Life on the Mississippi

According to the experts, Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain was one of his least popular works. But after having read most of it over the last couple days, I can honestly say I don't know why. I think it's great! I especially love the middle chapters (about 4-15) where he goes into great detail about what it took to be a steamboat pilot. It was not for the faint of heart, or for those with a weak memory. The pilots had to know every inch of the river bank as well as what lay beneath the water. I can't imagine how they remembered it all! And I enjoyed the parts where Sam (Clements) would ask questions. Like how they can tell the difference between an underwater reef, and the wind, when they both produced the same looking little ripples in the surface of the water? And the pilots would answer: "You just know." It was something that you couldn't explain, but once you figured it out you just knew. A lot of piloting was like that it seems.
I also thought the book was cool because it seems to explain where Samuel Clements acquired his literary pseudonym! Apparently "mark twain" was a measurement of depth that the sailors would call out to the pilot, as they plunged a pole or weighted rope off the sides of the boat to mark the depth of the channel. "Mark" as in  "make note of" and "twain" as in the old way to designate the number two (in this case 2 fathoms or 12 feet). So mark twain literally means "make a note of the fact that there is 12 feet if water here".
For an example from the text itself where measurements were being taken and shouted back to the pilot:
"M-a-r-k three!...M-a-r-k three!...Quarter-less three!....Half twain!...Quarter twain!... M-a-r-k twain!...Quarter-less..." And so on...
Isn't that something? Clements himself says in the book that he never had a job he enjoyed more than being a steamboat pilot, and I think taking the name Mark Twain was his own way of paying homage to that time in his life. I imagine it must have been amusing to hear all the people shout "Mark Twain!" as he passed by. It kind of makes me smile anyway.

Virginia City, Nevada

Over the Christmas holiday (For what my old roommates and I call "House Christmas") we went to Reno to visit one of said old roommates and her boyfriend.
During our weekend stay, and in the true Nevada spirit, we drove out to the desert to shoot guns and visited the swarthy old Comstock (silver mining) mecca of Virginia City. Even more than a hundred years after it's decline it's still a cool relict of the old west with places like the Silver Queen Saloon, with it's creaky old floors, and supposed resident ghosts!
It was my idea to go there (and everyone else was kind enough to humor me) not because I have a love of silver mining, or old western towns for that matter, but rather because my beloved Mark Twain once walked those very streets as a reporter (and then later as editor) for the local Virginia City newspaper The Territorial Enterprise! Can you believe it?!? Isn't that so cool. I read all about that part in his biography, and it was so neat to be able to see all the places that he actually spoke about.
Not only that, but there is a small museum in the basement where the newspaper was published, and where Twain actually worked, ate and slept (among other things)! I had to go by myself because no one else was interested (I think they hit up the saloon:) but I didn't mind at all.
I normally am not one to get all excited over celebrities (alive or dead) but I will always and forever make an exception for Twain. Besides being my favorite author (along side of Ayn Rand), I also admire the sort of life he lived, the examples he set forth publically (equality for all races and women), AND his sense of humor and irony, which I find match my own perfectly. For all these reasons I was SO excited to see where he worked (for a short time), to walk down the streets that look very much the same as they did when he himself wandered them.
I don't understand believing in God or gods, but I do understand the idea of a pilgrimage, to a special place. For some it's Jerusalem, for me it happens to be Virginia City, Nevada. I guess I've always been a little quirky like that.
I'll never really know Mark Twain of course (Samuel Clements actually), but much like I felt when I was in France visiting my grandmothers childhood home, I feel a little closer to him anyway now that I've been where he once was, now that I've seen what he once saw.
He feels a little more real, a little more like a real man and that makes me happy.
Here are a few photo's from around Nevada City, some from inside the Mark Twain Museum, and some from the cemetary on the edge of town.

M. Twain Does it Again!

As an addition to an earlier post on Mark Twain's short stories I thought I would add these to my list of must reads. I am even going to include a brief synopsis to entice you to check them out;

The Invalid's Story: Man mistakes carton of guns and wheel of Limburger cheese for dead friend in coffin while on a stuffy train ride to funeral. (One of my top 2 Favorites!!!!)

Mrs. McWilliamses and the Lightening: Mrs. McWilliams fears for her husbands life (as he is asleep in bed) during a lightning storm and directs him (from the closet) about what he must to save himself from being struck....

The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm: The McWilliamses get an alarm, but it doesn't work properly, and it ends up attracting burglars...

These stories are over 100 years old and still as funny as anything we'd see today on TV!

Need A Laugh?

I spent the weekend, well, half the weekend, reading several of Mark Twain's short stories. And let me tell you something. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud while reading! The stories range from hilarious to ironic, and the majority of them would be considered "tall tales" on the grounds that they often recount events which could never occur, like having conversations with skeletons, or cats that are experts in placer mining.
But I thought I'd pass along a couple of the stories that I believe would truly improve your day, if not your whole literary life. So if by chance you have a few moments to spare (perhaps over a cup of coffee and a scone?) give these a read!

A Day at Niagra

Political Economy

(Note: In Political Economy the funniest part is toward the end, so don't give up half way through!)

Mark Twain on the Brain

Have you ever discovered something that was right in front of you the whole time but for some reason you never saw it? Me too. What have I discovered? It's more of a who: Mark Twain!
I can't say for absolutely sure, but I spent an hour yesterday reading some of his short stories and I totally love them. I like the ol' west accent he uses in his writing, and I like the subjects he writes about and his (sometimes) irreverent humor. Makes me think of the gold rush days here in California, and for some reason I have always had a soft spot for that era in the states history.
I tried Borders yesterday for a specific book entitled "Letters from the Earth" but they didn't have it. They had fourteen editions of Huck Finn, but not any of Twain's less known works. I am going to try the used bookstore today.
Have any of you read any Mark Twain? Any thoughts on specific books, or whether or not you liked him? Let me know!