This past Christmas I was surprised with a gift of a Kindle! I love to read and read a lot of different kinds of books. Recently I purchased "The Autobiography of Mark Twain." Mark Twain died in 1910 and wanted his autobiography published only 100 years after his death. There are a lot of boring parts to this book because Twain seems to go on and on with a lot of detail about such silly things (a description of a room for example), but I have learned some interesting facts that I did not know before: Mark Twain was a friend of Ulysses S. Grant and they first met in 1868; he once had to move to San Francisco (1864) to escape prosecution for dueling; he knew Helen Keller; and he outlived all 3 of his children and his wife.
The reason that Mark Twain did not want his autobiography published until 100 years after his death was because he stated opinions of issues and people that he did not want anyone living at that time to know about. For example, while living in Italy for a while, Mark Twain referred to his landlady, a Countess, with these remarks: "She is excitable, malicious, malignant, vengeful, unforgiving, selfish, stingy, avaricious, coarse, vulgar, profane, obscene, a furious blusterer on the outside and at heart a coward. Her lips are familiar with lies, deceptions, swindles and treacheries as her nostrils with breath" (Kindle 30%). Too many adjectives and commas, don't you think?
Mark Twain was quite the character as he also stated in a speech at his 70th Birthday Dinner "I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot benefit when you are tired; I was always tired" (Kindle 83%). I think I would have loved to be able to meet such a humorous writer!
(Note that there are no page numbers on a Kindle, only a percentage of how much of the book has been read.)
This weekend will be full of homework and reading my Kindle will not be on my agenda. With the wonderful Spring weather it is hard to concentrate on schoolwork but I intend to take some breaks with my Dachshunds!
I received a Sony reader for Christmas and I have purchased only one book for it thus far, that book is "The Autobiography of Mark Twain." That is so cool that you got the exact same book!! I have to be honest though, with school, work and the normal hustle of life I have yet to read any of the book. However, now I have new found motivation to begin!!
ReplyDeleteI love reading, but for some reason I prefer a regular book. It's amazing what technology has bestowed upon us, but there is something to say about a collection of books on a shelf. Though most of my shelf space is taken by textbooks, I still have quite a few leisurely reads as well.
ReplyDeleteMark Twain was a very humorous writer and his novels are quite easy reads. I've read a few of them; however, I am more inclined to read mystery and suspense novels of current time. Maria, keep up the hard work with school and always try to make time for leisure, as I assume you do. =)
That is so neat! That was a clever way for him to speak his mind without hurting any feelings. I like to physically hold a book so I can highlight all the good stuff. The Kindle seems really neat for people that don't mind. Good for you for reading for fun while you're in school. I have to try really hard. I barely have enough time for everything I HAVE to do... much less any of the fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law loves her Kindle she wont let anyone hold it. This school semester is wearing me out!
ReplyDeleteThis school semester is wearing us all out, Natalie! But we'll get through it! We're halfway through.
ReplyDeleteI recently purchased an android tablet, a Cruz reader. I like it. I have many of the books and short stories I teach on it, and it's great to not have to lug them around with me. I also have a few of them as audiobooks, so I can read and listen at the same time.
While I do love "real" books, having a reader makes it easier to tote a number of books around, thus allowing me to read what I want when I want.
As far as the passage you quoted, Maria, it has just the right number of adjectives and commas!
K. Smith
Eng. 226