Time In the Round

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 4

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.Time In the Round by Fritz LeiberAuthor: Leiber, Fritz, 1910-1992,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 6, 2016

Editor's review

Time In the Round is a short work by Fritz Leiber, released as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Leiber is known for speculative, atmospherically distinctive fantasy and science fiction, and this piece likewise has the appeal of making abstract concepts concrete: the "round" in the title hints at a setting of cycles, loops, or shifts of perspective, and readers may watch for how the time structure is arranged within the plot. The work is not long and serves well as an introductory sample of mid-twentieth-century American genre fiction, as well as a text for discussing techniques of time narrative. While reading, note shifts in narrative perspective and displacements in the time line; after finishing, look back at the opening, where structural echoes are often found. Bear in mind that this is early genre literature, with characterization and ideas bearing the marks of its time; it is best appreciated from the standpoint of literary history and narrative technique.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Science fiction and fantasy readers wanting to know Leiber's style in shorter fiction
Readers interested in time loops and nonlinear narrative techniques
Literary enthusiasts studying mid-twentieth-century American genre fiction
Intermediate and advanced learners seeking short fiction for English extensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer lengthy world-building and detailed settings
Readers of popular fiction expecting a modern pace and strong plot momentum
Those with weak English reading skills unaccustomed to the feel of early genre literature

Reading tips

Read through the first time, noting time clues and perspective shifts without rushing to work out all the logic.
After finishing, look back at the opening paragraphs against the ending to appreciate the structural echoes and foreshadowing.
Make a timeline note, arranging events separately in narrative order and story order.
If reading the English original, skip archaic expressions at first and look up key words after finishing the whole.

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 science fiction or fantasy?

Leiber's work often crosses science fiction and fantasy, and the boundary is not strict. This piece unfolds through a setting of time and cycles and is closer to speculative fantasy. Readers need not classify it first; simply follow how the time structure drives the plot and the characters' situations.

Is the length suitable for reading in one sitting?

As a short work, it can usually be finished in one or two readings. Read it continuously the first time to grasp the overall rhythm, then pause on the second reading to sort out the timeline and perspective changes; this makes the structural design easier to appreciate and keeps details from interrupting the reading experience.

Is the English original difficult to read?

It is mid-twentieth-century genre fiction, with sentence patterns and diction characteristic of its time; overall it is not very difficult, but it still poses a barrier for readers unused to older English. Read through first without worrying about full comprehension, then look up key words and expressions that affect understanding, proceeding step by step.

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

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. Author · American · 1910–1992

Fritz Leiber (1910–1992) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, born in Chicago to parents who were both Shakespearean actors. His work spans several genres, with representative titles including The Big Time, Yesterday House, A Bad Day for Sales, The Moon Is Green, and A Pail of Air, as well as the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sword-and-sorcery series created with Harry Fischer. He excelled at injecting the grotesque and the fearful into everyday settings, combining cool social satire with sharp imagination and a witty, dramatic prose style. Leiber won the Hugo Award six times and the Nebula Award three times, and in 1981 was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, leaving a lasting influence on later genre literature.