Off-Topic Cafe

[bentley]

Thought I would set up a thread to hold those discussions that may veer away from the book itself. This thread can also be used for other conversational digressions about the author Twain or other potentially interesting topics worth discussing.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Thanks, bentley! I should have set this thread up at the beginning, so thanks for doing this for us. I'm holding back on taking a stab at some of your questions on the board to allow other readers to chime in.

~ConnieK

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bentley wrote:
Thought I would set up a thread to hold those discussions that may veer away from the book itself. This thread can also be used for other conversational digressions about the author Twain or other potentially interesting topics worth discussing.

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[bentley]

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ConnieK wrote:
Thanks, bentley! I should have set this thread up at the beginning, so thanks for doing this for us. I'm holding back on taking a stab at some of your questions on the board to allow other readers to chime in.

~ConnieK

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bentley wrote:
Thought I would set up a thread to hold those discussions that may veer away from the book itself. This thread can also be used for other conversational digressions about the author Twain or other potentially interesting topics worth discussing.

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No problem ConnieK..there is a lot to sift through in this work. As always, Twain's writing is brilliant and his sentence structure is sharp as a tack. However, the ideas that he is promoting are highly controversial; and must have been so when this work was published...so there is a lot to digest and think about and it is only November 2nd. I just have a lot of questions as you probably have seen because this is my first pass through ACYIKAC. And the tone of the writing is a little strident even for Twain and a lot darker than I remember him.

[bentley]

POTENTIAL SPOILER:


Stead's review of TCYIKAC in 1890 (I believe) is quite good:

http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/yankee/cyrevrev.html

[bentley]

This is an interesting url on Mark Twain and will even be better in 2008 and beyond:

http://www.marktwainproject.org/

Message Edited by bentley on 11-02-2007 02:53 PM

[bentley]

Here are the on line Cliff notes. I would not use this until you have at least gone through the novel once to get a sense of how you personally feel about the novel and author on your own.

But here is the url anyways for those who might want to untilize it:

Cliff Notes for A Connecticut Yankee

Edited by Admin for formatting only.

Message Edited by Jessica on 11-05-2007 10:25 AM

[bentley]

London Daily Telegraph Review - 1890

Edited by Admin for formatting only.

Message Edited by Jessica on 11-05-2007 10:27 AM

[bentley]

http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/yankee/cyplumas.html

[bentley]

The review is interesting because it is obvious the script was changed for the movie:

http://arthsoc.drruss.net/Cauldron/bing.html

[bentley]

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ConnieK wrote:
Thanks, bentley! I should have set this thread up at the beginning, so thanks for doing this for us. I'm holding back on taking a stab at some of your questions on the board to allow other readers to chime in.

~ConnieK

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bentley wrote:
Thought I would set up a thread to hold those discussions that may veer away from the book itself. This thread can also be used for other conversational digressions about the author Twain or other potentially interesting topics worth discussing.

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ConnieK..just a thought...maybe we should start taking a stab at Chapter 1 - 10 and some of the questions that have been posed. I know that I had a few.

Possibly that would spur discussion from others who have read the book already or who want to join in. Goodness knows this book is filled with controversial topics. In fact, possibly threads might be opened up to discuss some of Twain's themes and political positions and what might have been the source of these somewhat strident views and his discontent. I would certainly like to hear how others are feeling about Twain and his agenda and any opposing views as well. I am still plodding along but would welcome any input about the genesis of these ideas and how they played out. I did find some reviews going back to 1890 which are interesting in their own right because they discuss the impression that this work had at the time. It must have rattled a few cages.

Regards,

Bentley

[bentley]

The PBS site has a lot of interesting details about the man:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media/twain/index.html

There is also a timeline if you poke around the site which explains a lot in terms of what was going on in his life at the time. It seems that the timeline indicated that ACYIKAC was universally panned when it came out. I can't say that I am surprised; it must have rattled a lot of cages then; but it still is a remarkable work.

[bentley]

The following url is quite remarkable: from Berkeley on Twain - check out all of the related links as well.

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/Exhibits/MTP/early.html

[bentley]

Hannibal.net:

http://www.hannibal.net/twain/multimedia/

[thinker]

Hey bentley

nice of you to set up this thread

let me check a few sites and tell you what i think

PS
you've saved me from going through the search engine again, thanks

Thinker

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Thank you for posting the links, bentley. The web, as you can see, if full of info. on Twain/Clemens. You've made some good choices.

Can you suggest a theme you'd like to open a thread about? Would you like to open the thread, or would you like me to do that?

I'll open one for general controversial topics--perhaps religion, for one, to get us started.

~ConnieK

[bentley]

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ConnieK wrote:
Thank you for posting the links, bentley. The web, as you can see, if full of info. on Twain/Clemens. You've made some good choices.

Can you suggest a theme you'd like to open a thread about? Would you like to open the thread, or would you like me to do that?

I'll open one for general controversial topics--perhaps religion, for one, to get us started.

~ConnieK

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ConnieK,

Sure open up the threads..that would be great.

In terms of topics:

Divine Right of Kings (Monarchy)
Slavery
Religion (for sure)

Thanks,

Bentley

[bentley]

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thinker wrote:
Hey bentley

nice of you to set up this thread

let me check a few sites and tell you what i think

PS
you've saved me from going through the search engine again, thanks

Thinker

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I will be very interested in hearing your viewpoints. Thanks. Yes, I have been a busy little bee.

Bentley

[ConnieAnnKirk]

You got it, bentley. Great topics!

~ConnieK

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bentley wrote:

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ConnieK wrote:
Thank you for posting the links, bentley. The web, as you can see, if full of info. on Twain/Clemens. You've made some good choices.

Can you suggest a theme you'd like to open a thread about? Would you like to open the thread, or would you like me to do that?

I'll open one for general controversial topics--perhaps religion, for one, to get us started.

~ConnieK

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ConnieK,

Sure open up the threads..that would be great.

In terms of topics:

Divine Right of Kings (Monarchy)
Slavery
Religion (for sure)

Thanks,

Bentley

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[bentley]

This is a great collection of interviews (check out the actual interviews with just a click when the url is in blue - easy access): very interesting.

http://www.twainquotes.com/interviews/interviewindex2006b.html