The Chase of the Ruby

Marsh, Richard, 1857-1915Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9
Word count
227K words
Chapters
23

Tags

English Originals Mystery and Suspense Suspense ThrillerFate and FortuneTreasure Hunt MysteryNight PursuitHuman NatureComplex HumanityCriminal PsychologyTense AtmospherePopular NarrativeBritish Fiction

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 Chase of the Ruby by Richard MarshAuthor: Marsh, Richard, 1857-1915,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 27, 2012

Editor's review

The Chase of the Ruby is an English novel by Richard Marsh (1857–1915). As a free Project Gutenberg eBook, it gives readers barrier-free access to late Victorian and Edwardian popular narrative. Judging from the title and the author's characteristic style, the book revolves around the pursuit of a ruby, with elements of treasure hunting, suspense, and light comedy; the plot advances through object clues and characters' maneuvering. Its value lies not in a profound intellectual system but in offering a sample of the popular reading tastes of its time: tight plotting, strong chapter-by-chapter momentum, and relatively clear-cut good and evil characters. For readers who want to practice reading English long-form fiction without being slowed down by obscure allusions, this kind of public-domain text is a friendly entry point. It suits segmented reading on commutes or before bed, and can also serve as supplementary material in English literature courses discussing popular fiction and serial publication culture. Note that this is an unannotated public-domain English original; proper nouns and period usage require readers to look them up themselves.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read one or two chapters first to gauge the language difficulty, then set a daily page plan
  2. Keep a vocabulary notebook and record only recurring key words to avoid slowing down by looking up every word
  3. Make a separate list of the ruby-chase clues to help track character motives and plot turns
  4. After finishing, compare with other popular novels of the same period to consider the shared formulas of such works

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

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English? This is an English public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg. The original is in English, with no Chinese translation or modern annotations. It suits readers with some English reading foundation; beginners can read it with a dictionary or in a bilingual format.
There is no introduction—how can I tell whether the content suits my taste? Read the first one or two chapters to observe the narrative pace and language style; this book belongs to the suspense popular-fiction type the author excelled at, revolving around the pursuit of a ruby. If you like plot-driven old-style English novels with strong chapter momentum, you can continue; if you prefer slow-paced literary description, it may not be suitable.
What should I pay attention to when reading a public-domain eBook? Public-domain texts have not been modern-edited or proofread, so there may be spelling variants, old-style punctuation, or layout differences. It is advisable to use reading software that supports dictionary lookup and notes; when something reads awkwardly, first judge from context and do not let individual words or sentences stall your overall progress.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Marsh, Richard, 1857-1915 Author

Richard Marsh (1857-1915) was a British novelist of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, known for intricately plotted tales of mystery and suspense. Twenty-one of his works are held here, the best known being The Beetle: A Mystery, which belongs to the popular "monster novel" tradition of its day and echoes contemporary Gothic horror; A Second Coming draws on religious and apocalyptic themes. Other titles, such as Amusement Only, A Duel, Between the Dark and the Daylight, Miss Arnott's Marriage, Tom Ossington's Ghost and A Woman Perfected, range across the supernatural, crime, marriage and suspenseful adventure. Public information is limited and biographical details remain obscure, but his work shows a gift for atmosphere and startling twists, making him a name worth noting in the study of late Victorian popular fiction and horror literature.