Our Soldier Boy

Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 64K words
Chapters: 7

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.Our Soldier Boy by George Manville FennAuthor: Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: May 8, 2007

Editor's review

Our Soldier Boy is another boys' novel by George Manville Fenn, released free of charge through Project Gutenberg. Judging from the title and the author's usual approach, the work centers on a boy and military life, focusing on responsibility, courage, and comradeship in growing up; the plot moves through events, the language is direct, and it suits light reading as a public-domain boys' novel. Fenn's narrative keeps readers engaged through a succession of small conflicts, with characters clearly divided into good and bad, making for an effortless read; yet such old-fashioned boys' books tend toward typed characterization, and their treatment of war and military life carries nineteenth-century popular taste, so today's reader should be aware of the period context. The length and difficulty suit it as a transitional text for English extensive reading, and also for readers interested in Victorian boys' literature as a genre to observe. It offers no complex historical analysis; its value lies more in showing how that era told boy readers about soldiers, honor, and growing up.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy coming-of-age and military themes and want English public-domain novels
English learners seeking intermediate-level extensive reading material
Readers interested in the Victorian boys' literature genre
General readers who want free e-books for light reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting serious reflection on war or historical research
Literary readers who prefer complex characterization and psychological depth
Readers sensitive to old-fashioned notions of gender and honor

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to judge the narrative style, then decide whether to read through or selectively.
Look at military-life passages separately from dialogue and note how the author shapes the image of the "soldier boy."
English learners can note three to five useful expressions per chapter to build vocabulary from nineteenth-century popular narrative.
After finishing, compare it with similar boys' adventure novels and briefly record conventions and differences to form a genre understanding.

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 close in style to the author's other western adventure novel?

The overall approach is similar: both are boys' adventure reading with a brisk pace, event-driven plots, and clear good-versus-bad characters. They differ in setting: this book centers on soldiers and military life rather than adventure on the western plains. Readers who like one usually accept the other.

Is this book suitable for children?

It can be read, but parents or teachers should offer some guidance. The themes of courage and responsibility have positive value, while the book also carries the typed characterization and period attitudes common to nineteenth-century boys' reading; it is best discussed in shared reading rather than left entirely to independent reading.

What is the reading experience of the Project Gutenberg edition?

This is a free electronic text, easy to obtain and open on a computer, phone, or e-reader. It usually offers downloads in multiple formats and suits fragmented reading. Note that public-domain e-books generally lack modern annotations, so old-fashioned usages must be checked by the reader.

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About the author

Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909 Author

George Manville Fenn (1831–1909) was a British author whose biographical details remain limited in publicly available sources. The library holds 127 of his works, including The Little Skipper: A Son of a Sailor, The Silver Canyon: A Tale of the Western Plains, and Sappers and Miners: The Flood beneath the Sea. Most center on youthful growth and adventure, often set at sea, in mining districts, or on the western plains. He also wrote such biographical work as George Alfred Henty: The Story of an Active Life. His writing emphasizes plot momentum and the shaping of character in young readers, and is commonly classified as inspirational coming-of-age fiction, holding a place in the tradition of juvenile adventure novels.