Letters from the Earth

Letters from the Earth

"Letters from the Earth" is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. Initially, his daughter, Clara Clemens, objected to its publication in March 1939, probably because of its controversial and iconoclastic views on religion, claiming it presented a "distorted"citation
issn = 1539741
title = The Other Face of the Humorist
periodical = The New York Times
page = 306
year = 1962
date = September 23 1962
place =
last1 = Jones
first1 = Howard Mumford
url = http://www.twainquotes.com/19620923.html
accessdate = 2008-04-22] view of her father. Henry Nash Smith helped change her position in 1960. Clara explained her change of heart in 1962 saying that "Mark Twain belonged to the world." and that public opinion had become more tolerant.citation
issn = 1523315
title = Anti-Religious Work by Twain, Long Withheld, to Be Published
periodical = The New York Times
page = 23
year = 1962
date = August 24 1962
publication-date = August 24 1962
place =
last1 = Gelb
first1 = Arthur
url = http://www.twainquotes.com/19620824.html
accessdate = 2008-04-22] citation
issn = 1506464
title = Mrs. Jacques Samossoud Dies; Mark Twain's Last Living Child
periodical = The New York Times
page = 30
year = 1962
date = November 20 1962
publication-date = November 21 1962
publisher = UPI
place = San Diego
url = http://www.twainquotes.com/19621121.html
accessdate = 2008-04-23] She was also influenced to release the papers due to her annoyance with Soviet propaganda charges that her father's ideas were being suppressed in the United States. The papers were edited in 1939 by Bernard DeVoto. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. The title story consists of letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man.

Some sources indicate that 'Letters from the Earth' was written shortly before his death in 1909. However, the following excerpt appears in a discussion of the Palestinian town of Nablous, in The Innocents Abroad. This passage was written more than four decades before his death, in 1867 or 1868, and appears to be an oblique reference to the idea that later became 'Letters from the Earth.'

Quotes

References

ee also

*"The Mysterious Stranger"

External links

* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/letearth.htm Full text of "Letters from the Earth"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Letters from the Earth (album) — Infobox Album Name = Letters from the Earth Type = studio Artist = Undish Released = September 27, 1999 Recorded = 1999 Genre = Gothic metal Length = 38:32 Label = Morbid Noizz Productions Producer = Reviews = Last album = …Acta Est Fabula (1997) …   Wikipedia

  • Letters from Sweden, Norway and Denmark — Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796), selon son titre complet (Lettres écrites lors d un court séjour en Suède, en Norvège et au Danemark), est un récit de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • FROM THE DESTRUCTION TO ALEXANDER — the restoration ezra nehemiah The Restoration The destruction of the Temple constituted a double crisis. Not only were the people cast off the land but the Divine Presence departed from Jerusalem (Ezek. 10:19; 11:23). Once the city was bereft of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Science and mathematics from the Renaissance to Descartes — George Molland Early in the nineteenth century John Playfair wrote for the Encyclopaedia Britannica a long article entitled ‘Dissertation; exhibiting a General View of the Progress of Mathematics and Physical Science, since the Revival of Letters …   History of philosophy

  • Journey to the Center of the Earth — infobox Book | name = A Journey to the Centre of the Earth title orig = Voyage au centre de la Terre translator = image caption = Book cover of the 1874 edition author = Jules Verne cover artist = country = France language = French series = The… …   Wikipedia

  • The Innocents Abroad — The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims Progress   …   Wikipedia

  • The Awful German Language — is an 1880 essay by Mark Twain published as Appendix D in A Tramp Abroad.[1] The essay is a humorous exploration of the frustrations a native English speaker has with learning German as a second language. Contents 1 Background 2 Text …   Wikipedia

  • The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986 film) — The Adventures of Mark Twain Theatrical poster Directed by Will Vinton Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Age of the Earth — This article is about scientific estimates of the age of the Earth. For religious and other non scientific estimates, see Dating Creation. Earth as seen from Apollo 17 The age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years (4.54 × 109 years ± 1%) …   Wikipedia

  • History of the Earth — For the history of modern humans, see History of the world. Geological time put in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative lengths of the eons of the Earth s history The history of the Earth describes the most important events… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”