122. The man who predicted his death
America’s most lovable writer Mark Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley’s Comet.
He was very proud of this fact and predicted that his death would accompany it as well.
In 1909, just a year before he died he wrote: “I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835; it's coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It would be a great disappointment in my life if I don't. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.”
He died of a heart attack the day after the comet was at its closest to the Sun.
See his accuracy.
Rightly considered the greatest humorist the United States has produced, Mark Twain (1835 – 1910) was very open when it came to express his opinion.
A quote is attributed to him which will confirm what I want to convey.
A staunch critic of organised religion Twain disliked certain elements of Christianity.
He has written: “Faith is believing what you know ain't so and if Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian.”
Being aware of his volatile views he avoided publishing his opinions on religion in his lifetime.
Sometimes it came through his essays and stories but generally the world came to know more after his death since such articles were published later.
To give an example: In the essay Three Statements of the Eighties in the 1880s, Twain stated that he believed in an almighty God, but not in any revelations, messages, holy scriptures like Bible.
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens he is best known by his pen name Mark Twain.
Some of his novels are: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its and its sequel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which is considered to be the Great American Novel.
Tom Sawyer ismodeled on Twain as a child, with traces of schoolmates John Briggs and Will Bowen. The book also introduces Huckleberry Finn in a supporting role, based on Twain's boyhood friend Tom Blankenship.
However, I like his “The Prince and the Pauper” which tells the story of two boys born on the same day who are physically identical, acting as a social commentary as the prince and pauper switch places.
His first published short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” brought him instant international fame.
He was also a sought-after speaker which gave him wide publicity.
Twain earned a great deal of money from his writing and lectures, but invested in ventures that lost most of it. He filed for bankruptcy after these financial setbacks but recovered successfully.
It is an accepted truth that the best way to understand the American mindset of the late nineteenth century is to read his books.
After all the great Ernest Hemingway also agreed with the view when he said that “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
Today was his birthday. And we must remember the man who has entertained us so profoundly when we were young.