The creative path of Mark Twain: the best quotes of the writer. Short biography of mark twain Creativity of mark twain summary

The biography of Mark Twain is full of interesting events that will be of interest to schoolchildren studying his works. The future classic of American literature was born in 1835 in the village of Florida (Missouri). We can say that his parents were already Native Americans (natives of Virginia and Kentucky).

The father died when the boy was 13 years old, the mother lived long life and died at the age of 87. In addition to Sam, the family had 3 more children: two boys and a girl. After the death of his father, Sam's older brother Orion became the head of the family. It was he who opened the family business: he began to publish a newspaper. Samuel also worked in the publishing house, first as a typesetter, and then as a journalist. As a journalist, he traveled the country, visited St. Louis and New York.

After working for his brother for a while, Samuel realized that the river was "calling" him. He became a pilot on a steamship. He liked his job, but Civil War led to the disappearance of the private shipping company. Samuel was forced to start looking for a livelihood again.

It is known that at the very beginning of the Civil War, the future writer became a member of the Masonic lodge, although he always treated the brotherhood with humor.

During the Civil War

For a time, Samuel fought in the ranks of the people's militia, but after his brother was made secretary to the governor of Nevada, he left with him to the West.

In Nevada, Sam worked at a mine as a silver miner. Then he got a job at the Territorial Enterprise newspaper.

In 1864, Sam moved to San Francisco, where he began working for several newspapers at once.

First literary experiences

Your first humorous story Twain published in 1865. It brought him success and was even named the best humorous story created in America by an American writer. Whole next year Twain spent on business trips. He performed editorial assignments for newspapers and lectured throughout the state, and in 1866 Twain traveled abroad for the first time, visiting Europe and the Middle East. Interestingly, during this trip, he also visited and Russian empire, in particular, visited the Crimea.

In 1867, Twain published the book "Simples Abroad", in fact, these were travel notes. The book was a wild success. Mark Twain became very popular.

After 1870, Twain came to grips with writing. Also at this time, he began teaching at a number of universities in the United States and England. Twain was an excellent speaker and his lectures were incredibly popular.

In his later works, the author spoke out against racism and imperialism, criticized current US senators, and spoke negatively about presidents. By the way, his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was banned several times, as they believed that the words and expressions used by the authors were unliterary, and many scenes were too naturalistic.

Family

Mark Twain was married to Olivia Langdon. They lived together for about 20 years, had 4 children, three of whom died in childhood. The writer survived his wife and deeply experienced her death, even fell into depression.

Last years

IN last years the writer's financial affairs were greatly shaken, but the situation was saved by the oil tycoon Henry Rogers, who became a close friend of the writer. Mark Twain greatly influenced the character of the American businessman and made him a real philanthropist and philanthropist. Roger, at the request of the writer, organized several charitable foundations that sponsored educational programs for African Americans and for children with disabilities.

The writer was buried several times. After another obituary, Mark Twain even uttered the catchphrase that rumors of his death are greatly exaggerated.

He died in 1910 from an attack of angina pectoris. It is known that he was born in the year when Halley's comet passed over the earth, he also “left” with it, since in 1910 it again passed by the Earth (by the way, the writer actually predicted his death).

Other biography options

• The most important thing is that historians and biographers have long argued (and still argue) about the origin of the pseudonym "Mark Twain". Some have associated it with river navigation terms. Others believed that this pseudonym was taken by the writer after reading the novels of Artemus Ward ( main character one of the works just bore the name Mark Twain).
• Maxim Gorky and Alexander Kuprin were very fond of the work of Mark Twain, believing that it largely shaped the views of American society, including the eradication of racial prejudices.
• short biography Mark Twain is of particular interest to children, since the works of Mark Twain are studied in grades 5-6 of high school.

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Mark Twain, whose brief biography is presented in the article below, is famous writer. He is loved and respected all over the world, he won fame for his talent. How were his days, what important happened in his life? Read the answers below.

A little about the writer

The works of Mark Twain are read at school, as they are included in the compulsory course. All adults and young people know this writer, so here will be a brief biography of Mark Twain for grade 5, because around this time children get acquainted with his exciting books. Our hero was not only a writer, but also a person with an active life position. His work is very diverse and reflects life path- just as rich and varied. He wrote in many genres, from satire to philosophical fiction. In each of them he remained faithful to humanism. At the peak of his popularity, he was considered one of the most prominent Americans. Russian creators spoke of him very flatteringly: especially Gorky and Kuprin. Twain became famous thanks to his two books - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Childhood

Mark Twain, whose brief biography is the subject of our article, was born in Missouri in the fall of 1845. After some time, the family changed their place of residence, moving to the city of Hannibal. In his books, he described the inhabitants of this city most often. Soon the head of the family died, and all responsibility passed to the young boys. The older brother took publishing to somehow provide for the family. - Samuel Langhorn Clemens) tried to contribute, so he worked part-time with his brother as a typesetter, and later as an author of articles. The guy decided to write the boldest and brightest articles only when his older brother Orion left somewhere for a long time.

When the Civil War began, Samuel decided to try himself as a pilot on a ship. Soon he returned from sailing and decided to leave the terrible events of the war as far as possible. Future Writer often repeated that if it were not for the war, he would have devoted his whole life to work as a pilot. In 1861 he went to the west - to where silver is mined. Not feeling a true attraction to the chosen case, he decides to take up journalism. He is taken to work in a newspaper in Virginia, and then Clemens begins to write under his pseudonym.

Nickname

The real name of our hero is Samuel Clemens. He said that he came up with his pseudonym while working as a pilot on a steamboat, using terms from river navigation. Literally, it means "two mark". There is another version of the origin of the pseudonym. In 1861, Artemus Ward published a humorous story about three sailors. One of them was called M. Twain. The most interesting thing is that S. Clemenes loved and often publicly read the works of A. Ward.

Success

The biography of Mark Twain (briefly) indicates that in 1860, after the author had visited Europe, he published a book called "Simples Abroad". It was she who brought him his first fame, and the literary society of America finally turned its close attention to the young author.

Besides writing, what else did Mark Twain live for? A short biography for kids will tell you that almost a decade later, the writer falls in love and moves to Hartford with his fiancée. During the same period of time, he begins to criticize American society in his satirical works and lecture in educational institutions.

Biography of Mark Twain on English language(briefly) tells us that in 1976 the writer publishes the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which in the future brings him worldwide fame. After 8 years, he writes the second famous work titled The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. most popular historical novel The author is The Prince and the Pauper.

Science and other interests

Does Mark Twain have anything to do with science? A short biography of the writer is simply impossible without mentioning science! He was very interested in new ideas and theories. His good friend was Nikola Tesla, with whom they did some experiments together. It is known that two friends could not leave the laboratory for hours, doing another experiment. In one of his books, the writer used a rich technical description, saturated the smallest details. This indicates that he was not just familiar with certain terms. In fact, he had in-depth knowledge in many areas.

What else was Mark Twain interested in? A brief biography will tell you that he was an excellent speaker and often spoke in public. He knew how to literally capture the spirit of the listeners and not let go until the end of his speech. Understanding the impact he can have on people and having already a sufficient number of useful connections, the writer was engaged in finding young talents and helping them to break through, to show their talent. Unfortunately, most of the recordings and lectures of his public speaking have simply been lost. Some he himself banned from publishing.

Twain was also a Freemason. To the lodge" polar Star"He entered St. Louis in the spring of 1861.

Last years

The most difficult time for the writer was his last years of life. One gets the feeling that all the troubles decided to fall on him overnight. In the literary field, there was a decline in creative forces, and at the same time, the financial situation was rapidly deteriorating. After that, he suffered great grief: his wife Olivia Langdon and three of the four children died. Surprisingly, M. Twain still tried not to lose heart and even joked sometimes! The great and talented writer died in the spring of 1910 from angina pectoris.

Samuel Langhorn Clemens, known to readers around the world under the name of Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835 in Missouri in a tiny Florida village.

Later, his family moved to the town of Hannibal in the same state. Mark Twain became an employee of the newspaper because of the need experienced by his family after the death of his father, a small-time lawyer, an unsuccessful businessman who left behind a lot of debt. Twain inherited his love of justice and sense of humor from his mother, Jane Clemens. On which the townspeople once decided to play a trick, saying that she was able to pray for the devil himself, to which she replied that the devil was simply the greatest sinner and it was okay if she prayed for the peace of his soul.

“Twain, by his own admission, grew up as a sickly, lethargic child and for the first seven years of his life lived mainly on drugs. Once he asked his mother, who was already in her eighty-eighth year:

You must have been worried about me all the time?

Yes, all the time.

Afraid that I won't survive?

Mrs. Clemens, on reflection, replied:

No, I was afraid you would survive."

In 1853, at the age of eighteen, Twain left his native place, he began working as a traveling compositor. Without staying anywhere for a long time, he wandered for four years and managed to see not only St. Louis, the capital of his state, but also the largest industrial and cultural centers USA of these years - New York, Philadelphia, Washington.

Returning from his wanderings, twenty-two-year-old Mark decided to carry out cherished dream of his adolescence - to become a pilot on the Mississippi. He sailed for four years, two years as a pilot apprentice ("puppy") and another two years as a full-fledged driver of river steamers. According to Twain. If there had been an uncivil war, he would have sailed his life. So we can say thank you to the enmity of the northerners and southerners for such a valuable gift.

My short autobiography the writer presents it this way: "I had to look for another job," Twain later recalled, reviewing his early years. islands; then a traveling correspondent in Europe and the East; then the bearer of the torch of enlightenment on the lecture stage, and finally, I became a book scribbler and an unshakable pillar among the other pillars of New England.

Twain has worked for a variety of publications. One of the first was Territorial Enterprise, a Virginia City newspaper, to which Twain had already sent humorous essays written in passing from the life of miners.

This is how Albert Payne, the writer's biographer, described his first appearance in the Enterprise office: “On a stifling August day, an exhausted traveler, covered with road dust, staggered into the Enterprise office and, throwing off a bale with a blanket from his shoulder, sank heavily into in a faded blue flannel shirt, a rusty wide-brimmed hat, a revolver at the waist, high boots with cuffs, tangled strands of chestnut hair falling over the stranger's shoulders, a beard the color of tanned skin covering his chest. Aurora Mining Village off Virginia City."

Twain was twenty-seven years old, and he began his literary career in earnest.

Twain quickly rose to prominence as a columnist for the "Enterprise". In 1864 he finally settled on literary name Mark Twain. There are several versions regarding the appearance of the pseudonym:

1. Clemens claimed that the pseudonym "Mark Twain" was taken by him in his youth from the terms of river navigation. Then he was a pilot's assistant on the Mississippi, and the cry "mark twain" (English mark twain, literally - "mark deuce") meant that, according to the mark on the lotlin, the minimum depth suitable for the passage of river vessels was reached - 2 fathoms (? 3.7 m).

2. There is a version about the literary origin of this pseudonym: in 1861, Artemus Ward's humorous story "The North Star" about three sailors, one of whom was named Mark Twain, was published in Vanity Fair magazine. And Samuel, as much as he loved the comic section of this magazine, read Ward's works in his first stand-up performances.

3. There is also an opinion that the pseudonym was taken from the time of Twain's fun days in the West: they said “Mark Twain!”, When, after drinking double whiskey, they did not want to pay immediately, but asked the bartender to put it on the account.

The first version seems to me the most plausible, since it was voiced by the writer himself, although the next two are also quite attractive with their humorous overtones.

The year 1865 was marked by major changes in literary destiny Mark Twain. The New York newspaper "Saturday Press" published his short story "Jim Smiley and his famous jumping frog from Calaveras", which was an unusually talented adaptation of California folklore and humorous material. The story was an undeniable success. Twain left daily journalism. In the spring of 1866, he was sent by the Sacramento Union newspaper to Hawaii. During the journey, Twain had to write letters about his adventures. Upon their return to San Francisco, these letters were a resounding success. Colonel John McComb, publisher of the Alta California newspaper, suggested that Twain go on a tour of the state, giving exciting lectures. The lectures immediately became wildly popular, and Twain traveled all over the state, entertaining the audience and collecting a dollar from each listener.

In June 1867, Twain, as a correspondent for the Alta California and the New York Tribune, traveled to Europe on the steamer Quaker City. In August he also visited Odessa, Yalta and Sevastopol. Letters written by Twain during his travels in Europe and Asia were sent to his editor and published in the newspaper, and later formed the basis of the book "Simples Abroad".

Thus, we see that from the beginning of his career, Twain did not sit in one place, he constantly traveled, trying to expand his horizons. Yes, and the heroes of his most famous novels(“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “The Prince and the Pauper”) do not sit still, they are based on their wanderings, during which the problems that interest the writer unfold.

As a journalist, Mark Twain appears most prominently in his short stories "Journalism in Tennessee", "How I Edited an Agricultural Newspaper" and "The Unbridled Journalism". All these works were written in the first period of the writer's work, represented mainly by satirical and humorous prose. The hero of the story "How I edited an agricultural newspaper" takes up the position of editor of a newspaper for farmers, he does not understand anything about agriculture, and does not consider that this is necessary in his position: “I have been working as an editor for fourteen years and for the first time I hear that a person must know something in order to edit a newspaper.” Thus, the author portrays an ignoramus who drives the real editor, several farmers, to despair, but nevertheless raises the circulation of the publication. Twain sneers at the obvious nonsense: they write nonsense in the newspaper, and people read it, and even with increased interest. This is a satire not only on the editorial staff, but also on illegible readers. Twain also speaks of the latter in The Unbridled Press: Public opinion, which should have kept it within the limits, the press managed to reduce to its contemptible level. This speech by Twain is an exposure not only of corrupt journalists and editors, but also of himself: “It would not be worth admitting this, but I myself published malicious slanderous articles about different people and has long deserved to be hanged for it.” Thus, the writer, with the help of irony, intensified and noticeably embittered only towards last example- "The Unbridled Press", reveals the sick sides of the American press of the second half of the 19th century.

Journalism in Tennessee.

The hero of the story goes south, to Tennessee, on the recommendation of his doctor, to improve his health. There he enters the service of a newspaper with the alarming title "Morning Dawn and the Battle Cry of Johnson County." In the editorial office, he sees an eccentric editor in clothes half a century old, the room itself is no longer attractive: the chairs do not have enough legs, the door to the stove falls off, and all this magnificence is headed by a wooden box filled with sand, littered with cigarette butts. The editor assigns the newcomer a task: to write a review titled "The Spirit of Tennessee Printing." When the hero shows the result of the work, the editor is dissatisfied, because the text is too boring, not suitable for readers. After editing, the material has changed beyond recognition: its language has become vulgar, slang, ordinary news is presented deliberately sensational, and all the persons referred to in the texts are unsightly called "liars", "donkeys", "mindless crooks". We understand what kind of newspaper is in front of us, a sample of the tabloid, yellow press. After that, visitors begin to come to the editorial office, but their reception is rather peculiar: “A brick flew through the window with a roar, fragments fell, and I was quite enough on the back. I stepped aside; I began to feel like I was out of place.

The editor said:

It must be the colonel. I've been waiting for him for three days now. This minute he will appear himself.

He wasn't wrong. A minute later, a colonel appeared at the door with an army-style revolver in his hand.

He said:

Sir, I think I have the honor of talking to the contemptible coward who edits this wretched newspaper?

Then the editor leaves the newcomer in his place, gives him a new task: “- Jones will be here at three - whip him, Gillspye will probably come in earlier - throw him out the window, Ferguson will look at four - shoot him. For today, that seems to be all. If you get out free time, write a more outrageous article about the police - pour it in to the chief inspector, let it itch. The whips are under the table, the weapons are in the drawer, the bullets and gunpowder are over there in the corner, the bandages and lint are in the top drawers of the cupboard.”

This is what our hero gets out of this: “He left. I shuddered. After that, only about three hours passed, but I had to go through so much that all calmness, all cheerfulness left me forever. Gillspie came in and threw me out the window. Jones also appeared without delay, and just as I was getting ready to whip him, he intercepted the whip from me. In a fight with a stranger who was not on the schedule, I lost my scalp. Another stranger, by the name of Thompson, left one memory of me.

When the editor returns, the hero announces to him that he no longer intends to cooperate with the newspaper, since "Journalism in Tennessee is too lively."

It was in Twain's time that such "yellow" publications as the New York Sun, Bennett's New York Herald, and Pulitzer's New York World were born and reached their peak. The local press, on the other hand, took on the features of the "giants": playing on the reader's instincts, such as self-preservation and sex, hence sensationalism and scandalousness.

It is impossible not to notice the peculiar humor of the story. This is the so-called typical American humor, which originated from the folklore that flourished in the western suburbs of the United States. This folklore reflected the life and customs of an original and primitive, predominantly farming civilization, which was formed in the conditions of a severe struggle for existence. The humor born on that basis was "rude" humor. In the middle 19th century young literary school in the West began to parody it, creating American humor, which had little in common with the modern European tradition. One need only say that in the poetics of American humor, murder was considered as a source of comic situations, which is unthinkable for European humor. narrative technique The American humorist was dominated by two popular devices. First of all, this is a grotesque exaggeration, hyperbole, gravitating towards comic absurdity. In other cases, it is a blatant omission, again leading to a comical inconsistency.

Therefore, the usual swearing in the editorial office turns into massacres and mutilations, which are designed not to scare the reader, but to make them laugh. And laughter is designed to help you think about the present, disastrous state of affairs.

In my opinion, Twain was more of a writer than a journalist. What are the hoaxes “The Petrified Man” and “My Bloody Atrocity” created by him, deliberately false materials that ridicule in the first case the craze of the inhabitants of Nevada and California for all sorts of fossils, in the second case, the noise around the Dane joint-stock company, which “cooked” dividends for raising their own shares. No matter how witty and apparently instructive these materials were (Twain wanted readers to strain their brains and notice the obvious absurdity of the materials, and not take the word of everything sensational that is served on the newspaper page, but nothing came of it), they belonged to the pen not a journalist, but a writer who, with the help of literary device- the hoax is trying to achieve its goal. In The Unbridled Press, Twain admits his mistake: “I know from my own experience that journalists are prone to lies. Several years ago, I myself introduced a special and very scenic view lies, and he still has not degenerated there.

When I read in the newspapers that it was raining blood in California and frogs were falling from the sky, when I come across a report about a sea serpent found in the desert or about a cave studded with diamonds and emeralds (and necessarily discovered by an Indian who died before he could tell where this cave is located), then I say to myself: “You gave birth to this brainchild, you are responsible for the newspaper fables.”

Mark Twain (pseudonym; real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens) American writer. Born in 1835 in the village of Florida, Missouri, in the family of a judge. He spent his childhood in the town of Hannibal on the Missouri River. When his father died, he left school and began working as a typesetter for local newspapers. From the age of 18 to 22, he wandered around the country, then became a pilot on the Mississippi. In 1861, Twain went to the Far West, where he was a prospector in the silver mines of Nevada and a gold digger in California. At the same time, he tried himself as a newspaper reporter in Virginia City, where he published a number of humorous essays and stories. In 1865, he went by steamer to Europe and Palestine, sending humorous reports from the road. Twain's story is widely known folk story"The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras" (1865). Having visited France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Crimea and the Holy Land, he returned to the USA. In 1869, he published a collection of travel essays, Simpletons Abroad, which was a huge success.

In 1872, the autobiographical book The Hardened was published about the people and customs of the Wild West. Three years later, Twain released a collection of his best stories - "Old and New Essays", after which his popularity increased even more. In 1876 he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and as the book was a huge success, in 1885 he published a sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Between these two novels, Twain released another autobiographical book, Life on the Mississippi (1883).

Throughout his life, Twain was occupied with the problem of the Middle Ages. The hierarchical society of the past seemed to him grotesque. In 1882 he published The Prince and the Pauper, and in 1889 saw the light of the parody novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
In the early 90s. A difficult time has come in the writer's life. The collapse of his publishing company (1894) forced Twain to work hard, to undertake an annual trip around the world (1895) with public lectures. New kick caused the death of her daughter. Many of the pages written by Twain in the last two decades of his life are saturated with a sense of bitterness. He died in 1910 in Rudding, Connecticut.

APHORISMS BY MARK TWAIN

• Kindness is what the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
  If you only speak the truth, you don't need to remember anything.
  No one can understand what is real love until he has been married for a quarter of a century.
  Once in a lifetime, happiness knocks on everyone's door, but often this one sits in a nearby tavern and does not hear the knock.
  The peach was once a bitter almond, and the cauliflower is a common, later-graduated cabbage.
  Not many of us can endure happiness - I mean, the happiness of our neighbor.
  There is no greater vulgarity than excessive sophistication.
  Truth is our most precious possession. Let's take good care of her.
  Man was created on the last day of creation, when God was already tired.
  Man is the only animal that blushes or, under certain circumstances, should blush.
  People who have their own grief know how to comfort others.
  Peace, happiness, brotherhood of people - that's what we need in this world!
  Wrinkles should only indicate places where smiles used to be.
  A true friend with you when you're wrong. When you are right, everyone will be with you.
  Noise proves nothing. A hen, after laying an egg, often cackles as if she had laid a small planet.
  If you notice that you are on the side of the majority, this is a sure sign that it is time to change.
  Avoid those who try to undermine your belief in the possibility of achieving something significant in life. This feature is characteristic of small souls.
  Each person, like the moon, has his unlit side, which he does not show to anyone.
  There are many funny things in the world; among other things, persuasion white man that he is less of a savage than all other savages.
  Let's live in such a way that even the undertaker mourns our death.
  When in doubt, speak the truth.
  Adam was happy man: when something funny came into his head, he could be firmly convinced that he did not repeat other people's witticisms.
  Adam was a man: he desired the apple from the tree of paradise, not because it was an apple, but because it was forbidden.
  Most writers regard truth as their most valuable asset, which is why they use it so sparingly.
  A cat once seated on a hot stove will no longer sit on a hot stove. And cold too.
  The best way cheer up - cheer up someone else.

Introduction

The famous American writer Mark Twain was born in the village of Florida, Missouri, in 1835. Mark Twain is only a pseudonym for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and the first note signed famous pseudonym, refers to 1863.

The childhood years of the writer were spent on the Mississippi, in the town of Hannibal, known to readers all over the world under the name of St. Petersburg. Samuel Clemens came from a family whose fate was closely intertwined with the American frontier - the border of the civilized lands of America. Hannibal at that time was the last outpost of civilization, followed by almost undeveloped lands. On the other side of the Mississippi, territories free from slavery began. Through Hannibal lay the path of settlers to the West, the path of slaves who were taken along the river to cotton plantations in its lower reaches, and the path of runaway slaves. History seems to have taken special care to ensure that the main conflicts of American life of the last century clearly appeared in this backwater.

Samuel Clemens from childhood worked as a printer's apprentice, sold newspapers, drove steamboats along the Mississippi, worked as a secretary for his brother in Nevada, in the governor's office, and as a gold digger. Then he joined journalism, and in 1867 his career as a professional writer began. In 1888, Clemens graduated from Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut), where he received an honorary diploma of Doctor of Literature, an honorary representative of the university.

Mark Twain was the representative democratic direction US literature, it was Twain's democratic attitude that helped him create works that are a fusion of the achievements of previous American art, without becoming an imitator of authorities or a mere successor to traditions.

In the works of Twain, a completely natural synthesis of romanticism and realism arose, which is one of the conditions for the emergence of great realistic art. His work, partly prepared by both romantics and realists of the 50s, became a point of intersection of heterogeneous artistic trends. But romanticism was not an "appendage" to Twain's realism, but an organic quality of his worldview, which determined the entire internal structure of his works. Even with a superficial contact with them, one can feel, as in all phenomena of high realism, the ability to combine "romantic beauty" with "realistically everyday", he managed to synthesize these concepts.

In the works of Twain, American realism acquired its characteristic artistic appearance with all its defining features: grotesqueness, symbolism, metaphor, inner lyricism and closeness to nature. This made a decisive difference in artistic development America.

At the same time, the heir to the great American romantics of the XIX century. was also their staunch and irreconcilable opponent. The writer's struggle with romanticism was extremely purposeful and constant and continued throughout his entire career. The reason for Twain was a different understanding of the main task of art - the task of reproducing the truth of life. Following the romantics, he sang the beauty of the "natural" phenomena of life not spoiled by civilization, shared their hatred of everything false, artificial, but he found all these features in the works of the romantics themselves.

A true son of his people, he possessed that clarity of sight, that concreteness of poetic thinking, which was feature popular sentiment. Truly "he had a clear view of life, and he knew it better and was less deceived by its ostentatious sides than any American."

Twain's connection to working America, sealed life experience, right from the start writing activity determined his living force creative imagination. These features of the worldview allowed the author to look at his country through the eyes of an open-minded person, pure and open to new ideas.

Mark Twain's first book

When Twain became a reporter for "Enterprise Territory," published in Virginia City, the capital of Nevada, a literary road opened up for him. Only in our time, all his notes published there, feuilletons, essays, sketches, sketches were collected. It was at that time that Twain's humor was formed - a unique and at the same time essentially a deeply American artistic phenomenon.

Twain quickly became bored with humor, designed only for the tastes of prospectors and immigrants not spoiled by high literature. The famous jumping frog from Calaveras, against the backdrop of such humor, seemed like Mont Blanc next to small mounds. There is a quality in her that would be in vain to look for in anecdotes and fables - this is the ability to literally describe in two or three strokes not just a funny situation, but a whole way of life, a whole world in its unusualness. And this skill will grow stronger in Twain from story to story, rapidly gaining fame for him. the best comedian America.

At the same time, he needed the reader to see, behind the self-evident, violent and unrestrained grotesque, the authentically described American life with all its versatility. He tried to keep the tone the way it was in an oral presentation that did not know any literary smoothness, he tried to make his story, first of all, laugh.

The cover of his very first book was decorated with a huge yellow frog, which stood out brightly against the creamy background of the cover. What is her story? Where did the story about the frog named Daniel Webster come from? Found several printed versions of this story. But still, the frog from Calaveras was glorified by none other than Mark Twain. The story is quite reliable, it could be heard in Twain's native lands or even read in newspapers published in the periphery, on the front.

Jim Smiley lost forty dollars on a bet to a stranger who showed up in Calaveras, relying on Daniel's amazing talent. Twain recorded this incident almost exactly as it was recounted more than once: a stranger doubted Daniel's abilities, accepted a bet, and while Smiley was catching another frog for him, he poured a handful of quail shot into the champion's mouth, so that the poor celebrity could not move from place. Generally sad story about deceived trust and diligence, which went to dust, but such is life.

There are special signs of Twain's humor that will be seen if you read the story of a frog named Daniel Webster carefully. But Twain presented this case, which fit on several pages, in such a way that it will amuse readers for the second century, and the point is inimitable humorous gift.

This story by Twain preserves the colorful atmosphere of the life and customs of the settlers. We can clearly imagine this village in a few crooked streets leading into the endless prairie, and haphazardly dressed people who have not shaved for a long time at the entrance to the saloon.

We learn about the frog races only at the very end, and before that Twain will talk for a long time about various incidents in Smiley's life. Twain? No, the narrator will be a certain Simon Wheeler, who is entrusted with the narration. This Wheeler himself is from Calaveras, he saw her with his own eyes and remembered everything.

The subtext of this ultra-comic short story, which is an adaptation of one of the anecdotal Western plots, was the antithesis of the "unpolished" West and the "sleek" East. Beneath the ingenuous narration of the clumsy frontiersman Simon Wheeler, entertaining his gentleman listener with a guileless tale of the "exploits" of dogs and frogs, lurked the idea of ​​a special world with its own illegitimate scale of values, in principle as legitimate as it was dominant.

The names of the characters also hinted at this. Daniel Webster - the frog and Andrew Jackson - the dog were the namesakes of famous statesmen. Wheeler's story proves that he doesn't care about these celebrities. Outlining his frog epic, he "never smiled, never frowned, never changed that softly murmuring tone to which he tuned in from the very first phrase, never once showed the slightest excitement; his whole story was imbued with amazing seriousness and sincerity. This clearly showed me that he does not see anything funny or funny in this story, treats it without jokes at all and considers his heroes tricksters of the highest flight.

Is Simon Wheeler really that simple? After all, in essence, in this story there are not one, but two narrators - a clown and a gentleman, and it is not known which of them is a true "simpleton" and who is fooling whom. Only one thing is clear, that of the two storytellers, the frontiersman is the more skillful. He tells better, brighter, juicier and, like the author, knows how to see things and feel them. inner life. In other words, he speaks the language of Mark Twain. This way of presentation leads the reader to some additional conclusions regarding the nature of both the narrator and the listener.

Grotesque in early works Twain

The art of young Twain is the art of the grotesque. But the grotesque is also very different in its forms, and in essence. The whole humorous flavor of the stories of the young Mark Twain is based on the imaginary seriousness of the author. In those days, it was believed that literature must certainly be sublime, profound and emphasizing its profoundness, refined in language, built in accordance with strict rules and laws. artistic narrative. And Twain came across rude and simply slang words, sophistication was ridiculed mercilessly, and the story itself most of all resembled a fable or an anecdote.

Fables and anecdotes necessarily required exaggerations, circumstances presented as genuine, absolutely reliable reality, phenomena that were completely unthinkable, but considered true in every detail.

We read how collegiate assessor Kovalev's nose disappeared. Poor Kovalev saw his nose - just think! - in a carriage that rolls down the street. And when a suspicious traveler was detained at the post station, it turned out that the nose had already managed to acquire a passport. Artifice? Certainly. All this is pure fantasy. Gogol does not at all want the reader to suspect even for a second that he is dealing with an event, even remotely plausible. Maybe it's all just horrible dream unfortunate Kovalev, perhaps his delirium, an obsession (“the devil wanted to play a trick on me”) or just some inexplicable mystery of nature. For Gogol, this is not so important. More importantly, the whole of life, as it is presented in The Nose, is absurd and terrible to the last limit, turned upside down.