Mark, by Mark

Mark Twain is one of several authors who is a contender to have written The Great American Novel (in this case, it being his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn).  Now, I've read Huck Finn more than enough times, both for school and for personal interest, so instead of reading it for Summer Reading, I thought it might be fun to read a little bit about Mark Twain.  So, I'm starting with two books by Twain scholar Mark Dawidziak (he kinda looks a little like Twain, too!)

Starting with Mark Twain in Ohio, we have a fascinating romp of Twain's adventures through the Buckeye State.  The first section was a bit of a roadmap of where he went, who he stayed with, touring companions, and where he gave his lectures.  It might come across as a little dry to someone who is not a fan of Twain, but then again, why would you be reading this book if you didn't like Twain at least a little?

The second part of the book is where it really shines.  Dawidziak shares a couple of scripts from Twain's lectures.  Since he changed the content of each speech from location to location, there's not one fool-proof script, but the book does a great job of compiling one from transcripts and notes.

The second book, Mark Twain's Guide to Diet, Exercise, Beauty, Fashion, Investment, Romance, Health, and Happiness was also extremely amusing.  The whole book consists of quotes on various topics, but Twain is so witty you don't mind reading what is essentially a glorified quote book.  I found a lot of great material here, and it only whet my appetite for more Twain.

Dawidziak has written more on Twain so I'll definitely have to check out his other books.  If you want to check out his website, you can find it here.  There are links to all his books included.

States Visited: Ohio

Canceled Class, Carmel Coffee, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

So, today was the Ides of March. I come to Latin and we talked about Caesar for quite a while, which was awesome, but then I go to my literature class, expecting some wonderful literary analysis of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (I had even highlighted the passages I wanted to discuss) and to my chagrin, I come to class only to find no professor! Now, of course, we only assume that he is running late, but we waited for fifteen minutes, and he still didn't show up! At that point, we all just left, but I will freely admit that I was disappointed. :'(

So, I've come down to the campus coffee shop, and am attempting to warm my spirits with a cup of coffee (Carmel flavored, of course :P). It it most depressing, since today is a misty, wet, and grey day (which I love) but I only love it because its the perfect day to read a book; and the only thing that could make reading a book any better is reading it with a class and discussing every little nuance of it!

As I'm sure you guessed already, I'm currently reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Samuel Clemens. I"m not a huge fan of Mark Twain, but so far, it is rather interesting. I've been highlighting like crazy (something I try very hard not to do in books, but since I have two copies of it, its okay). And, during one of these highlighting sprees, I came across this passage...

"Things ran along, a tournament nearly every week; and now and then the boys used to want me to take a hand-- I mean Sir Launcelot and the rest-- but I said I would by and by; no hurry yet, and too much government machinery to oil up and set to rights and start a-going."

~Samuel Clemens (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)

This passage seriously makes me laugh; or gape, my reaction varies every time I look at it. I mean, basically, Hank Morgan, the narrator, makes it seem so commonplace to be able to talk to one of the greatest knights of all time!!! He refers to Launcelot as though he was just "one of the boys," as though he was just a kid from the neighborhood! I can't even imagine that, especially after just having read excerpts (because we don't have enough time in class for the whole book) from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, which makes Launcelot out to be this amazing hero!

One does have to give Clemens/Twain points for being original, hehe!