The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
discussion
Am I the only one who absolutely can't stand Mark Twain?
So much disdain for ol' Huck. Why the hate? There are plenty of bad books out there. The "Left Behind" series is humorless drek, but people make movies based on it. Let us not forget the "Twilight" series, which I would argue is proof that mormons should not be allowed to write gothic fiction. Yet, all of y'all nice people are chucking eggs at one of only three or four novels which could honestly be called, "The Great American Novel." Why?Huck Finn is hated because it is honest. It shows us not as we wish to be, but as we really are. We are brutal, corrupt, greedy and duplicitous creatures who do not like seeing ourselves reflected in the eyes of another. Huck Finn is that reflection. It gives us the full spectrum of human ugliness, from the ignorant brutality of Huck's ol' man to the fine christians who keep Jim in an animal stall so he can be dragged back into slavery. The whole time refering to the most moral character in the book as a n....., Oh wait we can't say that word.
I don't know about those other books mentioned by J, whose post is essentially correct. I must add on a simple level that those few people remaining that actually read books are reading for entertainment almost exclusively. Huckleberry Finn is far too challenging. The reason given for the reason banning was it made the students uncomfortable. Let's stick to the Disney version.
Scott, I have a feeling you are correct, though I try not to think about it. The great joy I got from reading Huck Finn several times during my lifespan will be denied to youngsters? What a shame. I was never assigned to read the book, I just did. Far prefer it to Tom Sawyer. Such a wealth of Mark Twain to be read. And a lot of it is outrageously hilarious.
And thus are wit and wisdom relegated to misattributed quotes next to pictures of the great minds, who are only great because they have quotes next to their pictures.
Scott wrote: "I don't know about those other books mentioned by J, whose post is essentially correct. I must add on a simple level that those few people remaining that actually read books are reading for enterta..."I add only that the Pennsylvania school district you mentioned decided to remove TAHF from its curriculum. If you are serious about purging a book from a public school program, you need also to remove it from the elective readings list in that curriculum, the school library shelves, the public library shelves, and the numerous online sources for the book.
And of course, even if you are successful, the stench of the publicity will do the job of getting the students to read it. I first read it in the sixth grade explicitly because a parent complained to the school district about something called the "n..." word. And yes, I read it to discover what the "n..." word was.
Jon wrote: "And of course, even if you are successful, the stench of the publicity will do the job of getting the students to read it. I first read it in the sixth grade explicitly because a parent complained to the school district..."
That's why I think censorship lists are such a good idea. They let the kids know what the stupid braindead moronic "Adults" are afraid of, so they can go get it and read it forthwith.
it is just a bad book. I have never read any Twain I have liked.
Robert wrote: "it is just a bad book. I have never read any Twain I have liked."That's okay, I'm not much impressed by your favorite book list either.
Scott wrote: "Robert wrote: "it is just a bad book. I have never read any Twain I have liked."That's okay, I'm not much impressed by your favorite book list either."
:)
Robert wrote: "it is just a bad book. I have never read any Twain I have liked."When you say that you, "have never read any Twain (you) have liked", it sounds like you are stating that the works of Twain, Huck Finn included, do not fit your personal tastes. That statement would be a valid response to this thread's original question.
But you began your post by stating that, " It is just a bad book." This assertion requires proof beyond your personal tastes. For example, in my earlier post I decried the "Twilight" series as proof that mormons should not be allowed to write gothic fiction. While I admit to a certain degree of hyperbole, I can back up my statement. I can start by pointing out that the heroine is a blankboard milksop for tweens to project themselves onto. Further the books ignore the archetype for both vampires and werewolves, giving us "dark" characters without teeth. So the reader is left with an uninteresting heroine having a melodrama with neutered monsters. This is how you begin to generate a valid criticism.
I look forward to reading your arguments against Huck Finn being a good book.
Nice reply J. I couldn't have written that as I know very little about the Twilight series but the ads I've been exposed to in the break room at work.
Duane wrote: "Jon wrote: "And of course, even if you are successful, the stench of the publicity will do the job of getting the students to read it. I first read it in the sixth grade explicitly because a paren..."
I read the ALA banned books list every year. It often incites me to develop my own annual reading list for that year. There must be some virtue to a book if parents want to see it removed from the library. Especially if it performs the education that they have failed to do with their own children.
Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not because of the subject matter, but because it was so sl..."I don't like Mark Twain either, but I did enjoy The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Over the last couple of months I have read Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Prince and the Pauper and Innocents Abroad and I am still none the wiser as to why Twain is held in such esteem. I do not find him particularly humourous, I think many of his characters, including 'himself' in Innocents Abroad, are inherently unlikeable. His sarcasm and wit seem little more than nasty waspish behaviours. I think his overall style is lacking sophistication. Yes, I don't care for his writing.
What American authors who are contemporary with Twain would you recommend that we read instead of him for those attributes that you listed?
I've read Tom Sawyer and The Prince and the Pauper as a kid and loved both of them but couldn't finish Huck Finn. It was too dull for my taste back then.
Andrés wrote: "Over the last couple of months I have read Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Prince and the Pauper and Innocents Abroad and I am still none the wiser as to why Twain is held in such esteem. I do not f..."
For me, the humor can certainly be a "stretcher" as Huck Finn himself would say. Having said that, you really need to decide whether Mark Twain has a good grasp of the characters he is asking the reader to accept. After all, that is the very heart of good fiction. The very point of picking up a book is whether or not you can find the characters or the story, or both, believable. Shakespeare had to confront that very same question just as Mark Twain did.
Huckleberry Finn definitely meets those standards of credibility, at least to me. It is because it is a coming of age story first and foremost, with Huck learning how much people are the same and not as different as he first thought. Jim becomes a very real and vulnerable friend, over the countless struggles they both have to find a home for themselves.
Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not because of the subject matter, but because it was so sl..."Rebecca, I'm with you. Twain is no longer relevant in the literary world. I first read "Innocent's Abroad" and found it painfully ugly, dreadfully unfunny. Then recently I read Tom Sawyer (very poorly written, the plot twists simply unbelievable) and Huck Finn (Sawyer on steroids in a very bad way). Twain is simply unpleasant to read.
J. wrote: "So much disdain for ol' Huck. Why the hate? There are plenty of bad books out there. The "Left Behind" series is humorless drek, but people make movies based on it. Let us not forget the "Twilight"..."J, yes, it's great we all have different opinions. And if I had to pick either Twain's work or the Twilight series for a stranded-on-an-island scenario, I'd pick Twilight. And I'll go even further and say that "Twilight" is far closer to the Great American Novel than anything Twain ever wrote. We agree to disagree.
Andrés wrote: "Over the last couple of months I have read Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Prince and the Pauper and Innocents Abroad and I am still none the wiser as to why Twain is held in such esteem. I do not f..."
Andres, I first read "Innocents Abroad" several years ago and found it painfully unfunny, ignorant, and hateful. Frankly, I was shocked: I thought Twain was supposed to be this great writer. Then, because I was so surprised, I read Tom Sawyer. I found it mostly ridiculous, contrived, and very poorly written. And then I read Huck Finn, and found it to read like Sawyer on steroids (and not in a good way). I think this author has no relevancy in this world today. Now, at about the same time, for example, Hugo was writing the magnificent "The Man Who Laughs" which is stupendously brilliant. Fact is, America is a very young country. It took France hundreds and hundreds of years to produce Hugo and Proust and many other great French authors.
David wrote: "What American authors who are contemporary with Twain would you recommend that we read instead of him for those attributes that you listed?"Walt Whitman comes to mind. David, the simple fact is that America (and I am an American, I was born here) is a VERY young country and therein lies the problem. There are very few American authors who can be compared to Austen, the Brontes, Proust, Hugo, Elliot, Shelly, Stoker, Joyce, Yeats, Hardy, Dickens, Wilde...why the list goes on and on. Granted, there are many 20th century great American novelists: it simply took a hundred years or so for America to grow and produce them. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm as patriotic as everyone else, but America needed maturity to produce, for example, Updike or even today's best writers such as Yanahigari.
Jon wrote: "Scott wrote: "I don't know about those other books mentioned by J, whose post is essentially correct. I must add on a simple level that those few people remaining that actually read books are readi..."Sometimes, books are removed from grade school libraries because they are simply bad, they have not aged well, they are no longer relevant. If it were up to me, I'd remove all of Twain's work from grade school libraries. He is boring. Young adults should read books that are relevant to today (Dicken's "Great Expectations" is a great coming-of-age story and will hold as such for centuries) , or great books from the past like Austen or Hugo or why not Frankenstein or Dracula? Whether Twain was a racist or not isn't the point for me. The main point, to me, is that his writing is at best simply mediocre. America IS falling behind other industrialized countries in the area of education and perhaps part of the problem is young adults are being forced to read bad books, thus growing up to hate reading. And not reading is a very, very bad thing.
Beth wrote: "At first I took offense to you calling me an old fart until I read the alternative, young twit. Glad to be among the OFs!"Beth, I'm sure it goes without saying that there are many "subgenres" within the OF group. Some of us like Twain, some don't. (I'm among the latter, but I love that we all have different opinions on books: we should! And we should discuss our different opinions!)
Thanks, for your suggestions, Greg. I have read books by all the authors you have mentioned except for Yanahigari, whom I hope to try soon. But I do agree on the fact that America is a young country and even immature at times, and because of that, there is a paucity of fleshed-out American writers. (For Americans, it's cooler to go out and sit in a tree for several hours and murder a grazing buck 200-300 yards away its probably having never laid eyes on a human or to sit in the stands and freeze their asses off watching a football game.) My fairly substantial library, like yours I'm sure, is filled with literature from many countries, mainly European, Anglo-, Latin American and ancient civilizations (even though they are considered modern like Greece, for example). I feel like you do about reading and broadening our perspective. My question to you though was of Twain's contemporaries, whom would you choose as superior to his writing about the subjects he wrote on and the characters he chose to depict? In my question about contemporaries, I can't really compare him, I don't think, to non-contemporary non-Americans, or poets, or authors not writing about the push Westward. (Frankly, the British feel about Dickens like we do Twain, I take it, but for me, Dickens is not of the quality of Trollope and therefore not as much fun to read.) When reading Twain, think of his being a good friend of Ulysses Grant and admired by Theodore Roosevelt. That's his encapsulation. Then we can go on to Glenway Westcott and Evan Connell in America.
Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not because of the subject matter, but beca...""Unpleasant to read." Exactly. That is why Huckleberry Finn is such demanding literature. He knew the language of the Missouri River valley of the 1840's, and used it throughout the book. It is that language that tells you how people lived and how they could be so easily duped and manipulated to support reprehensible policies like slavery. To me, that makes it a powerful picture of our culture.
David wrote: "Thanks, for your suggestions, Greg. I have read books by all the authors you have mentioned except for Yanahigari, whom I hope to try soon. But I do agree on the fact that America is a young countr..."HI David, what great thoughts you've posted! First of all, I read anything and everything. I'm now reading Finnegan's Wake, but along the way I might read something like "Twilight" or maybe some soft core porn like "Sweet Filthy Boy". I grew up with an American education, and by that I mean that I was taught that America was THE center of the world, that nothing else mattered. But in my teens, I realized there was a wonderful world out there (via books, as my parents allowed me to read anything), and that America was a very young country with undeveloped social skills. Of Twain's contemporaries who wrote in the same genre: none I know of, because as soon as I discovered the rest of the world's literature, I was flying high all over this Earth. But there was Poe, a genius who created a new genre for the world. And Walt Whitman, who wrote blatantly sexual material for that time: I'm amazed that his poetry was even published in the 1800s. Did no one notice? And as far as today's writers, Yanahigari is the best in my opinion and "A Little Life" from 2015 is my favorite novel ever. (I can't use the word best, because I haven't read everything: so whose to know what's best?) Chad Harbach's stupendously brilliant "The Art of Fielding" ( baseball and a campus novel, an intellectual feast) is not to be missed, nor is my favorite novel of the 20th century: Midnight's Children. All of this, of course, is just my opinion, worth no more and no less that anyone else's.
Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not because of the subject mat..."Jon, I'm going to pose an opposing view of Twain and Finn from you. Let's just go with it, then talk about it, then maybe just agree to disagree. In the forward to Finn, Twain talks about how he uses different dialects to represent that time, that place. Okay so far. Then he says something like, "Anyone who tries to find a plot here shall be shot". To me, he admits he is writing total crap, and thus he does indeed write a boring, senseless, totally racist, way-too-long book. Finn was a bad book, Twain knew it, hence his introductions. That's my take. His introduction proves he was writing schlock, and he knew it. And since he admits he was writing crap, I can only admire him for being honest.
David wrote: "Thanks, for your suggestions, Greg. I have read books by all the authors you have mentioned except for Yanahigari, whom I hope to try soon. But I do agree on the fact that America is a young countr..."David, and about your comment about guns/killing and watching silly American football when the world of soccer/futbol is a true athletic sport (with no time outs, 90 minutes of continuous action, etc) I'm with you all the way. Still, I don't want anyone to misunderstand me, I love my country, the USA. No one is perfect. No country, no people, nothing. And talking about these issues freely on goodreads with intellectual readers is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!
Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not because of the..."I think you are correct to raise that question from the Notice. I also think you are a very tough nut to sell on anything comical. In fact, I wonder if you appreciate humor or irony at all. I cannot tell.
Given that uncertainty, I will simply put it to you in this way. Mark Twain had a very strong intention in putting in his Notice a spin on the parade of unending deaths, fake deaths, and figurative deaths that litter the book He says simply: "....persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." You seem to take this literally, for some reason beyond my understanding. But since you consider the rest of it to be unintelligible gibberish (in effect), you impute an authorial truthfulness in only this Notice. I would merely suggest that your logic also dooms every myth ever devised by our culture to explain the unexplainable.
His "Notice" is simply a warning that tells the reader that death stalks the story, whether it is in the civilized Christian world of Miss Watson or on the Mississippi River. I also think Huck is a kind of "Angel of Death" exactly as his father describes him. Huck seems to carry death everywhere with him.
In short, that Notice is a warning of big bad things to come, with Huck looking for a way to escape them. It is both cynical, hysterical, and ironic at once.
Hmmm... This is *interesting* - I've actually lived long enough to see Mark Twain go from being fairly contemporary and much loved and appreciated, to a quaint old fuddy-duddy. heh heh... He knew it was coming, too - he said "The Twentieth Century is just not my century. I wish it well, but I really don't belong there". Apparently it took longer than he thought it would, but from what I'm seeing here, he's Outta Here...It's OK with me though... I've "Moved On". I like Kathy Acker better anyway, and she's safe from obsolescence for the moment - nobody will even understand her for at least another 50 years.
Don't give me any of this "Old Fart" stuff though - I probably fucked all of your grandmothers
Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not b..."Jon, wonderful conversation! I know that my view of Twain was simply shaken when I read "Innocents Abroad" in which he (to me) made unfunny remarks about religions and ethnicities. And, since I didn't like that work, I will admit to approaching Sawyer and Finn negatively. Now, about my appreciation of comedy/irony, etc. For me, the book that has made me laugh most, and out loud in public places often, is Joyce's "Ulysses". But my favorite comedy writer is David Sedaris, and I think his book "Naked" is a masterpiece. In a review of one of his works, the Boston Book Review writes that he is "One of the most shameless, acid, vaulting wits on planet Earth." I must agree, and there are some Sedaris-wannabes currently writing: as an example I'll mention Nell Zink. I also appreciate subtle cleverness. For example, in M.C.Beaton's world, heavy with Scottish accents, the characters often say "verra" instead of "very". And just last night I was reading one of her books, and she writes of her hero, Hamish MacBeth, that he was "too deep in the case to notice the saracasm." And that's not a misprint, it's Beaton, as usual, giving us a subtle and simple laugh.
Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not b..."Jon, I also appreciate the wonderful comedy within V.S. Napaul's "A House for Mr. Bismas" and I found Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" to be not only the most fantastical novel I've ever read, but full of wit and at the same time, wisdom. Chuck Palahniuk certainly deserves to be mentioned as a comic writer like no other, and his recent "Beautiful You" is, on the surface, a hilarious send-up of today's sexual world and he absolutely hits the sex-toy industry just right. I also found much wit in Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot." I liked Amy Poehler's (sp?) "Yes Please" very much, but thought Schumer went for the easy, tried and true, lines and laughs with this year's "Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo." So, in summary, I very much enjoy comedy writing, especially when it is subtle and full of wisdom. I've a number of favorite jokes: I love to laugh. It's simply this: we all laugh at different things. Where I might laugh at "saracasm" you might not. While you see Twain's introduction to Finn as "cynical, hysterical, and ironic" I see it as an attempt to dismiss any criticisms of his work. Twain's remarks in that opening were absolutely aimed directly at me, a reader who didn't like the book. We see things differently, Jon, and that's a wonderful thing! Again, fantastic discussion!
Duane wrote: "Hmmm... This is *interesting* - I've actually lived long enough to see Mark Twain go from being fairly contemporary and much loved and appreciated, to a quaint old fuddy-duddy. heh heh... He knew i..."Duane, I agree with everything you say. And to your "I probably f**ked all of your grandmothers," I can only laugh and give you a toast with my morning cup of coffee.
Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not b..."Jon, no, of course I don't literally feel that Twain will shoot me if I don't find a plot in "Finn". I can't imagine anyone who would feel that way.
Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was pa..."You managed somehow to nail my weakness for "Ulysses." I find it absolutely hysterical at times, but that humor is also linked with my confounding inability to explain the humor to anyone else. I can sit there laughing at many allusions to the Hades episode, and then be stupefied by the enormity of what happens when you or I try to explain any joke. It ain't happening, regardless of the best effort!
Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was pa..."Thanks for those insights into your capacity for humor. The fact that you like Sedaris and Nell Zink gives me a leg up on just how far my own capacity for ironic, even acidic, humor can go. I like more of an urbane humor a la PG Wodehouse, but I also scrap it up a bit with the occasionally crushingly bitter humor of Kurt Vonnegut. My all time favorite stand up comedian was George Carlin, partly for his profound literacy and partly for his ability to drop himself into the same acid he threw at everyone else.
But I will look at David Sedaris and Nell Zink more closely. I recall Sedaris' Santaland Diaries very well.
Greg,Overall a valid criticism. But could we dispense with the "young country" rhetoric. It reads as, "it is not their fault, they just have not been around long enough to have real culture." That sort of logic reeks too much of "the white man's burden" for me to find it palatable. If that is what they're eating at the adult table this Christmas, I'll stay at the "young country" table, with Canada and Mexico. (Canada laughs at most of our jokes, and Mexico is never boring.)
Books, like arguments, must stand on their own. To use context as an explanation for a book being bad is invalid. Context can provide flavor and explain cultural tropes within the work. Context does not excuse mediocrity.
I still think that Huck Finn is a solid candidate for the great American novel.
Scott wrote: "I don't know about those other books mentioned by J, whose post is essentially correct. I must add on a simple level that those few people remaining that actually read books are reading for enterta..."Scott, Finn is challenging? Jon calls it demanding. I would say "Ulysses" is challenging, demanding. I would say the same thing of Shakespeare. But Finn? It's just that I don't get any perspective of it being anything other than uninteresting. But, great conversation!
Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in high..."Jon, about Ulysses, yes, it's hard to tell other people anything about it really. One can quote from it: "Come near. Then get a hogo you could hang your hat on." One can sing from it: "To la to la to la to ray." One can use passages as wedding toast (I have). One can love the last few words "...yes I said yes I will Yes." But you can't very well say, "I loved this book because..."
J. wrote: "Greg,Overall a valid criticism. But could we dispense with the "young country" rhetoric. It reads as, "it is not their fault, they just have not been around long enough to have real culture." Tha..."
J, great conversation, but the leap from my thought about America being a young country to "white man's burden" is a leap I don't understand at all. And I don't understand the "young people's table" talk either. So, J, wow! You have completely out-intellected me!
Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Jon wrote: "Greg wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in high..."Yes to Vonnegut! And to many other authors!
Greg wrote: "Scott wrote: "I don't know about those other books mentioned by J, whose post is essentially correct. I must add on a simple level that those few people remaining that actually read books are readi..."It helps when reading Mark Twain's works to have grown up in the South or rural areas elsewhere, lived and played close to a good sized river, walked to school barefooted, intermingled with Indians and Southern Blacks and Poor Whites, to have led at least a minor delinquent life--i.e. trying all the things that were taboo for you, to have seen at least one dead person (and even better to have witnessed a cold-blooded murder), to have abided by traditional religious practices and respected the taboo on adolescent sex until the adults' backs were turned and to do just the opposite, and to have had few toys, little or no television or computers. And to be forever young at heart--especially after a tertiary education and going on Medicare .
Robert wrote: "it is just a bad book. I have never read any Twain I have liked."Robert, agreed, plain and simple Finn is a bad book. It's boring and for me that's the only answer to "why do you think it's a bad book." ANY book that is boring to me is a bad book to me. It's just that simple.
David wrote: "Greg wrote: "Scott wrote: "I don't know about those other books mentioned by J, whose post is essentially correct. I must add on a simple level that those few people remaining that actually read bo..."David, you know, I'll just say this: I thought it was boring. You're right, books do speak to different people in different ways. While I loved last year's "A Little Life" and I loved how Jude (the hero) finally rises above it all while others were absolutely horrified by the ending and hated it. I thought "Gone With the Wind" was basically a rewrite of "War and Peace" (same party scenes, same war scenes, multiple love affairs, riches lost, riches gained, Pierre saves the day in Russia, Scarlett does the same in the American South) and I thought the American version of this same story was far better than the much longer version in which Tolstoy kept stepping into the story explaining what I'd just read. So, one could argue that I liked Gone With the Wind better than War and Peace because I know more about America than Russia. That's fine, but I thought War and Peace was sorta boring.
J. wrote: "Greg,Overall a valid criticism. But could we dispense with the "young country" rhetoric. It reads as, "it is not their fault, they just have not been around long enough to have real culture." Tha..."
J, but you can judge a book by context, and you can judge a book in probably thousands of different ways! Easy example: Agatha Christie was an upper class English woman who lived in country houses in England and she traveled much. She wrote, and mastered, what we call the Country House Cozy Murder Mystery. She lived in Country Houses in England when she was born, till her death. That's what she wrote about. And she wrote 70+ mysteries. Now, within this context of the life that surrounded her, she wrote several flat-out brilliant works and one of them: The Mousetrap, has been running for about 60 years, the longest in the history of modern theatre. And she also wrote some weak mysteries. But all were within the context of her life and her selected genre. Outside the context of the crime thriller genre, it would be difficult to argue that "The Mousetrap" is the best stage play ever. But within the context of that genre, you certainly can make that argument.
Now it's true that I am not a paid literary critic for the NYTIMES. I don't have a doctorate in Southern American Literature of the 19th century. I do not read and write reviews for a living. This NYTimes critic can't write, "It was boring I didn't like it." But I can. Right here on goodreads, I think at the top of the Best Book Ever sits "The Hunger Games Part 1". A lot of people LOVED the book. I didn't read it (I had already seen the Japanese film from the early 2000s, "Battle Royale," which is THE EXACT same story and even has two winners at the end. And I've seen the American film version of "Battle Royale" entitled Hunger Games 1" and I actually thought it was better than the Japanese version: it clearly had a massive budget that the Japanese film didn't.) So I didn't want to experience the same darn story a third time. We are all biased (that's different from being prejudiced) and that's how we make it through this chaotic world: we like red so we buy a red car. We like murder mysteries so we like Agatha Christie. I LOVE stupendously challenging novels so I've read Joyce's "Ulysses" four times and am now reading Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" but I'm so confused I just went to the library to check out "The Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake." I've read Joyce's "Portrait of an Artist". I will read his "Dubliners". I am biased towards Irish authors and thought the best fiction of 2016 was McBride's awesome "The Lesser Bohemians." But I read three books by Twain and I didn't like them for various reasons. And thankfully we are all biased in different ways, otherwise we wouldn't be able to find our red car amid thousands of red cars at a Yankees/Red Sox game. And most of us are fans of one or the other for many reasons.
Carol wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I have tried on many occasions to like these books, but I can't seem to make it happen. Reading about old Huck in highschool was painful. Not because of the subject matter, but beca..."Carol, no, I'm with Rebecca: Twain is a terrible author.
Bill wrote: "I love Mark Twain. I have a complete set of his writings released while he was still alive and with his imprint on every volume. It is close to 23 volumes. They were my great grandfathers and the p..."Bill, I think Twain's writing is infantile, ridiculous, and boring. Give me Joyce or Proust ANYDAY, and I don't even consider Twain's work as "literature".
Elekis wrote: "I think Huck Finn may have been a fantastic book back in the day...but its had its time!!!"Eleksis, EXACTLY!!! Finn is simply no longer relevant. period.
http://www.kombu.de/twain-2.htm
I mean, what, he went over to europe and just sort of "Picked Up" German in 3 weeks so he could, what? Tour castles and screw German maidens? *I* couldn't do that! (Learn German overnight like that, that is. I'm down wit da castles and maidens, ok.)
And after that short time he's capable of eviscerating the language and throwing its entrails out of the castle window like that? hey man... we've got a *serious* intellect here, not just a lame-ass has-been over-the-hill humorist...