Round the Sofa, Volume 2

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 399K words
Chapters: 40

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.Round the Sofa; vol. 2 by Elizabeth Cleghorn GaskellAuthor: Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 13, 2018

Editor's review

Round the Sofa, Volume 2 is a work by Elizabeth Gaskell that links several narratives through the frame of "telling stories around the sofa," with the conversational intimacy common to nineteenth-century English fiction. Gaskell is known for fine social observation and a gentle, humane touch; this volume continues her strength in portraying human relationships in everyday scenes, reading like listening to an experienced storyteller slowly unfold a tale. The public-domain English e-book from Project Gutenberg costs nothing and is suitable as an introduction to Victorian novellas and short narratives. Its pleasure lies not in strong plot excitement but in the ease of the narration and the texture of dialogue. Note that as the second volume of a series, reading it alone may leave the frame characters' relationships somewhat unfamiliar; also, the public-domain text has no modern annotations, so details involving period background must be checked by the reader. It is advisable to read in volume order, or read Volume 1 first before entering this volume.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of English originals who enjoy Victorian English fiction
Slow readers who prefer everyday human portrayal over strong plot
Readers who want to encounter Gaskell's work through low-cost public-domain e-books

Not a good fit for

Readers who need a Chinese translation or bilingual edition
Fast-paced readers who prefer tight suspense and lack patience
Readers who expect a complete, self-contained storyline from a single volume

Reading tips

Read in volume order where possible, starting with Volume 1 before Volume 2, so the frame narrative is clearer.
Read one or two chapters a day, focusing on details of dialogue and social scenes.
Mark allusions to period background simply and look them up together after reading, avoiding frequent interruptions.

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 read Volume 2 directly without having read Volume 1?

You can, but you will lack knowledge of the frame narrative and the storytellers' relationships, and some transitions may seem abrupt. The book links stories through a sofa-side storytelling scene, so reading in volume order is advised; if you only have Volume 2, you can treat it as an independent story collection without insisting on continuity.

Is this a novel or a story collection?

It uses a frame narrative structure in which characters around the sofa take turns telling stories, placing it between a novel and a story collection. The individual stories are relatively independent yet linked through the storytelling scene, so it can be read straight through or in selected sections.

What is the reading experience of the public-domain e-book like?

The Gutenberg version is a free English public-domain text with plain formatting and no modern annotations or introduction, suitable for e-readers or tablets. Its advantage is easy access at no cost; its drawback is that historical background details must be checked by the reader, so keep a dictionary and background material at hand.

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About the author

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865 Author

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810–1865) was a British novelist of the Victorian era. The library holds 28 of her works, including Cranford, Wives and Daughters, North and South, Sylvia's Lovers, and The Life of Charlotte Brontë. Her writing focuses on daily life in English villages and industrial towns, with a delicate and often humorous touch, and she excels at portraying characters and circumstances across different social classes. Cranford depicts a small-town female community with gentle irony; North and South interweaves industrial conflict between employers and workers with personal feeling; and her biography of Charlotte Brontë is also an important biographical work. Public information is limited, so this note outlines her subjects and style based only on the works held here.