Mirk Abbey, Volume 2

James PaynProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 214K words
Chapters: 22

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.Mirk Abbey, Volume 2 (of 3) by James PaynAuthor: Payn, James, 1830-1898,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 24, 2014

Editor's review

Mirk Abbey, Volume 2 is the middle installment of James Payn's three-volume novel, picking up the character relationships and suspense established in the opening and carrying forward the story centered on the estate and the family. As a Victorian popular novelist, Payn excelled at planting twists within domestic morality and emotional entanglements; this volume is typically where conflicts converge and characters' fates begin to diverge, making it indispensable to understanding the book's overall structure. The Project Gutenberg edition preserves the public-domain English original, suiting readers who wish to study the narrative pacing of nineteenth-century British fiction as well as general readers who enjoy a slow-paced classic story. Read sequentially rather than skipping ahead, and pay attention to the author's elaboration of gentry life details and character dialogue—these are precisely how Victorian novels construct their social panorama. Read in isolation, a single volume may feel unresolved; it is best read in sequence with the volumes before and after.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature students and scholars studying Victorian British fiction
General readers who enjoy classic long novels of domestic morality and estate life
English learners who wish to practice long-form reading with public-domain English originals
Digital reading enthusiasts who collect Project Gutenberg public-domain literary resources

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced modern fiction with strong plotting
Those who only want single-volume standalone stories and dislike following trilogies
Beginners with limited experience in long-form English reading who tend to give up midway

Reading tips

Read Volume 1 first and compile a character relationship chart before starting this volume, to avoid confusion amid the large cast.
After each chapter, summarize the conflict's progress in one or two sentences to grasp the logic driving the middle-section plot.
Mark Victorian-era expressions or allusions as you go, and look them up together after finishing the chapter.
After finishing this volume, continue directly into Volume 3 to appreciate how the author distributes climaxes and resolution across the three-volume structure.

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

Can I read Volume 2 on its own?

You can, but it is not recommended. This is the middle volume of a three-volume novel: character relationships and suspense carry over from Volume 1, and the plot is resolved in Volume 3. Reading it alone can leave you confused about character motives and the causes of events; it is best read in order—Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.

Is this edition in Chinese or English?

This is the public-domain English original released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English, not a Chinese translation. It suits readers with some ability to read long English works and can also serve as source material for studying nineteenth-century British fiction.

What background knowledge do I need to read this book?

Some familiarity with the basic structure of nineteenth-century English gentry society helps—for example, the estate economy, family inheritance, and social etiquette. You can read it without this background, but browsing an introduction to the period beforehand will help you better understand characters' behavior and the subtext in their dialogue.

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About the author

James Payn Author · British · 1830–1898

James Payn (1830–1898) was a British novelist and editor, born in Berkshire and died in London. He served as editor of Chambers's Journal in Edinburgh and of the Cornhill Magazine in London, placing him at the meeting point of Victorian periodical publishing and literary writing. Nine of his works are held here, including Bred in the Bone; or, Like Father, Like Son: A Novel, the two volumes of The Talk of the Town, the two volumes of Lost Sir Massingberd: A Romance of Real Life, and the two volumes of Mirk Abbey, mostly novels and occasional essays. His fiction is known for a humorous, gentle romantic style, with unhurried plotting and an understated wit. Public information on his early education, exact dates of appointment and sales is limited, and no inference is made here.