
The Impossibility of Knowing Mark Twain - samclemens
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/01/09/impossibility-knowing-mark-twain/
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natecavanaugh
I love Mark Twain, mostly because of how easy it is to rip him off and ascribe
quotes to him.

But also because Tom Sawyer was the first book I had read as a child that put
the taste of Southern grass in my mouth and the feeling of thick humidity
reaching out and strangling me.

I don't always like writers from past times (the older they are, the harder
the mental overhead in feeling the story), but he was one from another time
that intoxicated me, even as a "millennial" hooked on comics and video games.

This article and other comments have inspired me to dig a bit more into the
man.

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josephorjoe
Read Huckleberry Finn if you haven't. It is a more grown up book than Tom
Sawyer. Probably one of the five most important American novels.

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is surprisingly bitter, but also a
good read.

Also plenty of short stories are worth reading if you don't have time for a
novel. A short amusing one about home security:
[https://americanliterature.com/author/mark-twain/short-
story...](https://americanliterature.com/author/mark-twain/short-story/the-
mcwilliamses-and-the-burglar-alarm)

~~~
natecavanaugh
Thanks for those. I remember reading Huck Finn, and it had that same feeling,
but definitely more grown up.

And thanks for the recommendations :)

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sdrothrock
The article says:

> In the course of his long career, Sam Clemens lost as many friends as he
> made. He did not suffer fools or rivals gladly, especially if they wore
> crinoline.

Is "if they wore crinoline" an oblique way of saying "if they were women," or
is it a turn of phrase meaning something else? I ask because I don't feel like
many would understand (perhaps I'm wrong, given the forum?) the significance
of "crinoline," a material that, as far as I know, is no longer in regular
use...

I would lean toward it meaning "if they were women," but the lists after that
phrase are generally men, with only two women.

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sdrothrock
Replying to myself, after a bit of research, it seems like "wearing crinoline"
is actually a marker for being more concerned with fashion (e.g. hoop skirts).
Perhaps a modern day equivalent would be saying that someone looks down on
people who "wear lumberjack shirts with their hair high and tight" (e.g.
hipsters).

Example: [http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2012/08/death-by-
crinoline....](http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2012/08/death-by-
crinoline.html)

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drharby
Hey!

I rock flannel and love my military cut! Am not a hipster!

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Synaesthesia
Interesting fact about Mark Twain that’s not well known: he was a member of
the anti-imperial league, decried the invasion of the Philippines by the US

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zafka
Another fun fact is that Mark Twain was good friends with Tesla.

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direengineer
Not sure how popular this is, but I loved his essay 'What is man'

[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/70/70-h/70-h.htm](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/70/70-h/70-h.htm)

Would definitely recommend this one.

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cko
I’m 25% of the way through it. Over the years I find myself adopting the same
perspective as the old man. However, I find the position he puts out is very
tautological. Maybe it’s meant to be that way - a made-up dialogue of
contrasting viewpoints, just a thought exercise for the reader?

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nsebban
It's a pity how little most people know Mark Twain. He was so much more than
the guy who wrote Tom Sawyer. He had many different and uncommon lifes in his
life...A lot of inspiring things too.

His 3 volumes autobiography is a long but amazing read, just like his letters.
But my favorite is "Life on the Mississippi". All this is close to 2000 pages
but it's worth reading.

~~~
hodgesrm
Life on the Mississippi is one of my favorites. It's rather discursive and
lacks a strong story arc, but the descriptions of working on the river in the
years before the Civil War are a window into a fascinating, lost world.

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iokevins
The Mark Twain Project has made his autobiography (and other writings) freely
available online:

[http://www.marktwainproject.org/landing_writings.shtml](http://www.marktwainproject.org/landing_writings.shtml)

I listened to the audiobook version, as my preference/availability. Highly
recommended.

