This edition of all Mark Twain's novels includes his famous historical and adventure classics, in which he is telling the children's and other tales in the witty and satirical style we all love and remember him by. Table of Contents: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Gilded Age The Prince and the Pauper A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court The American Claimant Tom Sawyer Abroad Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Pudd'nhead Wilson Tom Sawyer, Detective A Horse's Tale The Mysterious Stranger Mark Twain: A Biography by Albert Bigelow Paine Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He is best known for his two novels – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but his satirical stories and travel books are also widely popular. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned him praise from critics and peers. He was lauded as the greatest American humorist of his age.
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.
Of course I've read all of these before. They range from the disturbingly profound to the downright silly. I love them. You can't be a literate America without them.
It's taken a good chunk of my reading time to work through Mark Twain's complete novels. Whew!
I thought I'd already covered Twain's works through college, but there are a couple of books here I never heard of before (The Horses Tale, for one) and a couple I thought I had read, but apparently did not.
If you've enjoyed any of Twain's books, including the two great American Novels, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, then you're RIPE to read some more. Some of the novels are fairly brief so you can tuck one in among your other book selections. That's one reason it took me such a long time to read. I finished a few other books along the way.
I can't possibly sort and winnow the best since, hey it's Twain! If you don't think you'd like Twain, give this a try anyway. You might become a fan and you've not wasted much time.
A lot of Twain's opinions are seriously gobsmacking and about 100 years ahead of the rest of us slowpokes. I thought "Puddn'head Wilson" was a kid's story, but was totally surprised by the view it gives us of race relations. The unfairness of it all and the recognition that many things have not changed is unsettling, to say the least.
I'll just finish up "Connecticut Yankee" and I'll be done with this book. It has a lot in it I didn't recognize when I read it in my teens. Now about all those short stories. I'll bet there's a whole raftload I need to read. I'll bet I can get a freebie from Project Gutenberg. Sam won't mind. He's dead and doesn't need the money.
You thought you knew Samuel Clemons' work? Maybe you don't know it as well as you thought.
Having not read Twain in over 20 years it was not too surprising that many of these works had completely slipped from my conscious memories. But it was well worth the time spent in listening to this compendium of Twain's work. Much of his social commentary has now become lost in the political correctness of this age, but I suspect it is only a matter of a bit more time until we once again hunger for his wit.
I already have an excellent hardback version embossed with illustration and it winks at me from the bookcase. I bought this in Kindle edition so I can dip into it when travelling or waiting for a call or ... whatever. I have already read most of Twain so I know what I am getting when I read it. I have been hooked since seeing Tom Sawyers in old Black & White TV movie and subsequently read Huckleberry Finn. If you have read Twain you will know what I mean. If you haven't.... Go! Go, get a copy.
Through the character's or narrator's eyes on the lives of the Amplified Few or the Whispering Many, Twain reports on the situations and thoughts of humans being mindful of who they are and where they are in the course of America's Story. Insightful at any time!
Enjoyed this book quite a bit and held my interest throughout. I like the author's style and the way she weaves different characters and plots together, even if I found identity of the bad guy(s) to be fairly predictable about halfway through the book.
Mark Twain out does himself in this one of a kind story. The lines where he writes in 1870’s that the pagans Turks and Chinamen will agree with us until they gain our knowledge and then destroy us. What a fortune teller!
Reading this book makes me sad that we as humans are truly our worst enemy, for we are guilty of hearting each other by gossip, spreading rumors, mindlessly following others just to belong and don’t think of the consequences. It is eye opening.
This is Twain at his finest. It gives not only his commonly known works, but those that are not so well known, but are also so splendidly what we look for in reading Mark Twain. Some of these short stories are insightful views into Twain’s own beliefs about life and death and what this whole world is all about. The whole book is a great read!
I have read many, but not all, of Mark Twain's books. I especially remember my father reading "Tom Sawyer" to me when I was small and loving it. I am delighted to have found this complication in a form that will work on my Kobo.
As a boy I read about Tom and Huck, jealous of their freedoms. As an author, I return to Twain's works to study his craft. I imagine having his wit handy as I navigate life. I'll never be finished with his gifts.
I thoroughly enjoy Mark Twain's books, essays, and short stories. His pieces are a plethora of wit and wisdom. He could most assuredly "turn a phrase!"
What can you not say about Samuel Clemens? I wish I could have a meal with him and a nightcap. I could listen to him all night and day. He was even in a Star Trek episode with The Next Gen.
This was a monster of an audiobook, but I finished it. There is so much good content in these books, that it has to be the best bang for buck audible credit.
Other than reading a bit of Huckleberry Finn when I was about 8 years old, I’ve never read any of Mark Twain’s work. Yet, I see quotes attributed to him on a fairly regular basis. So, I thought I should probably familiarise myself with his books. Doing this as an audiobook was ideal as it had all the books in one collection. And what a collection – a total of 58 and a half hours. Unfortunately doing it this way means it only counts as having read ‘one book’ on Goodreads, so doesn’t help much with my Yearly Challenge (I suppose I could split it up, but I can’t be bothered). Here are a few thoughts on some of the books. Tom Sawyer: I suppose one of the issues that stood out here was the outdated and inappropriate language in relation to black people. Prince and the Pauper: I had no idea that this was a Mark Twain story. Was amusing enough, but the audiobook version was ruined a bit by some mispronunciation of English places and French words. There were also some issues with old English (as I was also having with War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells). Huckleberry Finn: Coincidentally I was listening to this at the same time as there was a news story on giving the slave, Jim, a voice. Given my sporting loyalties, I was amused when Cincinnati and Sheffield appeared in the same chapter. Overall I found the story very conversation heavy, which, given this is probably one of Twain’s most well-known and well-read books (at least in the USA), probably explains why I come across many such novels still. Connecticut Yankee: This story really surprised me. I had no idea that Twain did science fiction – as this story contains time travel, taking us back to King Arthur and the Round Table. It touches upon issues that have become familiar to those who read and watch such science fiction stories. I particularly enjoyed the eclipse story (which I was reading soon after an actual eclipse in North America) and the comments about the negative impact of religion. Yet again I had some issues with the style of English, which I was also facing as I was reading War of the Worlds at the same time (which caused further confusion due to its science fiction content). The American Claimant: It was in both this book and the previous one that I noticed the heavy usage of the phrase ‘Great Scot’, which, of course, makes me think of ‘Back to the Future’. This story had a number of interesting discussions – even how a game can become focus of attention for society (something which I think Orwell picked up in 1984 also). So far I was much preferring these books to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Tom Sawyer Abroad: Another one which was heavy on conversation. It had some amusing parts, but overall wasn’t a patch on the previous two stories. Pudding Gate Wilson: I found the calendar entries particularly funny – I assume someone has marketed a version of a diary with these printed on them. Tom Sawyer, Detective: Nothing much to say on this one. A Horse’s Tale: Again, so much conversation. The Mysterious Stranger: This one included another raising of the butterfly effect – is this actually the origin of this concept? Of course, ‘Butterfly Effect’ also makes me think of the album of that title by Diana Yukawa, and also the JL123 plane crash. It also links to another book I was reading around this time, Meet Me On The Bridge by Sarah J. Harris. The way Satan is portrayed in the book really reminded me of Q in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. I found some of the insights into humanity and democracy very relevant to today. This is one that I will revisit and probably get as an eBook. I didn’t have any particular thoughts on The War Prayer, Jumping Frog, One Million Bank Note (which includes actual discussion points), Hunting the Deceitful Turkey, or Burglar Alarm.