The Buried Temple

Maeterlinck, Maurice, 1862-1949Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 282K words
Chapters: 29

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 Buried Temple by Maurice MaeterlinckAuthor: Maeterlinck, Maurice, 1862-1949,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Nov 4, 2006

Editor's review

Maeterlinck is a key figure of Belgian Symbolist literature, and The Buried Temple continues his philosophical reflection on life, fate and the inner world in a quiet, suggestive style. The book is short, yet it asks the reader to read slowly and sense the layers of symbol and metaphor, making it a good entry point to Symbolist prose and philosophical essays. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to access and reread, and suitable as supplementary material in comparative literature or foreign literature courses. Readers need not rush toward plot; instead they should notice how the author uses images to pursue questions about the inner life. Those used to fast-paced narrative may find it slow, but those willing to enter its context can gain a quiet, reflective experience. Overall, it is a short work best read closely in a calm setting, with notes used to organize one’s thoughts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Symbolist literature and philosophical essays
Students who need supplementary reading for foreign literature courses
Readers who like slow reading and savoring metaphor in a text
Readers who want to use public-domain eBooks for close reading of short works

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Readers impatient with philosophical prose and symbolic technique
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are not used to the English original

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the overall atmosphere, then read section by section and mark recurring images.
Keep a sheet of paper to record correspondences between symbols and themes, then review it after finishing.
Read alongside other works by Maeterlinck to appreciate the continuity of his thought.
If the English original is difficult, learn the basic background of Symbolism before entering the text.

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 a novel or prose?

The materials indicate that it is a literary work by Maeterlinck with Symbolist and philosophical essay qualities, not a novel driven mainly by plot. It is better read for image, metaphor and thought than for a complete storyline.

How difficult is the English original?

Maeterlinck’s writing is quiet and abstract, with much symbolic expression; for English readers the difficulty lies mainly in understanding metaphor rather than vocabulary. It is advisable to learn the background of Symbolism first, or to read slowly in sections and organize thoughts with notes.

Why recommend reading the electronic edition?

The book comes from Project Gutenberg as a free public-domain eBook, easy to access and reread at any time. A short philosophical text suits close reading in sections on electronic devices and is convenient for annotation and excerpting.

Comments

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About the author

Maeterlinck, Maurice, 1862-1949 Author

Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) was a Belgian writer whose thirty works are held in this collection. His writing spans drama, essays and nature writing, with representative works including The Blue Bird, The Treasure of the Humble and The Life of the Bee. The Blue Bird, a fairy play in six acts, follows children through a dreamlike search for the bird that symbolizes happiness, blending light imagination with deep allegory; The Life of the Bee begins with close observation of the hive and interweaves natural description with reflection on the order of life. His prose is restrained and quiet, often symbolic, probing fate, happiness and death through everyday detail. The collection classifies his work under inspirational growth, fitting the life questions these writings raise. Public information on his biography is limited, so no speculation is offered here.