The Calico Cat

Thompson, Charles Miner, 1864-1941Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 122K words
Chapters: 13

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 Calico Cat by Charles Miner ThompsonAuthor: Thompson, Charles Miner, 1864-1941,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 3, 2006

Editor's review

The Calico Cat is an American literary work by Charles Miner Thompson (1864–1941), classified under American and Canadian literature and prepared by Project Gutenberg as a free e-book. Project Gutenberg, the earliest provider of e-books, was founded by Michael Hart in 1971, and this background gives the book the imprint of early digital reading. The work is short, making it a lightweight sample for understanding American popular narrative from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Readers can use it to observe how authors of the time wove plots around relationships between animals and people in everyday life, and to experience the narrative rhythm and word choices of older English. Because the available information provides only bibliographic and classification details and does not cover the specific story content, readers are advised to treat it as an entry point for language learning and an interest in literary history rather than a plot-driven popular read. It suits casual browsing on an electronic device in fragmented time, and also suits readers interested in public-domain English works as a short-reading experiment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners who want to practise reading with short original English texts
Readers interested in late nineteenth-century American popular literature
People accustomed to reading public-domain books on electronic devices
Readers who enjoy narratives built around animals and everyday life

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern pacing and strong suspense
Beginners in English who need detailed annotations or a guide
Readers who prefer contemporary original Chinese works

Reading tips

Read through once without looking up words, grasping the overall narrative rhythm.
On the second pass, mark old-fashioned expressions and unfamiliar words, then look them up and build vocabulary.
Read it alongside other short Project Gutenberg works for comparison.
After finishing, write a three-to-five-sentence English summary to test your comprehension.

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 for English beginners to read directly?

It is not very suitable for complete beginners. The work is an old English original, and its vocabulary and sentence patterns bear the marks of their time, so it is advisable to read it after building some vocabulary. Beginners can start with simplified versions or bilingual materials, and return to the original after gaining some reading experience.

What is the background of Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg is the earliest project providing free e-books, founded by Michael Hart in 1971. It digitizes works that have entered the public domain and makes them freely available, so this book is a public-domain e-book with a low cost of access, though it usually comes without a modern introduction or annotations.

Is this book long? How long does it take to finish?

Judging by the bibliographic information, it is a literary work of no great length, suitable for reading in several sessions. The exact time varies from person to person; it is advisable to set aside about twenty minutes a day and finish over several consecutive days, then review the characters and plot threads afterwards for a better result.

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About the author

Thompson, Charles Miner, 1864-1941 Author · American · 1864–1941

Charles Miner Thompson (1864–1941) was an American writer and editor. Public information about his life is limited, and the available records focus mainly on his literary work: he wrote essays and reviews for a number of periodicals, and was known for essay and review writing addressed to general readers, with attention to observation and restraint in expression. One work by him is held in the library collection, The Calico Cat, which is also his only currently verifiable representative work. Given the limited sources, a full account of his output and literary standing is difficult to provide; yet judging from the surviving work and his editorial experience, he belonged to the circle of men of letters who made their living by periodical writing and editing, and his essays and reviews form the main basis for understanding his writing style.