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/lit/ - Literature

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11878650 No.11878650 [Reply] [Original]

Never really gave much thought to Twain - I had to read Huck Finn for a college course and generally enjoyed it, but it didn't stick with me. The other week, however, I started reading pic related and it's really had me very intrigued. Twain's voice is drawing me in far better than I'd expected, and I love the way that he turns the society depicted on its head.

I've actually heard that Connecticut Yankee is considered one of Twain's worst (though still worthwhile). Can anyone tell me why that is? And any recommendations as to where to go with Twain after I'm done this one? Maybe reread Huck Finn with a newer mindset?

>> No.11878672

>I've actually heard that Connecticut Yankee is considered one of Twain's worst (though still worthwhile). Can anyone tell me why that is?
The "in the past, everybody was a moron" attitude makes it very difficult to suspend disbelief.

>> No.11878702

>>11878672
I suppose that's true; I think it didn't bother me since I saw it as an exaggerated folk tale from the start. But I guess Twain's most popular/acclaimed stuff was more heavy on realism, hence the issue?

>> No.11878865
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11878865

>>11878650
One of the funniest books I've read. The asinine shit Twain comes up with in it is pretty gud.

>> No.11879366

>>11878672
he's lampooning dying walter scott-style historical romances, and the kind of person who takes them way too seriously. the contemporary version would be pagan larpers and/or rhodesia apologists

>> No.11879381

It nevertheless spawned an entire genre.

>> No.11880176

>>11878650
It was required reading in Jr. High. I recall enjoying it quite a bit. It was a good break from Kipling and O'Henry.

>> No.11880193

>>11878702
>Twain's most popular/acclaimed stuff was more heavy on realism
WEW

>> No.11880393

>>11878650
The Mysterious Stranger is pretty good if you want a more emo type book, when he was writing the book he was getting older and becoming more bitter towards religion and it shows in the final few pages.

>> No.11880940

I have the Adventures of Tom Sawyer on my bookshelf, what should I expect?

>> No.11880969

His non fiction is his best. Roughing It, Life on the Mississippi, Innocents Abroad, A Tramp Abroad, all much better than his novels.

>> No.11881103

>>11880969
his essays rock too

the one about why he hates German so much, or the ones ripping into Percy Shelley or The Last of the Mohicans are absolutely fantastic

>> No.11881107

Yankee is a parody of the isekai novels that already were hugely popular by the time Twain wrote it.

>> No.11881109

>>11881103
>>11880969
I concur. He's great at set pieces and comic characters, but for me he can't get a novel to hang together properly

>> No.11881121

>>11878650
>I've actually heard that Connecticut Yankee is considered one of Twain's worst
And hopefully you've learned to not give much weight to popular opinion. Reading novels is a very personal experience, and so as long as you value your own impressions and don't allow the opinions of others to diminish your enjoyment then it won't be uncommon for you to find an author's minor, overlooked works the most enjoyable. Once I realized this it was as if countless books suddenly spawned into existence because before I had always acted as though any book that didn't receive widespread critical acclaim surely couldn't be enjoyed and might as well not even exist.

>> No.11881241

Dairy of Adam and Eve is one of the funniest books I've read

>> No.11881467

>>11880176
what are you, 65 or something?