The Deserted City

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 12K words
Chapters: 2

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 Deserted City by Francis ShermanAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 8, 2013

Editor's review

Listed under American and Canadian Literature in Project Gutenberg and attributed to Francis Sherman, The Deserted City is closer, in length and classification, to a long poem or a short literary work than to a plot-driven novel. Centered on an abandoned city, it has a quiet, nostalgic tone and a symbolic, lyrical quality; it suits slow reading rather than plot-chasing. Its value lies in building, within a limited span, a sense of space and of time passing, letting readers feel the solitude and imagination the image of the empty city evokes. As a public-domain electronic text, it has no modern annotations, so some allusions and word choices require readers to look them up. Overall it suits readers interested in poetry, symbolism, or short North American literary pieces, as a quiet, brief reading experience; those expecting a full storyline or character dialogue may find it thin.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who enjoy poetry and lyrical short prose and are willing to read slowly and closely
Readers interested in North American literature and the image of the empty city
Writers or translation learners in need of short literary material for practice
People who want a brief, quiet read on a commute or before sleep

Not a good fit for

Novel readers expecting a full plot, character conflict, and dialogue
Beginners who need modern annotations and an introduction to understand the allusions
Information-oriented readers hoping to gain historical facts or social analysis from the book

Reading tips

Read through once for atmosphere, then go back paragraph by paragraph to note images and word choices.
Read it aloud; the rhythm and pauses of poetry are more evident when spoken.
After finishing, write a few sentences describing your imagined picture of the empty city and compare it with the text.
Mark unfamiliar allusions first and look them up together afterward, so as not to break the rhythm.

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 poetry or a novel?

Judging by its literary classification in Project Gutenberg and its length, it is closer to a long poem or a lyrical short work than to a novel with a complete plot. Read it mainly for imagery, rhythm, and mood rather than looking for complex relationships or story twists.

Why does the author credit differ from the description?

The author field in the entry says Project Gutenberg, while the description mentions the work is by Francis Sherman; this discrepancy comes from how the e-book metadata was entered. The author of the actual text should be taken as the name given in the description, and readers need not worry about the entry field.

Is the English original difficult to read?

As a literary work, it uses fairly formal wording and dense imagery; the sentences are not necessarily long but the meaning is subtle, making it moderately difficult. Basic English reading ability is enough to try it; read slowly and allow yourself not to understand everything on the first pass, capturing the overall atmosphere first.

It is short; is it worth reading on its own?

Its brevity is precisely its characteristic: it suits a complete short reading experience rather than a long-term project. You can finish it in one quiet session and then reread a few passages; you often gain more than from a single quick browse.

Comments

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About the author

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Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.