January 23, 2015
Even though about half of this volume is explanatory notes by the editors (which I skipped, of course), this is still a hefty text. I enjoyed the same things about this one as I did the first volume: Clemens's family anecdotes, his commentaries on contemporary life and society, and his meetings with famous people and royalty. There were some topics in this book that didn't fully hold my interest, like the chapters on the copyright laws. But on the whole, it was as enjoyable as the first volume.
Unfortunately, I don't think we'll see Susy Clemens's writing in the third volume. Clemens shared the last of it already, cut off mid sentence as Susy was describing a family trip to Keokuk. Undoubtedly the teenager got too busy to continue her work. Her father's mourning of her, his reflections that she would never be able to finish her own work, were still heartbreaking.
I'm convinced that Clemens was a great father. He harshly criticizes men who were unfaithful to their wives and uncaring for their children, like his frenemy Bret Harte. Clemens himself was a family man, fond of acting out plays and playing educational games and relaxing with cats with his daughters. It's clear, through Susy's writings, that his daughters adored him.
In this volume, Clemens frequently expresses his distaste for religion. These were some of my favorite chapters, as his issues with religion match my own. Undoubtedly he would have hesitated to share these views of the Christian God openly during his time; I wonder if he ever shared them with his BFF, Reverend Twitchell? Twitchell does not come off as the kind of man who would claim that God has an interest in the outcome of a war, favoring one side or another, or something like that. Clemens is very critical of people, especially clergymen, who give God credit for good or bad luck. I think that even today, Clemens's views would be controversial to a certain extent. Clemens predicted that eventually, the Judeo-Christian God would no longer be a focus, making way for another major religion (a worse one, he thinks), but Christianity is still alive and well (?) in 'Merica today.
Clemens also predicted that the U.S. would eventually become a monarchy. Not so, but the worship of the wealthy is as strong as ever, and they're the ones who are running things. Politics is just as crooked now as it was in Clemens's time; politicians still buy votes, just using different methods from the ones back then.
I'm looking forward to Volume 3, but if it were already out, I'd probably wait a bit to read it. I love Mark Twain, but I think I need a little break from being inside his head. I still like the structure of this autobiography, but it got a little dizzying to have him keep jumping back and forth between topics. Plus, he got a little repetitive sometimes when returning to a topic that he'd previously discussed. By the time Volume 3 is released, I should be ready for another heaping helping of Mr. Clemens.
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