American life comes under the scrutiny of Mark Twain's wit in this delightful collection of short stories. Here, he comments on politics, education, the media, religion, and literature. The true subject of Twain's satire and burlesque is that strangest of all animals, the human being. In his novels, travel narratives, stories, essays, and sketches, Twain exposes such a variety of human foibles that one is left either laughing at the folly of human enterprise, blushing with shame at human behavior, or cursing the gods that would create such a silly animal. Twain does all three, often at the same time.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.
Good old Mark Twain --- I never laughed so hard in my laugh ---one must remember that the Bicycle he's attempting to train is one of those huge one wheeled ones that as tall as people are! He had a marvelous sense of humor!
My fav quotes (not a review): "That's it! take a rest - there ain't no hurry. They can't hold the funeral without you." "but the boy said, rebukingly, "Let him alone, he's going to a funeral."
I love Mark Twain. If I could time-travel I'd want to be his next-door neighbor or traveling companion. What else is there to say? This was a laugh-out-loud story and I loved it.
This is a story with many layers. Why did Mark decide to learn to ride the bike at the ripe age of more than 40? What kept him going in spite of innumerable falls? Who is or are his teachers - is it just the hired expert or also the young boy who is egging him on with sympathetic teasing? “Make way! he is late to a funeral!” (His own, presumably). Is Mark being purely satirical about the importance of teachers, given how little his “expert” seems to have taught him? Or is it a more philosophical point that this is what teaching is all about — cushioning the student’s fall? The story is a pleasure to read, with its wit and humor. This is an excellent narration of the story: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=awP1tp-....
Mark Twain's “Taming the Bicycle” is a delightful and humorous piece that perfectly captures the challenges and absurdities of mastering the early bicycle. I found it extremely engaging and funny, as it reminded me of my own experience taming my first bicycle. Twain’s sharp wit shines through, especially in his commentary on the dogs. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend :)
As a cyclist, I thoroughly enjoyed this laugh-out-loud short story. My wife has a T-Shirt printed with the closing line from this delightful short story. Perhaps it was the narrator (Librivox) that made the story such a pleasure to hear.
3 courts textes ironiques et plein d'humour, qui illustrent la passion de Twain pour les nouvelles technologies (celles de son époque : le vélo, le paratonnerre et la machine à écrire) mais sa malheureuse incapacité à s'y adapter...