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Any persons attempting to find a review in it will be shot
Hi,
So I finished up The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 1 by...well, Mark Twain.
I say "finished" but I only read the introduction, the collection of early autobiographical attempts and then the first volume of the autobiography itself. I haven't read through the last 150-odd pages which are explanatory notes and academic material of various sorts.
So yeah. Mark Twain dictated his autobiography in his 70th year and left instructions that it should not be printed in full until 100 years after his death. Of course, his wishes weren't entirely respected but this is the first full reprinting backed up with a 30-year effort to make sure the work was as he wanted it. And Mr. Twain wanted it in a rambling style. His idea was that rather than strict chronology, he's simply chat about whatever attracted his attention and let his present-day interests lead him into anecdotes about his past. In this way, he hoped to build a more flowing, narrative style of work that will hold the reader's interest. He claimed that he would try and focus on the ordinary and everyday rather than his impressions of chance meetings with historic persons but he's Mark Twain and thus he knew General Grant personally as well as President Cleveland and Hellen Keller among other notables. That said, he talks about childhood friends and family servants just as much as most of the luminaries so you get a broad spectrum of the people in his life.
The book is a real treat to read and it's broken up by the original 2-hour dictations so the work comes across in short bite-sized chapters. Sadly, the book as a whole is too thick for bathroom or commuter reading, but if you get the electronic version, you'll have a nice source of quick reading for some time to come.
The rambling style also makes it hard to give a concise overview of the material, but Mr. Twain provides a range of character sketches which are fulsome in their praise or pretty sharp in their condemnation. From his own accounts of himself you get the impression of a guy who loved his family and friends almost as much as he loved a bit of deviltry. He always had mixed success in business and so you see concern for his family's financial security and disdain for most successful businessmen of the day mixed with his own personal satisfaction in being able to negotiate a good publishing contract (considering he'd be swindled in every possible way there wasn't much he'd miss).
What I find really interesting (rather as he predicted) was his discussions of public and private life during the latter half of the 1800s. Mark Twain saw the rise and fall of the Steamboat era on the Mississippi, the Civil War, the taming of the West, the widespread introduction of rail and electricity and by the time he's writing his autobiography, automobiles and airplanes are in their early stages (although he hasn't discussed either of them in this volume). Such a vast range of social and technological change is on display and often starkly juxtaposed as he moves from past to present and back again.
It's a hefty, but perfectly wonderful book. If you're interested and nearby I can certainly lend it out since I'm not doing any Twain scholarship at the moment. I'm also very much looking forward to the next installment.
later
Tom
So I finished up The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 1 by...well, Mark Twain.
I say "finished" but I only read the introduction, the collection of early autobiographical attempts and then the first volume of the autobiography itself. I haven't read through the last 150-odd pages which are explanatory notes and academic material of various sorts.
So yeah. Mark Twain dictated his autobiography in his 70th year and left instructions that it should not be printed in full until 100 years after his death. Of course, his wishes weren't entirely respected but this is the first full reprinting backed up with a 30-year effort to make sure the work was as he wanted it. And Mr. Twain wanted it in a rambling style. His idea was that rather than strict chronology, he's simply chat about whatever attracted his attention and let his present-day interests lead him into anecdotes about his past. In this way, he hoped to build a more flowing, narrative style of work that will hold the reader's interest. He claimed that he would try and focus on the ordinary and everyday rather than his impressions of chance meetings with historic persons but he's Mark Twain and thus he knew General Grant personally as well as President Cleveland and Hellen Keller among other notables. That said, he talks about childhood friends and family servants just as much as most of the luminaries so you get a broad spectrum of the people in his life.
The book is a real treat to read and it's broken up by the original 2-hour dictations so the work comes across in short bite-sized chapters. Sadly, the book as a whole is too thick for bathroom or commuter reading, but if you get the electronic version, you'll have a nice source of quick reading for some time to come.
The rambling style also makes it hard to give a concise overview of the material, but Mr. Twain provides a range of character sketches which are fulsome in their praise or pretty sharp in their condemnation. From his own accounts of himself you get the impression of a guy who loved his family and friends almost as much as he loved a bit of deviltry. He always had mixed success in business and so you see concern for his family's financial security and disdain for most successful businessmen of the day mixed with his own personal satisfaction in being able to negotiate a good publishing contract (considering he'd be swindled in every possible way there wasn't much he'd miss).
What I find really interesting (rather as he predicted) was his discussions of public and private life during the latter half of the 1800s. Mark Twain saw the rise and fall of the Steamboat era on the Mississippi, the Civil War, the taming of the West, the widespread introduction of rail and electricity and by the time he's writing his autobiography, automobiles and airplanes are in their early stages (although he hasn't discussed either of them in this volume). Such a vast range of social and technological change is on display and often starkly juxtaposed as he moves from past to present and back again.
It's a hefty, but perfectly wonderful book. If you're interested and nearby I can certainly lend it out since I'm not doing any Twain scholarship at the moment. I'm also very much looking forward to the next installment.
later
Tom