The Lake Gun

Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 29K words
Chapters: 3

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 Lake Gun by James Fenimore CooperAuthor: Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 2000

Editor's review

The Lake Gun is a short work by Cooper from the Project Gutenberg free eBook collection. Cooper is known for his frontier adventure novels, and this piece continues his attention to North American natural scenery and a legendary atmosphere. Compact in length, it suits readers who want to experience the language texture and narrative rhythm of nineteenth-century American literature in limited time. The text is the original English version; reading it offers both the suspense of Cooper's interweaving of lake scenery and gunfire and a view of the structural features of early American short fiction. For readers studying American literary history, Cooper's creative trajectory, or nineteenth-century popular narrative, this is a lightweight but usable primary text. Owing to eBook formatting limits, notes and introductions may be limited; reading alongside reliable Cooper scholarship is advisable. As a public-domain electronic text, its value lies in availability and presentation of the original rather than the convenience of modern editorial processing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early American literature and Cooper's works
English learners who want to practice close reading with an original English short story
Students who need a public-domain text for literary history assignments or reference checks
General readers who prefer short suspense and a natural legendary atmosphere

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping to read Cooper's long masterpiece The Leatherstocking Tales
Beginners who need detailed notes, introductions, and a Chinese translation
Readers impatient with nineteenth-century English narrative pacing

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp plot and atmosphere, then revisit the scenic descriptions in key scenes.
When encountering unfamiliar words, first guess from context, then look them up together after finishing the passage.
Read alongside brief background material on Cooper's life and American frontier literature.
If used for classroom discussion, mark passages on narrative perspective and suspense setup.

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 long or short?

According to the Project Gutenberg entry, this is a short work by Cooper, relatively compact and suitable for reading in one sitting or over two or three sessions; it should not be approached with the expectations of a novel.

Is the text the original English? What English level is needed?

The eBook is in original English. Intermediate or higher English reading ability is recommended, enough to handle long sentences and older expressions in nineteenth-century literature; beginners may use a dictionary or bilingual materials for support.

What are the features of the Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free public-domain electronic texts, emphasizing presentation of the original and availability, usually without modern scholarly notes or introductions. If background explanation is needed while reading, consult Cooper scholarship separately.

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About the author

Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851 Author

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was an American novelist, with 47 works held in this collection. He is best known for the Leatherstocking Tales, among which The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is the most widely read; the series also includes The Pioneers, The Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer, all centered on frontier and wilderness life. Cooper's fiction often draws on the North American frontier, the sea, and historical events, with intricate plots and vivid characters, and it has had a lasting influence on later American adventure and frontier novels. Some of his works are classified here under inspirational growth. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted, and this introduction focuses on his subjects, style, and influence.