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/lit/ - Literature

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21705453 No.21705453 [Reply] [Original]

A cranky, cynical, sarcastic bastard with a sharp, scathing wit seems like he’d be right up our alley. I enjoy pretty much his entire corpus, with A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court being one of my faves. Thoughts?

>> No.21705467

too popular
Talking about him creates no sense of identity for insecure 4chinners.

>> No.21705475

>>21705467
You sadden with me with your incisive but quite possibly correct observation. Oh well, at least I tried.

>> No.21705481
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21705481

>>21705453
Kipling liked him, so he must be good

>> No.21705536
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21705536

>>21705453
The Mysterious Stranger is so good and relevant that I'm shocked it doesn't sit beside the classics read in school like 1984

>> No.21705565

the only good american writer tbqh desu

>> No.21705577

Americans have to read him in grade school and nobody wants to discuss something that has already been discussed to death since childhood. They want to discuss some new shit.

>> No.21705593

>>21705577
I don't remember reading this guy at any point in pur curriculum and I was in the AP classes.

>> No.21705694

>>21705593
well "tfw you have to read aloud in class and it's another N word in mark twain episode" is enough of an internet meme that i know it wasn't just my school.

>> No.21705704

>>21705593
Did they let you read any white people?

>> No.21705942

>>21705593
You must have gone to a seriously shitty school if you didn't have any curriculum that included Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn

>> No.21705945

>>21705942
ACTUALLY I think we read a short story of his possibly in Paul's class (the based Paul M. not the turk guy).

>> No.21705954

>>21705453
I’m thinking of getting a compilation of his short stories and his Joan of Arc book. Is it a good idea?

>> No.21706054

>>21705954
I don’t think I’ve read his Joan of Arc book but now that you mention it I definitely will. Although I miss the old bastard it heartens me a little that all his stuff is public domain.

>> No.21706069

>>21705453
the said the n-word, more of a /pol/ author

>> No.21706075

>>21705565
forgot melville

>> No.21706083

>>21706069
so did Stephen King and he’s a raging liberal Democrat

>> No.21706105

>>21705453
>cranky, cynical, sarcastic
This is the kind of person anyone who isn't a faggot would hate.

>> No.21706109

>>21706075
forgot whitman

>> No.21706123

>>21706105
Yeah, which is why 4chan should love him

>> No.21706165

>>21705453
>Why isn’t this guy discussed here more?
Nobody here reads. That's why.

>> No.21706185

>>21705467
This. Edge lords aren't allowed to like actually good literature.

>> No.21706193

Is he good good or is he "the best we have to offer so we pretend he's up there with the worlds best" American good?

>> No.21706372

>>21706193
Still good and worth a read. Dated, sure, and you may already have a similar more modern author you prefer.

But I'll still read Robert E Howard even though I think Fritz Lieber did it better 30 years later.

>> No.21706390

>>21706193
He's good and worth reading.

>> No.21706405

>>21706372
>>21706390
If one were to read one Twain work which would it be?

Also I've been meaning to read Howard at some point and Lieber sounds fun too so what would you recommend for a work each by those?

>> No.21706443
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21706443

>>21705453
Second most overrated American author, behind Ernest Hemmingway. It's just
>What if....... not EVERYONE in the south was evil?
and
>WHOA I'M SO HECKING SMART!

>> No.21706502

>>21705453
I keep reading Mark Twain. I think that non-fiction is better than fiction. I love his travelogues, memories of life on the Mississippi. His Tom and Huck books are good, but I'm still in the process. About his short stories, the novel "The Gilded Age": I think this is some kind of graphomania. He generally has a big problem with a sense of proportion, his stories start great, continue well, but turn into crap with each page. It certainly makes sense here that he was paid for the volume and he earned with a pen, but it is most often impossible to read this. There are some good ones too, of course. But in general, the reputation of Mark Twain is greatly served by the fact that no one reads it completely, because of course he is a graphomaniac.
However, I continue to read it with great pleasure.

>> No.21706532

>>21706405
>Twain
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is my fave Twain. Still funny to this day. Pretty sure Micheal Moorcock used it as the basis for Behold the Man.

>Howard
Most stories made for serialization, so as detailed a world as REH writes, you can jump right in. You're going to get a fast paced, historically rich story in any of them. Frost Giant's Daughter, Tower of the Elephant, and Red Nails are mt fave. Just get an omnibus, either the big all-in-one, or if you prefer a lighter reading weight you can get the stories in 3 paper back volumes. Check out Solomon Kane for more horror like pulp.

>CL Moore
Adding her because she basically invented Red Sonja as a character in Jirel of Joiry, even if RE Howard came up with the name. Her pulp is set in alternate history of France however.

>Lieber
Lankhmar was his most famous works, you can get all the short stories of Fafhrd and Grey Mouser in 2 paper back volumes. The second book (in vol 1) is where he hits his stride, but the 1st book only gets better as you read. I wouldn't call it pulp, as the stories, characters, and places are quite connected, even if you don't have to read them in order.

>> No.21706538

>>21706405
The Innocents Abroad is his best or Roughing It is probably better answer more American but i prefer The Innocents Abroad. not his novels. Only Tom Sawyer is great and it's a YA book. Normal non book people only read that one. If you want to ever discuss him on /lit/, only read Huckleberry Finn because that is the one most people on here will ever read. You could get a compilation of his stories. That is what he's good at is telling yarns. The first two i mentioned are full of them, but a book of stories would be the same thing and maybe compilate some yarns from his boobs( i know i have at least two that do.)

>> No.21706541

>>21705467
>>21705475
>>21706185
you guys sound so gay, trying to comfort each other

>> No.21706559

>>21706532
>>21706538
Saved, much obliged for the elaborative answers lads

>> No.21706579

>>21705453
at first glance I thought this was a picture of Vonnegut.

>> No.21706626

>>21706165
The sad truth.

>> No.21706721

>>21706541
>you guys sound so gay, trying to comfort each other
Imagine being nice. What losers.

>> No.21706726

>>21706109
forgot Hawthorne

>> No.21707415

>>21706541
Thanks for the bump friend. Downloaded the Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc and plan to start reading it soon

>> No.21707444

i wonder what twain would have written about the unprecedented mass narcissism that seems to have affected modernity. i wonder if he would tweet, or if he would simply write letters to an editor.

>> No.21707454

>>21707444
He strikes me of more of an angry letters to the editor kind of guy, probably with sarcasm too rich for the editors to grasp. I’m not sure it’s such a great time to be alive!

>> No.21707893

>>21705453
>>21705467
Faggots. If you want to talk about Twain then make the damn thread and start a discussion instead of whining.

>> No.21707938

YEAH, I HEAR YOU THERE. THESE MILLENIALS THESE DAYS THINK THEIR FANCY DEGREES IN UNDERWATER FEMINIST DANCE MAKES THEM SPECIAL SNOWFLAKES WHO ARE TOO SMART TO LEARN FROM A GOOD OLD AMERICAN ICON.
OLD MARK HAD A FAMOUS QUOTE THAT I LIVE BY: "“Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
SHOULD MENTION THAT ONE THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE SOMEONE TRYING TO ARGUE WITH SOME OF THESE LIBERALS.

Bill (Tex) Richards
Sent from my iPad
------------------------------------
USMC 1982-1983
1171 WATER DAWG
SEMPER FI

IF YOU WON'T STAND BEHIND US, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT...
"I carry a 45 because they don't make a 46"

And the Lord said, "take of your bread my own"
-Isaiah 23:12

>> No.21707955

Can you guys redpill me on which version of The Mysterious Stranger to read?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysterious_Stranger

>> No.21707968

>>21706165
>le nobody on lit reeeaddd!!!!
When will faggots stop repeating this shit over and over

>> No.21707982

>>21707893
I did make the thread. Thanks for the bump despite your screeching.

>> No.21707993

>>21707893
A thread simply mentioning Twain’s name is leagues better than the average Twitter bait thread

>> No.21708043

>>21707955
All the versions
and this
https://youtu.be/BpaRouocBes

>> No.21708150

Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty's cheek mean to a doctor but a "break" that ripples above some deadly disease? Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn't he simply view her professionally, and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn't he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?

>> No.21708219

>>21707938
> USMC 1982-83
I chuckle alway

>> No.21708782

There's really nothing else like Twain. He's so hokum and humorous, yet down=to-earth, yet fantastical all at the same time. He's like the American Cervantes but that isn't even an accurate description of him.

>> No.21708850

best thing he's written?

>> No.21709282

>>21705453
>A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
I read that book once and it really surprised me. I had been expecting some kind of homorous tale but it was pretty dark and grim and ended in a gruesome scene with dozens or hundreds of people brutally killed.

>> No.21709312

>>21708850
It’s all good anon. Take a dip in the mighty Missisip’ and you’ll never want to leave.

>> No.21709379

>>21705453
He’s literally me
Intelligent, nihilistic, and with a wicked sense of humor

>> No.21709437

>>21709379
Except that he’s a famous author. Sounds like you have some work to do anon. You can do it, I have faith in you.