The Fallen Leaves cover

The Fallen Leaves

Rating 3.0
Word count
732K words
Chapters
74

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 Fallen Leaves by Wilkie CollinsAuthor: Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 1, 2005

Editor's review

The Fallen Leaves is a novel by Wilkie Collins and belongs to Victorian English literature. Collins is known for his plotting and characterization, and this book continues his careful depiction of human nature and circumstance. As a free eBook from Project Gutenberg, its most notable value lies in its open, easily accessible edition: readers can read it on electronic devices at any time, and it is also suitable for training in reading English originals or for research on Victorian fiction. Note that this is the original English text, and the Gutenberg edition focuses on textual readability, without modern annotations or an introduction, so it is better suited to readers with some foundation in English reading who are willing to look up background information themselves. When reading, one might treat it as supplementary reading for understanding Collins's novelistic style and read it alongside representative works such as The Woman in White and The Moonstone to appreciate his narrative interest and the atmosphere of the period.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • English-language readers who enjoy Victorian British fiction and want to broaden their reading of Collins's works
  • English majors or self-learners who need English originals as extensive reading and language-training material
  • Literature enthusiasts studying Collins's narrative and characterization who wish to use the text for close reading
  • General readers who habitually use ebooks and hope to obtain free public-domain English novels

Not a good fit for

  • Beginning English readers who want a Chinese translation or word-by-word annotation support
  • Scholarly readers who need modern scholarly introductions, detailed background research, and annotated editions
  • Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary fiction and have limited patience for Victorian prose style

Reading tips

  1. Read through one chapter first to gauge the language difficulty, then decide whether to read intensively or extensively, so as to avoid giving up midway
  2. Keep paper or a digital notebook handy and note character relationships and plot threads as you go for easy review
  3. When encountering unfamiliar period terms, skip them first and look them up after finishing the chapter to keep the reading rhythm
  4. Read alongside Collins's representative works and note similarities and differences in plotting and characterization

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

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese version or the original English text?
According to the information, this book is an English ebook released by Project Gutenberg, in English, and is a public-domain English literary work, not a Chinese translation. Readers need a certain level of English reading ability.
Does the Gutenberg edition include annotations or an introduction?
The information only states that it is a free ebook from Project Gutenberg and does not mention modern annotations, a scholarly introduction, or detailed background research. If you need an annotated edition, it is advisable to find an academic edition for comparison.
Can I read this directly without having read other works by Collins?
Yes. This book is a standalone novel and does not depend on previous works. However, Collins's works carry the narrative habits of Victorian fiction; first-time readers may read a few pages first to get used to the style, then decide on their reading pace.

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About the author

Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was a British novelist best known for his detective and suspense fiction. The library holds 44 of his works, including The Woman in White, The Moonstone, No Name, Armadale, The Law and the Lady and The Dead Secret. He was skilled at multiple-perspective narration and building suspense, and he addressed social issues such as identity, marriage and the law, with intricate plots and vivid characters. The Moonstone is often regarded as one of the pioneering works of modern detective fiction and has had a lasting influence on later mystery writing. It should be noted that the library's information on his nationality and life dates is limited, so this introduction relies mainly on his works and general public knowledge.

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