Chapter 2 of Notes on Life & Letters is here in full — 1007 sentences across 202 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Notes on Life & Letters is here in full — 1007 sentences across 202 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge. Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection. He is cold and homeless and starving. He remembers the warmth and the food of the prison. He perceives the means to get back there.
Chapter 2 of Notes on Life & Letters is here in full — 1007 sentences across 202 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 83/201 · 5 reading units · Lines 411–415
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.
free of deceit
From this reading “Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.”
someone unfortunate without housing
From this reading “He is cold and homeless and starving.”
organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
From this reading “Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.”
third-person singular of “perceive” — to become aware of through the senses
From this reading “He perceives the means to get back there.”
third-person singular of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading “He remembers the warmth and the food of the prison.”
past form of “resign” — leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily
From this reading “Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.”
organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
From this reading “It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.”
suffering from lack of food
From this reading “He is cold and homeless and starving.”
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.
perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He perceives the means to get back there.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading He is cold and homeless and starving.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
From this reading He remembers the warmth and the food of the prison.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He perceives the means to get back there.
free of deceit
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He is cold and homeless and starving.
someone unfortunate without housing
From this reading He is cold and homeless and starving.
organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading He perceives the means to get back there.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
third-person singular of “perceive” — to become aware of through the senses
From this reading He perceives the means to get back there.
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading He remembers the warmth and the food of the prison.
raise the level or amount of something
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
third-person singular of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading He remembers the warmth and the food of the prison.
past form of “resign” — leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
action taken in return for an injury or offense
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
conforming to or constituting a standard of measurement or value; or of the usual or regularized or accepted kind
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
suffering from lack of food
From this reading He is cold and homeless and starving.
not in physical motion
From this reading It is not an act of revolt, and still less of revenge.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He perceives the means to get back there.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
the sensation caused by heat energy
From this reading He remembers the warmth and the food of the prison.
exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
From this reading Crainquebille is too old, too resigned, too weary, too guileless to raise the black standard of insurrection.
Chapter 2 of Notes on Life & Letters by Joseph Conrad holds 1007 sentences, grouped into 202 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 1007 sentences of Notes on Life & Letters, unabridged, divided into 202 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Notes on Life & Letters by Joseph Conrad exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 1007 sentences, grouped into 202 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 202 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 202 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 Notes on Life & Letters by Joseph Conrad on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3415 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1143 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1143, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 284 minutes of reading across 683 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Notes on Life & Letters section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Notes on Life & Letters 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 Notes on Life & Letters, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
