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Usually I'm pretty dense about noticing things that are very obvious to most everyone else. Even when I do notice something, I usually forget within a few minutes.
So, I was watching Smallville the other evening and Clark Kent's daddy, Johnathon Kent, played by John Schneider was driving in his pickup truck while listening to the theme song from Dukes of Hazzard on the radio. Interestingly (to me anyways), Schneider also played Bo Duke on the Dukes of Hazzard.
(I learned to read from comics, and I'm thrilled to be able to watch superman with my kids.)
I remember a few years back when Kasparov was playing Karpov for the world title, things were getting really tense. The competition had dragged on for weeks and these guys were getting frazzled. So they decide to have a break. Kasparov is boarding a plane and is asked whether he and Anatoly Karpov are doing as bad as all that. Without a pause he quips, "As the great Russian writer once said, 'The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.'"
I puzzled over this for some while, since I believed this was a quote from Mark Twain. After a little reflection, it occurred to me that the average Russian has probably read as much or more Mark Twain than the average American, and that a well-read Russian (as I presume GK to be) probably knows a lot more about Twain. Further, it was pretty clear that he would have to know that we would know this. My vague recollection is that Karpov was the Soviets' golden boy, and Kasparov was a pain for not doing the decent thing and letting him win. And I reckon this was Kasparov's way of tweaking authorities without being too obvious about it.
Makes me wonder how many things just go sailing past unnoticed.
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...a well-read Russian (as I presume GK to be) probably knows a lot more about Twain. another possibility is that Kasparov was as ill-read as Bobby Fischer apparently was, and was the victim of some bizarro agitprop. http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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Possible, but unlikely. Kasparov may be strange, but he manifests his strangeness differently than Fischer. He's a polyglot and a mathematician. He's also pretty gregarious. He used to be something of an activist (not that that's a credential, I suppose). Maybe as an Armenian Jew in Russia, he was a little less apt to take things at face value.
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the average Russian has probably read as much or more Mark Twain than the average American
I find that very difficult to believe. It's been said that Mark Twain was the first truly and purely American writer, and he's still probably the most distinguished as such. I really doubt that Russian school children are required to read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Why would the average Russian care about a Missouri boy's trip down the Mississippi with a runaway slave? The book simply drips with American cultural history.
Unless the Soviets skewed Twain into a communist poster-boy, I can't see how they would be more interested in him than Americans.
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I dunno. Grapes of Wrath was supposedly pretty popular over there as well.
I guess I don't think most Americans have actually read that much Twain. Read or heard about, yes. Actually read the words of, I don't think so. Most kids are going to read what's required in school, if that. I've read some Twain, but was never required to read it in any class. Mind you, he was mention in many classes. But we never read any.
OTOH, I get my info concerning Soviet reading habits from a single conversation with a fellow who told me he's quite popular over there, so I've reached a conclusion based on anecdotal evidence. Nevertheless, I'm convinced that GK was well aware of his life's work and that his remark was intended as a jibe.
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Dear FF: I was fortunate that my father bought a lousy Collier's Encyclopedia in early 1920's. I feel confident he only bought the encyclopedia to get the almost hundred volumes of Mark Twain that came with it. I wish I still had that set.
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Possible, but unlikely. Kasparov may be strange, but he manifests his strangeness differently than Fischer. He's a polyglot and a mathematician. He's also pretty gregarious.
He used to be something of an activist (not that that's a credential, I suppose). Maybe as an Armenian Jew in Russia, he was a little less apt to take things at face value.
When Kasparov played Nigel Short in London in 1993 it received a lot of coverage on Channel 4. During the 'intervals' the producers ran histories and bios of the two players. Here's what I remember about Kasparov. What you say above is absolutely true - he was a boy genius and never tired of learning. He was an Armenian Jew but he became Russian towards the end of the Soviet era and now has Russian citizenship. Being a polyglot, gregarious and a strategic thinker he was recruited as a senior adviser to the Soviet inner circle - a role he still maintains with Mr. Putin and his predecessor Boris Yeltsin.
Kasparov is well read and likes to broaden his knowledge with all forms of world literature and Twain would have been a natural choice since he was coincident with the other classic novelists such as Dumas, Hardy, Dickens, Tolstoy et al. For such a clear thinker it is hard to envisage how he made such a mistake when misquoting Twain. It could not be put down to fatigue or distraction. Kasparov leads a spartan life and is slave to his routine. A luxury apartment with only simple fittings, not married, no television or radio and he sleeps for only five hours a day whilst playing up to twelve hours of chess a day. He's a healthy eater (he doesn't smoke or drink) but not an exerciser. All his other waking hours are spent reading or advising.
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I guess I don't think most Americans have actually read that much Twain. Read or heard about, yes. Actually read the words of, I don't think so. Most kids are going to read what's required in school, if that. I've read some Twain, but was never required to read it in any class. Mind you, he was mention in many classes. But we never read any.
I read Twain at school when I was fourteen and was absolutely flummoxed by the dialect. After watching several several films and series about Huckleberry Finn I was aware of the story but the book opened my eyes to a whole new language. For a school text it was very long and quite unusual given its irrelevance to our society but I ploughed through it regardless. That's twenty years ago now and I can remember little of the content but there are two words that appear on the first page that fascinated me from the moment I saw them and they are forever embedded in my mind. Sugar Hogsheads. I just loved them. I was surprised when I discovered their true meaning but I never did find out how it came about.
Twain's writing is truly American but that's where the fascination lies with me - that the writing is in a familar language but a completely different style and culture than anything I have ever read. A few years ago I bought his collection of short stories and was pleasantly surprised that they are far more readable and entertaining than his novels. Sharply humourous too, which is what I like.
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Re: Jazzo's comment It's been said that Mark Twain was the first truly and purely American writer
i think Washington Irving was the first. born 1783, and dead in 1859, (when Twain was 24) he was the first american writer to earn a living by writing-- (Twain could have done the same, but for poor investments. ) Irving became quite wealthy, and took a post as US ambassador to Spain.
most US reader know his "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", some even realize he popularized the term "Knickerbockers" (still use by the NY basketball team, the Knicks,)in a series of articles for a NY magazine. he was the first to start the legend that Columbus was remarkable for not thinking the world was flat. (the same magazine column.) He also wrote a serious history of columbus's voyages.
i will agree Twain is read today by a much wider audience, and N. Hawthorn does too, but the first truly and purely American is Irving.
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absolutely flummoxed by the dialect.
I have trouble imagining you being flummoxed by a dialect considering your facility in detecting the various elements in mine in our brief meeting, but I guess, from small beginnings...
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