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Gawd... only $75? I'd spring for it.

*CJ

I think I will be tossing mine. They are too old and musty. They were in an open box in my parent's basement for decades.

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Originally posted by tenderfootsquest:

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I haven’t any right to criticise books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticise Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Everytime I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.

Anyone else hear an echo of old Huckleberry there? LOL
I'm not sure she would have been able to send any barbs, delicious or otherwise, back in his direction with her skull beat in by means of her own shin bone.

You must not know Jane. She could slice and dice with her skull and shin bone tied behind her back bone. Twain hated society. 100 years earlier in England, there was no escaping it for Jane or her characters, who were most often left penniless because of the old male heir garbahge.

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Originally posted by BullDoug:

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I think anyone who has read more than "Tom Sawyer" and "Life on the Mississippi" knows that's not all ole Mark had to say. We are lucky enough to have all of his volumes published in the early part of the last century...I think it was a rush publishing project to pay off debts. It's a sloppy printing job (some of the pages are upside down or missing). Not leather, not embossed, at first I hated them, now I find them charming...not only for their errors, but most certainly for their content. They were in my husband's family and have been on our shelves for years. Sometimes I will take one down and read it.

Author's National Edition? With a handwritten printed statement by Mark Twain that these are an authorized set? My set is green with gold lettering. Like these: (while link lasts, EBay auction is about to end)


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...em&item=130407651554
http://i.ebayimg.com/21/!Bu(61...GBM!CHlE6fg~~_35.JPG

They published a number of sets between 1910 and 1950 and rarely put on a publishing date. Those shown are like mine and were published in the 1920's.

Amazon's founder on a talk show yesterday said the e-book will have 90,000 volumes available and in time upwards of 250,000--surely Mark Twain will be given prominent space don't you think. My point being why worry about dusty out of date books?

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Gawd... only $75? I'd spring for it.

*CJ

I think I will be tossing mine. They are too old and musty. They were in an open box in my parent's basement for decades.

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Amazon's founder on a talk show yesterday said the e-book will have 90,000 volumes available and in time upwards of 250,000--surely Mark Twain will be given prominent space don't you think. My point being why worry about dusty out of date books?

I think mine are charming because of all the flubs in them and for that reason, possibly worth a tad more than $75. If so, I was going to bequeath them to JKat as I said earlier but he probably doesn't want them either.

Peachy

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You must not know Jane. She could slice and dice with her skull and shin bone tied behind her back bone. Twain hated society. 100 years earlier in England, there was no escaping it for Jane or her characters, who were most often left penniless because of the old male heir garbahge.

I just was amazed at how much his critique was done in Huckleberry's voice.

i've never read tom sawyer .. i did read huckleberry for a course in american lit. once upon a time ... but i devoured letters from the earth when it was first published ..and once had a set of books containing twains various speeches .. plus a collection called 'the essential twain..' .. old man ..young man .. the whirling dervish .. to the person sitting in darkness .. etc .. the war prayer .. all of it astoundingly acerbic ..

i don't consciously try to channel the man .. he was a master i'd never be able to hold a light to .. but .. his writing and wry wit had and has a great influence on me ...

thank all y'all btw .. there's no greater compliment i could imagine than being even mildly compared to such a truly ironic fellow as mark twain ..

and sadly .. no .. i don't want any books bequeathed to me.. i'm retiring shortly and will be shrinking my life to fit into a 35' motor coach .. and.. i fully intend to drive it to heaven.. or to hell and back ..whichever case might apply .. lol

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Originally posted by Jkat:
i always thought we got a very good look at the acerbic Twain in "letters from the earth" .. published around '76 or so .. it'll be interesting to read this new work .. i've been a student of Twain's since college days .. it's nice to see something new come out ...

I still have my old copy of "Letters From The Earth" which was published in 1962.
Need to reread it as I know it had a profound effect on me back then.

If nothing else, he had a way of making us look at ourselves and our institutions with a jaundiced eye.

I could never understand why Tom Sawyer became his most memorable book. I guess it did give some insight into how people thought in the small town South back then.

Looking forward to the new release.

of all twains' writing .. i was most impressed with "letters" .. but a close second had to be given to "to the person sitting in darkness" .. if there was ever a stronger condemnation of imperialism .. i've never run across it .. and to actually feel twain's disgust and extreme emotion through his words .. reading them a full century later ..amazed me .. and too .. his eulogy of his daughter jean ..

i'd hate to have to choose a single favorite..

He would've loved crawfish cocktail.