Chapter 18 of Life Blood is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Life Blood is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness. Then a blessed numbness washes over me. He's gone.
Chapter 18 of Life Blood is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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 “begin” — Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)
From this reading “Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.”
highly favored or fortunate (as e.g. by divine grace)
From this reading “Then a blessed numbness washes over me.”
absence of light or illumination
From this reading “Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.”
weakening in force or intensity
From this reading “Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.”
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading “Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.”
plural of “growl” — the sound of growling (as made by animals)
From this reading “Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.”
partial or total lack of sensation in a part of the body; a symptom of nerve damage or dysfunction
From this reading “Then a blessed numbness washes over me.”
plural of “wash” — a thin coat of water-base paint
From this reading “Then a blessed numbness washes over me.”
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 “Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.”
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 Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
plural of “begin” — Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
highly favored or fortunate (as e.g. by divine grace)
From this reading Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
weakening in force or intensity
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
destroyed or killed
From this reading He's gone.
plural of “growl” — the sound of growling (as made by animals)
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He's gone.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
immediately past
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
partial or total lack of sensation in a part of the body; a symptom of nerve damage or dysfunction
From this reading Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
above and across; more than
From this reading Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
plural of “wash” — a thin coat of water-base paint
From this reading Then a blessed numbness washes over me.
a late time of life
From this reading Finally---it could be years later--he growls one last time and the room begins fading to darkness.
Chapter 18 of Life Blood by Thomas Hoover holds 397 sentences, grouped into 80 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 18 holds 397 sentences of Life Blood, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Life Blood by Thomas Hoover exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 397 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 18 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 Life Blood by Thomas Hoover on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9000 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34318 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34318, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1800 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Life Blood section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of Life Blood 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 Life Blood, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
