Long Odds

Bindloss, Harold, 1866-1945Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 567K words
Chapters: 57

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.Long Odds by Harold BindlossAuthor: Bindloss, Harold, 1866-1945,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2012

Editor's review

Long Odds is a novel by the British author Harold Bindloss, classified under English literature and released as a public-domain eBook by Project Gutenberg. Bindloss's works often center on adventure, frontier life, and the choices his characters face, and the title itself suggests a protagonist persevering and striving against unfavorable circumstances. As early English popular fiction, its value lies in showing the narrative tastes, character-building methods, and regional atmosphere of around the turn of the twentieth century, making it suitable for readers interested in public-domain English literature and adventure themes. The text is in the original English, and its style is distant from contemporary fiction, so readers need to adjust to its pacing and vocabulary. It will not suit readers seeking strong plot twists, but it suits those willing to read slowly and savor the charm of old-fashioned English storytelling, and it can serve as an introductory sample of Bindloss's work.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy early English adventure and popular fiction
Readers interested in public-domain English literary resources
Readers with some English proficiency willing to read the original slowly
Researchers seeking to understand Harold Bindloss's style

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary fiction with strong twists
Readers whose English is not yet sufficient for a full-length original novel
Readers impatient with old-fashioned narrative language

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to gauge the language difficulty, then decide whether to read closely or extensively.
Keep pen and paper to note character relationships and key events so old-fashioned narration does not confuse you.
Read it alongside other public-domain adventure novels to observe what early English popular fiction had in common.

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

Who is Harold Bindloss?

Harold Bindloss (1866–1945) was a British novelist whose works often deal with adventure and frontier themes. This is one of his novels; his biography and full bibliography can be found in public sources.

How difficult is the English in this book?

As an English novel from around the turn of the twentieth century, it uses period vocabulary and sentence structures and is fairly long. Readers at university English level or used to reading original novels will find it easier to get into; beginners can read slowly with a dictionary.

Why read the public-domain eBook edition?

The Project Gutenberg edition is freely available, making it easy to sample and compare. Public-domain eBooks suit readers who want low-cost access to early English literature and are convenient for text searches and excerpts.

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

Bindloss, Harold, 1866-1945 Author

Harold Bindloss (1866–1945) was an English-language writer active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century; public information about the details of his life is limited. The library holds 43 of his works, mostly novels, including Hawtrey's Deputy, Blake's Burden, For Jacinta, The Mistress of Bonaventure, The Greater Power, For the Allinson Honor, The Long Portage, and By Right of Purchase. Judging from these titles and their number, he was a prolific author of popular fiction for general readers, with themes often involving adventure, honor, duty, and life overseas. Because systematic biographical sources are lacking, his nationality, education, and specific experiences cannot be confirmed at present; assessments of his style and literary influence should also be further examined in light of more editions and reviews.