Lafcadio Hearn

Kennard, Nina H.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 640K words
Chapters: 64

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.Lafcadio Hearn by Nina H. KennardAuthor: Kennard, Nina H.,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 3, 2010

Editor's review

This biography of Lafcadio Hearn by Nina H. Kennard is an important English-language source for understanding the early life of Koizumi Yakumo, known for Kwaidan and for his writings on Japanese culture. The book follows Hearn's trajectory from birth and wandering to becoming a writer, devoting considerable attention to his Irish and Greek ancestry, childhood family upheavals, going to America to make a living, and his experience in journalism. The narrative is plain, with materials drawn largely from letters, reminiscences, and contemporary accounts, making it suitable as a starting point for research on Hearn's life. This is a Project Gutenberg electronic edition, a public-domain text with a low barrier to access, convenient for searching and citation. Readers interested in Japanese literature, comparative literature, or nineteenth-century transoceanic cultural flows may read it alongside Hearn's own works, seeing both the construction of the biographical subject and the historical materials and limitations of early biographical writing. It should be noted that the book was written early, and some narratives carry the prejudices of their time; readers should maintain critical discernment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary scholars researching Koizumi Yakumo and writings on Japanese culture
General readers interested in nineteenth-century transoceanic biographies
Those who need original English biographical materials for comparative literature research
Readers who wish to learn about Hearn's life through a low-cost electronic edition

Not a good fit for

First-time readers of Japanese literature expecting a systematic analysis of the Kwaidan text
Readers who prefer contemporary academic biography writing and rigorous annotation
Readers who find English reading difficult and need a Chinese translation

Reading tips

First read a chronology of Hearn's life or an encyclopedia entry, then enter the book, to facilitate locating people and dates.
It may be read alongside Hearn's autobiographical essays, comparing the differences between biographical narrative and his own voice.
When reading to the period of his American journalism, take notes and watch for foreshadowing of his later writings on Japan.

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 suitable as an introductory book for understanding Koizumi Yakumo?

It can serve as an English introductory reference, but it is not the best first choice. It provides the basic outline of Hearn's early life and rise to fame, with intuitive materials; however, it was written early and lacks modern research perspectives, with limited analysis of works such as Kwaidan. It is advisable to first read one or two contemporary biographies or introductory guides, then use this book to supplement details and historical texture.

What kind of book is the Gutenberg edition?

This is a public-domain e-book released by Project Gutenberg and available for free. The text is the original English version, formatted primarily for readability and searching, and usually lacks the collation, annotation, or introduction of a modern publisher. It is suitable for research citation and electronic reading, but should not be used as a finely collated scholarly edition.

What historical limitations should be noted when reading?

Biographies from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century often carry notions of racial and cultural hierarchy, and narratives about Hearn's ancestry, marriage, and Eastern experiences may be biased. Readers may treat such expressions as historical materials, judge them against modern research, and need not accept their evaluations wholesale.

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

Kennard, Nina H. Author · British

Nina H. Kennard was a British biographer, though public sources offer very limited information about her birth and death dates and early life. Active from the late Victorian era into the early twentieth century, she devoted herself mainly to biography and literary criticism, writing about notable Victorian figures and literary personalities. One work by her is held in this collection, Lafcadio Hearn, a biography of the writer known for his writings on Japan, tracing his life and literary achievements. Kennard's writing is marked by careful use of historical sources and perceptive portrayal of character, in a plain and restrained style that seeks to recreate the atmosphere of an era through details of her subjects' lives and social circles. Her works offer readers a useful vantage point on Victorian personalities and literary life, and hold a modest place in the tradition of English biography.