Classic Twain irony! ( )

3.5, rounded up. Not my favorite Twain, but quite worth the reading.

Pudd’nhead Wilson is a tragedy masquerading as a farce, or maybe a farce masquerading as a tragedy. As was always true with Twain, he writes comedy that is so cutting that it can barely mask the underlying seriousness of his subject. The subject is slavery, and the farce is necessary, for the tragedy is real.

In this novel, two babies are switched at birth, one a master the other a slave, and through that prism we are able to view some important contrasts--nature vs. nurture, loyalty vs. betrayal, and a mother’s love vs. a father’s indifference. Twain is at home with this device, as he loves to turn tails on his characters: The Connecticut Yankee who finds himself in another century; the Prince and the Pauper, another set of switched children; even Huck, who finds himself transported from a world in which slavery is the norm to one in which a man can be set free. But this is his most ambitious switch-up, because this switch touches at the core of what makes a man who he is.

Beyond the racial theme is the theme of loyalty and betrayal that is truly stark and brutal. There is one event in the book that makes me shiver, despite the frivolous tone and lightness of the telling. If viewed for even one second in a serious manner, this book would turn your blood to ice water. I have long thought comic genius arises from tragedy, think of Robin Williams or Richard Pryor, or think of Mark Twain. If you know his life, you know it must have very often been the case that he insisted on laughing to prevent crying. I’m not certain there ever existed a sharper wit or a more astute mind.

You know I am going to be partial to anyone who would write this: A home without a cat--and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat--may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?

One of the things I truly enjoyed about this particular novel were the entries into Pudd’nhead’s Calendar. A few examples:

Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

The holy passion of friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.

Consider well the proportions of things. It is better to be a young Jane-bug than an old bird of paradise.

There are days when I particularly feel that last one!

One of my favorite characters here was Roxy, the mother who does the switch-a-roo. She is a prime example of the person in charge might not be the person you think, and her quick mind saved the day more than once. Her weakness--that blasted kid.

Glad to have finally read it. Wouldn't really want to have to say there was a Twain I had not experienced. ( )

This book was very clever. I loved it! ( )

What a remarkable, gripping book -- prescient and ahead of its time, and also of its time. Written with incisive insight and an ability to step outside his own world and look at cultural values objectively. The story of the black slave raised white is astonishing, albeit melodramatic, but the story of the white child raised as a black slave and then thrust back into the white race is even more biting: "We cannot follow his fate further -- that would be a long story."

Skip the tacked on pastiche, Those Extraordinary Twins. ( )

"Pudd'nhead Wilson" is wonderful, a monumental comedy that depicts what life is like for bright people who are born bright but don't know it, whom circumstances condemn to grow up among hick-town, imbecilic rubes. "Those Extraordinary Twins" wouldn't seem funny to anyone so afflicted, and I doubt if Twain could get that story published today. Surely there would be a lawsuit and probably more than a few. I give "Those Twins" 5-stars because I am SUCH a jerk. ( )