The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain
Everyone knows the story of The Prince and the Pauper, but how many of you have read Mark Twain’s original novel? If you haven’t, you probably feel like you have, since there have been so many movie adaptations and “new takes” in books. Even the 1980s classic Trading Places is a take on Mark Twain’s work, answering the hypothetical question, “What happens when a rich person and a poor person switch places and live in each other’s world?”
I absolutely love Mark Twain, and as he usually does, he melds his style to the setting he’s writing about. However, since this is set during the reign of King Henry VIII, there are lots of thees and thous included in the dialogue. If you have a hard time deciphering real words with “-eth” as a suffix, you’re going to have a hard time slogging through this deceptively thin book. I had a bit of a hard time, and I’d recently seen the 1937 faithful film adaptation only months earlier.
Give it a chance if you like the movies you’ve seen. It really is a classic story, and Mark Twain is very talented. It’s easy to imagine this book was written in the 1500s, not the 1800s. I’ll end with my favorite passage, something simple and sweet, yet thoughtfully written in Mark Twain’s charming way:
“When the king awoke early in the morning, he found that a wet but thoughtful rat had crept into the place during the night and made a cozy bed for itself in his bosom. Being disturbed now, it scampered away. The boy smiled, and said, “Poor fool, why so fearful? I am as forlorn as thou. ’Twould be a shame in me to hurt the helpless, who am myself so helpless. Moreover, I owe you thanks for a good omen; for when a king has fallen so low that the very rats do make a bed of him, it surely meaneth that his fortunes be upon the turn, since it is plain he can no lower go.”
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of the 1937 film adaptation here!
I absolutely love Mark Twain, and as he usually does, he melds his style to the setting he’s writing about. However, since this is set during the reign of King Henry VIII, there are lots of thees and thous included in the dialogue. If you have a hard time deciphering real words with “-eth” as a suffix, you’re going to have a hard time slogging through this deceptively thin book. I had a bit of a hard time, and I’d recently seen the 1937 faithful film adaptation only months earlier.
Give it a chance if you like the movies you’ve seen. It really is a classic story, and Mark Twain is very talented. It’s easy to imagine this book was written in the 1500s, not the 1800s. I’ll end with my favorite passage, something simple and sweet, yet thoughtfully written in Mark Twain’s charming way:
“When the king awoke early in the morning, he found that a wet but thoughtful rat had crept into the place during the night and made a cozy bed for itself in his bosom. Being disturbed now, it scampered away. The boy smiled, and said, “Poor fool, why so fearful? I am as forlorn as thou. ’Twould be a shame in me to hurt the helpless, who am myself so helpless. Moreover, I owe you thanks for a good omen; for when a king has fallen so low that the very rats do make a bed of him, it surely meaneth that his fortunes be upon the turn, since it is plain he can no lower go.”
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of the 1937 film adaptation here!