the classic american novel which holds a mirror to american culture and the society we’ve created. bridging puddin head with those extraordinary twins will have you reflecting on what it means to be american and the role you play.

I can understand why they call this Mark Twain's dark period...it's pretty morbid once you get into the story and very interesting. Once all the character's are introduced it moves pretty fast and keeps you interested to find out what is going to happen with all the details leading up to that point. It was a little hard to read just from the way they write the accents from the slaves in the book.

This book falls into the "small town on the Mississippi" category of Twain's novels. The story seems a little scattered and has some characters and scenes that don't really serve any purpose. There are a few great characters - Roxana and Pudd'nhead - and the best bits of the novel are of course the entries from Pudd'nhead's calendar at the beginning of every chapter. I actually enjoyed the farce (Those Extraordinary Twins) better than the tragedy it turned into (Pudd'nhead Wilson).

This novel is highly under-rated, and to be quite honest, is quite a bit of a page turner as the novel presents some pretty shocking scenes and insight to the period. While many find the depictions of African Americans stereotypical/racist on Twain's part , as my students often are challenged by (and often the claims of racism are usually taken out of the context in which he was writing), the racism reflects more on the system it operates in, in which Twain deftly critiques white culture and the racism it engenders through the characterizations within the novel. Apart from this, the novel is also very entertaining and has a quick pace.

Though I love Huck and Jim, Roxana of Twain’s “Puddn’head Wilson” is far more complexly rendered. It is through her that Twain's most explicit indictment of slavery is made. Her choice to allow her wretch of a son to sell her down the river and deeper into slavery after she has spent the last twenty years as a free woman touches the very corners of human sympathy. My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of her. She sweeps into the narrative briefly and then disappears for twenty pages at a time. For me, Twain's preoccupations with twins, dueling, and the then nascent science of fingerprinting muddle the text and detract from the force of his most compelling character.



In the humorous short story “Those Extraordinary Twins,” Twain takes a closer look at the relationship between twins and ultimately, the internal conflict of a divided self. The story works better from a narrative perspective than “Pudd’nhead Wilson." Yet, together these pieces give a fascinating look at the writing process of one of our best loved authors, as he directly comments on the revision and separation of the novella that became “Pudd’nhead Wilson” and the short story now known as “Those Extraordinary Twins.”



I give it four stars because it’s funny and moving as only Twain can be.

As with much of Twain's writing, this book was full of irony and sarcasm (always a plus in my book, no pun intended). In this particular novel, Twain deals primarily with the issue of race as it applies to those who, by appearance, would be white, but under the laws of slavery, were still considered black. This novel very much questions the notions of nurture versus nature, blood (noble, regular or otherwise)and the way society views such things. A fun read.

Not Twains finest, and the dialect and attitudes will grate on modern ears, but the story is worth reading. Reminded me of the greek myths, where by trying to avoid your fate, you make it happen.

Pudd'nhead Wilson

This is my first Twain novel, which was a compulsory read for the Race in Literature unit that I'm doing this semester. I don't know what sort of writer Twain was, but I must admit that after reading Pudd'nhead Wilson, I am not impressed. I understand the importance of reading a novel considering its historical context, but this one was too sexist and misogynist for my taste.

This should have been the story of Roxy, a light-skinned slave that switches her infant son with her master's son at a very young age, gifting her son all the privileges entitled to White men, while condemning her master's son to slavery. Instead, Twain focuses on Wilson, the town's lawyer, Roxy's son Chambers, and the Italian twins that arrive out of nowhere and alter systematic life of the town: anyone who really mattered is this novel is a man.

Undoubtedly this is a novel about passing, slavery, White privilege, and the idea of race being a social construct that has little to do with, in this case, skin colour. Twain's work sparks conversations about race, mostly thanks to his humorous and ironic writing style, which allowed him to satirise and mock mid 19th century's society; however, Roxy's role in the development of the plot was unfairly diminished.

I didn't particularly appreciate how Twain includes the Italian twins in the story, mainly because they do not contribute much - they felt more like filling than anything else. I also felt something similar with Wilson's character, as he was relevant basically at the beginning and the end, but disappeared entirely in the middle.

Overall, Pudd'nhead Wilson was not my cup of tea. If anyone is interested in reading thought-provoking fiction that delves into passing, I would recommend way more modern reads like The Human Stain and The Vanishing Half.

2/5stars

"Tom" is a fucking asshole, Roxy is a horrible woman/mother and Twain's writing style is obnoxious as fuck. only giving it 2 stars rather than 1 because it wasn't as horrible as huck finn at least

One of the funniest books I've ever read. Well technically it's two book. "Those Extraordinary Twins" is a comic masterpiece. The chapter where the twins end up in court is so funny I cried a little. "Pudd'nhead Wilson" is just another fantastic Twain story that deals with race, nature vs. nurture, politics, law. And the middle explanation of how the two books came into existence is seemingly unique in American literature.

Mark Twain is so good at this writing business.

I've read almost every novel Sam Clemens wrote, but saved this one for its timeliness. Why timely? Mark Twain's biting insights into the frailities and hypocrisy of American common culture pertain to current U.S. cultural and political phenomena. Endemic racism, demogoguery and the embrace of gossip and misinformation supporting unshakeable core values are a few American characteristics he satirizes. I cringed as I read it but couldn't resist nodding, yes, Mark Twain, you are a creature of your time, but you know and expose so many of our idiocies that have persisted from your days into our own.

Excellent Mark Twain book. Throw a stone at any page and you can dissect it for hours with the right crowd. This book, and the 100 years it took to release this book with Those Extraordinary Twins attached to it, has deep and exciting postmodernist commentaries woven throughout it, and Twain did amazing work in slyly criticizing the racist tendencies of his era.