Read Something for Nothing: Project Gutenberg
October 4, 2007
Get your literature for free. Through the magic of the Internet, Project Gutenberg lets you download virtually any public domain book without paying a cent. The only cost to you is your eyesight as you squint through an eBook. For cheapskates like me, that’s a small price to pay.
The eBooks are in several formats, including HTML, ASCII, and Plucker format, which allows you to read eBooks on your Palm organizer or Windows Mobile smart phone.
Project Gutenberg also features a few audiobooks, as well as CD and DVD files you can download via BitTorrent, such as the Project Gutenberg Science Fiction collection. You can even download digitized sheet music if you’ve got the hankering for some Beethoven and Brahms.
With so many free literature resources on the Internet, it’s easy to see them as no big deal. Project Gutenberg is one of the oldest, and they know what they’re doing. Nevertheless, we should be happy for all these sites where we can find great books without having to fork over ten bucks for a Penguin Classics edition. -BILL FERRIS
