My Lord Duke

Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William), 1866-1921Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 334K words
Chapters: 34

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.My Lord Duke by E. W. HornungAuthor: Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William), 1866-1921,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 8, 2011

Editor's review

My Lord Duke is a novel by the British writer Ernest William Hornung, a public-domain work of English literature. Hornung was known for inventive plotting; this book revolves around an aristocratic title and questions of identity, with a flavor of social comedy and light satire, a brisk pace, and dialogue that drives the story. As a Project Gutenberg eBook, its main value is that it gives readers low-cost access to the narrative pleasures of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British popular fiction: mismatched relationships and collisions between social class and notions of respectability supply the main tension. It works well as a stepping stone to reading English novels in the original—moderate in length, not too difficult in language—and as a way to see how British fiction of the period handled aristocratic subjects and comic technique. There is no need to look for profound themes; read as an entertaining period novel, it shows its light narrative charm more clearly.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate English readers who want to try novels in the original
Fans of popular fiction who enjoy aristocratic settings and social comedy
Readers studying the narrative techniques of late nineteenth-century British popular fiction
Readers who want light English reading for the commute

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer serious social critique or deep psychological portraiture
Beginners whose English is not yet strong enough to read a long original text fluently
Readers expecting a modern pace and strong suspense or twists

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters to sort out the characters and their titles before getting into the main story.
Mark expressions related to class and etiquette as you go, then look up the background afterward.
Proceed chapter by chapter, one or two a day, to keep the dialogue and plot连贯.
After finishing, revisit the key turning points to see how the author arranges misunderstandings and reconciliations within light comedy.

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

How difficult is the English in this book?

It is a novel from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, so the sentence patterns and word choices show their period, though overall it is not very difficult. Readers with intermediate reading ability and some familiarity with the rhythm of long original texts can try it; the titles and etiquette vocabulary may take some getting used to at first.

What is the story mainly about?

Judging from the title and the author's usual approach, the work revolves around aristocratic status and social relationships, with elements of social comedy and light satire. The focus is on mismatched relationships and verbal wit in the dialogue rather than heavy themes.

Is the Project Gutenberg edition suitable for scholarly citation?

Project Gutenberg provides a free public-domain electronic text that can serve as a base for reading and general citation. But it usually has no scholarly notes or textual apparatus; for serious research, check it against a print or authoritative edition.

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About the author

Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William), 1866-1921 Author

E. W. Hornung (Ernest William Hornung, 1866–1921) was a British author best known for creating the gentleman thief A. J. Raffles. The collection here holds twenty-nine of his works, including the Raffles stories such as The Amateur Cracksman, Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman and A Thief in the Night, as well as crime and adventure novels like Stingaree and Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front, based on his experiences in the First World War. His writing is brisk and neatly plotted, with a polished tone suited to characters who live on the edge of the law, and it holds a place in the traditions of crime and adventure fiction. Public information about his life is limited, so this introduction concentrates on his subjects and style.