Roger Kyffin's Ward

William Henry Giles KingstonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 457K words
Chapters: 46

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. Roger Kyffin's Ward by William Henry Giles Kingston. Author: Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814-1880. Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Sep 6, 2012

Editor's review

This work comes from the hand of William Henry Giles Kingston, a noted nineteenth-century British writer of adventure stories for boys, and is a typical piece of Victorian juvenile literature. The novel revolves around guardianship and growing up; its plot carries a strong moralizing tone and the marks of its era, and its characterization leans toward exemplifying positive virtues. As a free Project Gutenberg ebook, its greatest value lies in providing a primary text for studying nineteenth-century English juvenile literature, colonial-era narrative, and the evolution of children's reading, as well as accessible historical material for English learners. Readers should not expect the pace of a modern genre novel but should treat it as a window onto the values and narrative methods of an older age. It suits readers interested in classical English juvenile literature, literary history, or extensive reading in English, and is also suitable for parents and children reading together to discuss differences in historical attitudes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature enthusiasts interested in nineteenth-century English juvenile adventure fiction
English learners who wish to use public-domain English originals for extensive reading practice
Readers studying the history of children's literature or Victorian values
Parents willing to discuss differences in old-era attitudes with their children

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern fast-paced suspense or fantasy stories
Beginners with weak English who find nineteenth-century English syntax difficult
Readers sensitive to didacticism and period prejudice

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters first to grasp the characters' relationships and the period setting, then decide on your reading pace
Note down unfamiliar nautical or period terms as you go and look them up together after finishing
Read alongside a brief history of nineteenth-century British children's literature to understand its moral narrative tradition
If using it for English study, read one or two chapters a day and retell the plot to practice summarizing

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?

Not really. The work was written in the nineteenth century, with long sentences, old-fashioned vocabulary, and references to seamanship and period background. It is better suited to readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability, or beginners can first read a Chinese translation to learn the plot and then read the English original for extensive reading.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free public-domain ebook; the text is presented as the original, making it easy to search and copy. It contains no modern annotations or introduction, so readers need to supply background material themselves; it suits readers with some capacity for self-study.

What background should I know before reading this book?

Knowing the tradition of nineteenth-century British juvenile adventure fiction, the expectations for young people's character at the time, and the popularity of maritime and overseas subjects will make it easier to understand the plot design and character motivation.

Comments

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About the author

William Henry Giles Kingston Author · British · 1814–1880

William Henry Giles Kingston (1814–1880) was a British author of adventure stories for young readers. Born in London, he spent part of his youth with his father in Porto, Portugal. He rose to fame in 1851 with Peter the Whaler and thereafter devoted himself to tales of the sea and exploration, writing more than a hundred books over his lifetime and also translating works by Jules Verne. His notable works include The Three Midshipmen, Captain Cook: His Life, Voyages, and Discoveries, and Great African Travellers: From Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley, most of them drawing on seafaring, exotic adventure, and the deeds of the British Navy. He excelled at linking the adventures of young protagonists with informative and moral content, in briskly paced stories rich in maritime atmosphere that were widely popular with young readers in the Victorian era. The collection here contains 133 of his works. Public information on his early education and specific experiences is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.