I was assigned a reading assignment and i'm not sure which book to read. Either a book by James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne or Mark Twain. I only have about a month to complete.
2006-09-10 08:39:59 · 16 answers · asked by SlamC 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Definitely go for Mark Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great book, with both funny and dark parts. Tom Sawyer is not as good, but still not bad.
My second choice would be Hawthorne, and Cooper would be a distant 3rd. If I remember correctly, Mark Twain used to say that Cooper was a dreadful writier.
2006-09-10 09:10:31 · answer #1 · answered by Ace Librarian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter isn't so bad. It deals with a lot of symbolism so I'm not exactly if you like that sort of thing. Mark Twain can be very humorous. I have heard "The Innocents Abroad" is quite good. I haven't read any of James Fenimore Cooper's stuff. From what I know, I would recommend Mark Twain.
2006-09-10 08:45:19 · answer #2 · answered by abbaloveu06 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All three are classic American writers. My opinion: I would rank them 1 Mark Twain 2 Hawthorne 3 Cooper. Natty Bumppo (that spelling is a guess from way back) is the main hero of 'the Leatherstocking Tales' stories of Indians in the new world/colonies in the US
Mark Twain has stories of the larger later (19th C. USA) but I think he surpasses them all in just plain story telling and then add a satirical wit.
Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court or (get back on this one) "Letters from Earth"
Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans
Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
2006-09-10 08:50:42 · answer #3 · answered by Grody Jicama 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not very familiar with the other two, but I will say that you won't regret reading Mark Twain, but Huck Finn is not exactly a quick read (if that's what you're reading). The language takes a little time to get used to, which can slow you down in the beginning. So, if time is of the essence you may want to just skim through a page or two of all the books and look at the page count!
2006-09-10 15:41:59 · answer #4 · answered by Izzie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mark Twain, hands down. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes sentences that can go on for 4 to 5 or more lines. Some of his sentences look the size of paragraphs! I got tired of starting to read one of his sentences, then getting lost because it kept going on & on, then having to go back to the beginning of the sentence to figure out what it was saying.
Mark Twain is one of the best, and he's funny too.
2006-09-10 17:41:55 · answer #5 · answered by Bronweyn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definitely I'd choose Mark Twain over the other two writers. I really liked Tom Sawyer. And although probably not qualifying for your assignment, some of his short stories are great too.
2006-09-10 09:15:55 · answer #6 · answered by laney_po 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're more likely to enjoy something by Mark Twain, based on what I know of what most people prefer... Hawthorne tends to be preachy (can you say "excessive allegory"? *shakes head*), and Cooper is, while interesting, rather long winded. Twain's stories are more likely to be humorous in places, and are based on lives of regular-but-not-boring people.
2006-09-10 11:36:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is one of my favorite books. It's also a fairly short book (a little more than 200 pages).
2006-09-10 09:24:02 · answer #8 · answered by arenee1999 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it is literature that interest you than you should read old master, Mark Twain is not a bad idea you can also read Shakspere.
2006-09-10 08:51:52 · answer #9 · answered by johnyBgood 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd go with Mark Twain. They are all good authors though.
2006-09-10 08:58:04 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋