It goes without saying that Mark Twain has a myriad of books that are worth reviewing. In fact, I’ve reviewed A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in excessive detail on The Writing Post. Yet, Twain has a great many short-form pieces that are worth discussing, including his essay collections. In Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth, published “posthumously” in 1962, the author expresses his feelings about Earth and governance–and a few other life-adjacent topics.

Summary of Letters from the Earth

Background

Twain’s Letters from the Earth features a variety of different writings put together by “Twain’s second literary executor” Bernard DeVoto. These pieces include stories about Satan and his fellow angels, a historical account of Adam and Eve, critiques on other writer’s writing styles, and always a decent amount of perilous satire.

In the foreword of the book, Literary Editor of the Mark Twain Papers Henry Nash Smith writes that DeVoto submitted a manuscript of Letters from the Earth in 1939. However, Twain’s family kept it from seeing the light of day for reasons of impropriety.

As stated: “…when Clara Clemens read the manuscript she objected to the publication of certain parts of it on the ground that they presented a distorted view of her father’s ideas and attitudes.” Obviously, it is to the family’s only opinion whether something is published or not, but I might argue that Twain’s views on life were sometimes overly critical and distorted themselves, shifting from novel to novel. Pastoral, reflective, and cynical in Huckleberry Finn while biting, violent, critical, and depressed in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. However, the critical approach to religion surprised critics as Mark Twain’s atheism shocked a Christian-focused society.

Of course, the book would eventually be published and here we are today. Smith also points out that the volume of writings contained in Letters from the Earth is cut into multiple sections.

Letters from the Earth Writings

The novel features biblical themes in a collection of letters between Satan and the angels Gabriel and Michael. In these letters, Satan dissects human life. In these letters, Satan laments the strangeness of human rationale and how they perceive their own beliefs. He also tears into God’s hypocrisy related to a variety of actions. These include Adam and Eve to violence toward the innocent. Similarly, there are moralistic tales from the POV of a feline family. There is also a good deal of pondering on why humans assume their superiority on Earth in some. The essays in question focused on kangaroos courts and the evil nature of humanity.

Book Blurb

From the book: “In Letters from the Earth, Twain presents himself as the Father of History, reviewing and interpreting events from the garden of Eden through the Fall and the Flood, translating the papers of Adam and his descendants down through the generations. First published fifty years after his death, this eclectic collection is vintage Twain: sharp, witty, imaginative, complex, and wildly funny.”

Critical Response

In looking for a critical response on Amazon, I used my edition of the book (Perennial Classics, Feb. 2004) to siphon reviews. The positive reviewers stated that Letters from the Earth “is sharp, witty, frequently funny, irreverent.” Other stated that it should be “required reading.” Interestingly, one review stated that the book is “For Hardcore Twain Fans Only.” They go on to write that “Its (sic) recommended that you read his most famous titles first and then come back to this if you’re craving more.”

In looking for negative reviews of Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth on Amazon, I found that most of the negatives aimed at the edition of the book. This was different from the text itself, which I suppose speaks volumes of the content. Nevertheless, three to four star reviews address that it is “tough to read” and that some readers had to “look up” words “in a dictionary.” Most damning is that for some readers it “failed to hold interest.”

In positive reviews, The New York Times Book Review stated that Twain’s attitude in the book was “of Swift” and “the intellectual contempt is that of Voltaire,” and finally that “the imagination is that of one of the great masters of American writing.” Likewise, the Chicago Sunday Tribune stated that “Here Twain takes some of man’s most revered beliefs and demonstrated their downright preposterousness when examined in a cold light.”

Impressions

Some of the middling reviews of Letters from the Earth address my own criticisms of the text. Twain’s style and echelon of prioritization in writing is sometimes confusing and arbitrary. In this way, his style can be “wandering and garbled at times.” Some examples include the structure of Letters from the Earth. Perhaps, if I gave it more time, I could put themes together, but the book seems to be organized by no real relationship. Satan writes to Gabriel and Michael in the titular story, and then we venture into a bedtime story about cats. Again, though, I have yet to read this book in full and would need time to analyze its contents.

Though, coming back from Chicago after purchasing this text, I realized that I was going to need some help contextualizing. Twain’s essays and writings often need context. This is because (as a matter of theology) it is important to know when somebody lived and how the populace perceived the Church at that time, as far as politically and necessity. A dry read of Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth book would be create conflict for any reader

Works cited

Twain, Mark. Letters from the Earth.  Harper Collins. 1991, 2004. Print.