Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog Project Gutenberg 2008-07-11 Public domain in the USA. 317 Norris, Frank 1870 1902 Norris, Benjamin Franklin The Octopus : A Story of California Produced by John Hamm, and David Widger "The Octopus: A Story of California" by Frank Norris is a novel written during the late 19th century. The narrative follows Presley, a poet reflecting on his quest for a grand subject to write about, amid the turmoil and complexities of agricultural life in California's San Joaquin Valley. Initially, he aims to capture the essence of the West and its burgeoning society, clashing with the mundane and harsh realities of ranch life, particularly the struggles against railroad monopolies and drought conditions. The beginning of the novel introduces Presley, who sets off on a cycling journey to Guadalajara but becomes embroiled in the conflicts faced by farmers in the region. He interacts with various characters, such as the German ranch hand Hooven and Harran Derrick, the son of a ranch owner, revealing the underlying tensions due to failed crops and plans for crop management. As Presley navigates through this landscape, he confronts both the romanticized beauty of the California countryside and the stark realities of agricultural economics, foreshadowing the conflict between individuals and the larger societal forces represented by the metaphorical "Octopus" of the railroads. This interplay of character, setting, and conflict underscores the thematic depth that Norris explores throughout the work. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Didactic fiction Farm life -- Fiction Mussel Slough Tragedy, 1880 -- Fiction Wheat farmers -- Fiction Farmers -- Fiction San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) -- Fiction California -- Fiction Railroad stories PS Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: History - American Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 1332368 1332377 2024-09-01T04:56:57.144361 2023-10-01T04:47:06.028534 text/html text/html 1372984 2021-01-28T02:43:20 text/html; charset=utf-8 469594 2021-01-28T02:43:20 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 532190 2024-09-01T04:57:09.500281 application/epub+zip 549693 2024-09-01T04:56:59.117350 application/epub+zip 549694 2024-09-01T04:56:57.987366 application/epub+zip 903273 2024-09-01T04:57:17.891264 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 852988 2024-09-01T04:57:08.727264 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 805544 2022-09-01T05:08:30.963721 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1158163 1158141 2024-09-01T04:56:54.747332 2023-10-01T04:47:03.776491 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 1170408 2018-03-11T14:49:06 text/plain; charset=utf-8 450452 2018-03-17T15:22:28 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 1157946 2008-07-08T11:47:22 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 448941 2008-07-08T11:49:06 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 22135 2024-09-01T04:57:18.039255 application/rdf+xml 12531 2024-09-01T04:56:58.397345 image/jpeg 2925 2024-09-01T04:56:58.201317 image/jpeg 521997 2024-09-01T04:56:57.249371 application/octet-stream application/zip en.wikipedia