Matrimonial Openings

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 21K words
Chapters: 3

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.Matrimonial Openings by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

W. W. Jacobs was a celebrated English short-story writer known for humorous tales about sailors, dockworkers and clerks. His light touch, dialogue-driven comedy and surprise endings are on full display in Matrimonial Openings, which takes marriage as its theme. A public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg in the original English, it is short enough to read in segments on a commute or before bed. Watch how the author moves the plot through everyday conversation and lands the punchline at the end—an instructive look at early twentieth-century English short fiction. English learners will also find it a light source of colloquial usage and British humor, though some vocabulary and social context call for notes given the early date.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers seeking an easy introduction to British comic short fiction
Readers interested in early twentieth-century English everyday life
Advanced English learners who want to improve reading through original short stories
Fans of short stories with O. Henry-style twist endings

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a full-length plot or deep character development
Beginner English learners who need a Chinese translation or detailed notes
Readers who prefer serious social critique or modern subject matter

Reading tips

Read one story at a time and pause after each to recall where the humor lands.
Keep pen and paper handy for unfamiliar British colloquialisms and look them up afterward.
Try reading the ending first, then the whole story, to see how the setup matches the twist.
Read alongside other stories by the same author to observe how his comic technique repeats and varies.

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 in Chinese or English?

This is a public-domain English eBook from Project Gutenberg; the text is in English with no Chinese parallel. It suits readers with some English who are willing to tackle the original. If it proves difficult, use a dictionary or compare with another translation.

Do I need to read it straight through from beginning to end?

No. These are short pieces that stand largely on their own, so you can start with any one. Begin with a shorter story or one whose opening draws you in, then decide whether to read the whole book; this keeps interest up.

Should I learn about the author's background before reading?

No prior study is needed. Knowing that Jacobs wrote humorous stories about sailors and clerks is enough to catch the tone. If you are interested afterward, read up on his life and times for a deeper understanding.

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.