I'm 2/3 of the way through it and I can see why it has remained so popular over the years. It's a simple story told in a way we can relate to even now. A true classic novel.
2007-03-13 04:57:05 · 6 answers · asked by Dustbowl Blues 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I guess I'm the lucky one, because I have been in the house where Mark Twain lived in America, and I fell in love with it.
Mark Twain had a radically different idea of childhood from other people, and a considerable respect for ethnic minorities at a time when segregation was the order of the day.
When Twain was alive, children were brought up very strictly in a very conservative society, where ladies wore black and were told what to do. Twain on the other hand, flew in the face of convention, and had a much more liberal view of the world. The "child" in all of us.....daring, brave, instinctive and dynamic...he expressed in his novels, in a world of boy's own adventures.
Twain brought his children up as children, and not as small adults, and he was happy to let them play and discover things for themselves.
Interestingly, Mark Twain was fascinated by the telephone, and befriended the inventor, Bell. In every room of his home, he had a telephone installed.
He also supported an English telephone-engineer financially, in the form of a certain Mr Robert Hope-Jones who had left Birkenhead on Merseyside, (following a bit of a scandal), and who went to America with a lot of clever ideas; one of which was a "Unit Orchestra," which was a type of organ which was made to sound like an orchestra, but which could be played by one person.
That business venture collapsed, and doubtless Mark Twain lost money, but the idea was taken up by Rudolph Wurlitzer, who then created the "Cinema Organs" which accompanied the silent-films.
It is this multi-layered and fascinating personality which separates Mark Twain from the rest, for he was forever looking to the future with a childlike optimism, and that is what comes across in his wonderful novels......a new and better world, where there were sassy girls and brave boys...the American dream in fact.
2007-03-13 23:17:56 · answer #1 · answered by musonic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep, I read it for English class and I can still feel a funny, warm fuzzy feeling when I think back to the experience. The language was no problem at all, although sometimes I felt like I might burst out into the Mississippian vernacular if I didn't watch myself. :D I agree, there's definitely a reason that Mark Twain is hailed as among the best of classic and truly American writers.
2007-03-13 12:31:42 · answer #2 · answered by tigertrot1986 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I love the book, and have read it quite a few times. Twain knew how to appeal to people's inner-child, which makes it so endearing, the same can be said for Tom Sawyer, which must be read if you like Huck Finn.
2007-03-13 18:16:38 · answer #3 · answered by Dan A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I have. I've also done presentations on it.
2007-03-13 12:05:17 · answer #4 · answered by The Misanthrope 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree...I love that book
2007-03-13 12:07:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
oh so boring, sorry.. i couldnt get into it. i did finish though.. but yeah. haha
2007-03-13 12:05:03 · answer #6 · answered by n8tive_45_2006 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋