Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of… the 1880's, pt.1 (1880-1884)

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"Not many Twain stans showing up here, maybe because he refused to paper over all the racism and ignorance of the characters in Huck Finn and it is not properly uplifting or moralistic."

Doubt Twain will be 'cancelled' anytime soon...

xyzzzz__, Saturday, 13 June 2020 13:56 (three years ago) link

Struggling to think of any canonical works about racism that ARE "uplifting or moralistic", tbh. That does feel like a bit of a strawman argument.

Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 13 June 2020 16:49 (three years ago) link

Concerned library patrons have been trying to cancel Twain for a while:
https://www.thoughtco.com/why-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn-banned-740145

ILB icon Ernest Hemingway:

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we’ve had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.

It's not all that, but I voted for it.

Brad C., Saturday, 13 June 2020 17:04 (three years ago) link

That Hemingway quote is still around because he was an ex-newspaperman and knew how to be quotable. His general sentiment is somewhere in the vicinity of being right, even though his judgment, as expressed, is obviously wrong.

A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 13 June 2020 17:44 (three years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Sunday, 14 June 2020 00:01 (three years ago) link

My fellow Twain stans arrived!

A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 14 June 2020 01:51 (three years ago) link

See told you Twain wasn't cancelled.

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 14 June 2020 09:47 (three years ago) link

Always extra interested in the votes for books I hadn't heard of so would be interested in the thoughts of the Giovanni Verga voter.

Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 14 June 2020 10:23 (three years ago) link

Couldn't vote, at least 10 masterpieces on this list.

Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Wednesday, 17 June 2020 00:28 (three years ago) link


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