Mark Twain

Literature / Writers Datebook: November 30

 

Brief biography of Mark Twain, American children's writer, famous for the adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, and Mark Twain quotes.  

 

 

 

Children's writer and humorist Mark Twain is a fixture in American literature. He was a humorous writer who created two famous characters, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He is also known for his travel book The Innocents Abroad.  

Through his two most popular and loved novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain captured his boyhood escapades along the Mississippi River.  He was one of my favourite authors as a child. He lived life the way he wanted to live and passed on amazing lines of knowledge through his books. Who can't love his stories about the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn? ... The joys of childhood when the world is full of wonders and children are free of the heavy responsibilities of adulthood.

Early Life of Samuel Clemens

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, the fifth of six children. The family was poor and his father suffered ill health. In 1839 they moved to Hannibal, a rapidly growing town in the Mississippi River, and there, Twain went to the local school.

When he was 12, his father died. Twain had to leave school to find work in which he apprenticed to a printer. At age 22, he became a river pilot at a time when there were a thousand or so boats a day on the Mississippi River. For four years, he enjoyed and loved his trade, but the American Civil War ended the river traffic.

Writing Career as Mark Twain

After the war, he became a full-time journalist in 1862, and soon began to use the pen name Mark Twain. At the age of 32, he published his first important story, and two years later, published his first successful novel, the humorous travel book The Innocents Abroad. It told the story of an excursion of American pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Twain's Marriage and the Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer

In 1870, Twain married Olivia Langdon, with whom he had five children. He wrote his classic children's stories, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in his 40s. Twain had become increasingly disillusioned by modern life and personal tragedies, and the books provided an opportunity for him to relive his boyhood  'golden days' on the Mississippi.

Both stories, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,   give a realistic picture of life around the Mississippi and are full of adventure and humor. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, considered his masterpiece, is noted for its accurate and sympathetic depiction of adolescent life.   

Twain's Later Life

His later life was plagued with several financial problems. He was also pained by declining health and the death of his favorite daughter. 

Mark Twain is regarded as a major literary figure in American history, with his classic books loved worldwide. He died at the age of 74, in Redding, Connecticut, April 21, 1910.  

Mark Twain Books

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches, 1867

The Innocents Abroad, 1869

Roughing It, 1872

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884

Pudd'nhead Wilson: a Tale, 1894

 

Suggested interesting link: 

Mark Twain Quotations, Newspaper Collections, & Related Resources. Barbara Schmidt.  Accessed November 2010.

Photo Credit:

Mark Twain.  Wikipedia Commons. / Public Domain   A portrait of the American writer Mark Twain taken by A. F. Bradley in New York, 1907.

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian, Ed. The Cambridge Literature in English. Cambridge: CUP, 1993

Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997

 

(c) November 2010. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.