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Best writer: Mark (Samuel Clemens) Twain or Jane Austen?

Forums: Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Authors, Writers, You Must Choose
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spendius
 
  0  
Reply Wed 19 Jun, 2013 04:44 am
@Debacle,
Did he mean like this--

http://www.everlasting-star.net/galleries/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=23&image_id=260
spendius
 
  0  
Reply Sat 29 Jun, 2013 08:57 am
@spendius,
Quote:
Jane Austen must surely be the most reread author of the last hundred years. ...In this frame of mind one longs for a new Miss Austen more than for a new symphony of Beethoven or a play of Shakespeare ... . The power of endlessly re-reading the novels of Miss Austen is the only advantage conferred by a bad memory. I do not imagine that Macaulay, greatly as he admired her, could have endured to read her as often as I have. Nor am I willing to allow that this is intellectual idleness, for her works like those of Nature, always yield something new to the faithful student.

And she, like Nature, has the power of creating in her devotees a minute interest which I rarely experience in other writers. ..."

Sir Francis Darwin. Rustic Sounds and Other Studies in
Literature and Natural History
Chapter V, 1917


The son of Charles Darwin who was also a fan of Jane.
rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Wed 31 May, 2017 02:20 pm
@rosborne979,
rosborne979 wrote:

edgarblythe wrote:

According to Spendius, Jane is perfection; Twain a hack. What do youse think?

Twain is better, hands down, no comparison.

I agree with myself Smile
edgarblythe
 
  1  
Reply Wed 31 May, 2017 03:52 pm
@rosborne979,
I love much of Twain's writing. He wrote on such a variety of topics, naturally some of it is better than the rest.
rosborne979
 
  2  
Reply Thu 1 Jun, 2017 09:19 am
@edgarblythe,
Twain's writings are a constant reminder to me of how smart our ancestors were, and of how little human behavior has actually changed despite changes in civilization.
0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Jun, 2017 09:57 am
@Setanta,
I'd have to agree how can you compare the two? Personally I love Jane Austen. I first read Pride and Prejudice as a freshman in college and loved it. I had read Twain in high school. I read her other books for pure enjoyment.

They are both good authors just so different.

I do find it funny that a young American woman attending college looking to pursue a career can fall in love with Austen's novels. I still enjoy reading them today and would choose it for my island.
0 Replies
 
Olivier5
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Jun, 2017 04:18 am
I find them both pretty boring.
0 Replies
 
Finn dAbuzz
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Jun, 2017 12:19 pm
@spendius,
Gosh I miss spendius
Olivier5
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Jun, 2017 03:08 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
Me too.
0 Replies
 
ossobucotemp
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Jun, 2017 03:20 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
Even I do. He used to aggravate the hell out of me and then I would send him to the Cloakroom for a while, and let him out some time later. What I remember now is a man with a strong self characterization, however he worked it.
0 Replies
 
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Jun, 2017 03:57 pm
Jane Austen had a literary skill that I don't believe Clemens ever displayed. As a satirist, he was pretty heavy-handed. But their styles, and the milieus in which they lived and wrote were radically different. I like each of them, for different reasons.
0 Replies
 
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Jun, 2017 03:58 pm
Oops . . . I failed to look at the dates, and didn't realize that I had already responded. What the hell, it's all good.
roger
 
  2  
Reply Sat 3 Jun, 2017 03:59 pm
@Setanta,
S'okay. They were both dead when the thread started. They're still dead.
0 Replies
 
edgarblythe
 
  2  
Reply Sat 3 Jun, 2017 09:07 pm
I started this thread as a joke between myself and spendi. I respect both writers, truthfully.
0 Replies
 
 

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