The Slim Princess

Ade, George, 1866-1944Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 125K words
Chapters: 13

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 Slim Princess by George AdeAuthor: Ade, George, 1866-1944,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Slim Princess is a light, humorous novel by American writer George Ade, released as a free eBook through Project Gutenberg. Ade is known for his satirical touch; the book centers on a slender princess and builds comic conflict out of court and social scenes, with witty prose and a brisk pace. As an early twentieth-century work of American popular fiction, it lets readers enjoy the humor and narrative style of the period while offering an easy entry point for observing the gender views and social etiquette of the time. The English original is short and moderately difficult, suitable as an introduction to English literature or as casual reading on a short commute. While reading, notice how the author uses exaggeration and irony to drive the plot, and what social commentary lies behind the jokes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers looking for light, humorous English fiction for leisure
Learners hoping to use a short English original as an introduction to Anglophone literature
Readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular fiction and humor
English enthusiasts who need reading material for commutes or fragmented time

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting serious, profound themes or complex narrative structures
Beginners still at the起步 stage of English reading who need annotated assistance
Readers who prefer contemporary subjects and contemporary narrative pacing

Reading tips

Read a chapter first to get a feel for the comic rhythm; don't look up every word—guess from context when you meet unfamiliar words.
Compare the exaggerated characters' words and actions with the social etiquette of the time to grasp what the satire is aimed at.
After finishing, summarize the main conflict in a few sentences to check whether you've grasped the core of the plot.
If time is limited, read in installments of one or two chapters to keep the experience relaxed.

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

What English level is this book suitable for?

The work is early twentieth-century popular fiction with uncomplicated sentence structures and fairly everyday vocabulary. Readers with reading skills around CET-4 can usually finish it with the help of context; if your vocabulary is smaller, consider reading with a dictionary or a bilingual edition.

Is this the complete novel or an excerpt?

According to the provided information, this is the Project Gutenberg eBook of George Ade's The Slim Princess, the complete original electronic text rather than an excerpt or adaptation. Specific edition details can be found in the notes before the main text.

Do I need to know American history to read this book?

No prior historical research is necessary. Most of the humor comes from exaggerated personalities and social scenes and can be understood directly. If you want a deeper sense of what the satire targets, you can briefly learn about early twentieth-century American social mores and popular reading after finishing.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Ade, George, 1866-1944 Author

George Ade (1866–1944) was an American writer known for humorous and satirical short pieces. His works include People You Know, Ade's Fables, More Fables, Fables in Slang, The Slim Princess, Knocking the Neighbors, and In Pastures New. He excelled at slang fables and urban sketches that portray the vanity and calculation of ordinary people, with playful language and brisk pacing, often using small characters' stories to reflect social manners. Fables in Slang, with its colloquial fables satirizing social life, is representative of his light but pointed style. Public information on his nationality, biographical details, and education is limited, so this note avoids speculation. The library holds eight of his works, indicating some presence of his humorous short fiction in Chinese-language book materials.