Mark Twain

A lot has been written about Mark Twain this year, since it is the 100th anniversary of his death. This article, from the Los Angeles Times, has three lists of works by Twain: Essential, Overrated and Overlooked.

My two favorite works by Twain are not on these lists. I have previously posted an animated version of one of them,The Diaries of Adam and Eve. Described by the publisher as:

The Diaries--written near the end of Mark Twain's life and career--are perhaps his wisest, most personal works. The wry humor we expect is matched by a heartbreaking tenderness found nowhere else in his writings. And it was only in Eve that Twain ever wrote from a woman's viewpoint. An afterword details Twain's fascination with Adam and the parallels between his own marriage and Adam and Eve as depicted in the Diaries.

My other favorite is The War Pray, written by Twain during the furor of the Philippine-American War. It was not published until years after his death, because as Twain himself said, "I don't think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth".

He is an animated version of the Pray, which is actually more of a polemic, than a work of fiction. The animation in this version is adequate, by I much prefer John Groth's illustrations that are included in the print edition.

In two parts.