Mark Twain's Which was the dream? : and other symbolic writings of the later years / edited with an introduction by John S. Tuckey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910.

Contributor:

Tuckey, John Sutton, 1921-

Series:

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. Mark Twain papers.

The Mark Twain papers

Mark Twain Papers

Standardized Title:

Selections. 1967

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910.

Twain, Mark.

American literature--History and criticism.

American literature.

Electronic books.

Local Subjects:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (601 pages) : portraits

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Which was the dream?

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 1966.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

All of these selections in this volume were comosed between 1896 and 1905. Mark Twain wrote them after the disasters of the early and middle nineties that had included the decline into bankruptcy of his publishing business, the failure of the typsetting machine in which he invested heavily, and the death of his daughter Susy. Their principal fable is that of a man who has been long favored by luck while pursuing a dream of success that has seemed about to turn into reality. Sudden reverses occur and he experiences a nightmarish time of failure. He clutches at what may be a saving thought: perhaps he is indeed living in a nightmare from which he will awaken to his former felicity. But there is also the possibility that what seems a dream of disaster may be the actuality of his life. The question is the one asked by the titles that he gave to two of his manuscripts: "Which Was the Dream?" and "Which Was It?" He posed a similar question in 1893: "I dreamed I was born, and grew up, and was a pilot on the Mississippi, and a miner and journalist...and had a wife and children...and this dream goes on and on and on, and sometimes seems so real that I almost believe it is real. I wonder if it is?" Behind this naïve query was his strong interest in conscious and unconscious levels of mental experience, which were then being explored by the new psychology.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Which Was the Dream?

The Enchanted Sea-Wilderness

An Adventure in Remote Seas

The Great Dark

Indiantown

Which Was It?

Three Thousand Years Among the Microbes

The Passenger's Story

The Mad Passenger

Dying Deposition

Trial of the Squire

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612382963

9781282382961

1282382969

9780520905054

0520905059

OCLC:

609850007