Mark Twain, página 10 de 83

In "Is Shakespeare Dead?", Mark Twain crafts a provocative and acerbic examination of the legacy and identity of William Shakespeare, blending sharp wit with incisive commentary. The book is structured as a series of essays that challenge the conventional views surrounding Shakespeares authorship, drawing on Twains characteristic humor and keen observational skills. Published in 1909, the work navigates the intersections of literary criticism and cultural folklore, reflecting the burgeoning debates of Twains time about authorship and authenticity in literature. Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was a seminal American writer whose works often critiqued societal norms and human folly. His own experiences as a traveler and commentator on American culture likely informed his skeptical take on Shakespearean canon. Twains engagement with Shakespeare transcends mere critique; he sought to engage the reader in a larger dialogue about literary traditions, authority, and the nature of creativity. This book is a compelling read for scholars, students, and literary enthusiasts alike, as it invites readers to question the accepted narratives of literary history. Twains incisive arguments not only entertain but also provoke deeper contemplation about the origins and ownership of great literary works, making it an essential addition to any literary collection.

A personwho is ignorant of legal matters is always liable to make mistakes when he tries to photograph a court scene with his pen; and so I was not willing to let the law chapters in this book go to press without first subjecting them to rigid and exhausting revision and correction by a trained barristerif that is what they are called. These chapters are right, now, in every detail, for they were rewritten under the immediate eye of William Hicks, who studied law part of a while in southwest Missouri thirty-five years ago and then came over here to Florence for his health and is still helping for exercise and board in Macaroni Vermicellis horse-feed shed which is up the back alley as you turn around the corner out of the Piazza del Duomo just beyond the house where that stone that Dante used to sit on six hundred years ago is let into the wall16when he let on to be watching them build Giottos campanile and yet always got tired looking as soon as Beatrice passed along on her way to get a chunk of chestnut cake to defend herself with in case of a Ghibelline outbreak before she got to school, at the same old stand where they sell the same old cake to this day and it is just as light and good as it was then, too, and this is not flattery, far from it. He was a little rusty on his law, but he rubbed up for this book, and those two or three legal chapters are right and straight, now. He told me so himself.

IT was in 1590winter. Austria was far away from the world, and asleep; it was still the Middle Ages in Austria, and promised to remain so forever. Some even set it away back centuries upon centuries and said that by the mental and spiritual clock it was still the Age of Belief in Austria. But they meant it as a compliment, not a slur, and it was so taken, and we were all proud of it. I remember it well, although I was only a boy; and I remember, too, the pleasure it gave me.Yes, Austria was far from the world, and asleep, and our village was in the middle of that sleep, being in the middle of Austria. It drowsed in peace in the deep privacy of a hilly and woodsy solitude where news from the world hardly ever came to disturb its dreams, and was infinitely content. At its front flowed the tranquil river, its surface painted with cloud-forms and the reflections of drifting arks and stone-boats; behind it rose the woody steeps to the base of the lofty precipice; from the top of the precipice frowned a vast castle, its long stretch of towers and bastions mailed in vines; beyond the river, a league to the left, was a tumbled expanse of forest-clothed hills cloven by winding gorges where the sun never penetrated; and to the right a precipice overlooked the river, and between it and the hills just spoken of lay a far-reaching plain dotted with little homesteads nested among orchards and shade trees

An exponent of the theory that William Shakespeare, the modestly educated provincial man from Stratford-upon-Avon, could not have written the works - full of erudition and accurate professional jargon - which are attributed to him, Mark Twain offers an eloquent and entertaining analysis of this issue of authorship, peppered with personal recollections of his own first encounters with the Bard's plays on a boat on the Mississippi.Balancing humour, insight and vitriol, Is Shakespeare Dead? is a provocative contribution to the tradition of Shakespeare-doubting, as well as a fine example of the great American novelist's critical writing.

It is a remarkable river in this: that instead of widening toward its mouth, it grows narrower; grows narrower and deeper. From the junction of the Ohio to a point half way down to the sea, the width averages a mile in high water: thence to the sea the width steadily diminishes, until, at the Passes, above the mouth, it is but little over half a mile. At the junction of the Ohio the Mississippis depth is eighty-seven feet; the depth increases gradually, reaching one hundred and twenty-nine just above the mouth.The difference in rise and fall is also remarkablenot in the upper, but in the lower river. The rise is tolerably uniform down to Natchez (three hundred and sixty miles above the mouth)about fifty feet. But at Bayou La Fourche the river rises only twenty-four feet; at New Orleans only fifteen, and just above the mouth only two and one half.An article in the New Orleans Times-Democrat, based upon reports of able engineers, states that the river annually empties four hundred and six million tons of mud into the Gulf of Mexicowhich brings to mind Captain Marryats rude name for the Mississippithe Great Sewer. This mud, solidified, would make a mass a mile square and two hundred and forty-one feet high.The mud deposit gradually extends the landbut only gradually; it has extended it not quite a third of a mile in the two hundred years which have elapsed since the river took its place in history. The belief of the scientific people is, that the mouth used to be at Baton Rouge, where the hills cease, and that the two hundred miles of land between there and the Gulf was built by the river. This gives us the age of that piece of country, without any trouble at allone hundred and twenty thousand years. Yet it is much the youthfullest batch of country that lies around there anywhere.

My brother had just been appointed Secretary of Nevada Territoryan office of such majesty that it concentrated in itself the duties and dignities of Treasurer, Comptroller, Secretary of State, and Acting Governor in the Governors absence. A salary of eighteen hundred dollars a year and the title of Mr. Secretary, gave to the great position an air of wild and imposing grandeur. I was young and ignorant, and I envied my brother. I coveted his distinction and his financial splendor, but particularly and especially the long, strange journey he was going to make, and the curious new world he was going to explore. He was going to travel! I never had been away from home, and that word travel had a seductive charm for me. Pretty soon he would be hundreds and hundreds of miles away on the great plains and deserts, and among the mountains of the Far West, and would see buffaloes and Indians, and prairie dogs, and antelopes, and have all kinds of adventures, and may be get hanged or scalped, and have ever such a fine time, and write home and tell us all about it, and be a hero. And he would see the gold mines and the silver mines, and maybe go about of an afternoon when his work was done, and pick up two or three pailfuls of shining slugs, and nuggets of gold and silver on the hillside. And by and by he would become very rich, and return home by sea, and be able to talk as calmly about San Francisco and the ocean, and the isthmus as if it was nothing of any consequence to have seen those marvels face to face.

The latest in Hesperuss On series comes from master travel writer Mark Twain and concentrates on his journey through Americas Wild West, tapping into the perennial interest in this period in history. From 1861 to 1867, a young Mark Twain travelled through the Wild West. Following an abortive foray into a career as a Confederate Cavalry man he opted instead to head off on a stagecoach road trip with his brother Orion, who had just been appointed Secretary of Nevada Territory. Twain sets out on an epic voyage from Missouri to Sacramento. He will visit Salt Lake City, witness the beginning of the real estate boom and try his hand at silver mining in Nevada. Travelling in turn by boat, train and coach, through mountains and deserts, he comes across Native Americans, visits a Mormon village and becomes stranded in a snowstorm. Discovering a land in the grasp of a boom and bust mentality, Twain is caught up in the lust for instant wealth which remains always tantalisingly close. Priceless anecdotes detail the amusing mishaps and bad judgement calls that ensure that the authors riches are kept at arms length. Even at this early stage of his budding career, Twains trademark humour is visible - no one is safe from Twains wit. Train drivers, coachmen, fellow passengers and locals, all become victims of the authors pen as he hones his trade.

Clássico maravilhoso de Mark Twain. O príncipe da Inglaterra e um mendigo, que são praticamente sósias, são trocados sem querer. A história narra as dificuldades de ambos com as novas realidades.

In "Roughing It," Mark Twain presents a vivid and humorous account of his formative years spent in the American West during the 1860s. Through a blend of travelogue and autobiography, Twain employs a rich narrative style characterized by colloquial language, keen observations, and satirical wit. The book serves not only as a chronicle of his adventures but also reflects the broader cultural and social dynamics of a rapidly expanding America, capturing the spirit of the Gold Rush era and the quest for personal fortune amidst the untamed wilderness. Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens in 1835, drew extensively from his own experiences as a gold prospector and journalist in Nevada and California. His encounters with diverse characters and the often harsh realities of frontier life profoundly influenced his storytelling. Twains unique perspective, shaped by both the exuberance of youth and the disillusionment of adulthood, lends authenticity and depth to this narrative, making it resonate with both humor and insight. For readers intrigued by Americas western expansion, "Roughing It" is an essential read that melds historical context with Twains unique voice. Its engaging anecdotes and vivid descriptions of the American frontier invite readers to explore not only the nations past but also the enduring human spirit in the face of adversity.

Classic Tales es una colección que reúne algunos de los relatos más apreciados de los grandes autores de las literaturas anglófonas y los adapta a las competencias lingüísticas de los jóvenes lector

Armado con ese humor mordaz y ese dominio del lenguaje que lo caracterizan y que lo convertirán en uno de los escritores norteamericanos más importantes de todos los tiempos, narra el autor de Tom Sawyer el viaje y, como podra imaginar el lector, no deja titere con cabeza: empezando por el mismo, pasando por Miguel Angel, los Maestros Antiguos, los guias de turismo a los que pone a caldo-, franceses, napolitanos, y acabando por los Peregrinos y su viaje a Tierra Santa.