That Lass O' Lowrie's

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 386K words
Chapters: 39

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.That Lass O' Lowrie's by Frances Hodgson BurnettAuthor: Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 8, 2008

Editor's review

That Lass O' Lowrie's is an early work by Burnett that deserves renewed attention from Chinese readers. Unlike the sweet tone of Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Secret Garden, this novel turns its gaze to the mining districts of northern England, building its character relationships around miners' families and class divisions, with a steadier, socially observant tone. Its readability comes from two sources: first, Burnett excels at portraying stubbornness and tenderness in her characters, and the heroine's unyielding spirit sustains the emotional tension of the whole book; second, the mining district's daily life and dialect-inflected dialogue give the work a gritty, grounded feel, letting readers glimpse nineteenth-century industrial life. This edition is a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg; the English original has a moderate reading threshold and serves as a supplementary read for understanding Burnett's creative lineage. It is best placed in comparative reading alongside the author's later works, which makes the shift in her subject matter and character interests clearer.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to know Burnett's writing beyond children's literature
Those interested in nineteenth-century English mining life and class writing
Readers with intermediate English who are willing to read a public-domain original
Students who need a minor classic for comparative reading in an English literature course

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting the warm fairy-tale style of The Secret Garden may find it uncongenial
Readers with weak English will struggle with the dialect and period language
Readers who prefer strong plot and fast pacing may lose patience midway

Reading tips

First read a guide to the character relationships to understand the family structures of the miners and the employers before starting the text
When encountering dialect dialogue, there is no need to look up every word; grasp the tone and attitude from context
Read the first half to become familiar with the characters, then record chapter by chapter how the class conflict and the heroine's attitude develop
After finishing, compare with Burnett's later works to see differences in her female figures and emotional narration

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 as an introduction to Burnett?

Not really as an introduction. Its subject matter is more realistic, its style differs greatly from The Secret Garden, and the English text contains dialect and period language. It is better to read Burnett's better-known works first and then return to this early novel, which makes it easier to appreciate its place in her creative lineage.

Can I read this edition if my English is not good?

Some foundation is needed. This is an English public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg, and the text involves mining-district dialect and nineteenth-century expressions. It is best to have intermediate or higher English reading ability, or to read with a translation and notes as support.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

It helps to understand the basic social structure of nineteenth-century English industrial districts, especially the dependent relationship between the mining class and employers. Lack of background knowledge need not prevent reading; simply pay attention to how differences in status between characters affect their dialogue and choices.

Comments

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About the author

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924 Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an author of English-language children's literature whose works are often categorized in Chinese contexts as inspirational coming-of-age stories. This library holds 49 of her works, including her best-known titles A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, as well as versions and school editions centering on Sara Crewe. Her writing usually places children at the center, telling stories of how they keep their dignity, draw on imagination, and grow through hardship or sudden change, in a warm and sympathetic tone. Public information is limited, so her biographical details are not elaborated here; yet the repeated publication and adaptation of these works show that her portraits of girls and boys have circulated widely and left a lasting influence on later children's coming-of-age narratives.