The Two Destinies

Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 481K words
Chapters: 49

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 Two Destinies by Wilkie CollinsAuthor: Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 1999

Editor's review

The Two Destinies is a full-length novel by Wilkie Collins and a work of English literature. Collins was known for his plotting and suspense, and this book continues the Victorian novel's interest in social relations, the accidents of fate, and character psychology. For readers who want to see Collins's work beyond The Woman in White and The Moonstone, it offers another window onto his narrative technique and the ideas of his age. The free Project Gutenberg edition is convenient for reading on the go and for searching, and makes a useful supplementary title for a course of Victorian English fiction. When reading, pay attention to how relationships develop and to the foreshadowing of turns of fate, rather than rushing to finish.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Victorian English fiction and want to expand their reading of Collins
English literature students who need a supplementary text for Collins's body of work
Literature lovers who prefer suspenseful plots interwoven with their characters' fates
Readers with some experience of reading English originals who are looking for public-domain e-books

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced modern suspense and lack patience
Readers who struggle with English and accept only Chinese translations
Readers who want Collins's most famous major works rather than a lesser-known title

Reading tips

Start by learning about Collins's era and main works, then read this book, so as to place it within his body of work.
While reading, note the character relationships and key turning points; Victorian novels have many threads, and sorting them out makes the theme of fate easier to follow.
Read it alongside other Victorian novels to observe similarities and differences in how suspense and social issues are handled.
For reading the English original, first go through chapter summaries and then read key passages closely, to reduce the pressure of a long novel.

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 similar in style to The Woman in White?

Both are full-length novels by Collins and both give weight to plot development and the arrangement of characters' fates, but their subjects and narrative emphases differ. If you like the suspense of The Woman in White, you can read this book as a way to explore the author's other work, but do not expect an identical structure.

How difficult is the English?

It is a nineteenth-century English novel, with long sentences and period vocabulary, so it poses some challenge for non-native readers. Readers with university-level English reading ability who are used to classic novels can try it; beginners are advised to use an annotated edition or read it alongside a Chinese translation.

Is the e-book edition complete?

Project Gutenberg publishes public-domain electronic texts, usually the full text of the work. Different editions may vary in layout, paragraphing, and punctuation; when reading, judge by whether the chapters are complete and the meaning is clear, and check the specific edition information before quoting.

Is it suitable for a book club?

Yes. The character relationships and turns of fate in the book provide topics for discussion. A book club can assign chapters to different readers and discuss character motives, the role of chance events, and the ideas of the age; this makes it easier to keep going than reading it alone.

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About the author

Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889 Author

Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was a British novelist best known for his detective and suspense fiction. The library holds 44 of his works, including The Woman in White, The Moonstone, No Name, Armadale, The Law and the Lady and The Dead Secret. He was skilled at multiple-perspective narration and building suspense, and he addressed social issues such as identity, marriage and the law, with intricate plots and vivid characters. The Moonstone is often regarded as one of the pioneering works of modern detective fiction and has had a lasting influence on later mystery writing. It should be noted that the library's information on his nationality and life dates is limited, so this introduction relies mainly on his works and general public knowledge.