Mark Twain
Paperback | Pages: 321 pages Rating: 4.2 | 8186 Users | 545 Reviews
Point Books Toward Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings
| Original Title: | Letters from the Earth |
| ISBN: | 0060518650 (ISBN13: 9780060518653) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | God |
| Literary Awards: | Grammy Award Nominee for Best Spoken Word Album (2002) |
Description As Books Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings
Letters from the Earth is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point-of-view of a dejected angel on Earth. This title story consists of letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. By analyzing the idea of heaven and God that is widely accepted by those who believe in both, Twain is able to take the silliness that is present and study it with the common sense that is absent. Not so much an attack as much as a cold dissection. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man. Twain's writings in Letters From the Earth find him at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever.Describe Containing Books Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings
| Title | : | Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings |
| Author | : | Mark Twain |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 321 pages |
| Published | : | February 17th 2004 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics (first published 1962) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Humor. Religion. Short Stories. Literature. Writing. Essays |
Rating Containing Books Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings
Ratings: 4.2 From 8186 Users | 545 ReviewsWeigh Up Containing Books Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings
I have to rate this lower than things like The Autobiography and other novels because this represents sort of a hodgepodge of remnants and unfinished works. That's not to say it is not worthwhile. I mean why struggle through something as tedious as Nietzsche, when all the same scathing sentiments against the banality of humans are presented here in humorous form? There were parts where he seemed to be writing about today (overcrowding, wastefulness, phony religion, and the end of days). MostDo any of us die having said everything we wanted to say? Or having said everything that needed to be said? Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, certainly did not. When he died in 1910 he left behind a substantial cache of notebooks, letters, and unfinished manuscripts, much of which turned out to be a treasure trove of brilliant satirical and existential prose. Herein lies the problem. How do you publish what amounts to be three pages of notes here, eighteen pages of an incomplete essay there,
This is bitter Twain at his darkest. In essence he takes the view that Nature is so filled with irrational horror and pain that existence is hardly worth having. Humankind is not much better as its members thrive on stupid contradictions and cruelty. The Bible is filled with thousands of lies and Jesus Christ was himself a sadistic liar. In such a cosmos God is incredibly stupid, evil, or non-existent. That last is the most comforting thought as it at least allows human beings to concentrate on
I could write a long review of this amazing and shocking book. Mark like I've never seen him before; the Mark I always wanted to hear more from and did not find in his stories of mischievous childhoods in the Mississippi. But i won't write that long review, instead, i will sub it up in the following sentence: Man is a mistake. The human race, basically, is the most horrible species that ever dwelled this earth. We kill, torture, pass judgment, discriminate, and do the worst things possible with
The first time the Deity came down to earth, he brought life and death; when he came the second time, he brought hell.Mark Twains Letters from the Earth, which were written under the influence of various blows fate dealt him, like the deaths of his 24-year old daughter Suzy from spinal meningitis in 1896 and of his wife Olivia in1904, never saw publication during their authors lifetime, probably because they were considered as heavy stuff even with regard to what could be expected of a satirist
This book has some of Mark Twains best writing, but strangely, it is not well known. Actually, its not strange at all. This work is not just hilarious; its not just brilliant prose that is remarkably energetic, intelligent, and insightfulit is wildly sarcastic, blatantly sacrilegious, blisteringly irreverent, and boldly condemning of Christian beliefs. To realize that this was written over a hundred years ago when the nation was far more religiously dogmatic and intolerant, is to realize that
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