Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Sketches New and Old
by
Mark Twain
What I refer to is this: he says my jumping Frog is a funny story, but still he can't see why it should ever really convulse any one with laughter--and straightway proceeds to translate it into French in order to prove to his nation that there is nothing so very extravagantly funny about it. Just there is where my complaint originates. He has not translated it at all; he h...more
Paperback, 244 pages
Published
June 1st 2004
by Kessinger Publishing
(first published 1875)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
55)
Sep 05, 2012
Thom Swennes
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovers of humor
Although I have read some of the articles contained in Sketches New and Old by Mark Twain, the book had some new stories. I always enjoy the writings of Samuel Clements and the sort of humor he inevitably expressed. The irony, sarcasm and derision of his writings are unique and set him apart from other authors of his era. This book is a collection of short sketches, written throughout his writing career, published first as newspaper articles. I’m sure his literary contributions to these publicat...more
Some of these stories/essays were serious and some humorous, but I am beginning to learn that Twain always starts with a kernel of truth no matter how outrageous his writing. For example, I laughed at the story of the people who killed and then got off scot-free by claiming temporary insanity, although the final story of the maid who killed her mistress and was condemned although clearly crazy was a macabre ending. I figured the whole thing was a spoof on what it would be like if our juries were...more
Mark Twain helped pave the way for many serious writers--Ernest Hemingway famously commented that all modern American literature comes from Huckleberry Finn. But Twain also broke ground in American short fiction and non-fiction, setting the stage for great humorists like Ian Frazier, David Sedaris, Dave Barry, and even Jon Stewart. This great collection contains some classics--but many more that I had never heard of. (Jeff, Reader's Services)
Dec 08, 2010
Matt
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
google-books,
short-stories
Read this for free on Project Gutenberg. A bit uneven, but that's to be expected from a short story collection, even one by Mark Twain. The great stuff is really great.
You can read it here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3189
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3189/3...
My favorites of the 63 or so passages:
A Fine Old Man
Science vs. Luck
The Late Benjamin Franklin
The Siamese Twins
How I Edited an Agricultural Paper
"After" Jenkins
A Curious Pleasure Excursion
Running for Governor
You can read it here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3189
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3189/3...
My favorites of the 63 or so passages:
A Fine Old Man
Science vs. Luck
The Late Benjamin Franklin
The Siamese Twins
How I Edited an Agricultural Paper
"After" Jenkins
A Curious Pleasure Excursion
Running for Governor
Exactly what it says it is. A bunch of short stories. Some cute some weird, some stupid.
I am especially fond of "A Visit to Niagara" (read right after I visited Niagara) and "Personal Habits of Siamese Twins."
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more
More about Mark Twain...
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
