12 December 2023

We’re now less than two weeks away from Christmas. My plan for the end of the year is coming along, yesterday I finished a how to book on podcasting that my brother gave me. He’s going to be a cohost when we start the show next year. The next book I’m reading is Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. I’ve always been interested in Joan, maybe because her and archangel Micheal, another favorite, are the primary artistic figures in Christianity depicted in suits of armor waging war. An issue I take with the book I’ve got is on the back cover it says Twain’s real name and to me that’s wrong, if he wanted to be known by that name he would have used it. Twain is a writer, making a living with words and he penned “Mark Twain” for the character he played, so changing that name is to make his story worse. It’s been awhile since I’ve read any Twain, of course I’ve read the adventures of Tom and Huck along with a couple shorter stories. Reading an english writer is always a pleasure as they are the high bar I reach for. Starting Joan of Arc I felt Twain was using a lot of flowery language to the point that the book would probably be a third of the length without it. As I thought on the language used, I succumb to it’s beauty, the reason english writers are special is that it’s my native tongue and only through reading experts on that language will my vocabulary and prose expand. There’s a lot to analyze and I’m only in the first few pages, but I take comfort knowing I’m in Mark Twain’s hands. The other American author that comes to mind in comparison is Ernest Hemingway, his style is more of a blunt blast while Twain is akin to flowing down the lazy river.