Thoughts on Twain

Since I'd never been exposed to Mark Twain before, I had zero preconceived notions about him as a person. Of course I had heard he was a great American author, but other than that he was simply just a household name to me. I don’t know how, but I escaped reading most of the classics in high school. I guess this was both a blessing and a curse, but for whatever reason Huckleberry Finn was not included in my list of required reading in middle school or high school.

 When I first started reading, I was a bit thrown off. I hadn’t expected this book to be a random collection of Twain quotes. But once I got used to it, it was an easy and enjoyable read. Though I didn’t fully understand some of his quotes, I had no trouble staying engaged.  

Reading all these different excerpts helped me understand why he is such an acclaimed author. I must say, he was the MASTER of the cognitive shift. I would read a few lines, thinking I knew exactly where it was going only to end up laughing because he had completely thrown off my expectations.

For example:

“There is nothing you can say in answer to a compliment,” said a blushing Mark Twain after a complimentary introduction to a crowd in Jamestown, Virginia. “I have been complimented myself a great many times, and they always embarrass me—I always feel they have not said enough.” (pg. 45)

What I enjoyed most about this book was getting to pick up on Twain’s style. His sassy, sarcastic, condescending tone is present throughout and he makes no effort to hide it. He had no problem pointing out the shortcomings of man and even of himself. I found that refreshing.

Literature often glorifies mankind and skips over the ugly parts of our history. We know that humans murder each other, lie to each other, and betray each other, but we don’t typically like to be reminded of that. Twain has no problem addressing the shortcomings that we all tend to brush under the rug. He does this repeatedly, even comparing mankind to animals. But not in the sense that we are equal to them, rather that we are below them.

He says:

 “If man could be crossed with a cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” (pg. 33)

So now that I have had sufficient exposure to Twain, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this reading. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have any prior reading experience to scar me. Nonetheless, I liked this book. It might be my favorite that we have read so far this year.