5 ms·

Dead for a Century, Twain Says What He Meant

91 points by donohoe 16y ago

jashkenas 16y ago
From the same archive, here's a previously-unpublished Twain essay about being interviewed. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/documents/mark-twain-concerning-the-interview.html http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/documents/mark-twain-con...
RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
Single page: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1&src=tp&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1&#3...
DanielBMarkham 16y ago
I like the fact that Twain was opinionated and sharply critical. I also like the fact that he thought it best to wait for a hundred years to unload all of this. We can read this now and put it in context, whereas at the time it was only so many of his reactions. He had the sense to realize that not everything you can think is something you should say publicly -- at least while the folks you are talking about are still alive. He even included himself in the list of professional idiots: It is the will of God that we must have critics, and missionaries, and Congressmen, and humorists, and we must bear the burden. Not just a humorist, but a pretty smart guy. I'm looking forward to the next books in the series!
- limist 16y ago
  And not just clever, witty, and progressive, but an honorable man, repaying very large debts even when not legally required: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#Financial_troubles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#Financial_troubles
- jquery 16y ago
  > It is the will of God that we must have critics, and missionaries, and Congressmen, and humorists, and we must bear the burden. I found that quote particularly ironic, considering it seems so much of his autobiography is him being critical of pretty much everything. EDIT: Of course, being Twain, the irony may have been intentional.
aw3c2 16y ago
I am getting a sign-up page. It is freely available somewhere else?
- ovi256 16y ago
  Clear your NYTimes cookies.
dantheman 16y ago
Link to Amazon preorder: http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Mark-Twain-Vol-1/dp/0520267192/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278855282&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Mark-Twain-Vol-1/dp/0520...
- ultra-nihilist 16y ago
  Thanks. This is going to be epic. The Texas school board will have to edit him out of our history and English curriculum.
- angstrom 16y ago
  Also BN for slightly less: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Autobiography-of-Mark-TwainVolume-I/Mark-Twain/e/9780520267190/?itm=1&USRI=mark+twain+autobiography http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Autobiography-of-Mark-Twain...
euroclydon 16y ago
What do you folks think of Twain? I have limited exposure to his writings. I recently read Last of the Mohicans and really enjoyed it. While searching for more information on Cooper and Last of the Mohicans, I kept running into criticism of him by Twain. Twain said his grammar sucked and that he attributed romantic and ethical qualities to Native Americans which they simply didn't have, because they were entirely blood-thirsty savages. Twain seemed like quite the jackass for those remarks, especially since I found Last of the Mohicans to be very readable and his portrayal of the Mohicans to be very interesting as contrasted to the European characters in the book. One such passage remarks that the Chief and his son, after considering new information, turned their whole plan on a dime, exhibiting the type of inconsistent behavior that would sink the career of a western politician.
- karzeem 16y ago
  His comedy remains hilarious. Most of my exposure is through The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. It's highly readable, and in what I find to be a pretty rare thing in old writing, the characters all feel like they were created yesterday, not ages ago.
  - andreyf 16y ago
    The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain is available in its entirety on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=ElrBj9ZcW50C&printsec=frontcover http://books.google.com/books?id=ElrBj9ZcW50C&printsec=f... Also free on Amazon in e-book form for Kindle/iOS devices: http://www.amazon.com/A-Dogs-Tale-ebook/dp/B000JQU9WO/ http://www.amazon.com/A-Dogs-Tale-ebook/dp/B000JQU9WO/
- endtime 16y ago
  > because they were entirely blood-thirsty savages. >[I found] his portrayal of the Mohicans to be very interesting as contrasted to the European characters in the book. I don't see why this makes him a jackass. You can enjoy a story without it being accurate. I haven't met any Mohicans, but I am generally skeptical of "noble savage" stereotypes.
avar 16y ago
The article indicates that parts of it have been published before, but that the previous editors gutted it. This edition has six editors working on it. But the article doesn't indicate what if any changes they're making. Why can't they just publish the original manuscript?
- waterlesscloud 16y ago
  Since it's clearly public domain, why not just release the whole thing online?
  - avar 16y ago
    One factor is that then they wouldn't be able to sell as many copies of their exclusive edited edition. Which carries their copyright, due to the abomination that is the copyright system.
  - aristus 16y ago
    Oh, my friend. If only it were that easy. A few years ago a short proto-science-fiction story by Twain was re-discovered and published... with a 2006 copyright. Photographers that make reproductions of famous old paintings can attach their own copyright. Etc.
    - necubi 16y ago
      Right, but the text itself (as Twain wrote it) is not copyrighted, only the text as set out in the published version. Which means that scanning the book and distributing a pdf of it would violate copyright, but anybody can edit and publish their own version.
      - avar 16y ago
        Yes, but that's assuming that they publish the text as Twain wrote it. If they editorialize it enough they'll have produced an original work on top of Twain's work. That'll carry their copyright, and since they keep the original under wraps there won't be a public domain version of it until the copyright of the edition now being published expires, or someone leaks the original.
known 16y ago
Best quotes from http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/ http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/
todayiamme 16y ago
The truly amazing thing is that his words are still relevant today. Isn't it funny how everything is like a spiral? Even though things do move forward the circular motion is a near constant of life. People keep on talking about the good old days, while deep inside they are afraid that there might not have been any good old days. Perhaps the emotions and struggles that are part and parcel of our existence are identical to those of people long gone. Stripped of all details it looks like to me that we just keep on repeating the same thing over and over again. That observation aside the more fascinating question is why? Why do we let history repeat itself in torturous detail? Why do we forget the lessons of our past?
- sgk284 16y ago
  I don't think its a cycle or a spiral so much as a constant. People have always been greedy, wars have always been unnecessarily waged, companies have always abused their power. The only thing that changes are the names of those responsible for it. As for older generations yelling about newer generations, I suspect that's simply "wisdom of age" coupled with "fear of change".
sabat 16y ago
Pre-ordering mine now.
nswanberg 16y ago
Twain's "Roughing It" is hilarious. His writing style was absolutely unlike any other 19th century writing I'd read. It makes for great road trip or beach reading; or just download it and read a few chapters: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3177 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3177

91 points by donohoe 16y ago

From the same archive, here's a previously-unpublished Twain essay about being interviewed. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/documents/mark-twain-concerning-the-interview.html http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/documents/mark-twain-con...

RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago

Single page: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1&src=tp&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1&#3...

DanielBMarkham 16y ago

I like the fact that Twain was opinionated and sharply critical. I also like the fact that he thought it best to wait for a hundred years to unload all of this. We can read this now and put it in context, whereas at the time it was only so many of his reactions. He had the sense to realize that not everything you can think is something you should say publicly -- at least while the folks you are talking about are still alive. He even included himself in the list of professional idiots: It is the will of God that we must have critics, and missionaries, and Congressmen, and humorists, and we must bear the burden. Not just a humorist, but a pretty smart guy. I'm looking forward to the next books in the series!

limist 16y ago
And not just clever, witty, and progressive, but an honorable man, repaying very large debts even when not legally required: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#Financial_troubles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#Financial_troubles
jquery 16y ago
> It is the will of God that we must have critics, and missionaries, and Congressmen, and humorists, and we must bear the burden. I found that quote particularly ironic, considering it seems so much of his autobiography is him being critical of pretty much everything. EDIT: Of course, being Twain, the irony may have been intentional.

aw3c2 16y ago

I am getting a sign-up page. It is freely available somewhere else?

ovi256 16y ago
Clear your NYTimes cookies.

dantheman 16y ago

Link to Amazon preorder: http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Mark-Twain-Vol-1/dp/0520267192/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278855282&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Mark-Twain-Vol-1/dp/0520...

ultra-nihilist 16y ago
Thanks. This is going to be epic. The Texas school board will have to edit him out of our history and English curriculum.
angstrom 16y ago
Also BN for slightly less: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Autobiography-of-Mark-TwainVolume-I/Mark-Twain/e/9780520267190/?itm=1&USRI=mark+twain+autobiography http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Autobiography-of-Mark-Twain...

euroclydon 16y ago

What do you folks think of Twain? I have limited exposure to his writings. I recently read Last of the Mohicans and really enjoyed it. While searching for more information on Cooper and Last of the Mohicans, I kept running into criticism of him by Twain. Twain said his grammar sucked and that he attributed romantic and ethical qualities to Native Americans which they simply didn't have, because they were entirely blood-thirsty savages. Twain seemed like quite the jackass for those remarks, especially since I found Last of the Mohicans to be very readable and his portrayal of the Mohicans to be very interesting as contrasted to the European characters in the book. One such passage remarks that the Chief and his son, after considering new information, turned their whole plan on a dime, exhibiting the type of inconsistent behavior that would sink the career of a western politician.

karzeem 16y ago
His comedy remains hilarious. Most of my exposure is through The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. It's highly readable, and in what I find to be a pretty rare thing in old writing, the characters all feel like they were created yesterday, not ages ago.
- andreyf 16y ago
  The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain is available in its entirety on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=ElrBj9ZcW50C&printsec=frontcover http://books.google.com/books?id=ElrBj9ZcW50C&printsec=f... Also free on Amazon in e-book form for Kindle/iOS devices: http://www.amazon.com/A-Dogs-Tale-ebook/dp/B000JQU9WO/ http://www.amazon.com/A-Dogs-Tale-ebook/dp/B000JQU9WO/
endtime 16y ago
> because they were entirely blood-thirsty savages. >[I found] his portrayal of the Mohicans to be very interesting as contrasted to the European characters in the book. I don't see why this makes him a jackass. You can enjoy a story without it being accurate. I haven't met any Mohicans, but I am generally skeptical of "noble savage" stereotypes.

avar 16y ago

The article indicates that parts of it have been published before, but that the previous editors gutted it. This edition has six editors working on it. But the article doesn't indicate what if any changes they're making. Why can't they just publish the original manuscript?

waterlesscloud 16y ago
Since it's clearly public domain, why not just release the whole thing online?
- avar 16y ago
  One factor is that then they wouldn't be able to sell as many copies of their exclusive edited edition. Which carries their copyright, due to the abomination that is the copyright system.
- aristus 16y ago
  Oh, my friend. If only it were that easy. A few years ago a short proto-science-fiction story by Twain was re-discovered and published... with a 2006 copyright. Photographers that make reproductions of famous old paintings can attach their own copyright. Etc.
  - necubi 16y ago
    Right, but the text itself (as Twain wrote it) is not copyrighted, only the text as set out in the published version. Which means that scanning the book and distributing a pdf of it would violate copyright, but anybody can edit and publish their own version.
    - avar 16y ago
      Yes, but that's assuming that they publish the text as Twain wrote it. If they editorialize it enough they'll have produced an original work on top of Twain's work. That'll carry their copyright, and since they keep the original under wraps there won't be a public domain version of it until the copyright of the edition now being published expires, or someone leaks the original.

known 16y ago

Best quotes from http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/ http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/

todayiamme 16y ago

The truly amazing thing is that his words are still relevant today. Isn't it funny how everything is like a spiral? Even though things do move forward the circular motion is a near constant of life. People keep on talking about the good old days, while deep inside they are afraid that there might not have been any good old days. Perhaps the emotions and struggles that are part and parcel of our existence are identical to those of people long gone. Stripped of all details it looks like to me that we just keep on repeating the same thing over and over again. That observation aside the more fascinating question is why? Why do we let history repeat itself in torturous detail? Why do we forget the lessons of our past?

sgk284 16y ago
I don't think its a cycle or a spiral so much as a constant. People have always been greedy, wars have always been unnecessarily waged, companies have always abused their power. The only thing that changes are the names of those responsible for it. As for older generations yelling about newer generations, I suspect that's simply "wisdom of age" coupled with "fear of change".

sabat 16y ago

Pre-ordering mine now.

nswanberg 16y ago

Twain's "Roughing It" is hilarious. His writing style was absolutely unlike any other 19th century writing I'd read. It makes for great road trip or beach reading; or just download it and read a few chapters: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3177 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3177