Chapter 5 of Joan Thursday: A Novel is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Joan Thursday: A Novel is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"But why? Because I've been straightforward? Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three. We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly. Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
Chapter 5 of Joan Thursday: A Novel is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
plural of “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading “Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?”
held up in the air
From this reading “Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.”
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading “We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.”
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading “We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.”
to a small degree or extent
From this reading “We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.”
free from ambiguity
From this reading “Because I've been straightforward?”
a shaky motion
From this reading “Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-two and one
From this reading “Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.”
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.
In this reading “Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.”
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
for the reason that
From this reading Because I've been straightforward?
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Because I've been straightforward?
a youthful male person
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "But why?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
dearly loved
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
plural of “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Because I've been straightforward?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
held up in the air
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
to a small degree or extent
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
free from ambiguity
From this reading Because I've been straightforward?
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
a shaky motion
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-six and one
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-two and one
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading We know one another pretty well: we know ourselves--at least slightly.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "But why?
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Why can't we face things--facts--as man and woman, not as children?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dear boy!"--she lifted a hand to him: he took it in trembling--"you're twenty-seven, I'm twenty-three.
Chapter 5 of Joan Thursday: A Novel by Louis Joseph Vance holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 5 holds 404 sentences of Joan Thursday: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Joan Thursday: A Novel by Louis Joseph Vance exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 5 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 Joan Thursday: A Novel by Louis Joseph Vance on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6782 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36502 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36502, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 565 minutes of reading across 1357 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Joan Thursday: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Joan Thursday: A Novel 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 Joan Thursday: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
