Queechy, Volume I

Warner, Susan, 1819-1885Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 784K words
Chapters: 79

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.Queechy, Volume I by Susan WarnerAuthor: Warner, Susan, 1819-1885,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jun 26, 2006

Editor's review

Queechy, Volume I is another domestic coming-of-age novel by Susan Warner, classified by Project Gutenberg as juvenile literature. As the opening volume, it focuses on establishing the characters' backgrounds, rural life, and family relationships; the pacing is unhurried and the detail rich, with the moral concern and emotional depiction typical of nineteenth-century American popular fiction. Its value lies in showing the narrative methods and value education of juvenile reading matter of the time, and in offering a text for understanding the growth paths of Warner's female characters. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy for researchers to search and cite, and suits readers with patience for classic domestic stories. Note that this volume is only the first part of the whole work and the plot is not yet resolved, so readers should be prepared to continue; its didactic tone and slow exposition should be understood in the context of its era rather than judged by the standards of modern genre fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers of nineteenth-century American juvenile literature
Readers of classic fiction who can accept slow exposition
Readers studying Warner's work and female coming-of-age narratives
Teachers and students needing a public-domain English text for textual analysis

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping to finish the whole story in one volume
Readers who prefer tight plotting and strong conflict
Readers impatient with morally didactic narration

Reading tips

First confirm that this is the first volume of a multi-volume work and prepare to continue with later volumes.
While reading, keep track of character relationships and family backgrounds so as not to lose the thread amid the slow exposition.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century American rural life and juvenile reading matter.
Readers of the original English can first read through for the gist of each chapter, then return to close-read the dialogue.

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 get the complete story from Volume I alone?

No. Volume I mainly serves to introduce characters and set the scene; the main conflicts and the direction of the characters' fates are not yet fully developed. For a complete reading experience, be prepared to continue with later volumes, or first understand the structure of the whole work before deciding on a reading plan.

Why is this book classified as juvenile literature?

Project Gutenberg's classification lists it in the juvenile literature category, which relates to the work's centering on young characters coming of age and its emphasis on character education and family values. Its narrative density and period vocabulary are not light, however, and adult readers can equally find线索 on social history and gender ideas in it.

Which should I read first, this or The Wide, Wide World?

The two books have independent characters and plots, and there is no required order. To first get to know Warner's most representative domestic coming-of-age narrative, you might start with The Wide, Wide World; if you are more interested in works under the juvenile literature classification, you might first read Volume I of this book and then expand according to interest.

Comments

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About the author

Warner, Susan, 1819-1885 Author

Susan Warner (1819-1885) was a nineteenth-century American author known for inspirational coming-of-age fiction; her name and dates of birth and death appear in library catalog records. Public information about her is limited, and details of her life and education are difficult to establish with certainty, yet the library holds thirty-one of her works, which indicates a prolific and steady writing career. The Wide, Wide World is her best-known work, alongside Queechy, Diana, Nobody, Daisy, The End of a Coil, and Hills of the Shatemuc. Her fiction generally centers on young people's growth, family life, and moral trials, with a gentle and detailed style that emphasizes inner change and the formation of character. She found readers in the popular fiction market of her time and contributed to the later tradition of the coming-of-age novel.