The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Week 5. I want to apologize for not participating in the more recent weeks discussions. I'm so far behind in the reading I don't think I'll be able to catch up as this particular book has gotten the better of me, I don't see myself finishing it. Sorry folks.

Understood, there are many who have had a hard time getting into the book, myself included. Thanks for keeping the weekly threads going anyway.

No problem... I'm feeling like I wimped out! lol

I am still in this. I'm interested to see if there are any Biblical allusions that would paint a clearer picture for us of Hank as a Christ Figure. I recommend the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster for those interested in this topic, or in deeper reading in general. Only one chapter is dedicated to Christ figures, he also discusses many different types of imagery and symbolism used by great authors through the ages.

A book like this is able to transport me. When I read this book, I feel like I am in the 6th or 7th century. I can picture England and the knights and some of the brutality of which Twain speaks. I, for one, like this book. I like it more than Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn combined actually.

In the chapter on the first newspaper, MT (Hank) keep refereeing to Arkansas. He refers to the newspaper as good Arkansas journalism and good enough Arkansas proof-reading. We see the first paper is not quite up to his standard, so what does MT have against Arkansas?

I'm a bit behind, but I'll catch up this week. Not my favorite, but I want to know what happens in the end!

Brit wrote: "so what does MT have against Arkansas? "

Have you ever been there? Just kidding. I think this is a common prejudice of the north (Yankees) vs. the south. Yankees tend to view southerners as uneducated toothless hillbillies, who marry their cousins. Twain's probably self-aware enough to be doing this on purpose.

Twain doesn't single out Southerners. The thing I like most about him is that he was one of the first people to parody everything and everyone. Nobody was safe. Many comedians today do this, and it has such a leveling effect. It puts everyone on the same playing field, and then you can really analyze how things are in the world. Twain even made fun of drunkards like himself! He certainly receives a lot of praise but I don't think it's enough. He was such a transformative writer.

James wrote: "Twain doesn't single out Southerners. The thing I like most about him is that he was one of the first people to parody everything and everyone. Nobody was safe. Many comedians today do this, and it..."

I might add Twain was something of a southerner himself. But, Hank is a yankee, and typically, they would view southerners as, let's just say, not so well-educated.