Mark Twain

[Michael]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/10/arts/TWAIN/TWAIN-popup.jpg

It would appear that since most of Twain's (Samuel Clemons) family have died off, that permission is available to print Twain's own autobiography without the usual censorship. Apparently the family has sought to keep this stuff quiet over the years.

Nothing spectacular here - Twain criticized contemporary US foreign policy with his usual wit and vigor.

Anyway, for anyone interested...

... Whether anguishing over American military interventions abroad or delivering jabs at Wall Street tycoons, this Twain is strikingly contemporary. Though the autobiography also contains its share of homespun tales, some of its observations about American life are so acerbic — at one point Twain refers to American soldiers as “uniformed assassins” — that his heirs and editors, as well as the writer himself, feared they would damage his reputation if not withheld.

“From the first, second, third and fourth editions all sound and sane expressions of opinion must be left out,” Twain instructed them in 1906. “There may be a market for that kind of wares a century from now. There is no hurry. Wait and see.”

Source: NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1)

Anyway, I've always been a huge fan of Twain's fiction. From what appears here, I'm probably an equally huge fan of Twain's politics.

[Zarquon]

I read about it on the PBS website; the autobiographies will sure make for interesting reading.

[Americano]

Not too difficult to imagine FOX Broadcasting's review of the unedited edition. Any slight to US cannon fodder or conquests puts Real Americans into a frenzy.

[Michael]

Not too difficult to imagine FOX Broadcasting's review of the unedited edition. Any slight to US cannon fodder or conquests puts Real Americans into a frenzy.
That is apparently the reason for Twain's family ordering the censoring of Twain's autobiography.

Apparently Twain didn't think too highly of US imperialism in the Phillipines or in Cuba. Somethings never change.

[The Drunk Guy]

Not too difficult to imagine FOX Broadcasting's review of the unedited edition. Any slight to US cannon fodder or conquests puts Real Americans into a frenzy.
Yes. I expect an attack from the Texan Board of Education to follow. Prepare for the banning of more of his material in high schools. (Even my class missed out on Huck Finn because of the alleged racism.)

[Michael]

Yes. I expect an attack from the Texan Board of Education to follow. Prepare for the banning of more of his material in high schools. (Even my class missed out on Huck Finn because of the alleged racism.)

Nothing is more symbolic of the idiocy of censorship than banning Huck Finn because of alleged racism!!! :facepalm:

[The Drunk Guy]

Nothing is more symbolic of the idiocy of censorship than banning Huck Finn because of alleged racism!!! :facepalm:
So is life in the pinnacle of liberty. ;)

[Americano]

Nothing is more symbolic of the idiocy of censorship than banning Huck Finn because of alleged racism!!! :facepalm:

Without reading Twain's Whitewashing The Fence lesson, my life could have been devoted to becoming a member of the general public or.... perhaps even public service.

I wonder if the Heritage Foundation will review his autobiographies for censorship review purposes that will sate military and Real American requirements for oppression. They're always looking for anything to lay blame on for their actions.

[Tom Palven]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/10/arts/TWAIN/TWAIN-popup.jpg

It would appear that since most of Twain's (Samuel Clemons) family have died off, that permission is available to print Twain's own autobiography without the usual censorship. Apparently the family has sought to keep this stuff quiet over the years.

Nothing spectacular here - Twain criticized contemporary US foreign policy with his usual wit and vigor.

Anyway, for anyone interested...



Source: NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1)

Anyway, I've always been a huge fan of Twain's fiction. From what appears here, I'm probably an equally huge fan of Twain's politics.

I, too, am a huge fan of Twain's, and have visted his home in New Haven, CT, his studio and grave in Elmira, NY, and his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri, and often quote his statement that "When you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

After George Bush ordered "Shock and Awe" on the totally blameless people of Iraq "to keep the peace" his popularity rose to over 80%, the highest ever for a sitting president, and that reminded me of Twain's War Prayer.
http://warprayer.org/

[Michael]

I, too, am a huge fan of Twain's, and have visted his home in New Haven, CT, his studio and grave in Elmira, NY, and his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri, and often quote his statement that "When you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

After George Bush ordered "Shock and Awe" on the totally blameless people of Iraq "to keep the peace" his popularity rose to over 80%, the highest ever for a sitting president, and that reminded me of Twain's War Prayer.
http://warprayer.org/

Yes, Twain's War Prayer, like almost everything he wrote, is brilliant.

As for GW Bush and his 80% popularity, I'll never really understand how American politics works. Democracies are not supposed to cheer for foreign wars of aggression.

Btw, the one that really freaked me out the most was the way Rudy Guliani became some kind of 'hero' and 'expert on terrorism' just because he happened to be mayor of NYC on 9/11. Given that Rudy was a major jackass who's politics was also to blame for most of the 'communications' problems faced by emergency teams on 9/11, it does seem odd. Like GW Bush, Guliani actively harmed US interests and was getting cheered for it. :ummm:

[Tom Palven]

Yes, Twain's War Prayer, like almost everything he wrote, is brilliant.

As for GW Bush and his 80% popularity, I'll never really understand how American politics works. Democracies are not supposed to cheer for foreign wars of aggression.

Btw, the one that really freaked me out the most was the way Rudy Guliani became some kind of 'hero' and 'expert on terrorism' just because he happened to be mayor of NYC on 9/11. Given that Rudy was a major jackass who's politics was also to blame for most of the 'communications' problems faced by emergency teams on 9/11, it does seem odd. Like GW Bush, Guliani actively harmed US interests and was getting cheered for it. :ummm:

Exactly. As they say in New Yawk, "Go figya."

[Tom Palven]

Exactly. As they say in Jew Yawk, "Go figya."

Jeezis! I just read my post again and see it reads Jew York. Could somebody else have edited my post? I cetainly meant to say New York unless it was some kind of a Freudian slip, being that a "New York" accent is also associated with a Brooklyn/Queens Jewish accent. My apologies to anyone who may have read that and was offended.

[Michael]

Jeezis! I just read my post again and see it reads Jew York. Could somebody else have edited my post? I cetainly meant to say New York unless it was some kind of a Freudian slip, being that a "New York" accent is also associated with a Brooklyn/Queens Jewish accent. My apologies to anyone who may have read that and was offended.

Done. :)

[Americano]

Briefly took me back to a few Southern redneck bars where many of the patrons deliberately pronounced New York in that manner, Jew York City, with a snarl. Topic content; Twain lived in a very bigoted USA.

[Tom Palven]

Briefly took me back to a few Southern redneck bars where many of the patrons deliberately pronounced New York in that manner, Jew York City, with a snarl. Topic content; Twain lived in a very bigoted USA.

True, and some people today think that Twain was "a product of his times" and bigoted because the word n******" appears in Huckleberry Finn. For example, a boiler blows up on a steamboat and when someone was asked if anyone was hurt, the dialogue is something like, "No, thank the Lord no one was hurt. It just killed a couple of n*****s." However, blacks of Twain's day knew he wasn't a racist. Among a lot of evidence of this is the fact that Twain was asked to deliver a speech at the 25th Anninversary Celebration of Tuskegee University, an all-black college at that time, which he did.

[NickKIELCEPoland]

Mark Twain is for me one of the greatest Americans of all time. Huckleberry Finn is pure poetry. Read the sunrise description in chapter 19.