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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Very surreal and not at all what I expected, writing felt very disjointed at times so can be hard to follow, also because the ending chapters was written 3 years after the rest. Recommended read though
An excellent story! Darker and less humorous than the usual Twain, but nonetheless an entertaining examination of the human condition. A lot of food for thought about religion and morality that even this long-time nihilist had not yet considered. It is rare that I find a book that I know I will reread, The Mysterious Stranger is one such book.
An unfinished novel by one of America's greatest writers. All the bitterness that had been percolating in Twain's earlier books explodes here, where he exposes man's hypocrisy and eviscerates organized religion through the use of a friendship between a mysterious stranger ("Satan," nephew of the biblical Satan) and three sensitive and impressionable 18th-century Austrian boys. Through Satan, Twain shows that man's Moral Sense is nothing but a sham, because man consistently chooses to violate this supposed morality at seemingly every turn...unlike the "lesser" life forms that man has labeled, derogatorily, as being "beast" (i.e., who are the true "beasts"?). Twain (Satan) conclude the book with the observation that "Life itself is only a vision; a dream...Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought..."
(Me): How could a just and compassionate God allow good people to suffer, and bad people to prosper, in this, our only "life"? Are the events and people in my life merely an illusion? Is this supposed "life" of mine merely a test for something later?
Some choice passages:
"Two or three centuries from now it will be recognized that all the competent killers are Christians; then the pagan world will go to school to the Christian - not to acquire his religion, but his guns." (I would say we're already there.)
"I know your race. It is made up of sheep. It is governed by minorities, seldom or never by majorities. It suppresses its feelings and its beliefs and follows the handful that makes the most noise." (How true. Otherwise, how to explain Nazism and Trumpism?)
"Monarchies, aristocracies, and religions are all based upon that large defect in your race - the individual's distrust of his neighbor, and his desire, for safety's or comfort's sake, to stand well in his neighbor's eye."
"...the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them, and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
"No sane man can be happy, for to him life is real and he sees what a fearful thing it is. Only the mad can be happy, and not many of those."
As fiction, "The Mysterious Stranger" probably falls short of being called a classic...unlike "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." But as hard-hitting philosophy, and as a peek into the misanthropy that lurked in much of Twain's better fiction, this book should be much better known. Mankind needs mirrors like this to be regularly held up to its face.
(Me): How could a just and compassionate God allow good people to suffer, and bad people to prosper, in this, our only "life"? Are the events and people in my life merely an illusion? Is this supposed "life" of mine merely a test for something later?
Some choice passages:
"Two or three centuries from now it will be recognized that all the competent killers are Christians; then the pagan world will go to school to the Christian - not to acquire his religion, but his guns." (I would say we're already there.)
"I know your race. It is made up of sheep. It is governed by minorities, seldom or never by majorities. It suppresses its feelings and its beliefs and follows the handful that makes the most noise." (How true. Otherwise, how to explain Nazism and Trumpism?)
"Monarchies, aristocracies, and religions are all based upon that large defect in your race - the individual's distrust of his neighbor, and his desire, for safety's or comfort's sake, to stand well in his neighbor's eye."
"...the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them, and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
"No sane man can be happy, for to him life is real and he sees what a fearful thing it is. Only the mad can be happy, and not many of those."
As fiction, "The Mysterious Stranger" probably falls short of being called a classic...unlike "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." But as hard-hitting philosophy, and as a peek into the misanthropy that lurked in much of Twain's better fiction, this book should be much better known. Mankind needs mirrors like this to be regularly held up to its face.
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Every Christmas, American television shows It's A Wonderful Life at least once. For many people, the movie is the Christmas must watch. (Note, not for me. That's Rudolph or Nestor the Long Eared Donkey or the Muppet Christmas Carol or Sim's Christmas Carol). In some ways, Life is the American Christmas Carol. It heavily colors views about angels too.
So, if you like It's A Wonderful Life, you shouldn't read this work.
This Kindle edition includes the title short novel as well as three short stories, of which only one, "A Fable" I enjoyed.
But Stranger is the star. Twain's story is about an angel named Satan who visits a town in Austria and meets some boys.
The angel isn't very much like the modern view of angels (Emma Thompson in [b:Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes|72003|Angels in America A Gay Fantasia on National Themes|Tony Kushner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170797663s/72003.jpg|1014201]). Twains uses the angel (or is it?) to examine human culture, morals, behavior, life, and it is un-angelic to say the lest, even that of the narrator.
Twain's never really been a favorite of mine. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps if I had read this story before anything else.
So, if you like It's A Wonderful Life, you shouldn't read this work.
This Kindle edition includes the title short novel as well as three short stories, of which only one, "A Fable" I enjoyed.
But Stranger is the star. Twain's story is about an angel named Satan who visits a town in Austria and meets some boys.
The angel isn't very much like the modern view of angels (Emma Thompson in [b:Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes|72003|Angels in America A Gay Fantasia on National Themes|Tony Kushner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170797663s/72003.jpg|1014201]). Twains uses the angel (or is it?) to examine human culture, morals, behavior, life, and it is un-angelic to say the lest, even that of the narrator.
Twain's never really been a favorite of mine. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps if I had read this story before anything else.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting story of a young man's interactions with the nephew of Satan, conveniently called Satan also. The story begins with a backdrop of the life of father Peter who is discredited for preaching of the goodness of God. Later on we see how Satan begins describing the nature of the human race and how frivolous their behavior can be to each other.
Religious themes over abound in this work and many connections to scripture stories are made.
In particular, I enjoyed the story of the woman who is accused of healing by using natural remedies(due to witch fear) and who is put to death meanwhile those in the audience throw rocks at her.
This story reminded me of Jesus and the adulterous woman brought to him for stoning. Satan takes this opportunity to explain how the minority can influence the majority to act in strange ways. In a way it is only Satan who judge the heart and noticed how most didn't want to throw rocks, but they were influenced by those around them.
Since this is my first Mark Twain book, I find that this kind of story has many morals interleaved between its pages that can be missed.
Hopefully, I can read more of his works.
Religious themes over abound in this work and many connections to scripture stories are made.
In particular, I enjoyed the story of the woman who is accused of healing by using natural remedies(due to witch fear) and who is put to death meanwhile those in the audience throw rocks at her.
This story reminded me of Jesus and the adulterous woman brought to him for stoning. Satan takes this opportunity to explain how the minority can influence the majority to act in strange ways. In a way it is only Satan who judge the heart and noticed how most didn't want to throw rocks, but they were influenced by those around them.
Since this is my first Mark Twain book, I find that this kind of story has many morals interleaved between its pages that can be missed.
Hopefully, I can read more of his works.
Very curious. Wish Twain had been able to publish the finished work before his death. I wonder how it would've turned it.
Regardless, this edition at least was an interesting read. Interesting, to say the least.
Regardless, this edition at least was an interesting read. Interesting, to say the least.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No