Was It Heaven or Hell?

by Mark Twain

女性ばかり４人の家庭を描いた短編小説。この敬虔なキリスト教徒の家庭では嘘をつく事は許されなかった。それは、病人や子供に対しても例外ではなく、絶対的な真理だった。しかし、かかりつけの医師が見せかけのモラルを真っ向から否定した。愛する人を守る為、家族が選んだ道は・・・

言葉による嘘、言葉を使わない嘘、人を傷つける嘘、人を守る為の嘘。嘘も様々である。宗教的真理や医学的倫理からも考えさせられる名作。

Genres: Classics, Philosophy, Fiction, Literature, Short Stories

Paperback

Published June 17, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[فايز غازي Fayez Ghazi · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Heaven.. without any doubt...

- A short sad story, straight to the point.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was sadly just kind of boring...there was not much to the plot, and no vital lesson to be learned. It was just blah.

[Citrullus lanatus · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘wouldn't you tell a lie to shield a person from an undeserved injury or shame?’

[Ainhoa Sol2ati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Triste. Lo he leido solo para llegar al reto

[Sneh Pradhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twas' okay ..... seemed like one of those moral fables by Tolstoy ....

[Mahmoud Rasheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

من اجمل القصص القصيرة التي قرأتها حتى الآن لمارك توين
الأمور لا تأخذ بظواهرها فقط والإلتزام الديني السليم يكمن في النوايا

[Valowlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Don't you know the difference between a lie that helps and a lie that hurts?"
"ALL lies are sinful," said Hannah, setting her lips together like a vise; "all lies are forbidden."
"Hester, wouldn't you tell a lie to shield a person from an undeserved injury or shame?"
"No."
"Not even a friend?"
"No."
"Not even your dearest friend?"
"No. I would not."
The doctor struggled in silence awhile with this situation; then he asked:
"Not even to save him from bitter pain and misery and grief?"
"No. Not even to save his life."
Another pause. Then:
"Nor his soul?"

Damn. That was more emotional than I expected. Quick read but managed to make me pause to think. An open ending that lets you be the judge⁠: is lying to save—to protect, to shelter, to keep happy—a vice or a virtue?

"Let me kiss you for her, Aunt Hester; and when I am gone, and the danger is past, place the kiss upon her dear lips some day, and say her mother sent it, and all her mother's broken heart is in it."

(Read it here.)

[TopBob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "ooo is lying good or bad???" is not the point of the short story. I think Twain merely points out that those who enforce their morals on others do so out of pride. Use whichever interpretation you like, I don't care for the latter much more than the former. Still, I didn't like this story until it tugged on my heartstrings. I have to give it credit for that.

[Dieuwke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a few stories by the hand of Mark Twain and never really liked his style of writing. This story however I did like, a lot. It was intricately written. Interesting emotions and the change in the twin sisters was very well recounted.

I think it was heaven :)

[Abeer Abdelhamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة قصيرة مؤثرة وتثير التساؤل الازلى .. كيف يتم الحساب والجزاء؟؟ الجنة ام النار؟؟
يمكن قراءة القصة مترجمة على الرابط :
https://www.nashiri.net/index.php/kut...

[Lucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

um conto muito interessante que acaba trazendo inúmeras reflexões a respeito da mentira, falando sobre o dilema moral, se trazendo o questionamento de que a verdade sempre será a melhor escolha? existe alguma situação que mentir é o melhor?

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

See this is why I like Mark Twain. He debated the age old questions: Should lying be considered not sinful, if it is done for other's happiness? He does so very nicely, and gets his point across in a few words, rather than dragging the whole thing for pages. Pretty quick and engaging read.

[Aya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable read .

[Tasnim_Mnassar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda of boring, there's isn't that big of a lesson to learn or something. The title made it sound like an exciting book but honestly it was totally the opposite.

[Forked Radish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtle as a sledgehammer.

[Nam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rất ngắn nhưng rất hay.

[Rubens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muito triste e muito bonito. Mostra que o ser humano sempre se depara com situações rm que uma "justiça" cega e não pensada pode gerar uma injustiça maior.

[Samia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fala sobre um dilema moral: a verdade é sempre melhor? Mentir pode ser piedoso?
Nem parece um dilema para os dias de hoje. Mas, era para aqueles personagens. Twain com seu jeito de contador de histórias, sua maneira de construir personagens fortes, cativa até o final. Onde me apressei a dar o veredito. Céu, claro que céu.

[Lance Lasalle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pointed and a little dusty,but OK.