Additional material about the writer Mark Twain. The creative path of Mark Twain: the best quotes from the writer. Biography score

Mark Twain (1835-1910) - American writer, public figure and journalist.

Childhood

Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born November 30, 1835. At the time of his birth, his parents, John and Jane Clemens, lived in a small town in Florida, Missouri, US. The city was so small that Mark Twain later jokingly said: "I was born and Florida's population increased by one percent.".

The Clemens family had four surviving children, Sam being the third. Although the doctors said for him almost until he was 7 years old that he was not a survivor, the boy grew up so sickly and frail.

The family lived modestly, sometimes they even experienced need. Sam was still very young when his parents decided to move to another city in Hannibal in search of a better job and life. My father worked as a judge and opened a small law office in the town. It was this settlement that Mark Twain would describe many years later in his famous work “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

Young Sam was not yet twelve years old when his father died of pneumonia. He left a lot of debts, and his older brother Orion had to deal with them and also earn food for the family. He began publishing a newspaper, to which Samuel also contributed. The future writer worked part-time as a typesetter, but sometimes, when his brother was away, he showed his authorship and published articles.

Youth

But at a young age, Sam Clemens was still more attracted not by literature, but by the majestic Mississippi River flowing nearby. To experience its waters was his childhood dream. He got a job on a steamship that conducted regular trips along the river, first as an apprentice, then as an assistant pilot. It was here, on the ship, that his future pseudonym, Mark Twain, appeared. In English, these two words mean the nautical term - the two fathom mark. On the ship they often shouted “mark twain”, which meant that the river was deep enough for the ship to pass through.

If it had not been for the American Civil War in 1861, Twain might have spent his entire life on the water. But the river shipping company was closed, and I had to give up my career on the ship.

In search of work and happiness, the young man went to Nevada, where for some time he worked in silver mines. He lived for a long time in a camp with other prospectors, and this period of his life was later reflected in his literary works. He also tried himself as a gold miner in California, but did not achieve much success in this field. But with literature the situation was completely different.

Creative path

Mark Twain began his creative career in literature and journalism with the publishing house Territorial Enterprise in Virginia. Here he did not stay long and left for San Francisco, where he worked for several newspapers at once. His first literary success is considered to be a short humorous story, “The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras,” published in 1865. The work was reprinted throughout America and was recognized as “the best humorous literary work.”

In 1866, the publishing house sent Mark Twain on a business trip to Hawaii. During the trip, he wrote essays that, after publication, were a resounding success.

In 1867, Twain traveled around Europe, visiting France and Greece, Turkey, Odessa, Sevastopol and Yalta. In Livadia, he even visited the residence of the Russian emperor. As a result, in 1869, a collection of travel stories, “Simps Abroad,” was published. The book became a bestseller; readers especially liked that the writer told the story with irony and humor.

Having such success, Mark Twain began giving public humorous lectures. He was an excellent speaker; the audience cried with laughter during his speeches.

In 1870, the name of the writer and journalist Mark Twain was already known throughout America. The country re-read stories from his collections several times:

• "Tempered";
• "The Gilded Age";
• "Life on the Mississippi"

In 1876, Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was published, thanks to which he entered the list of major American writers. This book is now a reference book for many girls, boys and even their parents, as it perfectly combines wisdom, wit and philosophy.

In 1880, Twain's second novel, The Prince and the Pauper, was published. In 1884, a work was published that revolutionized American literature, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” about the life of a poor, small, defenseless boy. The hero of this work had a prototype - a boy with whom the writer was friends as a child when the family lived in Hannibal. He was four years older than Twain, and his name was Tom Blankenship. Their family lived in extreme poverty, and their father, a laborer, was known as the city's first drunkard. The boy was illiterate, unwashed and constantly hungry, but with the kindest heart in the world.

The writer's last significant work was the novel A Yankee at King Arthur's Court.

Family and last years of life

In 1870, Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon. They had four daughters.

The writer adored cats; several of these fluffy and affectionate animals always lived in his house. He chose the most incredible names for them - Zoroaster, Beelzebub, Sour Mash, Chatterbox, Satan, Buffalo Bill.

Another hobby in his life was billiards, and he taught his daughters to play.

Mark Twain made a decent fortune from his novels, but he was never able to invest his money successfully, which ultimately led him to bankruptcy.

With the advent of the twentieth century, a dark streak came into the writer’s life. In 1904, his wife died, he himself went completely bankrupt, and his three daughters tragically passed away. Mark Twain began to experience terrible depression, he did not leave the house, and did not communicate with people. He continued to write as before, but all the works that came out of his pen during that period were pessimistic, filled with pain and sadness.

Twain plunged into mysticism and tried to find the meaning of life in religion. But the hero of his last books was Satan, who reigns supreme over the world:

• "Deal with Satan";
• "Eve's Diary";
• "A mysterious stranger".

Mark Twain died on April 21, 1910 from an attack of angina pectoris. The writer is buried in Elmira, New York.

In the town of Hannibal, where the writer spent his childhood, the house and caves in which Sam Clemens lived and played still exist. These caves are visited by tourists, and those who cannot visit Hannibal read about them in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The great writer was born on November 30, 1835 in the small town of Florida in the southern United States, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Real name: Samuel Lenhorne Clemens.

Samuel was the sixth child in the family. When he was four years old, his family moved to the small town of Hannibal. When Samuel was 12 years old, his father died of pneumonia and in order to somehow survive, the boy had to leave school and earn money. He got a job in a publishing house. He really liked this work and he and his brother began publishing newspapers, first in their hometown, then moved to Iowa. There was not enough money, and in 1857 the future writer returned home and became a pilot's apprentice - this was his childhood dream. In 1859, Samuel Lanhorn received his pilot's license, had a high salary and enjoyed his work. Sam served on ships for many years and it was here that he found his literary pseudonym.

At the age of 18 he already knew C. Dickens, W.M. Thackeray, W Scott, Disraeli, E. Poe. But most of all he valued W. Shakespeare and M. de Cervantes.

In 1861, he was forced to become a Confederate soldier because the war between the North and South began at that time. But after two weeks, Samuel deserts and heads west, to his brother in Nevada. Here he works in a silver mine and writes humorous stories for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in Virginia City. In 1862, he received an invitation to work at the same publishing house and looked for a pseudonym for himself. Thus, a writer was born who managed to gain worldwide significance with his work.

The writer learned the skills of a humorist, he loved to tease the audience, told things that were not in the title, and made illogical, absurd conclusions. But, despite this, he was a realist in his stories, and also the first and worthwhile realist in American literature.

One of the young writer's most famous stories was "A Journalist in Tennessee," which made people laugh until they cried.

Mark Twain's early works were cheerful, mischievous and mocking, which amazed their readers. Twain lived by the ideas of his country and his time. He was convinced that America had a great future.

Mark Twain came to literature late. He became a professional journalist at the age of 27. The writer published his first book at the age of 34. His early publications were published from the age of 17 and were characterized by the rough humor of the American outback. Samuel tried to write with humor, otherwise he would get tired quickly. In 1866, after a trip to Hawaii, there was a transformation from an amateur to a real professional. In Hawaii, his job was to write letters to the editor about his trip while traveling. Mark Twain's recordings, published after his return, were a stunning success.

For several years, he has been traveling to newspapers, earning money by publicly reading humorous stories. During a Mediterranean cruise on the Quaker City, he collected material for his first book, Innocents Abroad. In 1870, he married Olivia Langdon, the sister of his friend Charles Langdon, whom he met while on a cruise.

In 1871, Twain and his family settled in Hartford, Connecticut.

Samuel Clemens's next successful book was The Gilded Age, which he wrote with Charles Warner.

And in 1876, the world saw Mark Twain’s new book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” which made the author not only a famous American writer, but also forever brought his name into the history of world literature. After completing Tom Sawyer, Sam began work on a historical book about the English Middle Ages, The Prince and the Pauper (1882).

Needing money, the writer accepted the offer and went with his family to Germany. For almost two years he has been traveling through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and England. He will tell about his journey in the book “Walking in Europe.”

In 1883, Mark Twain published the book Life on the Mississippi, the leading role of which is played by the central image of a free, powerful river, which becomes a powerful artistic symbol of unlimited freedom. Many sections of this book are devoted to the secrets of this profession, its romance.

Until 1884, the writer was already a famous writer and successful businessman. He created a publishing company, nominally headed by C.L. Webster, the husband of his niece. One of the first books published by this publishing house was his “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The book with which “all American literature came out,” which, according to critics, became the best in the writer’s work, since it was conceived as a continuation of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” Mark Twain created this work for almost 10 years. In this book, for the first time in American literature, he used the colloquial speech of the American outback. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" became a turning point in Twain's creative evolution. It was this book that turned the cheerful humorist into a bitter satirist.

In 1889, the satirical masterpiece A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was published. The writer called this work “a parable about progress,” which reflects the painful process of his spiritual search, contradictions and bitterness of insight. It seemed to contemporaries that they were facing a new social utopia. But, for Twain, this was the way for a new genre - dystopia, in which literary parody was combined with philosophical grotesquery, and in form it resembled an adventure novel.

In 1893–1894, during the economic crisis, the writer’s business could not withstand a severe blow and went bankrupt. In 1898, he managed to negotiate with creditors to defer payment of debts. During this time, Mark Twain wrote several works, including historical prose - “Personal Memoirs of Joan of Arc” (1896), as well as “Razziava Wilson” (1894), “Tom Sawyer Abroad” (1894) and “Tom Sawyer -detective" (1896). But none of these works were able to achieve greater success than the other books that were written before.

In 1896, while he and his wife were traveling around the world to write another book, Along the Equator (1897), his beloved daughter Susie died. Soon, the youngest daughter became seriously ill, and a year later her older brother died.

Towards the end of the 19th century, a collection of Mark Twain's works began to be published in the United States, thereby reducing him to the category of writers of days gone by. But, no longer a young writer, he was not going to give up. At the beginning of the 20th century, Samuel published works in which he revealed untruth and injustice: “The Man Walking in Darkness,” “Monologue of the King,” “Monologue of King Leopold, in Defense of His Dominion in the Congo.”

In 1901, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Yale University. He was very proud of this title.

In 1904, Samuel lost his wife.

The writer accepted the blow of fate, responding to it with an avalanche of essays, political and critical articles, numerous speeches and sharp pamphlets.

Among the publications of the last period, the story “The Man Who Corrupted Hedleyburg” (1899), which was filled with evil humor, was an impeccable success, in which the fundamental principles of existence were violated.

Mark Twain had long wanted to write his autobiography, but in 1906 he got a personal secretary, A.B. Payne, who really wants to write a book about the writer. As a result, the great writer begins to dictate the story of his life. A year later, Samuel again received an honorary doctorate in writing from Oxford University.

By this time he was seriously ill, most of his family members were dying one after another. The writer suffers from angina pectoris. On April 24, 1910, at the age of 74, the writer’s heart gave out and he died.

The shades of Twain's laughter are rich and changeable. Mark Twain proved the ability of comic literature to become the epic of people's life. He fully deserved the reputation of the “American Voltaire”.

His last work, “The Mysterious Stranger,” was published posthumously in 1916.

Mark Twain (pseudonym; real name: 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 18 to 22 years old 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 miner 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 traveled by steamship to Europe and Palestine, sending humorous reports from the road. Twain's story on the folklore story “The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras” (1865) became widely known. 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, “Simps Abroad,” which was a huge success.

In 1872, the autobiographical book “The Tempered” about the people and customs of the Wild West was published. Three years later, Twain released a collection of his best stories, “Old and New Sketches,” after which his popularity increased even more. In 1876 he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and since the book was a great success, in 1885 he published a sequel: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Between these two novels, Twain published 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 grotesque to him. In 1882, he published the story “The Prince and the Pauper,” and in 1889, the sharply parodic novel “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” was published.
In the early 90s. It was a difficult time in the writer's life. The collapse of his publishing company (1894) forced Twain to work hard and take a year-long trip around the world (1895) giving public lectures. The death of her daughter dealt a new blow. Many of the pages Twain wrote in the last two decades of his life are imbued with a sense of bitterness. Died 1910 in Radding, Connecticut.

APHORISMS OF MARK TWAIN

• Kindness is something that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
  If you only tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
  No person is able to understand what true love is until he has been married for a quarter of a century.
  Once in a lifetime happiness knocks on everyone's door, but often this person sits in the next tavern and does not hear the knock.
  The peach was once a bitter almond, and the cauliflower is a common cabbage that was later graduated.
  Not many of us can bear happiness - I mean, the happiness of our neighbor.
  There is no greater vulgarity than excessive refinement.
  Truth is our most precious possession. Let's treat her with care.
  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 console others.
  Peace, happiness, brotherhood of people - that's what we need in this world!
  Wrinkles should only mark the places where smiles used to be.
  A true friend is with you when you are wrong. When you are right, everyone will be with you.
  Noise proves nothing. A chicken, having laid an egg, often clucks as if it 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 faith in the possibility of achieving something significant in life. This trait is characteristic of small souls.
  Each person, like the moon, has his own unlit side, which he does not show to anyone.
  There are a lot of funny things in the world; among other things, the white man's belief 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, tell the truth.
  Adam was a happy man: when something funny came into his head, he could be firmly confident that he was not repeating other people's witticisms.
  Adam was a man: he desired the apple from the tree of Eden not because it was an apple, but because it was forbidden.
  Most writers consider the truth to be their most valuable asset - which is why they use it so sparingly.
  Once a cat sits on a hot stove, it will no longer sit on a hot stove. And in the cold too.
  The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer someone else up.

Mark Twain is an American writer, journalist and public figure. His work is full of sharp humor and satire, but he wrote many works in the genre of journalism and philosophical fiction.

Dozens of feature and animated films have been made based on Twain’s novels and stories, and his “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is known all over the world.

So, in front of you short biography of Mark Twain.

Biography of Twain

Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida (Missouri).

On his birthday, Halley's Comet flew over the Earth. An interesting fact is that on the day of the writer’s death, the same comet will sweep over the Earth again (see).

Mark Twain's father, John Marshall, was a judge, and his mother, Jane Lampton, was a housewife. However, despite the father’s seemingly good position, the family experienced serious financial difficulties.

In this regard, the Clemens family decided to move to the shipping city of Hannibal. It was this small town with its attractions that left many pleasant and warm memories in the memory of the future writer, playing an important role in Twain’s biography.

Childhood and youth

When Twain was 12 years old, his father died of pneumonia, leaving behind many debts. For this reason, the children had to leave school and go to work.

Mark Twain at 15

Soon, Twain's older brother began publishing a newspaper. As a result, Mark began working there as a typesetter. It was then that the young man began to sometimes write his own articles.

At the age of 18, Twain went on a trip to the cities of America.

During this period of his biography, he developed a special interest in. He spends a long time in libraries, reading different genres.

Over time, Mark Twain becomes a pilot on the ship. In his own words, he really liked this profession, which required attentiveness and knowledge of the fairway.

However, when the Civil War began in 1861, private shipping declined. As a result, the guy had to look for another job.

Creative biography of Twain

Over time, Mark Twain goes to the Wild West to mine precious metals. Despite the fact that the mines did not make him rich, during this period of his biography he managed to compose several witty stories.

In 1863, the writer signed his books for the first time with the pseudonym Mark Twain, taken from shipping practice. In the future, he will publish all his works only under this name, and it is with this name that he will go down in the history of world literature.

The debut work in Twain's biography was “The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras.” This humorous story gained great popularity throughout America.

Mark Twain in his youth

After this, Twain began to actively engage in writing. He was offered cooperation by many reputable publications, who wanted them to publish the works of the rising literary star.

Soon Mark discovers his gift as a speaker, and therefore he begins to speak frequently in different halls in front of large audiences. During this period of his biography, he meets his future wife Olivia, who was the sister of his friend.

Twain's works

At the peak of his popularity, Mark Twain wrote several books in the genre of realism, which received many positive reviews from critics.

In 1876, the famous story “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” came out from his pen, which brought him even greater popularity. Interestingly, it contained many autobiographical episodes from the author’s life.

After this, Mark Twain’s new historical novel “The Prince and the Pauper” is published. In America, the book was a stunning success. Later, this work will be translated, thanks to which Soviet citizens will be able to appreciate this wonderful novel.

In the mid-1880s, Mark Twain opened his own publishing house, in which he published the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” He later published the best-selling book “Memoirs,” which he dedicated to American President Ulysses S. Grant.

Twain's printing house existed for about 10 years until it went completely bankrupt due to the economic crisis that began in the United States.

It is worth noting that Twain’s last works, although they were quite popular, were no longer as successful as the first.

At this time, the writer’s biography saw the peak of fame and recognition: he was awarded doctoral degrees at various American universities and was honored in every possible way.

Friends of Mark Twain

Mark Twain was very interested. He had friendly relations with a famous inventor (see). Together with him, he could spend a long time in the laboratory, observing the research of the “Lightning Lord”.

Another close friend of Twain was oil tycoon Henry Rogers. It is interesting that by nature Henry was a very stingy person. However, after a long conversation with the writer, he changed dramatically.

The tycoon helped Mark Twain get rid of financial difficulties, and also began donating substantial sums of money to charity. Moreover, many of his donations became known only after Rogers’ death.

Death

In the last decade of his life, Mark Twain had to experience many tragedies associated with his family. He survived the death of three children and his wife Olivia, whom he loved very much.

Perhaps this is why during this period of his biography he finally lost faith in God and began to promote atheism. This was especially noticeable in the works “The Mysterious Stranger” and “Letter from the Earth,” published after the death of the classic.

Samuel Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain, died on April 21, 1910 at the age of 74.

The official cause of his death was angina. The writer was buried in the state at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira.

Photo of Twain

Below you can see the few photos of Mark Twain that exist at all.

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In order to find out how connected the writer was with the Old South, and how this theme was reflected in his work, it is necessary to briefly review his biography.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Missouri in the tiny village of Florida. Mark Twain is the writer's pseudonym.

Twain's parents were native American settlers of English descent with some Irish blood. John Clemens, the writer's father, was a provincial lawyer, but due to the fact that he did not have the necessary qualities of mental flexibility, cunning, and resourcefulness, he had practically no work and his family was in need.

In 1839, the Clemens moved to the town of Hannibal on the Mississippi River. Here the future writer spent his youth. Hannibal is depicted by Twain under the name of St. Petersburg in the x books about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

At the age of twelve, young Sam lost his father, was forced to leave school and joined the local newspaper, the Missouri Courier, “for clothes and board.” This is how the future writer received his first literary experiences.

In 1853, at the age of eighteen, Twain began to undergo a more serious school of life. He left his native place and became a wandering typesetter. Without staying anywhere for long, he traveled for four years and managed to see not only St. Louis, the capital of his state, but also the largest industrial and cultural centers of the United States of those years - New York, Philadelphia, Washington.

Returning from his wanderings, the twenty-two-year-old typesetter decided to fulfill the cherished dream of his adolescence - to become a pilot on the Mississippi. The formation of a young pilot is described in the book “Life on the Mississippi.” He sailed for four years, two years as an apprentice pilot and another two years as a full-fledged river steamer driver.

This was an important chapter in his life. The writer claimed that his pseudonym was taken specifically from the shipping company: “mark twain” is the minimum mark for a vessel on the water. It was at this job that the writer first heard these words. Twain was proud of his profession, but the war between the North and South and the subsequent blockade of the Mississippi River dealt a blow to civilian shipping.

In 1861, Twain's older brother, Orion Clemens, received the post of secretary (assistant governor) of the Nevada Territory, in the far Western United States, and took his younger brother with him. In Nevada, Twain plunged into a new life. He became a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise, a newspaper in Virginia City, where he had already sent humorous stories he had written.

The famous American humorist Artimes Ward, who came to Nevada, approved of Mark Twain's experiments and advised him to become a writer.

In San Francisco, at that time the cultural center of the Pacific Coast of the United States, Twain completed his apprenticeship in a literary circle, headed by his peer Bret Harte, who by that time was already a professional writer.

The year 1862 was marked by the most important changes in the literary fate of Mark Twain. On the recommendation of Artimes Ward, the New York newspaper "Saturday Press" published Twain's short story "Jim Smiley and his famous jumping frog from Calaveras." The story was an undeniable success. Then the writer travels a lot to broaden his horizons, which will be reflected in his further work.

Soon after his return, Twain married the daughter of a wealthy coal owner.

In the early 70s, he settled with his family in Hartford, Connecticut, and devoted himself entirely to literary work.

Over the years, oral and printed presentations on pressing contemporary issues have occupied an increasing place in Twain's writing practice.

The last decade and a half, beginning in the mid-1890s, marked Twain's life and work with satirical fury, bitterness and despair.

During these years, the writer accumulates devastating judgments about the capitalist way of life, religion, morality, and American society as a whole, which he predetermines for publication after his death. He called the preface to his “Autobiography”: “From the Grave.”

The views and sentiments of the late Twain were formed in the light of his personal experience and under the influence of the social and political facts of the public life around him.