The Flying Mercury

Eleanor Marie IngramProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 134K words
Chapters: 14

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 Flying Mercury by Eleanor M. Ingram. Author: Ingram, Eleanor M. (Eleanor Marie), 1886-1921. Language: English. Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature. Release Date: Jun 19, 2009

Editor's review

The Flying Mercury is an English novel by Eleanor M. Ingram, belonging to the category of American and Canadian literature, newly available after Project Gutenberg made it freely available as an e-book. For readers unfamiliar with the author, its value lies first in its exemplary quality: it offers a window into the narrative rhythm, character setup, and emotional expression of early twentieth-century American popular fiction. The word "Mercury" in the title may point both to the mythological figure and to the emerging culture of flight and speed of the time; readers may note how the author weaves this image into the plot. As a public-domain e-book, it is extremely accessible and serves as a lightweight entry point for reading English originals. One caveat: this is a work from a distant era, and its language habits and plot development differ from contemporary fiction; readers may do better to treat it as a piece of literary history rather than expect the strong genre thrills of modern fiction. It suits segmented reading during commutes, before sleep, or for language learning.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Language learners seeking a low-cost introduction to English public-domain fiction
Readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular literature
Readers who need lightweight English reading to fill spare moments
Digital humanities enthusiasts studying the Project Gutenberg catalogue

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking fast-paced contemporary plots and strong suspense
Readers unaccustomed to late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century English expression
Beginners hoping for detailed annotations or an introduction

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to gauge whether the language difficulty and narrative pace suit you, then decide between intensive and extensive reading.
Keep a vocabulary notebook for recurring period expressions and forms of address to aid later comprehension.
If using it for language learning, retell the plot in two or three sentences after each chapter to check your understanding.
Read it alongside other public-domain novels of the same period to observe common conventions of popular fiction.

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 in Chinese or English? How difficult is it to read?

The original is in English, and Project Gutenberg provides an English e-book edition. The language is early twentieth-century written English, with sentence structures and vocabulary that differ from contemporary English, but it is not overly difficult overall; readers with intermediate English reading ability can finish it with the help of a dictionary.

What is special about the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was the first project to offer free e-books, and this edition is a public-domain electronic text that can be obtained and read free of charge. It typically contains no modern publisher's annotations, introduction, or translator's notes; readers get a relatively plain original text.

Do I need to know the author's background before reading?

Not necessarily. Information on the author Eleanor M. Ingram is not extensive in the book, and readers can start directly with the text. For deeper understanding, they can consult public literary history materials afterward and view the work in the context of its era.

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About the author

Eleanor Marie Ingram Author · American · 1886–1921

Eleanor Marie Ingram (1886–1921) was an American novelist, born in New York and never married. She is known for her automobile-themed fiction, including The Flying Mercury and From the Car Behind; her works often involve adventure and personal growth and are commonly classified as inspirational coming-of-age stories. The Thing from the Lake, published posthumously, is regarded as an early precursor of Cthulhu-style horror and was praised by Lovecraft. Five of her works are held in the collection, among them The Game and the Candle and A Man's Hearth. Public information is limited, and details of her life are largely unknown; scholarly attention focuses mainly on her automobile novels and on the place of The Thing from the Lake in the genealogy of horror literature.