The Main Chance

Meredith NicholsonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 624K words
Chapters: 63

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 Main Chance by Meredith NicholsonAuthor: Nicholson, Meredith, 1866-1947,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 24, 2011

Editor's review

The Main Chance is an English novel by Meredith Nicholson, classified under American and Canadian literature and circulated free as an eBook through Project Gutenberg. Nicholson was active in the early twentieth-century American literary scene, and his work often engages with the business world and urban life, as this novel does. The title phrase "main chance" refers in English to the opportunity to secure one's greatest advantage, hinting that the story turns on characters' choices between opportunity and ambition; the plot advances largely through dialogue and shifts of scene, in a witty and somewhat satirical style. As a public-domain eBook, its value lies in offering readers a window onto early twentieth-century American social attitudes and the narrative methods of popular fiction, making it suitable as supplementary material in literary history courses or English reading practice. Readers need not expect strong suspense; instead they should attend to the social prejudices and period flavor in the characters' speech. Being a free Project Gutenberg text, it is easy to obtain and suits fragmented reading on a commute or before sleep, though one should be prepared for the unhurried pace of early English fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Students and teachers studying literature about the American business world
Those who wish to expand their English reading with public-domain eBooks
Collectors interested in Project Gutenberg public-domain texts

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong suspense or fast-paced plotting
Those still at a beginner level in English reading
Academic researchers who need modern annotations or introductions

Reading tips

Read the first chapter to grasp the character relationships and period background before deciding whether to read the whole book
Keep pen and paper handy to note the social attitudes reflected in dialogue for later reference
Read one or two chapters a day to avoid fatigue from long early-English sentences
Read alongside other American business-themed novels of the same period to appreciate shared traits and differences

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 the public domain, and where can I read it?

According to the information provided, the book was released by Project Gutenberg and is a free eBook available on its website. Project Gutenberg specializes in works whose copyright has entered the public domain, so readers may download and read it freely at no cost.

What does "main chance" in the title mean?

It is an English idiom literally meaning "the chief opportunity," usually referring to the chance to secure one's greatest advantage. In the novel's context it hints at characters' calculation and choices regarding career and profit, and understanding this layer of meaning helps grasp the book's theme.

Can someone with average English read this book?

This is an early twentieth-century English novel with rather long sentences and period-flavored vocabulary, making it more approachable for intermediate-level readers and above. If your vocabulary is limited, it is advisable to read with a dictionary or bilingual materials; otherwise it is easy to lose the thread in long sentences.

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About the author

Meredith Nicholson Author · American · 1866–1947

Meredith Nicholson (1866–1947) was an American author, political figure, and diplomat from Indiana. He is best known as a novelist who, together with Booth Tarkington and others, helped create a golden age of Indiana literature. His representative works include The House of a Thousand Candles, The Port of Missing Men, and A Hoosier Chronicle, all of which were national bestsellers. His fiction often blends mystery, social manners, and local life, with engaging plots and fluent prose that won him a wide readership. Beyond literature, he served as U.S. minister to Paraguay, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, achieving distinction in diplomacy as well. The library holds twelve of his works, including The Madness of May, Blacksheep! Blacksheep!, The Siege of the Seven Suitors, Lady Larkspur, and Otherwise Phyllis. Public information is limited, and further details of his life and full body of work remain to be studied.