Landscape with figures: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
Landscape with figures: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
Landscape with figures is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Fraser, Ronald (1888–1974).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"Landscape with figures" by Ronald Fraser is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows a circle of European “Seven Sages” led by the industrial magnate Lord Sombrewater, whose minute-writer Ambrose Herbert narrates their voyage into an idealized China where art, landscape, and philosophy blur. Blending travel fantasy with philosophical comedy, it contrasts Western power, science, and appetite with ancient Chinese poise, with Lychnis—Sombrewater’s vivid, questing daughter—at the emotional center. The opening of the novel presents a preface framing the tale as a mind’s encounter with Chinese art, then shifts to Ambrose’s calm diary of the Sages aboard the yacht Floating Leaf in eastern waters. After lyrical sea scenes and sharp portraits of the party—Lord Sombrewater, Lychnis, Ruby, Terence, Quentin, Sir Richard, Fulke, Sprot, and the ascetic Blackwood—a threatened mutiny and a storm push them to a river mouth amid fantastical hills. Guided by Terence’s vision of “Peach-blossom People” and the inscrutable Chinese steward they nickname Such-a-one, they abandon the yacht, don Chinese dress, and pole upstream. Along the way, Quentin’s brashness startles villagers until Such-a-one’s words disperse the crowds, Fulke privately declares his hopeless love for Lychnis, and a night sighting of a silent “dragon” (perhaps an aircraft) heightens the sense of myth. They work through a warm, intricate gorge, swim, and enter a serene valley of willows, blossoms, and lotus-lakes dominated by a rocky “Dragon Island.” Finally, they install themselves in exquisite pavilions—Lord Sombrewater, Lychnis, Ruby, Sir Richard, and Ambrose in the “Pavilion of the Yellow Emperor”—to begin their sojourn in this cultivated dream-land.
Book and edition facts
- Title: Landscape with figures
- Author credits: Fraser, Ronald (1888–1974)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- British -- China -- Fiction
- English fiction -- 20th century
- Fantasy fiction
Gutenberg collections
- Category: British Literature
- Category: Novels
- Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
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View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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