understanding the characters' situations and motives.
Read it alongside other Merriman works or contemporary adventure novels to see the genre's features more clearly.
Note how dialogue carries characterization and plot—a distinctive technique of the author.
Keep a historicized view of the exotic descriptions, distinguishing literary imagination from historical fact.

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

I haven't read any other Merriman—can I start with this one?

Yes. The story stands relatively independent and does not depend on earlier works. Still, knowing his usual pattern of historical adventure and narrative pacing makes it easier to enter the context. Comparing it with another of his major works afterward will make the consistency of his style clearer.

How difficult is the English in this book?

It is late nineteenth-century literary English, with fairly long sentences and some vocabulary that differs from current usage, but the narrative is generally clear and dialogue is frequent, so upper-intermediate readers can finish it with a dictionary. If you are reading to learn, choose an annotated edition or pair it with introductory material.

Is the exotic background in the book real history?

The novel uses a particular region and period atmosphere as its setting, but the characters and plot are literary fiction. The author uses the exotic setting to create adventurous tension, and the portrayal of local society carries the limitations of its time. Read it as literature rather than historical source, and verify historical points against reliable scholarship.

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About the author

Merriman, Henry Seton, 1862-1903 Author

Henry Seton Merriman (1862–1903) was a British novelist of the late nineteenth century. His real name was Hugh Stowell Scott, and he wrote under the pen name "Merriman." Public information about him is limited, and many details of his life remain uncertain. Sixteen of his works are held in this collection, including From One Generation to Another, The Slave of the Lamp, Roden's Corner, The Isle of Unrest, The Vultures, The Last Hope, Barlasch of the Guard, and Dross. These novels often draw on continental European political intrigue, diplomacy, and adventure, with tightly constructed plots in which characters are caught between moral and fatal tensions, giving the books a fin-de-siècle melancholy. Merriman was popular with readers in his lifetime, and his narrative skill and evocation of exotic settings exerted some influence on later popular historical adventure fiction.