The Bravo: A Tale cover

The Bravo: A Tale

Rating 3.6
Word count
794K words
Chapters
80

Tags

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.The Bravo: A Tale by James Fenimore CooperAuthor: Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 1, 2003

Editor's review

The Bravo: A Tale is Cooper's attempt at a European subject outside the Leatherstocking Tales, set in Venice and built around intrigue and undercurrents beneath the surface of republican government. Cooper handles political conspiracy and individual fate with the craft of an adventure novelist; the plot moves with a distinctly romantic, legendary quality, and his rendering of Venice's urban space and social hierarchy is vividly pictorial. As a public-domain ebook, it serves best as a sample for understanding how a nineteenth-century American writer depicted Europe and used an exotic setting to discuss liberty and tyranny. While reading, watch how Cooper handles the gray zone between "republic" and "tyranny," and his habitual use of moral contrast in characterization. Because the original is in English and dates from the nineteenth century, its rhythm and syntax pose some difficulty for contemporary readers; reading alongside background notes or an introduction is advised.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century British and American adventure fiction and historical romance
  • Researchers interested in European subjects in American literature
  • Students who want to understand the imagination of the Venetian republic through fiction
  • Readers accustomed to English public-domain books who can accept classical syntax

Not a good fit for

  • Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary suspense or short narratives
  • Beginners with weak English reading skills who need a Chinese parallel text
  • Readers impatient with political intrigue and classical romance

Reading tips

  1. Read a brief introduction to Cooper's life and his European-themed works before starting the text.
  2. After each chapter, summarize the shift in power relations in one sentence to help clarify the threads of intrigue.
  3. Look up Venetian place names and institutional terms as you go, so unfamiliar background does not interrupt you.
  4. Read it alongside The Last of the Mohicans to observe differences in Cooper's subjects and methods.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80

FAQ

Is this book one of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales?
No. The Bravo: A Tale is a romance set in Europe, different in subject and geography from the Leatherstocking Tales, whose stage is the North American frontier; it need not be read in series order.
How difficult is the English original?
It was written in the nineteenth century, with long sentences, a slow narrative pace, and references to Venetian history and institutions. Readers with university-level English who are willing to look things up can read it through; those who want only the plot can read chapter summaries first and then selected key passages.
What is special about this edition?
This is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, a free electronic text convenient for searching and citation. It contains no modern editorial notes or introduction, so readers must supply background material themselves.

Comments

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About the author

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was an American novelist, with 47 works held in this collection. He is best known for the Leatherstocking Tales, among which The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is the most widely read; the series also includes The Pioneers, The Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer, all centered on frontier and wilderness life. Cooper's fiction often draws on the North American frontier, the sea, and historical events, with intricate plots and vivid characters, and it has had a lasting influence on later American adventure and frontier novels. Some of his works are classified here under inspirational growth. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted, and this introduction focuses on his subjects, style, and influence.

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