The Unknown

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 19K words
Chapters: 2

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 Unknown by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 1, 2004

Editor's review

"The Unknown" is one of Jacobs's short stories, continuing his habit of opening with an everyday scene and closing with misunderstanding and reversal. The title hints that the story revolves around the unknown and the unexpected, and within its limited length readers can appreciate the author's control of suspense and pacing. As a public-domain English text from Project Gutenberg, it preserves the language of its period, making it both light, entertaining short reading and a small sample for analyzing the structure of the British short story. While reading, pay attention to how the opening plants questions and how the ending resolves them, and notice Jacobs's technique for creating tension beyond humor. Suitable for a commute or bedtime read, and for writing enthusiasts dissecting the setup, development, turn, and resolution of a short story.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-literature readers who prefer short-form suspense and light satire
Office workers who want to read public-domain English short stories in fragmented time
Writing enthusiasts using it as a sample for dissecting short-story structure
Readers with a systematic interest in Jacobs's works

Not a good fit for

Readers who need full-length narrative and deep character development
Beginner readers with limited English vocabulary who rely on Chinese translations
Readers completely unfamiliar with old-fashioned English expression and its period context

Reading tips

On the first pass, follow only the plot; on the second, mark the sentences and paragraphs where the author plants suspense
After reading, retell the reversal in three to five sentences to test your grasp of the structure
Read it alongside other Jacobs short stories and compare how the ratio of humor to suspense changes
When encountering period expressions, first guess from context, then verify them all at once to keep reading fluid

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 work suitable for English beginners?

Not very suitable for absolute beginners or early-stage readers. The text is in the original English and carries late-19th- and early-20th-century habits of expression, so its vocabulary and sentence patterns pose a certain threshold for beginners. Readers with intermediate or higher reading ability who are willing to look up words will find it easier to get into.

About how long is the story?

The materials do not give a specific word count, but it is one of Jacobs's short stories and can usually be finished in one or two readings. It is best arranged at a short-story pace, without planning chapter-by-chapter progress as for a full-length novel.

Where can I read this book?

This book is released by Project Gutenberg as a free public-domain e-book, and the original English text can be obtained from the project's public resources. For specific download formats and pages, refer to the Project Gutenberg website.

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.