The Splendid Spur

Quiller-Couch, Arthur, 1863-1944Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 382K words
Chapters: 39

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 Splendid Spur by Arthur Quiller-CouchAuthor: Quiller-Couch, Arthur, 1863-1944,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Splendid Spur is a historical adventure novel by the English writer Arthur Quiller-Couch, set against the English Civil War and following a young protagonist's experiences and growth in a turbulent age. Quiller-Couch was a Cambridge professor, literary critic and novelist, and his writing combines a scholar's grounding in sources with a storyteller's narrative pacing; the book offers a fairly solid depiction of seventeenth-century English society, travel conditions and battle scenes. As a free eBook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to access and has a low barrier to entry, making it a suitable introduction to the tradition of the English historical novel and also usable as long-form reading material for English learners. Note that the language carries the syntax and vocabulary habits of late Victorian English, and the pacing is slower than that of modern popular fiction; readers should come to it expecting to enjoy a classic adventure story.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English historical adventure novels and want to broaden their classic reading
History enthusiasts interested in the English Civil War period
Advanced English learners seeking long-form original English material
Literature students studying late Victorian popular fiction and historical narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced modern genre fiction and lack patience
Beginners with weak English who cannot yet read nineteenth-century English long sentences smoothly
Readers expecting rigorous historical scholarship or an academic monograph

Reading tips

Learn the rough outline of the English Civil War first, then enter the text; characters' allegiances will be clearer
Keep pen and paper to note characters and factional relationships and avoid confusion in the middle
Read one or two chapters a day to maintain narrative continuity; avoid fragmented skipping
Mark unfamiliar historical vocabulary first and look it up later, to avoid constantly breaking the reading rhythm

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 needed to read this book?

This is the original English text, with long sentences and vocabulary typical of the late nineteenth century. It is recommended for readers with CET-6 or above reading ability, or those who can handle long sentences smoothly with a dictionary. Beginners may first read a simplified version or Chinese translation to understand the story, then return to the original.

Do I need to know about the English Civil War before reading?

Systematic study is not necessary, but understanding the basic background of the conflict between Charles I and Parliament will help in grasping characters' political positions and plot motivations. Reading a half-hour overview of the English Civil War before starting the novel will make the reading experience noticeably smoother.

Is this book suitable as English learning material?

It suits intermediate and advanced learners for long-form extensive reading, but not as a grammar or speaking textbook. The book contains many historical words and archaic expressions; focus on understanding the plot rather than scrutinizing every word. For intensive reading, select passages rather than the whole book.

Comments

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About the author

Quiller-Couch, Arthur, 1863-1944 Author

Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863–1944) was an English writer with a substantial body of work, of which 41 titles are held in this collection. His writing covers a wide range: essays on the craft of reading and writing such as On the Art of Reading and On the Art of Writing, and narrative works set against the sea, winter, and the fireside, including The Roll-Call of the Reef, I Saw Three Ships and Other Winter Tales, Two Sides of the Face: Midwinter Tales, and The Laird's Luck and Other Fireside Tales. He also retold fairy tales from the Old French in The Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tales from the Old French, and wrote From a Cornish Window, a book that reflects his attention to the Cornish landscape and local life. Public information is limited and biographical details are hard to verify, but the surviving works show a graceful, unhurried prose that combines the reflective habits of an essayist with a storyteller's pleasure in narrative, leaving its mark on English prose and short fiction.