Mark Twain

[USMC1960s]

Any Mark Twain fans? Anniversary today of his birthday.
November 30, 1835 in the small town of Florida, Missouri but moved to nearby Hannibal as a young child.
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" tied with "Moby-Dick" for the honor of being The Great American Novel.

[Ganondorf]

I am a huge Mark Twain fan, in fact I have a strange feeling that I've made a thread about him before. My favorites are perhaps surprisingly Roughing it and collaborative effort with Charles Dudley Warner that is The Gilded Age. Great American frontier description in the first one and magnificent satire in both. However I do like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I read Tom Sawyer back in elementary school and did not enjoy it then but when I read Huckleberry Finn on high school and found it good I went back to Tom Sawyer and liked it a lot more.

However when it comes to The Great American Novel I personally would rate Moby Dick and Gatsby above Huckleberry Finn. Roughing it is not a novel really so closest Mark Twain candidate IMO would be The Gilded age but some find it a bit confusing due to being written by two different authors. I dont find it distracting in the slightest.

Coincidentally I am currently reading Connecticut Yankee.

[SonicMan46]

Big Mark Twain fan here too! 

Read most of his books as a boy-teen but have not returned to any lately - several decades ago wife and I saw Hal Holbrook on stage locally doing a wonderful Twain show with a lot of quotes. Also own the PBS video below that we've watched multiple times.  Dave

 

[USMC1960s]

Connecticut Yankee is interesting because it begins jovially enough but becomes a very dark, pessimistic novel very quickly.

[USMC1960s]

I too would rate Moby-Dick as The Great American Novel.

[USMC1960s]

Visited the Mark Twain House in Hartford several times. That's well worth it. So is reading Fred Kaplan's The Singular Mark Twain.

[Karl Henning]

Any Mark Twain fans? Anniversary today of his birthday.
November 30, 1835 in the small town of Florida, Missouri but moved to nearby Hannibal as a young child.
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" tied with "Moby-Dick" for the honor of being The Great American Novel.

A great fan, indeed.

[j winter]

Yep, I love Mark Twain.  Most recently I've spent time with his travel books, Innocents Abroad, etc.  Wonderful not only for his sense of humor, but as a fascinating window on another time and exotic places...

[Papy Oli]

Instead of spamming the reading thread, I thought I'd ask here a specific Twain question.

Not too long ago, I read his short story "THE MAN THAT CORRUPTED HADLEYBURG" in a free e-book by Delphi Classics and really liked it. I ended up buying his complete works for a song also on Delphi Classics during their 4th July sale for American authors (along with Poe's, Melville's and Fitzgerald's).

Below is the list of Twain's Short stories in chronological order. I have seen "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County being strongly recommended. Which other short stories would stand out for you please? Thank you.

(Note: I have not read Tom Sawyer nor Huckleberry Finn so these are in the pile for future reading on the novel front. However, I have found the short story format being also suitable for me in order to maintain my enjoyment of this new found love for fiction reading over the last 2 months")


1-THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY
2-GENERAL WASHINGTON'S NEGRO BODY-SERVANT
3-MY LATE SENATORIAL SECRETARYSHIP
4-A BURLESQUE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
5-FIRST ROMANCE SKETCHES
6-NEW AND OLD
7-MY WATCH
8-POLITICAL ECONOMY
9-THE JUMPING FROG
10-JOURNALISM IN TENNESSEE
11-SPIRIT OF THE TENNESSEE PRESS
12-THE STORY OF THE BAD LITTLE BOY
13-THE STORY OF THE GOOD LITTLE BOY
14-A COUPLE OF POEMS BY TWAIN AND MOORE
15-THOSE EVENING BELLS
16-THOSE ANNUAL BILLS
17-NIAGARA
18-ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
19-TO RAISE POULTRY
20-EXPERIENCE OF THE McWILLIAMSES WITH MEMBRANOUS CROUP
21-MY FIRST LITERARY VENTURE
22-HOW THE AUTHOR WAS SOLD IN NEWARK
23-THE OFFICE BORE
24-JOHNNY GREER
25-THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF THE GREAT BEEF CONTRACT
26-THE CASE OF GEORGE FISHER
27-DISGRACEFUL PERSECUTION OF A BOY
28-THE JUDGE'S "SPIRITED WOMAN"
29-INFORMATION WANTED
30-SOME LEARNED FABLES, FOR GOOD OLD BOYS AND GIRLS IN THREE PARTS
31-HOW THE ANIMALS OF THE WOOD COMPLETED THEIR SCIENTIFIC LABORS
32-SOME LEARNED FABLES FOR GOOD OLD BOYS AND GIRLS
33-A FASHION ITEM
34-RILEY — NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT
35-A FINE OLD MAN
36-SCIENCE V.S. LUCK
37-THE LATE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
38-MR. BLOKE'S ITEM
39-A MEDIEVAL ROMANCE
40-PETITION CONCERNING COPYRIGHT
41-A PARAGRAPH NOT ADDED TO THE PETITION
42-AFTER-DINNER SPEECH
43-LIONIZING MURDERERS
44-A NEW CRIME
45-A CURIOUS DREAM
46-GONE TO HIS JUST REWARD
47-A TRUE STORY
48-THE SIAMESE TWINS
49-SPEECH AT THE SCOTTISH BANQUET IN LONDON
50-A GHOST STORY
51-THE CAPITOLINE VENUS
52-SPEECH ON ACCIDENT INSURANCE
53-JOHN CHINAMAN IN NEW YORK
54-HOW I EDITED AN AGRICULTURAL PAPER
55-THE PETRIFIED MAN
56-MY BLOODY MASSACRE
57-THE UNDERTAKER'S CHAT CONCERNING CHAMBERMAIDS
58-AURELIA'S UNFORTUNATE YOUNG MAN
59-AFTER JENKINS
60-ABOUT BARBERS
61-PARTY CRIES IN IRELAND
62-THE FACTS CONCERNING THE RECENT RESIGNATION
63-HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
64-HONORED AS A CURIOSITY
65-FIRST INTERVIEW WITH ARTEMUS WARD
66-CANNIBALISM IN THE CARS
67-THE STRANGER'S NARRATIVE
68-THE KILLING OF JULIUS CAESAR "LOCALIZED"
69-THE WIDOW'S PROTEST
70-THE SCRIPTURAL PANORAMIST CURING A COLD
71-A CURIOUS PLEASURE EXCURSION
72-RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR
73-A MYSTERIOUS VISIT
74-THE FACTS CONCERNING THE RECENT CARNIVAL OF CRIME IN CONNECTICUT
75-THE INVALID'S STORY
76-ALONZO FITZ AND OTHER STORIES
77-THE LOVES OF ALONZO FITZ CLARENCE AND ROSANNAH ETHELTON
78-ON THE DECAY OF THE ART
79-OF LYING ABOUT MAGNANIMOUS-INCIDENT LITERATURE
80-PUNCH, BROTHERS, PUNCH
81-THE GREAT REVOLUTION IN PITCAIRN
82-1601 CONVERSATION, AS IT WAS THE SOCIAL FIRESIDE, IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS
83-THE CANVASSER'S TALE
84-AN ENCOUNTER WITH AN INTERVIEWER
85-PARIS NOTES
86-LEGEND OF SAGENFELD, IN GERMANY
87-SPEECH ON THE BABIES
88-SPEECH ON THE WEATHER
89- AT THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY'S SEVENTY-FIRST ANNUAL DINNER, NEW YORK CITY
90-CONCERNING THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE
91-ROGERS
92-THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT
93-MERRY TALES
94-THE PRIVATE HISTORY OF A CAMPAIGN THAT FAILED
95-LUCK
96-THE CAPTAIN'S STORY
97-A CURIOUS EXPERIENCE
98-MRS. MCWILLIAMS AND THE LIGHTNING
99-MEISTERSCHAFT:
100-THOSE EXTRAORDINARY TWINS
101-THE ESQUIMAUX MAIDEN'S ROMANCE
102-THE £ 1,000,000 BANK NOTE AND OTHER NEW STORIES
103-THE £ 1,000,000 BANK NOTE
104-MENTAL TELEGRAPHY
105-MENTAL TELEGRAPHY AGAIN
106-A CURE FOR THE BLUES
107-THE ENEMY CONQUERED; OR, LOVE TRIUMPHANT
108-ABOUT ALL KINDS OF SHIPS
109-PLAYING THE COURIER
110-THE CHICAGO OF EUROPE
111-THE GERMAN CHICAGO
112-A PETITION TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND
113-A MAJESTIC LITERARY FOSSIL
114-FROM THE 'LONDON TIMES' OF 1904
115-THE MAN THAT CORRUPTED HADLEYBURG
116-A DOUBLE BARRELED DETECTIVE STORY
117-A DOG'S TALE
118-EXTRACTS FROM ADAM'S DIARY
119-EVE'S DIARY
120-THE WAR PRAYER
121-THE $ 30,000 BEQUEST
122-WAS IT HEAVEN? OR HELL?
123-THE CURIOUS BOOK
124-THE CALIFORNIAN'S TALE
125-A HELPLESS SITUATION
126-A TELEPHONIC CONVERSATION
127-EDWARD MILLS AND GEORGE BENTON: A TALE
128-THE FIVE BOONS OF LIFE
129-THE FIRST WRITING-MACHINES
130-ITALIAN WITHOUT A MASTER
131-ITALIAN WITH GRAMMAR
132-A BURLESQUE BIOGRAPHY
133-HOW TO TELL A STORY
134-GENERAL WASHINGTON'S NEGRO BODY-SERVANT
135-WIT INSPIRATIONS OF THE "TWO-YEAR-OLDS"
136-AN ENTERTAINING ARTICLE
137-A LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
138-AMENDED OBITUARIES
139-TO THE EDITOR:
140-A MONUMENT TO ADAM
141-A HUMANE WORD FROM SATAN
142-INTRODUCTION TO "THE NEW GUIDE OF THE CONVERSATION IN PORTUGUESE AND ENGLISH"
143-ADVICE TO LITTLE GIRLS
144-POST-MORTEM POETRY (1)
145-THE DANGER OF LYING IN BED
146-PORTRAIT OF KING WILLIAM III
147-DOES THE RACE OF MAN LOVE A LORD?
148-CAPTAIN STORMFIELD'S VISIT TO HEAVEN
149-THE CURIOUS REPUBLIC OF GONDOUR AND OTHER WHIMSICAL SKETCHES
150-THE CURIOUS REPUBLIC OF GONDOUR
151- A MEMORY
152-INTRODUCTORY TO "MEMORANDA"
153-ABOUT SMELLS
154-A COUPLE OF SAD EXPERIENCES
155-DAN MURPHY
156-THE "TOURNAMENT" IN A. D. 1870
157-CURIOUS RELIC FOR SALE
158-A REMINISCENCE OF THE BACK SETTLEMENTS
159-A ROYAL COMPLIMENT
160-THE APPROACHING EPIDEMIC
161-THE TONE-IMPARTING COMMITTEE
162-OUR PRECIOUS LUNATIC
163-THE EUROPEAN WARS
164-THE WILD MAN INTERVIEWED
165-GOLDSMITH'S FRIEND ABROAD AGAIN
166-LAST WORDS OF GREAT MEN
167-A FABLE HUNTING
168-THE DECEITFUL TURKEY
169-THE McWILLIAMSES AND THE BURGLAR ALARM

[Karl Henning]

"The Capitoline Venus"
"How I Edited an Agricultural Paper"
if "A Mysterious Visit" is the story I've known as "The Mysterious Stranger," this should head the list!
Extracts from Adam's Diary

[Jo498]

THE £ 1,000,000 BANK NOTE

but I have probably not read more than a handful or two of them. I dimly recall the one with the white elephant and a ghost story.

[Papy Oli]

"The Capitoline Venus"
"How I Edited an Agricultural Paper"
if "A Mysterious Visit" is the story I've known as "The Mysterious Stranger," this should head the list!
Extracts from Adam's Diary

Noted, thank you Karl!

[Papy Oli]

THE £ 1,000,000 BANK NOTE

but I have probably not read more than a handful or two of them. I dimly recall the one with the white elephant and a ghost story.

Thank you @Jo498 

[Karl Henning]

As a teen, I inhaled Chas Neider's edition of Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. Of course, I enjoyed the advantage of being a native speaker, but my feeling was that when I finished one, I was eager to continue with the next. Neider's volume included some "set pieces" extracted from longer works, such as "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences" and "The Awful German Language," in addition to stand-alone short stories proper.