The Great Valley

Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 268K words
Chapters: 27

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 Great Valley by Edgar Lee MastersAuthor: Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 25, 2018

Editor's review

The Great Valley is a poetry collection by Edgar Lee Masters. Unlike the epitaph monologues for which he is known in Spoon River Anthology, this book leans more toward the poet's meditations on place, history, and personal memory. Masters excels at portraying Midwestern American life in a plain, slightly bleak style, and the poems often move between narrative and lyric, offering close descriptions of nature alongside recollections of a bygone era and its people. As a public-domain ebook, it serves as a supplementary reader for understanding early twentieth-century American poetry and for readers interested in the full scope of Masters's work. Reading it alongside Spoon River Anthology is worthwhile, to see how the poet shifts from character portraits to a broader view of geography and time. Because the original is in English and lacks modern annotations, non-native readers may need a dictionary or a bilingual edition.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in American poetry history who want to broaden their reading
Readers who have read Spoon River Anthology and want to explore other works by Masters
Students and researchers studying early twentieth-century American regional literature
Readers accustomed to English public-domain books who can handle unannotated originals

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer tightly plotted fiction and lack patience for poetry
Beginners with limited English reading ability who need detailed annotations
Newcomers seeking a systematic introduction to the author's life and works

Reading tips

Read through once to get the overall tone, then pick the poems that struck you most and read them closely for imagery and rhythm.
Read it alongside Spoon River Anthology and note how Masters shifts from character monologue to regional lyric.
Keep an English-Chinese dictionary or a parallel translation on hand for unfamiliar place names and historical references.
Read just three to five poems at a time, allowing space to absorb the sense of place and nostalgia rather than rushing through.

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

How is this book related to Spoon River Anthology?

Both are poetry collections by Masters, but Spoon River Anthology is known for its epitaph monologues by fictional small-town characters, while The Great Valley leans more toward lyrical meditations on place, history, and personal memory. The two can be read in comparison to observe changes in the poet's scope, but this book is not a sequel to Spoon River Anthology.

Can I read this book if my English isn't strong?

This is an English original with no modern annotations, so readers with weak English will struggle. A dictionary, a parallel translation, or a warm-up with a Chinese anthology of American poetry is recommended before attempting the original; otherwise the language barrier may disrupt the reading rhythm.

Does this edition include an introduction or annotations?

According to available information, this is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, providing mainly the original text with no modern introduction or detailed annotations. Readers who need background can consult reference works or academic materials on American literary history.

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About the author

Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950 Author

Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950) was an American poet best known for Spoon River Anthology, a collection of verse epitaphs in which the dead of a small town speak for themselves. In spare, unsentimental lines, these poems expose the secrets, disappointments, and ironies hidden beneath ordinary lives, breaking with the solemn tone of traditional elegy and leaving a clear mark on the subjects and voice of modern American poetry. The library holds nine of his works, including, besides Spoon River Anthology, The Open Sea, The Great Valley, Starved Rock, Mitch Miller, Songs and Satires, Toward the Gulf, and Domesday Book. These touch on nature and regional landscape, the historical memory of the American Midwest, and observations of social life. Masters is generally noted for his realistic portraits of people and places, written in plain language with an ironic edge. Public information about his life and education is limited, so no details are given here.