Hey I was wondering if anyone had read any Mark Twain?
And if you have, some opinions, thoughts on his work would be appreciated?
5 replies to this topic
#2
adrock3215
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Posted 04 September 2009 - 11:46 AM
I think he is a great writer. I always find Twain eminently quotable. He is full of witty aphorisms. I also think that Huck Finn is a great novel, though I remember the second half of the book as being somewhat crude (Twain stopped working on the novel about halfway through, where he picked it back up several years later is obvious.)
There wanted yet the Master work, the end
Of all yet done; a Creature who not prone
And Brute as other Creatures, but endu'd
With Sanctitie of Reason, might erect
His Stature, and upright with Front serene
Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence
Magnanimous to correspond with Heav'n
-- John Milton, Paradise Lost (VII.505-511)
Of all yet done; a Creature who not prone
And Brute as other Creatures, but endu'd
With Sanctitie of Reason, might erect
His Stature, and upright with Front serene
Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence
Magnanimous to correspond with Heav'n
-- John Milton, Paradise Lost (VII.505-511)
#3
suntzu00
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Posted 19 June 2011 - 02:48 AM
I read "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" some years ago and thought it was very entertaining.
Suntzu00
Suntzu00
#4
aequalsa
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Posted 19 June 2011 - 09:40 AM
I've read more than half of his works and would particularly recommend Connecticut Yankee. I thought it was hilarious. His letters and essays are all worth a read as well.I read "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" some years ago and thought it was very entertaining.
Suntzu00
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
...or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings;
but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause,
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.-Teddy
...or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings;
but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause,
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.-Teddy
#5
Prometheus88
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Posted 25 October 2011 - 01:15 PM
Currently reading his autobiography. The man has a way with words.
"You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live." -Ayn Rand
#6
mdegges
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Posted 28 February 2012 - 05:47 PM
Has anyone read, "What is Man?" MT raises a lot of interesting points in this essay: self-sacrifice doesn't exist, there is no duty for duty's sake, every action we take is to fufill our own peace of mind, without which we wouldn't be able to bear ourselves. Every action we take (even if it's seemingly self-less) is first and foremost selfish.. but he also says that, "Man is a machine-man the impersonal engine. Whatsoever a man is, is due to his MAKE, and to the INFLUENCES brought to bear upon it by his heredities, his habitat, his associations. He is moved, directed, COMMANDED, by EXTERIOR influences--SOLELY. He ORIGINATES nothing, not even a thought." It's really an interesting read. Are there any (objectivist) critiques of this essay?
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