Here we going to talk about The greatest writer and humorist Mark Twain and his writings that everyone must read in their life time first let us discuss about Mark Twain and then about some must read books by Mark Twain.
Who is Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens or well known as Mark Twain a multi-talented American writer, humorist, publisher and lecturer.who is known as “greatest humorist this country has produced”, Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens and then a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada.later he turned to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise Twain earned a lot from his writings and lectures.Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse. At mid of his career, he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative, and social criticism in his writing .Now let us talk about the books by Mark Twain.
Books by Mark Twain
A complete bibliography of Twain’s works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces he wrote. So here I tried my best to list the books by Mark Twain that you must read.
1.The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
This is Mark Twain’s first big hit published in the November 18, 1865 which is also titled as “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. The story revolves around the narrator who on behalf of a friend, goes to ask Simon Wheeler about his friend’s former acquaintance, Reverend Leonidas W. Smiley, who may or may not have stayed in the mining camp at which the barman works. Wheeler doesn’t know Leonidas W. Smiley but he does recall a Jim Smiley, and he quickly launches into a story about the latter.This is one of these stories that nicely illustrate Mark Twain’s flair for humorous storytelling.
2.Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain was first published in 1883 and is about his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War. mostly this is a this is a travel book which describes America in the 19th century.
3.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
This is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River .The story is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St. Petersburg.The story is about adventurous, moral, and intelligent Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn here Tom, an orphan, lives with his Aunt Polly and cousins.
4.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published in December 1884 ( in U.K. ) and in February 1885(in U.S.). It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the continuation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Both novels are set in the town of St. Petersburg the story is about Huckleberry Fin,and his friend Tom Sawyer, Huck a middle-class boy who lives with his drunken father , found a robber’s stash of gold. As a result of his adventure, Huck gained quite a bit of money, which the bank held for him in trust. Huck was adopted by the Widow Douglas, a kind but stifling woman who lives with her sister, the self-righteous Miss Watson.
5.The Innocents Abroad
The Innocents Abroad or also known as The New Pilgrims’ Progress it is a travel book which was published in 1869. The book humorously chronicles Twain’s “Great Pleasure Excursion” on board the chartered vessel Quaker City through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers in 1867.
6.Roughing It
This book is a sequel of The Innocents Abroad which was published in 1872 Roughing It illustrates many of Twain’s early adventures and his traveling journey from the years 1861–1867 It is dedicated to Twain’s mining companion Calvin H. Higbie, later a civil engineer who died in 1914.
7.The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today
This novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner first published in 1873 it tells about greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America.This is the only collaborator novel by Mark Twain.The Gilded Age is a tale of the American dream of entrepreneurship.The book is about Colonel Beriah Sellers an insatiable dreamer, everything that he undertakes fails but after sometime Col. Beriah Sellers was by this time one of the best known men in Washington. For the first time in his life his talents had a fair field.He was now at the centre of the manufacture of gigantic schemes, of speculations of all sorts, of political and social gossip.
8.The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain was first published in Canada(1881), and then in the United States(1882).This is the first historical fiction by Mark Twain.Which was Set in 1537. The story is about two young boys Tom Canty and Edward VI of England who were born on the same day and are identical in appearance. The story is about Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive, alcoholic father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Edward VI of England, son of Henry VIII of England.
9.A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Twain was published in 1889 it was originally titled A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.In the book, a Yankee engineer from Connecticut named Hank Morgan receives a severe blow to the head and is somehow transported in time and space to England during the reign of King Arthur.After some initial confusion and his capture by one of Arthur’s knights, Hank realizes that he is actually in the past, and he uses his knowledge to make people believe that he is a powerful magician. He attempts to modernize the past in order to make people’s lives better, but in the end he is unable to prevent the death of Arthur and an interdict against him by the Catholic Church of the time, which grows fearful of his power.
10.The American Claimant
The American Claimant is an 1892 published novel by Mark Twain. The novel is written with the help of phonographic dictation.The American Claimant is a comedy of mistaken identities and multiple role switches. Its cast of characters include an American enamored of British hereditary aristocracy and a British earl entranced by American democracy.some of the well known characters are Colonel Mulberry Sellers , Washington Hawkins , Sally (Gwendolen) Sellers, Berkeley Rossmore (Howard Tracy).
11. Pudd’nhead Wilson
Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain is 1894 published novel the book is about two boys one boy born into slavery, with 1/32 black ancestry. the other, white, born going to be the master of the house. The two boys look similar and are switched at infancy and then each grows into the other’s social role.The story is set in the fictional town of Dawson’s Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the first half of the 19th century.
12. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain which recounts the life of Joan of Arc.The novel is divided into three sections according to Joan of Arc’s development 1.a youth in Domrémy 2. a commander of the army of Charles VII of France 3. a defendant at trial in Rouen. It is Twain’s last completed novel, published when he was 61 years old.
13. Following the Equator
Following the Equator or also named as More Tramps Abroad a non-fiction social commentary in the form of a travelogue which was published by Mark Twain in 1897.The book is about racism towards blacks, Asians, and Indigenous groups oppressive imperialism in the British Empire and religious intolerance through missionary efforts.
14.Letters from the Earth
Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain comprises of essays written during a difficult time in Twain’s life.The title story consists of eleven letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels Gabriel and Michael .It also consist of bedtime discussion with Twain’s children, Susy and Clara, about a family of cats, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man.
conclusion
This are some of the great and well known collection of Mark Twain’s work , here I have tried my best to showcase the work as possible by myself do comment your favourite writing by Mark Twain and also tell me about his style of writing.
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