The Weaker Vessel

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 22K words
Chapters: 3

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 Weaker Vessel 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

Jacobs is known for nautical and urban humorous short stories, and The Weaker Vessel continues his brisk, satirical tone, centering on family relationships and gender roles and often using reversals and misunderstandings for comic effect. This is a public-domain electronic text, short in length, suitable as an introductory sample of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British short fiction. Readers may note the narrative pacing and the comic wit in dialogue, or compare it with Jacobs's urban writing beyond his sea-themed works. Because it is an English original released by Project Gutenberg, the language carries the flavor of its era; do not get stuck on individual slang terms—grasping the plot and character relationships is enough. It suits reading one piece in fragmented time or analyzing its narrative technique from a research perspective.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy classic British short stories and humorous satire
Literature lovers who want a short introduction to late nineteenth-century British everyday life
English majors using it as public-domain short-story reading practice
Researchers studying Jacobs's non-nautical writing

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting long, continuous plots and complex character arcs
Beginning English readers who need modern plain-language translations
Readers impatient with period slang and old-fashioned humor

Reading tips

First read through to grasp the story's reversals, then go back over foreshadowing and misunderstandings in the dialogue.
After each piece, note the character relationships and sources of humor to build up Jacobs's comic techniques.
Compare with British short stories of the same period, contrasting domestic subjects with sea subjects.
Skip unfamiliar slang at first and look it up after finishing the whole piece, to avoid interrupting the 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

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is an English original ebook released by Project Gutenberg. The language is English, and it is a public-domain literary work; no official Chinese translation is provided with it. Readers with a good English foundation can read it directly; beginners are advised to use a dictionary or choose an annotated edition.

Is The Weaker Vessel a novel?

According to the materials, this is a short work by Jacobs, not long, suitable for reading in a short time. Its specific structure should follow the electronic text; readers can treat it as a single story rather than a long serial when planning their reading.

Do I need to know the author's background to read this book?

Not necessarily. Jacobs is known for humorous short stories, and his stories advance mainly through plot and dialogue, so you can enter directly. For deeper understanding, note his habits in nautical and urban subjects, which help explain the humor and character setup.

Comments

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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.