Topic: Is anyone here very familiar with Mark Twain?
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC started this discussion 7 years ago #80,084
I'm reading about him and also reading some of his books, and he's known for being down to earth and homespun. In reality, he was kind of a snob and super rich. Shockingly rich. He had periods of what he called poverty due to bad investments, but even then he was living an upper class lifestyle with servants and huge houses.
I just never knew this about him.
I just never knew this about him.
Meta !Sober//iZs joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 3 minutes later[^] [v] #932,573
I always got that image too, that he had money obviously from being a best selling author but that he had a soft spot for the simple country life and never forgot his roots.
I guess he was kind of like the J K Rowling of 19th century America?
I guess he was kind of like the J K Rowling of 19th century America?
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 5 minutes later, 9 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #932,574
@previous (Meta !Sober//iZs)
I'm reading a book about this sightseeing tour that he is taking and he's gloating over the people who arent considered special enough to attend.
He also calls the Smithsonian Institute "poor, useless, innocent, mildewed, and old fossil". He is so so upset that someone is going on this trip to collect specimens.
I'm reading a book about this sightseeing tour that he is taking and he's gloating over the people who arent considered special enough to attend.
He also calls the Smithsonian Institute "poor, useless, innocent, mildewed, and old fossil". He is so so upset that someone is going on this trip to collect specimens.
(Edited 38 seconds later.)
Meta !Sober//iZs replied with this 7 years ago, 18 minutes later, 28 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #932,577
@previous (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
Sounds kind of Trumpian, actually! I could see Trump saying that about the Smithsonian and people who weren't invited.
Sounds kind of Trumpian, actually! I could see Trump saying that about the Smithsonian and people who weren't invited.
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 8 minutes later, 36 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #932,583
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 23 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #932,588
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 7 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #932,589
@previous (C)
I'm considering reading after this one, which is called An Innocent Abroad.
Another thing that Twain did. He pulled out a knife and started carving into the ships railing, and when one of the captains stopped him, he insulted him and acted like he had completely ruined his fun.
I'm considering reading after this one, which is called An Innocent Abroad.
Another thing that Twain did. He pulled out a knife and started carving into the ships railing, and when one of the captains stopped him, he insulted him and acted like he had completely ruined his fun.
Anonymous C replied with this 7 years ago, 15 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #932,592
@previous (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
I would highly recommend Roughing It as it was written after The Innocents Abroad as a prequel. It has drugged Mormon whiskey, a meeting with Brigham Young, California gold mining, Mark Twain playing in the surf, and Hawaii!
I would highly recommend Roughing It as it was written after The Innocents Abroad as a prequel. It has drugged Mormon whiskey, a meeting with Brigham Young, California gold mining, Mark Twain playing in the surf, and Hawaii!
(Edited 27 seconds later.)
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 11 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #932,594
Anonymous C replied with this 7 years ago, 12 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #932,598
@previous (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
He's really a fascinating snapshot of his times, and I admire his endless curiosity. He seems very interested in anything the world around him has to offer, no matter how different or silly. I've never read much about his personal life or what his contemporaries thought of him, so I only know him through his own writings.
He's really a fascinating snapshot of his times, and I admire his endless curiosity. He seems very interested in anything the world around him has to offer, no matter how different or silly. I've never read much about his personal life or what his contemporaries thought of him, so I only know him through his own writings.
Sheila LaBoof joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 1 hour later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #932,620
maybe there should be a detective show starring him as a character, Mark Twain Riverboat Mysteries
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 1 day later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #933,232
@932,598 (C)
He is in Paris now. What I like about him is that he isn't in either of the two extremes regarding other countries. Ge doesn't think that America is best at everything, but also doesn't think that ia is the worst country is existence. He acknowledges flaws and triumphs
He is in Paris now. What I like about him is that he isn't in either of the two extremes regarding other countries. Ge doesn't think that America is best at everything, but also doesn't think that ia is the worst country is existence. He acknowledges flaws and triumphs
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) double-posted this 7 years ago, 45 seconds later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #933,233
@932,620 (Sheila LaBoof)
That sounds pretty good actually.
You shoukd try the tv show called Another Period. They portray him as a comical drunk
That sounds pretty good actually.
You shoukd try the tv show called Another Period. They portray him as a comical drunk
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) triple-posted this 7 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #933,234
He does say that most French women are homely. Large hands, large feet, large mouths, pug noses, and moustaches.
Syntax joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #933,237
He also had much quality things to say about English Gramer n Speling He fooly supported my take/mangled/ on the language.
"Great books are weighed and measured by their style and matter, and not the trimmings and shadings of their grammar."
"I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling words. We might as well make all clothes alike and cook all dishes alike. Sameness is tiresome; variety is pleasing. I have a correspondent whose letters are always a refreshment to me, there is such a breezy unfettered originality about his orthography. He always spells Kow with a large K. Now that is just as good as to spell it with a small one. It is better. It gives the imagination a broader field, a wider scope. It suggests to the mind a grand, vague, impressive new kind of a cow."
"I have had an aversion to good spelling for sixty years and more, merely for the reason that when I was a boy there was not a thing I could do creditably except spell according to the book. It was a poor and mean distinction and I early learned to disenjoy it. I suppose that this is because the ability to spell correctly is a talent, not an acquirement. There is some dignity about an acquirement, because it is a product of your own labor. It is wages earned, whereas to be able to do a thing merely by the grace of God and not by your own effort transfers the distinction to our heavenly home---where possibly it is a matter of pride and satisfaction but it leaves you naked and bankrupt."
"I never had any large respect for good spelling. That is my feeling yet. Before the spelling-book came with its arbitrary forms, men unconsciously revealed shades of their characters and also added enlightening shades of expression to what they wrote by their spelling, and so it is possible that the spelling-book has been a doubtful benevolence to us."
"...ours is a mongrel language which started with a child's vocabulary of three hundred words, and now consists of two hundred and twenty-five thousand; the whole lot, with the exception of the original and legitimate three hundred, borrowed, stolen, smouched from every unwatched language under the sun, the spelling of each individual word of the lot locating the source of the theft and preserving the memory of the revered crime."
"I have had an aversion to good spelling for sixty years and more, merely for the reason that when I was a boy there was not a thing I could do creditably except spell according to the book. It was a poor and mean distinction and I early learned to disenjoy it. I suppose that this is because the ability to spell correctly is a talent, not an acquirement. There is some dignity about an acquirement, because it is a product of your own labor. It is wages earned, whereas to be able to do a thing merely by the grace of God and not by your own effort transfers the distinction to our heavenly home---where possibly it is a matter of pride and satisfaction but it leaves you naked and bankrupt."
"I never had any large respect for good spelling. That is my feeling yet. Before the spelling-book came with its arbitrary forms, men unconsciously revealed shades of their characters and also added enlightening shades of expression to what they wrote by their spelling, and so it is possible that the spelling-book has been a doubtful benevolence to us."
"...ours is a mongrel language which started with a child's vocabulary of three hundred words, and now consists of two hundred and twenty-five thousand; the whole lot, with the exception of the original and legitimate three hundred, borrowed, stolen, smouched from every unwatched language under the sun, the spelling of each individual word of the lot locating the source of the theft and preserving the memory of the revered crime."
berty joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 55 seconds later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #933,240
mark twain was actually syntax and this isn't surprising if you knew thatKook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #933,241
@933,234 (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
Also ill shaped, ungraceful, and combs their hair straight back instead of parting it.
Also ill shaped, ungraceful, and combs their hair straight back instead of parting it.
(Edited 10 seconds later.)
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) double-posted this 7 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,243
@933,237 (Syntax)
I kind of agree with him. As long as you are able to properly communicate, does spelling matter all that much?
I kind of agree with him. As long as you are able to properly communicate, does spelling matter all that much?
Anonymous G joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 2 hours later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,256
berty replied with this 7 years ago, 1 hour later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,291
@previous (G)
> No but no one can understand syntax
yeah I don't know what "take/mangled/ on the language" is
> No but no one can understand syntax
yeah I don't know what "take/mangled/ on the language" is
Anonymous G replied with this 7 years ago, 42 seconds later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,292
Someone post the syntax sex bot
Anonymous G double-posted this 7 years ago, 14 seconds later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,293
Someone post the syntax sex bot
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 2 hours later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,357
Kook !!rcSrAtaAC (OP) double-posted this 7 years ago, 20 seconds later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,358
Anonymous H joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 7 hours later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #933,464
@933,357 (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
This topic was interesting but it also made me move his books to the bottom of my reading list, I'll stick with some other classics for the time being.
This topic was interesting but it also made me move his books to the bottom of my reading list, I'll stick with some other classics for the time being.