At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson a young slavewoman, fearing for her infant's son's life, exchanges herlight-skinned child with her master's.From this rathersimple premise Mark Twain fashioned one of his most entertaining,funny, yet biting novels.On its surface, Pudd'nheadWilson possesses all the elements of an engrossingnineteenth-century mystery:reversed identities, ahorrible crime, an eccentric detective, a suspenseful courtroomdrama, and a surprising, unusual solution.Yet it is nota mystery novel.Seething with the undercurrents ofantebellum southern culture, the book is a savage indictment inwhich the real criminal is society, and racial prejudice andslavery are the crimes.Written in 1894, Pudd'nheadWilson glistens with characteristic Twain humor, with suspense,and with pointed irony:a gem among the author's laterworks.
【作者简介】
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835. Hegained national attention as a humorist in 1865 with thepublication of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,"but was acknowledged as a great writer by the literaryestablishment with The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn(1885). In 1880, Twain began promoting and financing the ill-fatedPaige typesetter, an invention designed to make the printingprocess fully automatic. At the height of his naively optimisticinvolvement in the technological "wonder" that nearly drove him tobankruptcy, he published his satire, A Connecticut Yankee inKing Arthur's Court (1889). Plagued by personal tragedy andfinancial failure, Mark Twain spent the last years of his life ingloom and exasperation, writing fables about "the damned humanrace."
【目录】
INTRODUCTION,BY LANGSTON HUGHESA WHISPER TO THE READERPUDD"NHEAD WINS HIS NAMEDRISCOLL SPARES HIS SLAVESROXY PLAYS A SHREWD TRICK THE WAYS OF THE CHANGELINGSTHE TWINS THRILL DAWSON"S LANDINGSWIMMING IN GLORYTHE UNKNOWN NYMPHMARSE TOM TRAMPLES HIA CHANCETOM PRACTISES SYCOPHANCYTHE NYMPH REVEALEDTHE NYMPH REVEALEDPUDD"NHEAD"S STARTLING DISCOVERYTHE SHAME OF JUDGE DRISCOLLTOM STARES AT RUINROXANA INSISTS UPON REFORMTHE ROBBER ROBBEDSOLD DOWN THE RIVER"THE JUDGE UTTERS DIRE PROPHECYTOXANA COMMANDSTHE PROPHECY REALIZEDTHE MURDERER CHUCKLESDOOM
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