Chapter 20 of The Valley of the Moon is here in full — 272 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Valley of the Moon is here in full — 272 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme. It had become senseless, nightmarish. Anything irrational was possible. There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end. Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
Chapter 20 of The Valley of the Moon is here in full — 272 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/54 · 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.
without law or control
From this reading “There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.”
unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love
From this reading “From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.”
extremely harmful; bringing physical or financial ruin
From this reading “There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.”
worthy of reliance or trust
From this reading “Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.”
the rate of flow of energy or particles across a given surface
From this reading “There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.”
not consistent with or using reason
From this reading “Anything irrational was possible.”
extremely alarming
From this reading “It had become senseless, nightmarish.”
correspondence in the sounds of two or more lines (especially final sounds)
From this reading “From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.”
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.
matters of personal concern
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
without law or control
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
any thing at all
From this reading Anything irrational was possible.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading It had become senseless, nightmarish.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
extremely harmful; bringing physical or financial ruin
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
worthy of reliance or trust
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
the rate of flow of energy or particles across a given surface
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had become senseless, nightmarish.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
not consistent with or using reason
From this reading Anything irrational was possible.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had become senseless, nightmarish.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
immediately past
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
extremely alarming
From this reading It had become senseless, nightmarish.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
capable of happening or existing
From this reading Anything irrational was possible.
a rational motive for a belief or action
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
correspondence in the sounds of two or more lines (especially final sounds)
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
a member of a Germanic people who conquered England and merged with the Angles and Jutes to become Anglo-Saxons; dominant in England until the Norman Conquest
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
not marked by the use of reason
From this reading It had become senseless, nightmarish.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
resistant to change of position or condition
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
not in physical motion
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
possessing sweep
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading From now on, to Saxon, life seemed bereft of its last reason and rhyme.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Anything irrational was possible.
(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 Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading There was nothing stable in the anarchic flux of affairs that swept her on she knew not to what catastrophic end.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Had Billy been dependable, all would still have been well.
Chapter 20 of The Valley of the Moon by Jack London holds 272 sentences, grouped into 55 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 20 holds 272 sentences of The Valley of the Moon, unabridged, divided into 55 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Valley of the Moon by Jack London exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 272 sentences, grouped into 55 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 55 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 55 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 20 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 Valley of the Moon by Jack London on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 13507 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1449 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1449, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2702 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Valley of the Moon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Valley of the Moon 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 Valley of the Moon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
