Showing results by author "Mark Twain" in All Categories

Poika nimeltä Huckleberry Finn ja orjakarkuri Jim ovat matkalla lautalla. Matka on pitkä, jännittävä ja täynnä vaaroja. Huckleberry ja Jim matkaavat Mississippi-jokea pitkin Cairoon, Illinoisiin. Matkansa aikana parivaljakko kohtaa monia dramaattisia hetkiä, kun he muun muassa haaksirikkoutuvat ja selviytyvät murhayrityksestä. Romaani sijoittuu 1840-luvulle aikaan ennen Yhdysvaltain sisällissotaa. Twainin romaani vuodelta 1884 käsittelee rodun, identiteetin ja orjuuden teemoja.

Four delightful essays penned by Mark Twain, including “How To Tell a Story”, performed by Mark Redfield as Twain. Recorded before a live audience.

Hier hört der Spaß noch lange nicht auf! Die Meister der spitzen Zunge, die Helden hintersinnigen Humors, die Sänger spöttischer Verse gehen auf große Fahrt: Mark Twain erklimmt Schweizer Berge, Ringelnatz bereist Tirol und Kurt Tucholsky preist die Kunst des (falschen) Reisens. Und während Umwege die Ortskenntnis erweitern, begegnen sie so skurrilen Gestalten wie der Frau McWilliams (bei Gewitter), dem Versicherungsvertreter der Olympia-AG oder der Tante Zerlinde - Gott hab' sie selig. Eins ist dabei garantiert: die allerunterhaltsamste Reisebegleitung!

While Mark Twain was visiting Austria, Empress Elisabeth travelled to Geneva, where she was killed by an anarchist. Mark Twain, who had known the Empress, was shocked and outraged. This essay includes a description of the funeral and Twain’s thoughts about the assassin’s mind.

This essay by Mark Twain is an amusing portrait of pupils through actual exam answers. Twain blamed the situation on the education system.

William Howells was a friend of Mark Twain’s for 44 years and spent many hours in the company of this giant of late 19th century American literature. Clements’s views on slavery, literature, religion, and many sketches of home and family life emerge in this account of a truly great man.

Mark Twain attended the performance of operas like Parsifal at Bayreuth. He enjoyed the instrumental parts but didn’t like the singing, as he recounts in a humorous way. He called it "the wailing, screeching of third-rate obscurities, palmed off on us in the interest of economy".

"What Is Man?", the 1906 essay by Mark Twain, is a dialogue between a young man and an older man involving ideas of destiny, free will, and egoism. The old man asserts that the human being is merely a machine, but the young man objects and asks him to go into particulars and provide the reasons for his attitude.

"A Horse's Tale" (1907) is a novel by Mark Twain, written against bullfighting. A classic humorous tale as told from the point of view of horse in the wild, wild west. "I am Buffalo Bill's horse. I have spent my life under his saddle - with him in it, too, and he is good for two hundred pounds, without his clothes; and there is no telling how much he does weigh when he is out on the war-path and has his batteries belted on. I am his favorite horse, out of dozens.

This is Mark Twain's passionate eulogy for his eldest daughter, who died from spinal meningitis aged 24. It provides an intimate portrait of his daughter and attempts to present what he experienced as her unique character.

Die Abenteuer des cleveren Lausbuben Tom Sawyer gehören zu den Klassikern der amerikanischen Literaturgeschichte und sind bei Kindern und Erwachsenen gleichermaßen beliebt. Der 1876 erschienene Roman wurde in zahlreiche Sprachen übersetzt und vielfach verfilmt. Mark Twain schildert die aufregenden Erlebnisse von Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky und Indianer Joe atemberaubend spannend, realistisch und mitunter auch ironisch, immer jedoch mit einem humorvollen Augenzwinkern.

Told in the unmistakable voice of America’s immortal storyteller, this chronicle of a vanishing past is a tale of two journeys. The first is that of Samuel Clemens, young antebellum-era steamboat pilot who navigates wide-eyed passengers on the Mississippi. And the second tells of a reflective Mark Twain. He’d return, years later, to observe the inevitable and dismaying post-Civil War developments along the currents of the ever-changing Great River.

According to an LA Times, May 14, 2014 article, the following entry came from a notebook of a gold-seeking prospector, Samuel Clemens, in 1864. "Coleman with his jumping frog - bet stranger $50... - stranger had no frog & C got him one - in the meantime stranger filled C's frog full of shot and he couldn't jump - the stranger's frog won." Little did Clemens know that this would be the source for his short story that would launch his career as one of America's greatest authors.

Twain describes how he and his friend, Joe Twichell, tried to learn how to ride a bicycle in May of 1884. The bicycle was a new invention, and it proved to be more difficult than riding a horse. According to Twain, it was a painful and short-lived experience.

As springtime comes, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have developed a bad case of spring fever. When Tom's Aunt Sally invites them to Arkansas, their malady is instantly cured. But as the duo sets out on their steamer to get down river, they learn that Tom's Uncle Silas is in considerable trouble and needs their help. This classic is the perfect listen for audiences of all ages and encapsulates the essence of American literature.

In this brief, semi-autobiographical work, Mark Twain explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon. Applying satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation, he uses the debate over Shakespeare's real identity to satirize prejudice, intolerance, and self-importance.

This 1899 essay describes Mark Twain's method of teaching historical dates to his children. It was first published posthumously in Harper's Monthly Magazine in December 1914.

Mark Twain gave this speech at an event honoring Andrew Carnegie, who helped found the Simplified Spelling Board. Twain mentions how uncomfortable it is to only receive compliments when one is the guest of honor, so he critiques Carnegie’s “pestiferous” ideas about spelling reform. In doing so, he provides his own suggestions for fixing “this present silly alphabet, which I fancy was invented by a drunken thief.” This speech is a fine example of the brazen humor that made Twain himself famous.

Mark Twain wrote this essay when asked to share something with America’s youth. Though he begins in a serious tone, his advice quickly takes a turn for the satirical: “Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don’t, they will make you.” In a similar tone, he goes on to address the matters of respecting one’s elders, rising early, lying, handling firearms, and reading books. This essay is a great example of Twain’s infamous satirical wit and an easy entry point for anyone interested in the writer’s nonfiction.

Mark Twain delivered this speech at the dedication of new buildings at the College of the City of New York. The mayor who preceded him mentioned that good citizenship should take precedence even over education. Twain uses this introduction to transition into a funny discussion of the motto “In God we trust” being stamped into US coins and how this relates to principles of citizenship.