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The Life and Work of Mark Twain
Samuel Clemens, the man known to history as Mark Twain, was more than one of America's greatest writers. He was our first true celebrity, one of the most photographed faces of the 19th and 20th centuries.
This course explores Twain's dual identities as one of our classic authors and as an almost mythical presence in our nation's cultural life. It seeks to appreciate Twain's literary achievements and to understand his life by highlighting seven of his major works:
Innocents Abroad
Roughing It
Old Times on the Mississippi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Professor Stephen Railton is extraordinarily qualified to bring to light the subtlest insights into Twain's texts. An expert on Twain, he has appeared on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer as a distinguished Twain scholar and is the creator of Mark Twain in His Times, an award-winning Internet archive about Twain's life and career. Professor Railton shows the issues that concerned Twain most throughout his lifetime and that appear repeatedly in the pages of his books.
This course explores Twain's dual identities as one of our classic authors and as an almost mythical presence in our nation's cultural life. It seeks to appreciate Twain's literary achievements and to understand his life by highlighting seven of his major works:
Innocents Abroad
Roughing It
Old Times on the Mississippi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Professor Stephen Railton is extraordinarily qualified to bring to light the subtlest insights into Twain's texts. An expert on Twain, he has appeared on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer as a distinguished Twain scholar and is the creator of Mark Twain in His Times, an award-winning Internet archive about Twain's life and career. Professor Railton shows the issues that concerned Twain most throughout his lifetime and that appear repeatedly in the pages of his books.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Stephen Railton
25 booksStephen Railton is a Professor of English at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1974. He came to Virginia from Columbia University, where he received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.
Professor Railton has published numerous articles on American literature and has authored two books, including Fenimore Cooper: A Study of His Imagination. He has also appeared on PBS’s Newshour with Jim Lehrer as an expert on Mark Twain.
Dr. Railton has also created two award-winning Web-based electronic archives, intended to explore the uses of electronic technology for teaching and studying American literature: Mark Twain in His Times
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton
and Uncle Tom’s Cabin & American Culture
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu...
which won Gettysburg College’s prestigious Lincoln Prize, awarded for the finest scholarship on Lincoln and the Civil War era.
Professor Railton has published numerous articles on American literature and has authored two books, including Fenimore Cooper: A Study of His Imagination. He has also appeared on PBS’s Newshour with Jim Lehrer as an expert on Mark Twain.
Dr. Railton has also created two award-winning Web-based electronic archives, intended to explore the uses of electronic technology for teaching and studying American literature: Mark Twain in His Times
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton
and Uncle Tom’s Cabin & American Culture
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu...
which won Gettysburg College’s prestigious Lincoln Prize, awarded for the finest scholarship on Lincoln and the Civil War era.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 15, 2020
Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) was the greatest American Celebrity of the Nineteenth Century; as big or bigger than any contemporary that you can imagine. He was a writer and performer who caught and held the public’s attention for decades. His death was such an event that his body was taken to New York City to lie “in state” while thousands passed by hour by hour to pay their respects.
Twain was a raconteur, comedienne, satirist, novelist, and he came to be considered a touchstone about what it was to be American. Samuel Clemens, the man who invented the personae of Mark Twain, was able to become rich, famous and the object of public adulation. He suffered great personal losses of both family and finance and he accumulated a great deal of bitterness toward the world that he understood he was a part of as America marched into the Twentieth Century.
In twenty-four lectures, Railton manages to delve into both the literary works and the other aspects of this giant of an author. He does it with a wealth of information which he presents in an easily understandable manner. His organizational skills are excellent as he takes us back and forth between the literature and the author.
Discover what makes Twain both great and forlorn. I found his multi-lecture discussion of Huckleberry Finn very useful and enlightening. And, I found his insights into Clemens’ themes and aspirations both cogent and persuasive. I have listened to these lectures, now, more that once and they are “meaty” and helpful as I re-read Twain’s novels and journals and understand much more than I did the first time through.
It might work the same for you.
Twain was a raconteur, comedienne, satirist, novelist, and he came to be considered a touchstone about what it was to be American. Samuel Clemens, the man who invented the personae of Mark Twain, was able to become rich, famous and the object of public adulation. He suffered great personal losses of both family and finance and he accumulated a great deal of bitterness toward the world that he understood he was a part of as America marched into the Twentieth Century.
In twenty-four lectures, Railton manages to delve into both the literary works and the other aspects of this giant of an author. He does it with a wealth of information which he presents in an easily understandable manner. His organizational skills are excellent as he takes us back and forth between the literature and the author.
Discover what makes Twain both great and forlorn. I found his multi-lecture discussion of Huckleberry Finn very useful and enlightening. And, I found his insights into Clemens’ themes and aspirations both cogent and persuasive. I have listened to these lectures, now, more that once and they are “meaty” and helpful as I re-read Twain’s novels and journals and understand much more than I did the first time through.
It might work the same for you.
April 25, 2009
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was such an interesting character that a series of 24 lectures by an experienced professor on the subject can't help but be interesting. I listened to these lectures to prepare myself for the Great Books KC group meeting. Our main focus is Huck Finn, but I'm glad I listened to all of the lecures to learn more about the author.
I was particularly interested to learn about Mark Twain's lecture tours and after dinner speeches. He mounted five major lecture tours through the USA, had one around the world tour, and appeared more than three hundred times as a speaker at various banquets. By all accounts he was a master of the craft of working the line between making his listeners uncomfortable enough to laugh and at the same time satisfy their expectations of propriety. He apparently was a master of timing, comic pause and "deadpan" delivery.
The following link provides an example of an after-dinner speech given by Mark Twain:
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/ons...
Professor Railton devotes one whole lecture to this speech. It gives an example of a speech by Mark Twain that wasn't well received by the audience. In modern vernacular we would label the speech as a comic roast of Emerson, Longfellow and Holmes who were present in the audience to which he was speaking. Later critics charged that Mark Twain wasn't showing proper respect to these eminent individuals. I guess 19th Century folks hadn't yet caught on to the concept of a roast.
Mark Twain lived long enough into the 20th Century for his voice to be recorded. But if any recordings were made they have been lost. Since there are no surviving audio recordings of his speeches we are dependent on the descriptions provided by his contemporaries. His voice is described as being distinctive and slow. He describes his drawl - "pulling his words" - as an "infermity." Onstage, it heightened the ludicrousness of whatever he was saying. Twain himself acknowledged that the heart of live performance was not its matter, but its manner. His platform techniques, according both to the newspaper reports and his own accounts of "How to Tell a Story," displayed a mastery of the performer's art.
Mark Twain was very conscious of the differences in American dialects and worked hard to render them in an accurate manner. It's interesting to note that in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn he provided an Explainatory Note at the beginning of the book states the following:
"In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect, the extremest form of the backwoods South-Western dialect; the ordinary "Pike-County" dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shading have not been done in a hap-hazard fashion, or by guess-work; but pains-takingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech."
He goes on to explain why he felt it was necessary to write this note to the readers:
"I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding."
To us this simply sounds like Twain humor. But in the context of the 19th Century it was needed because Twain was cutting new ground with this book. The Huck Finn book was the first to be narrated in the first person voice of a back-woods uneducated child who didn't follow the rules of proper English grammar. The speech of the other characters in the story were also of rural America, and I'm sure plenty of critics would have seized on the differences in speech as sloppy writing of Twain's part.
William Dean Howells said that Mark Twain was "the Lincoln of our literature." To Ernest Hemingway, he was the father of "all modern American literature." This set of lectures does a good job of exploring Mark Twain as both one of our classic authors and as an almost mythic presence in our cultural life as a nation.
I was particularly interested to learn about Mark Twain's lecture tours and after dinner speeches. He mounted five major lecture tours through the USA, had one around the world tour, and appeared more than three hundred times as a speaker at various banquets. By all accounts he was a master of the craft of working the line between making his listeners uncomfortable enough to laugh and at the same time satisfy their expectations of propriety. He apparently was a master of timing, comic pause and "deadpan" delivery.
The following link provides an example of an after-dinner speech given by Mark Twain:
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/ons...
Professor Railton devotes one whole lecture to this speech. It gives an example of a speech by Mark Twain that wasn't well received by the audience. In modern vernacular we would label the speech as a comic roast of Emerson, Longfellow and Holmes who were present in the audience to which he was speaking. Later critics charged that Mark Twain wasn't showing proper respect to these eminent individuals. I guess 19th Century folks hadn't yet caught on to the concept of a roast.
Mark Twain lived long enough into the 20th Century for his voice to be recorded. But if any recordings were made they have been lost. Since there are no surviving audio recordings of his speeches we are dependent on the descriptions provided by his contemporaries. His voice is described as being distinctive and slow. He describes his drawl - "pulling his words" - as an "infermity." Onstage, it heightened the ludicrousness of whatever he was saying. Twain himself acknowledged that the heart of live performance was not its matter, but its manner. His platform techniques, according both to the newspaper reports and his own accounts of "How to Tell a Story," displayed a mastery of the performer's art.
Mark Twain was very conscious of the differences in American dialects and worked hard to render them in an accurate manner. It's interesting to note that in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn he provided an Explainatory Note at the beginning of the book states the following:
"In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect, the extremest form of the backwoods South-Western dialect; the ordinary "Pike-County" dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shading have not been done in a hap-hazard fashion, or by guess-work; but pains-takingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech."
He goes on to explain why he felt it was necessary to write this note to the readers:
"I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding."
To us this simply sounds like Twain humor. But in the context of the 19th Century it was needed because Twain was cutting new ground with this book. The Huck Finn book was the first to be narrated in the first person voice of a back-woods uneducated child who didn't follow the rules of proper English grammar. The speech of the other characters in the story were also of rural America, and I'm sure plenty of critics would have seized on the differences in speech as sloppy writing of Twain's part.
William Dean Howells said that Mark Twain was "the Lincoln of our literature." To Ernest Hemingway, he was the father of "all modern American literature." This set of lectures does a good job of exploring Mark Twain as both one of our classic authors and as an almost mythic presence in our cultural life as a nation.
August 26, 2013
(Audio lectures 24 lectures/each 30 minutes in duration)
Mark Twain the author, or the social activist, or the humorist/satirist, or world traveler, or philosopher...or all of the above (behind?)?
I was blown away by these lectures. I had had to read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" as a young adult. And, as a young adult, I paid little attention to the meaning of the words that were written, only hoping to retain enough to make it through the tests and quizzes...I'm sure many of you reading this had a similar experience (and are now old enough to admit it).
Dr Railton introduced me to one of the most interesting and admirable characters of American history. His delivery, despite a slightly off-putting habit of droppin' the last letter of some words and a sometimes halting speaking style was clear and to the point. His presentation was a very well planned framework of this man's life and works in several contexts and wove them together artfully (I cannot praise Railton's content more highly). He presents synopses and background materials for the major works of Twain's writing career, spending nearly half of the lectures on the most recognizable novels: Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and the Connecticut Yankee. But some of his other works sound equally interesting...Innocents Abroad in particular. Also covered are the life and times of Sam Clemens the man behind Mark Twain. He will remain a remarkable, and controversial, figure in both American history and American literature for years to come.
These lectures deeply affected me, perhaps because I have an educational background other than literature or perhaps because it exposed me to a part of the world of knowledge about which I want (really want) to know more. I look forward to reading more of Twain's works (at least three anyway...hey, I'm not perfect). I've started Tom Sawyer, will probably read Huck Finn after that, and end up with Connecticut Yankee.
I highly recommend this lecture series, especially if you can catch a bargain...if not, get it any way. It will not disappoint..
Mark Twain the author, or the social activist, or the humorist/satirist, or world traveler, or philosopher...or all of the above (behind?)?
I was blown away by these lectures. I had had to read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" as a young adult. And, as a young adult, I paid little attention to the meaning of the words that were written, only hoping to retain enough to make it through the tests and quizzes...I'm sure many of you reading this had a similar experience (and are now old enough to admit it).
Dr Railton introduced me to one of the most interesting and admirable characters of American history. His delivery, despite a slightly off-putting habit of droppin' the last letter of some words and a sometimes halting speaking style was clear and to the point. His presentation was a very well planned framework of this man's life and works in several contexts and wove them together artfully (I cannot praise Railton's content more highly). He presents synopses and background materials for the major works of Twain's writing career, spending nearly half of the lectures on the most recognizable novels: Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and the Connecticut Yankee. But some of his other works sound equally interesting...Innocents Abroad in particular. Also covered are the life and times of Sam Clemens the man behind Mark Twain. He will remain a remarkable, and controversial, figure in both American history and American literature for years to come.
These lectures deeply affected me, perhaps because I have an educational background other than literature or perhaps because it exposed me to a part of the world of knowledge about which I want (really want) to know more. I look forward to reading more of Twain's works (at least three anyway...hey, I'm not perfect). I've started Tom Sawyer, will probably read Huck Finn after that, and end up with Connecticut Yankee.
I highly recommend this lecture series, especially if you can catch a bargain...if not, get it any way. It will not disappoint..
September 23, 2015
If I were a braver man, I would start this review with a joke...
Samuel Clemens and his works are clearly cleft in twain. The ambiguity of his life, his works and the very name "Mark Twain" are expounded upon and clarified.
As a short summary this may suffice: Innocence is replaced with experience.
Lecture 10: "Old times on the Mississippi" stuck with me the most.
Having been a pilot on the Mississippi banks, "He's on firm ground [when talking about it], because it's on the river". "Mark Twain" marks the depth of the river. It's not very deep. It either marks you're about to clear the shallow parts or that you're about to run aground. Or, as in "Life in the Mississipi" it doesn't mean anything and you should trust yourself. Despite the dangers and uncertainties of life.
The narrator in "Life in the Mississippi" conveys the anxiety of the young pilot whilst a trick is being played on him. It is here that we first notice "Mark Twain" and the narrator thinks he's about to sink the ship. He doesn't know his captain is playing a joke on him, the lesson and moral of which will be that "When you know something, you know something".
[Quoting now, the sounding that of water -previously thought very deep- getting shallower]
"'Quarter twain! Quarter twain! MARK twain!'
I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do.
I was quaking from head to foot, and I could have hung my hat on
my eyes, they stuck out so far."
A cartoonish aesthetic, followed by the narrator crying out to come to a full stop in what was supposed to be an easy crossing. The captain returns and the crew laughs.
"[The Captain]Didn't you KNOW there was no bottom in that crossing?'
[Narrator]'Yes, sir, I did.'
[The Captain]'Very well, then. You shouldn't have allowed me or anybody else to shake your confidence in that knowledge. Try to remember that.
And another thing: when you get into a dangerous place, don't turn coward. That isn't going to help matters any.'
[The Narrator]It was a good enough lesson, but pretty hardly learned."
Lecture 23: "Late Twain in private" includes an account his late despair
[Quoting from the lecture] "[...]They never heard his excoriating comments on what he called "The Damned Human Race". In private, he repeated them, with a persistence that many of his close acquaintances sometimes found boring. One of Twain's favorite fantasies for example; was that you could remove all the oxygen from the earth's atmosphere for five minutes. "Just five minutes," he said. "That would be long enough to finish all life and finish the farce." Nobody repeated that story about Mark Twain in public."
A lesson hardly learned indeed.
Samuel Clemens and his works are clearly cleft in twain. The ambiguity of his life, his works and the very name "Mark Twain" are expounded upon and clarified.
As a short summary this may suffice: Innocence is replaced with experience.
Lecture 10: "Old times on the Mississippi" stuck with me the most.
Having been a pilot on the Mississippi banks, "He's on firm ground [when talking about it], because it's on the river". "Mark Twain" marks the depth of the river. It's not very deep. It either marks you're about to clear the shallow parts or that you're about to run aground. Or, as in "Life in the Mississipi" it doesn't mean anything and you should trust yourself. Despite the dangers and uncertainties of life.
The narrator in "Life in the Mississippi" conveys the anxiety of the young pilot whilst a trick is being played on him. It is here that we first notice "Mark Twain" and the narrator thinks he's about to sink the ship. He doesn't know his captain is playing a joke on him, the lesson and moral of which will be that "When you know something, you know something".
[Quoting now, the sounding that of water -previously thought very deep- getting shallower]
"'Quarter twain! Quarter twain! MARK twain!'
I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do.
I was quaking from head to foot, and I could have hung my hat on
my eyes, they stuck out so far."
A cartoonish aesthetic, followed by the narrator crying out to come to a full stop in what was supposed to be an easy crossing. The captain returns and the crew laughs.
"[The Captain]Didn't you KNOW there was no bottom in that crossing?'
[Narrator]'Yes, sir, I did.'
[The Captain]'Very well, then. You shouldn't have allowed me or anybody else to shake your confidence in that knowledge. Try to remember that.
And another thing: when you get into a dangerous place, don't turn coward. That isn't going to help matters any.'
[The Narrator]It was a good enough lesson, but pretty hardly learned."
Lecture 23: "Late Twain in private" includes an account his late despair
[Quoting from the lecture] "[...]They never heard his excoriating comments on what he called "The Damned Human Race". In private, he repeated them, with a persistence that many of his close acquaintances sometimes found boring. One of Twain's favorite fantasies for example; was that you could remove all the oxygen from the earth's atmosphere for five minutes. "Just five minutes," he said. "That would be long enough to finish all life and finish the farce." Nobody repeated that story about Mark Twain in public."
A lesson hardly learned indeed.
July 24, 2022
3.5 stars - I really like these Great Courses lectures on individual authors, but this one dragged at times and the professor had several verbal tics that made this series a bit of a chore to get through. The best lectures and insights were on Huckleberry Finn and Pudd'nhead Wilson.
If you enjoyed this course, the one on George Orwell: A Sage for All Seasons is excellent!
If you enjoyed this course, the one on George Orwell: A Sage for All Seasons is excellent!
February 26, 2025
“I believe that Huckleberry Finn is one of the most powerful, most conflicted, most important American texts.”
A wonderful series of lectures, giving even a long-time Twain reader new insights into Twain's works and the life that influenced the work. I always wanted to move on to the next lecture.
Very well organized, in roughly chronological order, Railton covers the man, the written work, and the legend he became. I particularly liked the emphasis on addressing how Twain's works were received in their time, and contrasting that with the perspective of 100 years later.
The major works that are dissected in detail, with at least one entire lecture, areThe Innocents Abroad, Or, the New Pilgrims' Progress, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Tragedy of Puddinghead Wilson. There were four very good lecture son Huckleberry Finn. He also has two lectures focused on the large volume of late, unpublished-in-his-lifetime works.
If you are a Twain fan, this is a great set of talks, bringing together a century of scholarship in a way that no single biography could do. If you are unsure why people consider Twain a great writer and a critical figure in American history, this is the right place to start getting an answer.
A wonderful series of lectures, giving even a long-time Twain reader new insights into Twain's works and the life that influenced the work. I always wanted to move on to the next lecture.
Very well organized, in roughly chronological order, Railton covers the man, the written work, and the legend he became. I particularly liked the emphasis on addressing how Twain's works were received in their time, and contrasting that with the perspective of 100 years later.
The major works that are dissected in detail, with at least one entire lecture, areThe Innocents Abroad, Or, the New Pilgrims' Progress, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Tragedy of Puddinghead Wilson. There were four very good lecture son Huckleberry Finn. He also has two lectures focused on the large volume of late, unpublished-in-his-lifetime works.
If you are a Twain fan, this is a great set of talks, bringing together a century of scholarship in a way that no single biography could do. If you are unsure why people consider Twain a great writer and a critical figure in American history, this is the right place to start getting an answer.
August 14, 2021
The course provides a sketch of the life and work of Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, providing a very humanized review of America's greatest author. The course interlaces Mark Twain's major works with his life's journey. While not deep in literary analyses, the course provides a glimpse into the personal growth of Twain and the time he lived in with a set of selected works by Twain.
When Mark Twain was young, he was a journalist struggling to make himself. His first literary successes were travel articles "The innocents Abroad" (Europe), "Roughing It" (American West), and "Old Times on the Mississippi" (Memoir). He then became a commercial author, writing primarily for money. At the next stage of his life, Twain published his high-impact novels "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Twain explored personal psychologies (such as Tom Sawyer's hunger for fame) and social issues (such as Finn's relationship with a runaway slave).
The next piece of work examined, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," involves a reflection of the American values compared to Europe's. The last work covered in the course is "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson." This is another fantasy novel about a black boy and a while one switching places.
The course wraps up by returning to Twain's own personality. He craved recognition and success but had many failures, especially financially, in his life. In his later years, he finally reconciled with himself.
This course is suitable for people who are not familiar with Mark Twain's works. It provides a roadmap, with which a user can explore the extensive collection. The literary analyses in the course focus on the unique "deadpan" humor techniques.
Overall, this is an enjoyable course without too much burden of reflecting and memorizing. It is definitely worth the time spent.
When Mark Twain was young, he was a journalist struggling to make himself. His first literary successes were travel articles "The innocents Abroad" (Europe), "Roughing It" (American West), and "Old Times on the Mississippi" (Memoir). He then became a commercial author, writing primarily for money. At the next stage of his life, Twain published his high-impact novels "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Twain explored personal psychologies (such as Tom Sawyer's hunger for fame) and social issues (such as Finn's relationship with a runaway slave).
The next piece of work examined, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," involves a reflection of the American values compared to Europe's. The last work covered in the course is "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson." This is another fantasy novel about a black boy and a while one switching places.
The course wraps up by returning to Twain's own personality. He craved recognition and success but had many failures, especially financially, in his life. In his later years, he finally reconciled with himself.
This course is suitable for people who are not familiar with Mark Twain's works. It provides a roadmap, with which a user can explore the extensive collection. The literary analyses in the course focus on the unique "deadpan" humor techniques.
Overall, this is an enjoyable course without too much burden of reflecting and memorizing. It is definitely worth the time spent.
November 27, 2024
Sam Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, is probably my favorite 19th-century author alongside Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. He didn’t write many novels, but he did write a lot, and all of them are readable.
I very much enjoyed this engaging series of lectures about the life and work of Mark Twain. As a person, Clemens was as interesting as his books and stories. There’s an anonymous biography about him coming out soon. I might just pick it up.
One thing I love about a Mark Twain book is its straight-up realism. He could be very funny, being a humorist will often cause that to happen, and he could be very profound. Unlike many other 19th-century authors, he didn’t need to slip into artificial antique English when he wanted to communicate profundity or drama if thou dost comprehend my sense.
Time is valuable, but by listening to these fascinating lectures I didn’t waste any of mine.
I very much enjoyed this engaging series of lectures about the life and work of Mark Twain. As a person, Clemens was as interesting as his books and stories. There’s an anonymous biography about him coming out soon. I might just pick it up.
One thing I love about a Mark Twain book is its straight-up realism. He could be very funny, being a humorist will often cause that to happen, and he could be very profound. Unlike many other 19th-century authors, he didn’t need to slip into artificial antique English when he wanted to communicate profundity or drama if thou dost comprehend my sense.
Time is valuable, but by listening to these fascinating lectures I didn’t waste any of mine.
July 13, 2022
I enjoyed this course from The Great Courses. I appreciated Professor Railton's critical perspective. He ably exposes some of the weaknesses of MT as a person and in his works in the context of an overall appreciation of his contribution to American literature. I was especially interested in his analysis of the conflict between Samuel Clemens as a person in conflict with Mark Twain as a performer. His insight into the increasing despair that characterized the last decade of Twain's life is important.
November 14, 2021
A few lectures on each of the major works as well as Mark Twain as a character in his own right. Possibly the first celebrity, one anecdote you may not know is that his white suit only became associated with Sam at the very end of his life. Another anecdote you may find interesting is the meaning of his pseudonym.
November 22, 2020
I went through a "Twain" period, where I just couldn't read enough or listen enough to everything Twain. And now, I don't want to hear another word about him.
This was during my "Twain" period.
This was during my "Twain" period.
May 30, 2022
I liked the lecture style writing about Mark Twain’s story telling.
February 27, 2023
Love this series of lectures about Twain. Illuminating with a focus on a few central themes.
July 27, 2009
This is a series of lectures from Professor Stephen Railton (of UVA) looking at the life and work of Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens. They are broken down into the following topics:
1. Needing no introduction
2. From Samuel Clemens to Mark Twain
3. The sense of Mark Twain's humor
4. Marketing Twain
5. Innocents abroad, I: going East
6. Innocents abroad, II: traveling to unlearn
7. Roughing it: going West
8. The lecture tours
9. The Whittier after dinner speech
10. Old times on the Mississippi
11. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (analysis)
12. The performances of Tom Sawyer
13. Huck Finn, I: defining an American voice
14. Huck Finn, II: the quest for freedom
15. Huck Finn, III: the great American novel?
16. Huck Finn, IV: classrooms and controversy
17. Connecticut Yankee, I: unwriting the middle ages
18. Connecticut Yankee, II: revisiting the 19th century
19. Connecticut Yankee, III: the quest for status
20. Pudd'nhead Wilson: fictions of law and custom
21. Anti-imperialist works
22. Late Twain in public
23. Late Twain in private
24. Sam Clemens dies/Long live Mark Twain
I found the information about Twain's life to be the most interesting, particularly learning of how he fell into the role of author through his travel experiences/writings. I also enjoyed learning more of Twain's clever humor and the relationship he had with his wife Livvy, for whom he had the highest of respect and adoration. I tuned out a bit when the professor got into the literary analysis of his books (though some of that was quite interesting as well, of course). Overall, I found it to be a very thorough and entertaining look at Twain's life and works.
1. Needing no introduction
2. From Samuel Clemens to Mark Twain
3. The sense of Mark Twain's humor
4. Marketing Twain
5. Innocents abroad, I: going East
6. Innocents abroad, II: traveling to unlearn
7. Roughing it: going West
8. The lecture tours
9. The Whittier after dinner speech
10. Old times on the Mississippi
11. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (analysis)
12. The performances of Tom Sawyer
13. Huck Finn, I: defining an American voice
14. Huck Finn, II: the quest for freedom
15. Huck Finn, III: the great American novel?
16. Huck Finn, IV: classrooms and controversy
17. Connecticut Yankee, I: unwriting the middle ages
18. Connecticut Yankee, II: revisiting the 19th century
19. Connecticut Yankee, III: the quest for status
20. Pudd'nhead Wilson: fictions of law and custom
21. Anti-imperialist works
22. Late Twain in public
23. Late Twain in private
24. Sam Clemens dies/Long live Mark Twain
I found the information about Twain's life to be the most interesting, particularly learning of how he fell into the role of author through his travel experiences/writings. I also enjoyed learning more of Twain's clever humor and the relationship he had with his wife Livvy, for whom he had the highest of respect and adoration. I tuned out a bit when the professor got into the literary analysis of his books (though some of that was quite interesting as well, of course). Overall, I found it to be a very thorough and entertaining look at Twain's life and works.
April 30, 2010
interesting listen so far (author/speaker finds no "g" in "ing" word endings! readin' thinkin' etc.)
July 9, 2016
This was good but not as good as I hoped. I desired to go deeper into his life and thought. It was however a good survey of his works.
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