Chapter 2 of House of Torment is here in full — 610 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of House of Torment is here in full — 610 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening. The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away. The night was cool and still. There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars. The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.
Chapter 2 of House of Torment is here in full — 610 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/122 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
keenly excited (especially sexually) or indicating excitement
From this reading “The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.”
neither warm nor very cold; giving relief from heat
From this reading “The night was cool and still.”
a state of high honor
From this reading “THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.”
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading “THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.”
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading “The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.”
consisting of fine particles
From this reading “There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.”
a storm resulting from strong rising air currents; heavy rain or hail along with thunder and lightning
From this reading “The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.”
a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading “The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
In this reading “The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.”
In this reading “THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
keenly excited (especially sexually) or indicating excitement
From this reading The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The night was cool and still.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
neither warm nor very cold; giving relief from heat
From this reading The night was cool and still.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
a state of high honor
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The night was cool and still.
not any; not one
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
according to the clock
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
consisting of fine particles
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
not in physical motion
From this reading The night was cool and still.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
a storm resulting from strong rising air currents; heavy rain or hail along with thunder and lightning
From this reading The thunderstorm of the morning had long since passed away.
a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading The Palace of the Tower was ablaze with lights.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE HOUSE OF SHAME; THE LADDER OF GLORY It was ten o'clock in the evening.
in the company of; together with
From this reading There was no moon, but the sky above London was powdered with stars.
Chapter 2 of House of Torment by Guy Thorne holds 610 sentences, grouped into 122 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 610 sentences of House of Torment, unabridged, divided into 122 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of House of Torment by Guy Thorne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 610 sentences, grouped into 122 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 122 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 122 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading House of Torment by Guy Thorne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4272 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36721 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36721, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 356 minutes of reading across 855 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through House of Torment section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of House of Torment to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in House of Torment, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
