Chapter 23 of The Great Hunger is here in full — 45 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Great Hunger is here in full — 45 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being! Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next. But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan? What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman? The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
Chapter 23 of The Great Hunger is here in full — 45 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
put or send forth
From this reading “Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.”
expressing pain or dissatisfaction of resentment
From this reading “The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.”
a state in which all hope is lost or absent
From this reading “The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.”
possessive form of “heaven” — any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
a high place
From this reading “Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.”
British field marshal (1850-1916)
From this reading “Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.”
so celebrated as to having taken on the nature of a legend
From this reading “DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being!”
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
From this reading “What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
anew
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
put or send forth
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
expressing pain or dissatisfaction of resentment
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
dearly loved
From this reading DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being!
a state in which all hope is lost or absent
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
possessive form of “heaven” — any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
a high place
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
British field marshal (1850-1916)
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being!
so celebrated as to having taken on the nature of a legend
From this reading DEAR KLAUS BROCK,-- Legendary being!
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
a city of Sudan; located in the central Sudan on the White Nile opposite Khartoum
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
Identical; not different.
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; achieved independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom in 1956
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
express a supposition
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Cast down from Khedivial heights one day and up again on high with Kitchener the next.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But, in Heaven’s name, what has taken you to the Soudan?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The same old desperation, I suppose, that you’re always complaining about.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What made you go and risk your life at Omdurman?
Chapter 23 of The Great Hunger by Johan Bojer holds 45 sentences, grouped into 9 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 23 holds 45 sentences of The Great Hunger, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Great Hunger by Johan Bojer exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 45 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 23 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 The Great Hunger by Johan Bojer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5029 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2943 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2943, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 419 minutes of reading across 1006 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Great Hunger section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Great Hunger 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 The Great Hunger, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
