Dan > Recent Status Updates

Dreiser is so good at describing peoples inner worlds and their feelings and motivations. He so aptly describes the insecurity of lower social class. He reminds me of my own resentment of the arrogance of the successful.

The longing for status and the woes it can bring! The importance of status in America is unique. The claim that it can be attained by anyone in America is supposed to be unique. It is so untrue.

There are lot of similarities to Sister Carrie in this book.. Ahhh the enticement of material comfort, the illusory promises of status, the beguiling manipulative ways of the fairer sex and the perils that the pursuit of such desires can lead one to! These are the themes.

I like Dreiser's writing. Sometimes his run on descriptions are a little much and his Jersey accent seems a bit off but I love it so far.

Hegglund from Jersey City sure talks a lot like Jim from Huckleberry Finn! Not so sure that Dreiser has the best written interpretation of the jersey accent.

Hooboy here we go. A true literary dagwood! The longest effort undertaken in a while. As I loved "Sister Carrie" I'm assumning In will love this. The first eight pages were good :)

After reading a bunch of Twain this is fun and fast reading...thus far

I wonder what MT would think about our flawed democracy and the fact that it elected someone worse than a feudal lord. I also wonder how he would feel about the true outcomes of free market capitalism and its unforeseen consequences (climate change, oligarchy)). He'd definitely be a Bernie Sanders supporter methinks.

MT pointing out that intellectual work for those capable is usually if always a pleasure and richly compensated. Manual work is toil. Tradespeople who say they love it after 30 years are rare, and they get paid squat.

"Education can do so much!" So true MT.

MT refers to the quest for the holy grail as "gone grailing" . Hilarious.

MT destroys the Roman Catholic Church lol and its contribution to class inequality. Also I thought he might have miscalculated using wire for his second wizard's spell but wire did exist then!

This is so much more pleasant to read than ol Pudd'nhead Wilson! MT is so clever. His writing so absorbing and fun!

Every character serves a purpose to the end of exposing the hypocrisies of mankind and mocking the small mindedness of some humanity?

Interesting that Twain never mentions the Donner party expedition in this memoir. I'm sure he was aware of it that it was known to him?

"And I think that to one in sympathy with nature, each season, in its turn, is the loveliest" Yes MT!

Mark Twain is what I would call "difficult" reading at times. He uses lots of old vocabulary and his roundabout (I know that his style) ways of telling stories for comic effect. Gratifying reading through and through.

I will read everything Mark Twain has written.

"the Book of Mormon is a rather stupid and tiresome read..." I love MT