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The Stolen White Elephant
'PALE TERROR GOES BEFORE HIM, DEATH AND DEVASTATION FOLLOW!'
From the father of American literature, four sparkling comic tales of extraordinary animals and parables subverted.
One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
59 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1882
72 people are currently reading
1132 people want to read
About the author
Mark Twain
8,878 books18.7k followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
April 11, 2024
4 stars
short review for busy readers: 3 satirical stories and one famous extra from the immortal Twain. Penguin ‘Little Black Classic’ format.
in detail:
This Penguin Little Black Classic includes:
The Stolen White Elephant
The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief
The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Warning: if you don’t like satire very much or take everything seriously and at face value, you won’t get much out of these tales.
I found the first 3 stories in this special edition laugh-out-loud funny at times, my favourite being the 2nd, The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Did Not Come to Grief, which I highly recommend for a laugh. The final one…famous, but not really in the vein of the first ones.
Here in detail:
The Stolen White Elephant: A white elephant on its way from Thailand to England as a present to Queen Victoria is stolen while taking a travel break in New Jersey. The ensuing police search is a determined and eager, but utterly illogical and incompetent, undertaking, headed up by Inspector Blunt – a greedy idiot who behaves as if he is the living reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes. Clearly a reaction to the literary Holmesian detectives of his day and some of the real police Twain must have met as a reporter.
Lesson from Twain: people in authority who claim to be geniuses are probably kniving dummies who just want your cash. And will probably get it.
The two companion pieces The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief and
The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper both take on the typical Sunday School morality stories so common in the 19th century and show them up for being the insufferable bunk they were.
In the first one, a bad little boy does everything the stories say will get you killed, maimed and hated by your mother – and he miraculously thrives and ends up in government! How bizarre!
In the second, a good little boy who wants nothing more than to be one of the impossibly saccharine sweet, finger-wagging good little boys in the Sunday School books is thought a freak, gets insulted, beat up and finally is killed off by mistake. How on earth could this happen – he was so morally pure!!
Lesson from Twain: don’t believe everything they read to you in Sunday school.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County: a gambling addict is hoodwinked by a stranger who tampers with the man’s trained racing frog to win a bet.
Ostensibly, Twain was told the story by a man so boring that Twain couldn’t even be bothered to care. I’m not sure how this story got so famous. It says a lot about Twain and how we can fail to engage with a story depending on how its told, but not much more. Odd choice for this collection.
Taken together: 4 stars.
short review for busy readers: 3 satirical stories and one famous extra from the immortal Twain. Penguin ‘Little Black Classic’ format.
in detail:
This Penguin Little Black Classic includes:
The Stolen White Elephant
The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief
The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Warning: if you don’t like satire very much or take everything seriously and at face value, you won’t get much out of these tales.
I found the first 3 stories in this special edition laugh-out-loud funny at times, my favourite being the 2nd, The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Did Not Come to Grief, which I highly recommend for a laugh. The final one…famous, but not really in the vein of the first ones.
Here in detail:
The Stolen White Elephant: A white elephant on its way from Thailand to England as a present to Queen Victoria is stolen while taking a travel break in New Jersey. The ensuing police search is a determined and eager, but utterly illogical and incompetent, undertaking, headed up by Inspector Blunt – a greedy idiot who behaves as if he is the living reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes. Clearly a reaction to the literary Holmesian detectives of his day and some of the real police Twain must have met as a reporter.
Lesson from Twain: people in authority who claim to be geniuses are probably kniving dummies who just want your cash. And will probably get it.
The two companion pieces The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief and
The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper both take on the typical Sunday School morality stories so common in the 19th century and show them up for being the insufferable bunk they were.
In the first one, a bad little boy does everything the stories say will get you killed, maimed and hated by your mother – and he miraculously thrives and ends up in government! How bizarre!
In the second, a good little boy who wants nothing more than to be one of the impossibly saccharine sweet, finger-wagging good little boys in the Sunday School books is thought a freak, gets insulted, beat up and finally is killed off by mistake. How on earth could this happen – he was so morally pure!!
Lesson from Twain: don’t believe everything they read to you in Sunday school.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County: a gambling addict is hoodwinked by a stranger who tampers with the man’s trained racing frog to win a bet.
Ostensibly, Twain was told the story by a man so boring that Twain couldn’t even be bothered to care. I’m not sure how this story got so famous. It says a lot about Twain and how we can fail to engage with a story depending on how its told, but not much more. Odd choice for this collection.
Taken together: 4 stars.
June 16, 2021
This was terribly bleak, not to mention completely illogical and nonsensical. If Twain was trying to be facetious, he missed the mark by far.
July 26, 2023
Historia corta sobre el robo de un elefante blanco enorme.
Un inspector de policía estadounidense pone todos los medios a su disposición para encontrar y detener a los supuestos ladrones. Se destinan cientos de efectivos a la búsqueda del elefante, el cual va sembrando el terror por donde quiera que pasa.
Crítica mordaz de Twain a la policía estadounidense y a la ineptitud de sus integrantes y de sus métodos y también a su corrupción. El texto es, en sí mismo, surrealista y está lleno de humor.
------------------------------
Short story about the theft of a huge white elephant.
An American police inspector pulls out all the stops to find and arrest the alleged thieves. Hundreds of troops are deployed to search for the elephant, which spreads terror wherever it goes.
Twain's scathing critique of the American police and the ineptitude of its members and their methods, as well as their corruption. The text is itself surreal and full of humour.
Un inspector de policía estadounidense pone todos los medios a su disposición para encontrar y detener a los supuestos ladrones. Se destinan cientos de efectivos a la búsqueda del elefante, el cual va sembrando el terror por donde quiera que pasa.
Crítica mordaz de Twain a la policía estadounidense y a la ineptitud de sus integrantes y de sus métodos y también a su corrupción. El texto es, en sí mismo, surrealista y está lleno de humor.
------------------------------
Short story about the theft of a huge white elephant.
An American police inspector pulls out all the stops to find and arrest the alleged thieves. Hundreds of troops are deployed to search for the elephant, which spreads terror wherever it goes.
Twain's scathing critique of the American police and the ineptitude of its members and their methods, as well as their corruption. The text is itself surreal and full of humour.
January 28, 2021
This is a satire on the investigation process.
How agencies bamboozle and mislead the sufferer and stakeholders, is shown in the story in typical Twain style of humor and neat narration. I liked it and you too can, if you enjoy reading absurdity with depth and also wish to have a genuine cause of much hilarity, then it'll tickle you somewhere.
A king of one kingdom decides to gift the sacred white elephant to the queen of another kingdom. While on the trip, when the ship stops at a harbor, this elephant disappears. Stolen!
The deliverer(seemed a faultless poor fellow to me) goes to the police station and reports to the celebrated inspector, Inspector Blunt. Mr. Blunt after a preliminary inquiry about the elephant which itself was very comical and made me laugh right away sends his detectives across the region far and wide. A huge amount of money and resources are spent over the period of the next few days.
Like in a true detective tale. what happens next?
You should read it to know.
Everything is written in a very satirical tone and funny insinuations are present.
A quick bracing read!
How agencies bamboozle and mislead the sufferer and stakeholders, is shown in the story in typical Twain style of humor and neat narration. I liked it and you too can, if you enjoy reading absurdity with depth and also wish to have a genuine cause of much hilarity, then it'll tickle you somewhere.
A king of one kingdom decides to gift the sacred white elephant to the queen of another kingdom. While on the trip, when the ship stops at a harbor, this elephant disappears. Stolen!
The deliverer(seemed a faultless poor fellow to me) goes to the police station and reports to the celebrated inspector, Inspector Blunt. Mr. Blunt after a preliminary inquiry about the elephant which itself was very comical and made me laugh right away sends his detectives across the region far and wide. A huge amount of money and resources are spent over the period of the next few days.
Like in a true detective tale. what happens next?
You should read it to know.
Everything is written in a very satirical tone and funny insinuations are present.
A quick bracing read!
March 5, 2019
I love Twain. The man’s mind is an utter marvel; so unique and subversive it’s almost difficult to believe such genius could be held within a single mind. And yet, here we are.
This addition to the Little Black Classics range is comprised of four of Twain’s short stories. The titular title, The Stolen White Elephant, was by far my favourite. It tells the story of a government worker who has been tasked with delivering a peacemaking gift to the queen, in the form of a live elephant from Asia. As is to be expected with Twain, madness ensues and the elephant goes missing. The situation flies into disarray as the police are dispatched all over the country to track down the gargantuan beast, and wild sums of money are offered for its capture. Twain’s wit and sarcasm here are beautifully pointed, and utterly hilarious. Such bumbling! Such confused and yet understandable rationalisations! Such deception! I loved it.
We are then treated to two polar opposite tales, one of The Bad Little Boy Who Didn’t Come to Grief and one of The Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper. One inherently bad boy who consistently escapes retribution for his misdeeds, and one deeply good boy who gets himself into such trouble simply for being good. Twain makes fun of stories where the opposites are true - where good comes to good, and vice versa. It’s simply not the case in our world, and Twain reminds us of this with each of these bleak little stories.
I felt the final story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavera Country, was a poor choice by Penguin. It lacked the same mirth of impact as the previous three, and featured such an ambiguous and vague ending that its positioning as the final story in the collection felt a bit off. Although still an enjoyable and funny tale, it would have worked better being placed at the beginning here, or even added to a separate Twain collection of similar short stories.
Oh, if Little Black Classics had chosen to feature prose, and only prose, I’d be such a happy wee lassie.
This addition to the Little Black Classics range is comprised of four of Twain’s short stories. The titular title, The Stolen White Elephant, was by far my favourite. It tells the story of a government worker who has been tasked with delivering a peacemaking gift to the queen, in the form of a live elephant from Asia. As is to be expected with Twain, madness ensues and the elephant goes missing. The situation flies into disarray as the police are dispatched all over the country to track down the gargantuan beast, and wild sums of money are offered for its capture. Twain’s wit and sarcasm here are beautifully pointed, and utterly hilarious. Such bumbling! Such confused and yet understandable rationalisations! Such deception! I loved it.
We are then treated to two polar opposite tales, one of The Bad Little Boy Who Didn’t Come to Grief and one of The Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper. One inherently bad boy who consistently escapes retribution for his misdeeds, and one deeply good boy who gets himself into such trouble simply for being good. Twain makes fun of stories where the opposites are true - where good comes to good, and vice versa. It’s simply not the case in our world, and Twain reminds us of this with each of these bleak little stories.
I felt the final story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavera Country, was a poor choice by Penguin. It lacked the same mirth of impact as the previous three, and featured such an ambiguous and vague ending that its positioning as the final story in the collection felt a bit off. Although still an enjoyable and funny tale, it would have worked better being placed at the beginning here, or even added to a separate Twain collection of similar short stories.
Oh, if Little Black Classics had chosen to feature prose, and only prose, I’d be such a happy wee lassie.
May 15, 2020
So funny. I can easily imagine some of the action in this story happening.
July 28, 2016
Another Mark Twain story that for me fails to impress. The story is well written as you would expect from Mark Twain but the story is weak and not of great interest. I have read and enjoyed a lot of Mark Twain's work but unfortunately the last two have been very disappointing..
The plot is about a white elephant that mysteriously goes missing, no big surprise there given the title of the book. The book is funny in places but overall not the best story Mark Twain has written, I suggest you try one of his other books.
The plot is about a white elephant that mysteriously goes missing, no big surprise there given the title of the book. The book is funny in places but overall not the best story Mark Twain has written, I suggest you try one of his other books.
July 19, 2021
Πιστεύω ότι την ιδέα με τον ελέφαντα στο 'Πάρτυ' με τον Πήτερ Σέλλερς τούς την έδωσε ο Τουέιν στον 'Κλεμμένο λευκό ελέφαντα', το οποίο περιττό να πω ότι προκαλεί νευρικό γέλιο. Να' ναι καλά ο Τουέιν μέσα σε αυτή την καλοκαιρινή καταχνιά. Αρκετά εύστοχη η μετάφραση της Ζαχαριάδη και πολύ καλή η επιμέλεια του βιβλίου.
Βαθμολογία: 4,5/5 ή 9/10.
Προτεινόμενο για το καλοκαίρι.
Θα γίνει και εκτενέστερη κριτική.
Βαθμολογία: 4,5/5 ή 9/10.
Προτεινόμενο για το καλοκαίρι.
Θα γίνει και εκτενέστερη κριτική.
July 20, 2022
Ο αφηγητής συναντά σ' ένα τρένο έναν αξιοπρεπέστατο τζέντλεμαν, που του αφηγείται την προσωπική του περιπέτεια, όταν ανέλαβε να μεταφέρει έναν ελέφαντα από το Σιάμ στο Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο. Όταν έκαναν στάση στη Νέα Υόρκη, ο ελέφαντας κλάπηκε(!) κι εκείνος απευθύνθηκε στην αστυνομία, για να τον βρει. Και κάπου εκεί αρχίζει το γέλιο.
Το βιβλίο είναι ένα από τα σατιρικά έργα του μεγάλου συγγραφέα, όπου σε αντίθεση με ό,τι μας διδάσκουν τα κλασικά αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα, οι ντετέκτιβ δεν είναι οι πιο έξυπνοι άνθρωποι επί της γης. Εντελώς το αντίθετο, θα έλεγα!
Το βιβλίο είναι ένα από τα σατιρικά έργα του μεγάλου συγγραφέα, όπου σε αντίθεση με ό,τι μας διδάσκουν τα κλασικά αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα, οι ντετέκτιβ δεν είναι οι πιο έξυπνοι άνθρωποι επί της γης. Εντελώς το αντίθετο, θα έλεγα!
March 22, 2017
If those Grimm brothers were around today they should be pointed out two stories and told this is how you do it!
The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief and The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper.
Delightfully subersive tales that gets all the moral points only to throw them out.
Marvellous!
The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to Grief and The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper.
Delightfully subersive tales that gets all the moral points only to throw them out.
Marvellous!
October 18, 2019
It's so awkward what happened with this book 😅 I have that habit of not checking reviews for books I want to read, I fear spoilers and in turn I try my best not to write spoilers in my reviews .... not checking and liking most reviews make me less popular in the world of goodreads reviewers 😁😁
I found this book in its amazing print with an audio cd so I thought it would be perfect for my 11 & 10 years old sons' reading assignment. It was a satiric and very funny story built a tragic plot 🙈🙈
One of my kids liked it while the other hated the end. I LOVED it. Mark Twain is the greatest satirist I have ever read for.
The edition of the book is illustrated in a very clever and funny way and the voices on the cd were amazing. I loved every little detail about the book and its cd 😀
I found this book in its amazing print with an audio cd so I thought it would be perfect for my 11 & 10 years old sons' reading assignment. It was a satiric and very funny story built a tragic plot 🙈🙈
One of my kids liked it while the other hated the end. I LOVED it. Mark Twain is the greatest satirist I have ever read for.
The edition of the book is illustrated in a very clever and funny way and the voices on the cd were amazing. I loved every little detail about the book and its cd 😀
June 8, 2022
Όπως έχ�� αναφέρει ξανά, πολύ πιθανόν, ο Μπλέικ Έντουαρντς να εμπνεύστηκε από αυτή την κλασική χιουμοριστική ιστορία του Τουέιν το σενάριο της διάσημης ταινίας του 'Το πάρτυ' (1969). Με τη σειρά του και ο Τουέιν ένιωσε την ανάγκη να σατιρίσει τις αστυνομικές έρευνες και τα μυθιστορήματα μυστηρίου, ίσως, λόγω της επιδραστικότητας κάποιων αστυνομικών ιστοριών που είχαν δημοσιευτεί εκείνη την εποχή ή ακόμη και από τον αντίκτυπο του έργου του Έντγκαρ Άλαν Πόου.
Η μετάφραση και η επιμέλεια του μικρού αυτού βιβλίου είναι σε υψηλό επίπεδο, ωστόσο θα μπορούσε να είχε μεταφραστεί με μεγαλύτερη χιουμοριστική ευρηματικότητα για να προκαλεί περισσότερο γέλιο.
Βαθμολογία: 3,8/5 ή 7,6/10.
Η μετάφραση και η επιμέλεια του μικρού αυτού βιβλίου είναι σε υψηλό επίπεδο, ωστόσο θα μπορούσε να είχε μεταφραστεί με μεγαλύτερη χιουμοριστική ευρηματικότητα για να προκαλεί περισσότερο γέλιο.
Βαθμολογία: 3,8/5 ή 7,6/10.
June 11, 2012
A little known short story by Mark Twain, The Stolen White Elephant, deserves much more notoriety than it has received. It is truly a satirical jewel propped full with Clements’ wit, humor and genius. It is a detective spoof that far outdistances the fabled tales of the great Sherlock Holmes and may well have been the inspiration for Colombo. Mark Twain demonstrates his canny ability to make the unbelievable, logical and the incongruous and absurd rational and reasonable. I highly recommend this book for everyone as its reading adds a unique spice to anyone’s life.
August 1, 2018
Un libro brevissimo che si legge in neanche un'oretta ma bello per la storia e per gli spunti di riflessione sull'inettitudine delle forze dell'ordine e sulla criminalità e corruzzione.
bellissima l'edizione della NUOVA EDITRICE BERTI
LO CONSIGLIO
bellissima l'edizione della NUOVA EDITRICE BERTI
LO CONSIGLIO
June 12, 2017
A funny collection of witty, silly stories. My favorite was the one by the same title, The Stolen White Elephant. The least favorite would have to be The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
April 1, 2022
Almost all of us have experienced something very similar. I was smiling at every word that the chief uttered.
January 29, 2024
O que é que acabei de ler?
Julgava que iria ler uma história de detectives e afinal sai-me uma comédia :-)
Neste conto, Mark Twain satiriza a inaptitude de um detetive da polícia de Nova Iorque em encontrar um elefante branco que foi roubado.
É escrito de uma maneira absurda e exagerada para aumentar a incompetência da polícia.
Sabiam que este elefante come tudo o que encontra? Até homens!!
Julgava que iria ler uma história de detectives e afinal sai-me uma comédia :-)
Neste conto, Mark Twain satiriza a inaptitude de um detetive da polícia de Nova Iorque em encontrar um elefante branco que foi roubado.
É escrito de uma maneira absurda e exagerada para aumentar a incompetência da polícia.
Sabiam que este elefante come tudo o que encontra? Até homens!!
December 23, 2017
Mi sono trascinata per dieci giorni un librino di 156 pagine: evidentemente non è proprio nelle mie corde, né per l'umorismo un po' démodé (eppure mi ricordo che da ragazzina Twain mi faceva rotolare dal ridere), né per il taglio del racconto. Non c'è niente da fare, mi godo il primo ma già a partire dal secondo vedo emergere prepotente la struttura sempre uguale che accomuna tutta la serie, e finisco per trovarli prevedibili come le barzellette sui carabinieri. Bene, cambiamo aria. Senza rancore, Mark.
October 18, 2019
ENGLISH: Scathing criticism of American journalism and, above all, of the official police and their methods.
ESPAÑOL: Mordaz crítica del periodismo estadounidense y, sobre todo, de la policía oficial y sus métodos.
ESPAÑOL: Mordaz crítica del periodismo estadounidense y, sobre todo, de la policía oficial y sus métodos.
February 8, 2022
Author was explaing American police system but all I was thinking about how Punjab police works. Hilarious. XD They know how to complicate a simple task and present themselves the only working hard. XD
August 4, 2015
Read January 23, 2010, re-read August 4, 2015. Absolutely hilarious.
March 14, 2019
Skewered: detectives, revolutionaries, etc. (I’ll stop noting Twain’s recycling as it’s so common.)
September 24, 2023
Το review πάει μόνο στο διήγημα My Late Senatorial Secretaryship γιατί τα υπόλοιπα τα πέρασα ξεχωριστά στο Goodreads -πρεπει κάπως να ολοκληρώσουμε το reading challenge φίλοι βιβλιοφαγοι!
Αστεία και ενδιαφέρουσα πολιτική σάτιρα 👍
Υπάρχουν κάποιες ανακρίβειες στη μετάφραση, αλλά η έκδοση είναι πανέμορφη!!
I love Mark twain 💕
Αστεία και ενδιαφέρουσα πολιτική σάτιρα 👍
Υπάρχουν κάποιες ανακρίβειες στη μετάφραση, αλλά η έκδοση είναι πανέμορφη!!
I love Mark twain 💕
July 2, 2009
Thinking this was a picture book because of the illustrations and short length, I read it aloud. It wasn't the most uplifting of books...an noble white elephant given as a gift from one country to show peace with another is stolen...and the search by a "gifted" detective (who only wants prestige, power, and money but who is none-the-less honored and praised for his work) ends up finding the DEAD elephant among his own workers as they sleep. Hmm...I think the detective staged the snatching himself for his own purposes (and get's all he wants from it too). What of the elephant itself that eats men and Bibles of all things...there must be something deeper here than just a picture book. Maybe I'll go look up a review to explain it to me and maybe I'll like it better then.
July 29, 2020
This was the first of Mark Twain that I read. I know - I'm hopeless behind on American Literature, I blame my education which failed to discuss any of it. (Truth be told, we also skipped from Jane Austen right to the WW1 poets because my English teacher couldn't stand Charles Dickens...)
Four little stories in this collection. The Elephant story was nice, but I actually preferred the two following stories about a bad boy who is rewarded and a good one who isn't. It has the flair of these moralizing stories, but shifts it around. Unfortunately, it is too often that the bad ones prosper.
~Little Black Classics #88~
Find this and other reviews on https://urlphantomhive.wordpress.com
Four little stories in this collection. The Elephant story was nice, but I actually preferred the two following stories about a bad boy who is rewarded and a good one who isn't. It has the flair of these moralizing stories, but shifts it around. Unfortunately, it is too often that the bad ones prosper.
~Little Black Classics #88~
Find this and other reviews on https://urlphantomhive.wordpress.com
January 22, 2018
The 1927 edition that I found opens with a shaggy dog story that makes sport of the police and detectives of Twain’s time. Even better is the second short storey: “Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion”. This yarn reminded me of Jerome K Jerome’s classic work of the same vintage on the other side of the Atlantic.
Twain is a storyteller of the first water.
So here are eighteen short stories that will delight.
Turn off your phone. Don’t check your FaceBook page. Make some good coffee. Sit in the morning sun and let yourself be transported to another time by a master storyteller.
Twain is a storyteller of the first water.
So here are eighteen short stories that will delight.
Turn off your phone. Don’t check your FaceBook page. Make some good coffee. Sit in the morning sun and let yourself be transported to another time by a master storyteller.
December 31, 2009
Enjoyed this Twain tale.
So a white elephant which should be a peace gift, mysteriously goes missing, so the man who should be in charge of it makes a report to the authorities and the chief detective immediately starts the search. Well after quite a while the elephant is found dead, and the poor guy really ends up literally poor after paying out so much reward money to have it found. Duh, Duh, .. I know the detective was behind it all along.....
So a white elephant which should be a peace gift, mysteriously goes missing, so the man who should be in charge of it makes a report to the authorities and the chief detective immediately starts the search. Well after quite a while the elephant is found dead, and the poor guy really ends up literally poor after paying out so much reward money to have it found. Duh, Duh, .. I know the detective was behind it all along.....
July 28, 2015
I just struggle with Mark Twain's works. He actually drives me crazy. This is a funny farce and I am not sorry that I read it, but I am quite relieved that it was a short story. The illustrations (done by Robert Ingpen in the first edition book I read) were stunning though. One quote from the book pretty much sums it up, "It is not our provence to prevent crime, but to punish it. We cannot punish it until it is committed." Yep, that's about how government works.
January 14, 2018
lo he leído a ciegas, como me gusta hacer si el escritor es bueno y lo he leído antes. La historia es, a mi modo de verla, una ironía en estado puro y un detective muy espabilado. Se lee en un ratito y merece la pena. Lo recomiendo!.
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