Paul Prescott's Charge

Horatio Alger, Jr.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 270K words
Chapters: 28

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.Paul Prescott's Charge by Jr. Horatio AlgerAuthor: Alger, Horatio, Jr., 1832-1899,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 15, 2006

Editor's review

This is a typical juvenile inspirational novel by Horatio Alger, centered on the growth and sense of responsibility of the protagonist Paul Prescott. Alger excelled at writing about how young men of humble origins change their circumstances through honesty, diligence, and perseverance, and this book follows the same vein, with brisk plotting, clear-cut good and evil characters, and the distinctive mark of nineteenth-century American popular literature. As a free public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, its value lies not only in the story itself but also in offering readers a window into the social imagination and youth reading of America's Gilded Age. It suits segmented reading during fragmented time such as commuting or before sleep, and also suits English learners as a moderately long original text for experiencing nineteenth-century English narrative language and values. When reading, pay attention to the logic of the protagonist's choices when facing difficulties, and to how the author conveys his moral positions through plot arrangement.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers who enjoy classic coming-of-age stories
Readers who want to understand nineteenth-century American popular literature
English learners who hope to improve their reading ability through original English texts
Parents and teachers interested in inspirational and character-education themes

Not a good fit for

Mature literary readers who prefer complex narrative structures and psychological depth
Readers who are sensitive to nineteenth-century moralizing and easily pulled out of the story

Reading tips

Start with the first few chapters to grasp the protagonist's situation and the core conflict, then proceed chapter by chapter.
When using it as English reading material, keep a notebook to record recurring period expressions.
After finishing, compare it with other juvenile novels by Alger to compare similarities and differences in his narrative formulas.

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 suitable for English beginners to read directly?

This book is in the original English, and its sentence structures carry nineteenth-century narrative habits. The vocabulary is not overly difficult, but the expressions differ from contemporary English. Readers with an intermediate English reading foundation will find it easier to get into; beginners can use a dictionary or a bilingual edition, focus first on understanding the plot, and need not scrutinize every word.

Why is this book a free e-book edition?

This book is released by Project Gutenberg, a platform dedicated to providing free e-books whose copyright has entered the public domain. The author, Horatio Alger Jr., died in 1899, and his works are in the public domain in the United States, so they can be legally obtained and read for free.

Do I need to know the author's background before reading?

Not necessarily. Alger is known for writing stories of young men who rise from nothing; knowing this helps in understanding the book's narrative orientation, but the story itself is relatively self-contained, and readers can smoothly understand the characters' motives and plot development even when reading directly.

Comments

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About the author

Horatio Alger, Jr. Author · American · 1832–1899

Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832–1899) was an American writer, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and died in Natick. He is known for his "rags-to-riches" novels, in which poor boys rise through diligence, integrity, and opportunity. His best-known work, Ragged Dick (1868), depicts the street life and struggles of a New York bootblack. The library holds 101 of his works, including Charlie Codman's Cruise, Dan, the Newsboy, and Bound to Rise; most were written for young readers, with brisk plots and an optimistic tone that typically rewards honest effort. These books deeply influenced nineteenth-century American "self-made" culture, making the "Alger hero" a popular symbol of striving. Public information on other details of his life is limited.