Mark Twain books and quotes

Aw shucks! Now you've gone and got me interested in returning to Twain. My reading list is SO backed up.

Yeah, mine too, but I love the guy!

I find it difficult to choose between Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi.

Both books speak of rivers in a way that I understand and envy.

Have not read Life on the Mississippi. Loved Huck Finn. I might try that one after I finish Frankenstein, which I'm in the middle of right now.

I'm also interested to know if anyone's read or knows anything about either "The Bible According to Mark Twain" or "The Diaries of Adam and Eve". Or are those just different titles of the same book?

IMHO Life on the Mississippi is Twain's best book,

The Bible According to Mark Twain is a collection of short stories that include The Diaries of Adam and Eve, Passages from Methuselash's Diary, Captain Stormfield's Visit to heaven and a number of other works.

Thanks for the info, Acquiunk.

Thanks to Great Google:

http://www.american-buddha.com/twain.bib.1.htm#A

Acquiunk--

I have no sense of direction and Mark Twain's thoughts on the unfairness of memorizing and mastering an ever-variable river are a comfort every time I'm lost.

I love belonging to respectable peer groups.

That book was originally a serries of articles for either Harpers or the Atlantic that were expanded into book form. What I always liked about it was his observations of the then present coupled with his memories of his own and others past. Twain was at his best when he was observing other people and I've always thought that his travelogue writings such as, Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, and Life on the Mississippi were his best works.

kickycan: When you finish reading "Frankenstein," I wish you'd start a thread on the meaning of that book. I think it's a morality tale worth discussing, especially since the movies have treated it as just a horror story.

There was a triptych of movies of Mark Twain stories produced some years ago that I saw on TV. One was "Life on the Mississippi."

Another was something like, "History of a private campaign," about a group of boys in Missouri who form a small band of rebel soldiers, under the direction of a fanatic adult, during the Civil war. It's hilarious but ends tragically.

The third was "Innocents Abroad."

I don't know if any of these are available on video, but I found them all to be excellent and well worth the search.

Coluber, I think that is a great idea. There are all sorts of great moral implications in that book. I am surprised so far at how different this story is to what I have seen in the movies.

So I have to agree with the people here who liked "roughing it". I really liked that book a lot. I think I'll have to check out one of his other travelogue-type books soon.

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it."

I saw this on a Twain quotes website, and I love it. I think I might have heard it before, but I can't remember: does anyone know whose funeral he's talking about here? Or where it's from?

"Put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket." Puddinhead Wilson

I really enjoy The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. I first read it in high school. It speaks volumes about underhandedness in the world.

Damn, now I've got to pull that story out and re-read it.

I first picked up Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus when I was a freshman in high school, but the early 19th cent. writing style turned me off. I picked it up again in my senior year, and was just amazed at how Shelley made the golem a superman--super intelligent and super strength--who was shunned . . . well, I won't ruin it for those who haven't read it, like I've done on some of the film threads. Oops.

Anyway, the book is relevant today given the strides in genetic engineering in the world today. What are the implications of genetically engineered human beings?

I liked Twain's _The Mysterious Stranger_, which is available online.

I came across a rather nasty but funny little swipe about Twain not long ago. I think it might have been in Esquire. If your friend reads Esquire I'll backtrack but I offer no guarantees.

At present, my favorite is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The joust in Chapter 29 makes me laugh aloud every time I read it.

Tough call. I suppose I would go with Life on the Mississipi, but A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was fascinating, if only for exploring the day to day thought processes of the time. I loved A Tramp Abroad but sometimes I suspect Thomas and I are the only ones to have read it. The Gilded Age was as informative as it was dreary. I might suggest it for education over entertainment.

I would absolutely love to see it, but please don't go to too much trouble. In any case, thanks!