Comments on: War Foretold: Mark Twain and the Sins of Our Race http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Grady http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/#comment-8782 Grady Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:03:46 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/#comment-8782 To say that in the end it was simply a figment of a little boys imagination is a misinterpretation, possibly due to your reading of recklessly edited and composite of three stories written by Twain prior to his death. All presented a progression in his thought, but what his executor published after his death did not say what Twain agonized over for nearly twenty years to express. There are no moments, no tragedies that are not the expression of human innate cruelty. We have internalized that primal cruelty to make the possibility of a communal existence possible. That internalization was brought about by organized religion, specifically any monotheistic religion--those that have from their beginning been soaked in blood and tears. The novel published in 1916, by Paine was titled, The Mysterious Stranger; A Romance and unfortunately, it is still the most accepted version (most likely due to its claim of authenticity). In Paine's version, not only were there a gross amount of edits, all of his additions and deletions can be seen at the University of California's Mark Twain archive, but he added an ending from a different version of Twain's pursuit of completing his vision. THe three unfinished and incredibly different texts where meshed into one and lost so much of what Twain suffered to express. THe final chapter of Paine's version had no context to reveal its meaning. That can be found in what most scholars consider to be the version closed to Twain's vision, and the version from which the final chapter of Paine's composite was taken, while discarding the context of its message, "No.44, The Mysterious Stranger," contains the greatest value of all of the controversial and dramatically variations of Twain's final work. Best of all is the publication of, "The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts" by the University of California Press, which contains all three of Twain's versions and appropriately, does away with Paine's version. The truth is, it was not a figment of a little boys imagination--it was the illusory nature of reality and the deceptions of our perceptions of reality and distinctions between that and our dreams or imaginations. It is our resistance to accept the weight that bears down upon us, accept it, knowing that "these things just happen." There is no world or reality without our individual perceptual construction of our own unique and supposed stable and "true" reality, so essentially all that Is, is a construction of our imagination, as are we merely the contruction of another's imagination. Perception, perspective, cognitive schemas, five human senses to base our reality on--these among others are not sufficent for a True reality to be understood by our insignificant existence. We are as limited as the honey bee in exile--wandering, trapped--tethered to spear plunging through existence, aiming only for our return to nothingness--the blissful process of our essential energy and the disipation of our identity into the universal Force that is eternal and timeless. To say that in the end it was simply a figment of a little boys imagination is a misinterpretation, possibly due to your reading of recklessly edited and composite of three stories written by Twain prior to his death. All presented a progression in his thought, but what his executor published after his death did not say what Twain agonized over for nearly twenty years to express. There are no moments, no tragedies that are not the expression of human innate cruelty. We have internalized that primal cruelty to make the possibility of a communal existence possible. That internalization was brought about by organized religion, specifically any monotheistic religion–those that have from their beginning been soaked in blood and tears. The novel published in 1916, by Paine was titled, The Mysterious Stranger; A Romance and unfortunately, it is still the most accepted version (most likely due to its claim of authenticity). In Paine’s version, not only were there a gross amount of edits, all of his additions and deletions can be seen at the University of California’s Mark Twain archive, but he added an ending from a different version of Twain’s pursuit of completing his vision. THe three unfinished and incredibly different texts where meshed into one and lost so much of what Twain suffered to express. THe final chapter of Paine’s version had no context to reveal its meaning. That can be found in what most scholars consider to be the version closed to Twain’s vision, and the version from which the final chapter of Paine’s composite was taken, while discarding the context of its message, “No.44, The Mysterious Stranger,” contains the greatest value of all of the controversial and dramatically variations of Twain’s final work. Best of all is the publication of, “The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts” by the University of California Press, which contains all three of Twain’s versions and appropriately, does away with Paine’s version. The truth is, it was not a figment of a little boys imagination–it was the illusory nature of reality and the deceptions of our perceptions of reality and distinctions between that and our dreams or imaginations. It is our resistance to accept the weight that bears down upon us, accept it, knowing that “these things just happen.” There is no world or reality without our individual perceptual construction of our own unique and supposed stable and “true” reality, so essentially all that Is, is a construction of our imagination, as are we merely the contruction of another’s imagination. Perception, perspective, cognitive schemas, five human senses to base our reality on–these among others are not sufficent for a True reality to be understood by our insignificant existence. We are as limited as the honey bee in exile–wandering, trapped–tethered to spear plunging through existence, aiming only for our return to nothingness–the blissful process of our essential energy and the disipation of our identity into the universal Force that is eternal and timeless.

]]> By: Gary Corseri http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/#comment-1613 Gary Corseri Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:20:12 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/#comment-1613 Twain is one of my favorite writers. Ramzy Baroud does well to recall Twain's oft-neglected little masterpiece, THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. Twain christened the first "Gilded Age," and the parallels we find between then and now are astonishing. Replace Boss Tweed and J.P.Morgan with Rudy Giuliani and Hedge Funds and we've got to conclude the French have had it right all along: Plus ce Change, Plus ce la Meme Chose. A century ago, Twain wondered if the human race would ever come to its senses, identify the diabolical monsters and ideologies that control us. Many of us are still wondering, and hoping--and cheering writers like Twain and Baroud for reminding us that our very souls are at stake! Twain is one of my favorite writers. Ramzy Baroud does well to recall Twain’s oft-neglected little masterpiece, THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. Twain christened the first “Gilded Age,” and the parallels we find between then and now are astonishing. Replace Boss Tweed and J.P.Morgan with Rudy Giuliani and Hedge Funds and we’ve got to conclude the French have had it right all along: Plus ce Change, Plus ce la Meme Chose. A century ago, Twain wondered if the human race would ever come to its senses, identify the diabolical monsters and ideologies that control us. Many of us are still wondering, and hoping–and cheering writers like Twain and Baroud for reminding us that our very souls are at stake!

]]> By: E. Bills http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/#comment-1590 E. Bills Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:30:08 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/war-foretold-mark-twain-and-the-sins-of-our-race/#comment-1590 Good stuff, Ramzy. I had forgotten this story. E. Good stuff, Ramzy. I had forgotten this story.

E.

]]>