Sprotje's Later Life

Margo Sybranda Everdina Scharten-AntinkProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 151K words
Chapters: 16

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.Sprotje's verder leven by M. Scharten-AntinkAuthor: Scharten-Antink, M. (Margo Sybranda Everdina), 1868-1957,Language: Dutch, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Dec 29, 2013

Editor's review

Sprotje's verder leven is a sequel novel by the Dutch author Scharten-Antink centering on the girl Sprotje, with the original Dutch text released free by Project Gutenberg. The work continues the previous book's delicate observation of childhood and adolescent everyday experience; its tone is gentle, focusing on family relationships, school life, and emotional changes during growing up rather than relying on strong plot conflicts. Its value lies in showing how a Dutch writer portrays an ordinary child's inner world through plain narration, and it also helps readers understand the landscape of early twentieth-century Dutch children's literature. As a public-domain electronic text, it has no modern introduction or notes, so readers must enter the work's context on their own. It suits language learners as Dutch extensive reading material and readers interested in European children's literature for slow appreciation, but it should not be expected to offer a tight, thrilling story.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Language learners with Dutch basics looking for extensive reading material
Readers interested in European children's literature and coming-of-age themes
Readers who enjoy plain everyday narration and do not seek strong plots

Not a good fit for

Readers with no Dutch who need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer suspense or fast-paced plots
Beginners who need modern notes and introductions

Reading tips

First learn the basic setup of Sprotje in the previous book, then read this sequel.
Use it as Dutch extensive reading material, reading a short section daily and noting new words.
Pay attention to details of family and school scenes to feel the rhythm of the coming-of-age narrative.

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 this without having read the previous book?

You can try, but this book follows Sprotje's later life; knowing the character relationships and basic setup from the previous book will make it easier to enter the plot and emotional thread. It is advisable to look up a summary of the previous book before starting.

Is this book suitable for learning Dutch?

It suits readers with some Dutch basics for extensive reading. The narration is plain and the length moderate, so it can serve as daily fixed-amount reading material; but the public-domain text has no modern notes, so you must look up new words and old-fashioned expressions yourself.

What is the story's pace like?

The work focuses on delicate depictions of everyday experience and characters' inner lives, not relying on strong plot conflicts, so the pace is relatively slow. It suits readers who like plain coming-of-age narratives; those expecting a tight, thrilling story may find it slow.

Comments

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About the author

Margo Sybranda Everdina Scharten-Antink Author · Dutch · 1868–1957

Margo Sybranda Everdina Scharten-Antink (1868–1957) was a Dutch writer and poet, born in Zutphen and died in Florence, Italy. She is best known for her novel Sprotje and its sequels; the library holds three related works—Sprotje, Sprotje heeft een dienst, and Sprotje's verder leven—all centered on this character, with delicate, affectionate observation of everyday life. In 1902 she married the writer Carel Scharten, after which they often wrote books together, developing a distinctive collaborative method. In 1928 she won a bronze medal in the Olympic art competitions for The Fool of Maremna, which reflects the attention her literary work received at the time. Her writing is noted for character portrayal and themes of family and growing up, in a plain and natural style. More details of her life and work are limited in publicly available sources and await further verification.