Mark Twain (1835-1910) (3500)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens ['sжmjuəl '1жŋgho:n 'kleməns] – Сэмюэл Лэнгхон Клеменс

Hannibal ['hжnibal] – Ганнибал

The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County [,kжlə'verəs kaunti] – Прыгающая лягушка из округа Калаверас

The Adventure's of Tom Sawyer [ad'vent∫əz] – Приключения Тома Сойера

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Приключения Геккльберри Финна

Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, one of the major authors of American fiction, often called "the true father of American national literature". Twain is also considered the greatest humorist in American literature. Twain's varied works include novels, travel narratives, short stories, sketches, and essays. His writings about the Mississippi River, such as «The Adventures of Tom Sawyer», «Life on the Mississippi», and «Adventures of Huckleberry Finn», have been especially popular among modern readers.

Mark Twain was born on Nov. 30, 1835, in Florida. In 1839, his family moved to Hannibal, a village on the Mississippi River. Here the young Twain experienced the excitement of the colorful steamboats that docked at the town wharf, bringing comedians, singers, gamblers, swindlers, slave dealers, and assorted other river travelers.

Twain also gained his first experience in a print shop in Hannibal. After his father died in debt in 1847, Twain went to work for a newspaper and printing firm. In 1851, he began assisting his brother Orion in the production of a newspaper, the Hannibal Journals. Twain contributed reports, poems, and humorous sketches to the «Journal» for several years. Like many American authors of his day, Twain had little formal education. Instead of attending high school and college, he gained his education in print shops and newspaper offices.

In1853, Twain left Hannibal. In 1857, he made plans to travel to South America, but changed his mind and persuaded a riverboat pilot named Horace Bixby to teach him the skills of piloting. By April 1859, Twain had become a licensed riverboat pilot.

This profession brought Twain much attention and allowed him to observe people who traveled aboard the steamboats.

In 1867 the first short story "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published under the name of Mark Twain. That pen-name was taken from the call of the Mississippi pilots, which means "the boat has twelve feet of water under it and a safe channel".

On Nov. 18, 1865, his first popular story «The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County» appeared in the New York «Saturday Press».

In 1869 Twain wrote a book «The Innocents Abroad» where he ridiculed the sights and man­ners of the countries he visited, and the American tourists traveling abroad.

Later Twain courted Olivia L. Langdon. The couple was wed on Feb. 2, 1870. Then he and his wife moved to Hartford, Conn., in 1871. Their infant son, Langdon, died in 1872, but three daughters, Susie, Clara, and Jean, were born between 1872 and 1880.

In1874, Twain and his family moved into a luxurious new 19-room house in Hartford. In his 20 years in there, Twain wrote most of his best works.

In 1876 he published "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" in which he described the life of a boy in a Mississippi town at the time of his own boyhood.

«The Prince and the Pauper» (1882), set in England in the 1500's, describes the exchange of identities between the young Prince Edward and a poor boy named Tom Canty.

In 1884 "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published. It describes the adventures of two runaways – the boy Huck Finn and the black slave Jim and – is told from the point of view of Huck himself. Huck's casual morals and careless grammar disturbed many readers in Twain's time, and the Concord, Mass., Free Public Library banned the novel in 1885.

In the 1880's, Mark Twain established and operated his own publishing firm. He also became interested in various investments, especially an elaborate typesetting machine. But in January 1895, Twain found himself publicly humiliated by his inability to pay his debts.

Twain recovered from his financial difficulties through his continued writing. But by 1898, Twain had begun to experience tragedy in his personal life. Susie, his oldest daughter, died of meningitis in 1896. In 1903 Twain sold the beloved house in Hartford. His wife Olivia died on June 5, 1904. His youngest daughter, Jean, died on Dec. 24, 1909.

After it more and more of his works came to express the gloomy view that all human motives are ultimately selfish and free will is an illusion. But these stories have received more attention, resulting in a broader understanding of Twain's personality and works. Most people now consider Twain more than just a colorful comic figure.

Twain died of heart disease on April 21, 1910. He left behind numerous unpublished manuscripts, including his large but incomplete autobiography.

Although viewed as having a serious, sometimes pessimistic side, Twain remains best known as a humorist.

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