|
|
Sold Out
Book Categories |
Preface ix
Note on referencing xi
Mark Twain's life 1
The early life 1
River boating, the Civil War, the West 3
Early success, marriage, the Hartford years 5
Expatriation, financial loss, family tragedy 7
The final years 8
Contexts 11
Samuel Langhorne Clemens and 'Mark Twain' 17
Works 22
Twain's humour 22
Travel and travel writing: Innocents Abroad, A Tramp Abroad, Roughing It, Life on the Mississippi 38
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn 64
A Connecticut Yankee and Pudd'nhead Wilson 87
Critical reception and the late works 109
Notes 120
Guide to further reading 127
Index 132
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Marco Guinois
reviewed Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain on August 30, 2015
Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain
A previous reviewer has analyzed the contents of this book already in quite stunning depth so i'll just stick to my own personal thoughts and impressions.
I had many conflicting feelings about this book - in some ways it's very 'airy fairy' and 'really out there' and discontiguous as McClure jumps from subject to subject making the connections and his overall argument quite disparate in parts.
On the other hand, what i did enjoy about this book was McClure's highly original analysis, how he turns his back on traditional Cartesian logic (which explains many of my criticisms above) and most importantly we begin to understand not only McClure's cryptic comment of "poetry is a muscular principle" but also WHY McClure believes there is a strong connection between poetry and biology.
The main takeaway i got from McClure's analysis was this: we have traditionally thought that poetry must come from the mind (and therefore the brain) but McClure reminds us that the brain is not an independent and autonomous organ - it receives signals from and signals to other parts of the body such as our organs and muscles (or 'meat' - remember McClure wrote a book called Meat Science Essays?) Therefore one's poetry might be a reflection of not only our mind but our whole physiological condition and status as well as psychological, right down to the cellular level.
A fascinating philosophy and theory but i couldn't help thinking - so what?
Even if we have a better understanding of where poetry comes from, does that show us or tell us how we should write it?
This is a book of poetics but only in terms of theory. If you want to learn more about HOW to write poetry, read Pound or Williams or Eliot.
Login|Complaints|Blog|Games|Digital Media|Souls|Obituary|Contact Us|FAQ
CAN'T FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? CLICK HERE!!! X
You must be logged in to add to WishlistX
This item is in your Wish List
X
This item is in your Collection
Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain
X
This Item is in Your Inventory
Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain
X
You must be logged in to review the productsX
X
X
Add Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain, Peter Messent gives accessible but penetrating readings of the best-known writings including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He pays particular attention to the way Twain's humor works and how it underpins his prose style. This book will be of outstandin, Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
X
Add Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain, Peter Messent gives accessible but penetrating readings of the best-known writings including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He pays particular attention to the way Twain's humor works and how it underpins his prose style. This book will be of outstandin, Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain to your collection on WonderClub |