The Eternal Boy
The Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson is available here as the complete text, split into 813 reading sections of 5 sentences, each with audio and tap-to-define vocabulary.
The Eternal Boy: Being the Story of the Prodigious Hickey by Owen Johnson. Complete source text from Project Gutenberg eBook #46892.
Course Syllabus
This syllabus gives direct access to every published chapter and its complete sequence of five-line English readings.
The Eternal Boy
Select a chapter to continue in the Cinema Lecture Hall with line-by-line English learning.
0 of 808 original contextual illustrations are live; remaining readings use the book cover while their artwork is reviewed.
This edition of The Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson carries the complete text of Project Gutenberg eBook #46892, divided into 10 chapters and 813 reading sections of 5 sentences each. Every sentence of the source is kept, and each chapter records which sentences cover which part of the story. Any word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Where can I read The Eternal Boy in full?
The complete text of The Eternal Boy is here, taken from Project Gutenberg eBook #46892 and divided into 813 sections.
This page carries the whole of The Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson, not an abridgement or a summary. The text comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #46892, with the Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence removed so that only the work itself remains. It runs to 4065 sentences across 10 chapters. Each chapter stores a record of which sentences cover which part of the work, so nothing is quietly dropped between the source edition and the page you read.
How is The Eternal Boy divided for reading?
The Eternal Boy is presented in 10 chapters, each split into sections of 5 sentences for steady reading.
Rather than presenting The Eternal Boy as unbroken pages, the text is grouped into 813 sections of 5 sentences each. A section is short enough to hold in mind at once, which suits a reader working in a second language or returning to a long work in short sittings. The sections are gathered into 10 chapters.
Can I hear The Eternal Boy read aloud?
Yes. Every sentence and every individual word of The Eternal Boy can be played aloud, and each word shows its dictionary entry.
Every sentence of The Eternal Boy can be played aloud, and so can any single word within it. Tapping a word plays it on its own and opens its dictionary entry, with the pronunciation shown in IPA alongside the part of speech and meaning. The reading voice uses United States English. This matters most for a work of this period, where a reader meets vocabulary and turns of phrase that are no longer in daily use and cannot be guessed reliably from spelling alone.
Questions about reading The Eternal Boy
Common questions about reading The Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Is this the complete text of The Eternal Boy?
Yes. All 4065 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46892 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Which edition of The Eternal Boy is used?
Project Gutenberg eBook #46892, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
How long does The Eternal Boy take to read?
About 338 minutes of reading across 813 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to read The Eternal Boy section by section
How to work through The Eternal Boy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Open a chapter
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Eternal Boy to begin.
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Read one section
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
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Listen and tap
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Vocabulary met early in The Eternal Boy
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Eternal Boy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
- Author
- A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Eternal Boy; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
- Fargus
- A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Eternal Boy; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
- Nothing
- A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Eternal Boy; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
- Suveneer
- A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Eternal Boy; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.