Twain and a Liberal Arts Education

Life as an independent contractor is unique; ebbing and flowing to its own rhythms rather than the agrarian calendar. I had an unexpected deadline-driven opportunity this week that reminded me of the season’s changes. The first red leaves and autumnal light are hard to ignore. Cooler weather is coming and I am less than impressed.

Local Mark Twain Statue. Olympia, WA. ©MTHough

While researching for work, I paused Tuesday evening to process the information I was collating and analyzing. Dry, bloodshot eyes shied away from further reading despite my love of it. A quick flip through PBS on demand landed me at Ken Burn’s 2001 documentary Mark Twain. At the intermission, I found myself wondering about 'the classics' and my liberal arts education.

As a child, I vividly remember wall mounted shelves containing hard bound volumes of 'the classics'. My parents insisted on collecting them. As times change, books tend to be redacted or abridged to reflect the evolving social attitudes. They wanted my brothers and me to have access to the originals 'as they were meant to be read’. After musing for several days, I can’t honestly remember the names of any of the volumes and find it harder still to recall reading them.

Everyone remembers reading Shakespeare and a few others in high school, an empire of Cliff’s and Sparks Notes depend on it. What other classics did we read? As an undergraduate, I pursued a ‘well-rounded liberal arts education’ because connections often lie in desperate ideas. I recall reading Fitzgerald, Steinbeck and Kerouac. It was only when I returned to the authors as an adult that I understood or enjoyed them. Mark Twain, I am sad to report, has not been thumbed other than his fantastic wit and pointed quotes.

Born Samuel Longhorn Clements, Mark Twain arrived (1835) and departed (1910) with Halley’s Comet and was himself almost a tall tale spun for his readers. Keenly observed and sharp witted, his stories and novels transformed the literature landscape through the use of American vernacular and humor. I often snicker at Twain quotes! He was pitch perfect in his observations. Although owning The Innocence Abroad, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; my connection with Twain really is his quotes, an off-beat Claymation film from 1985 – The Adventures of Mark Twain, and a local statue celebrating his lecture tour stop here in 1895. This week, that changed. I dusted off the story collection which launched Twain onto the national scene - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches (1867). Although tough to find the vernacular groove, it is 2018 rather than 1865 after all, I immensely enjoyed these tall tales after Ken Burns’ documentary provided the context for their creation.

Even if you only have a few minutes, I suspect you’ll chuckle. Full text available.

As I return to Cline’s Ready Player One…

What makes a book a classic? What classics have you loved? What classics do you wish you’d read?