Some of the commenters at LoN thought that Twain's letter was creepy, I prefer to believe that it was indicitive of the time and while extremely sweet, it also credited the recipient with a certain amount of knowledge and intelligence.
I don't think it was creepy at all, in fact it was very sweet, kind and imaginative.
Like Fay said, one has to put it in the context of the turn of the century! When you could hug, flatter or write a flowery letter of prose to a child.
I missed the original artile lewy linked to. Thanks for reposting it, I thought it was very good! Twain was obviously a man who could take criticism amiably and rethink his viewpoints! How refreshing is that?
And OT - the Yorkshire puddings came out yummy, Fay. Light, fluffy and just the right texture (and believe me, I've had some duds). The recipe is a keeper!
While reading it at first my impression was - that is WAY too effusive for a grown man to be writing a child. But then it occurred to me that it would have been a more innocent time, and knowing how much little girls adore being told how pretty they are, that letter would have had her beaming. And agreeing :OD And as much as I hate to admit it, this one belongs to an American... Americans are usually pretty good at taking local recipes, tweaking them to taste, and coming up with something good ;O) Not saying our improvements are ever very healthy, but they often taste yummy :O&
Some of the commenters at LoN thought that Twain's letter was creepy, I prefer to believe that it was indicitive of the time and while extremely sweet, it also credited the recipient with a certain amount of knowledge and intelligence.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was creepy at all, in fact it was very sweet, kind and imaginative.
ReplyDeleteLike Fay said, one has to put it in the context of the turn of the century! When you could hug, flatter or write a flowery letter of prose to a child.
I missed the original artile lewy linked to. Thanks for reposting it, I thought it was very good! Twain was obviously a man who could take criticism amiably and rethink his viewpoints! How refreshing is that?
And OT - the Yorkshire puddings came out yummy, Fay. Light, fluffy and just the right texture (and believe me, I've had some duds). The recipe is a keeper!
ReplyDeleteoooh good florrie, I'm so glad they turned out well.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like me, I've tried a gazillion YP recipes and none seemed perfect or consistent until I found this one.
And as much as I hate to admit it, this one belongs to an American...
While reading it at first my impression was - that is WAY too effusive for a grown man to be writing a child. But then it occurred to me that it would have been a more innocent time, and knowing how much little girls adore being told how pretty they are, that letter would have had her beaming. And agreeing :OD
ReplyDeleteAnd as much as I hate to admit it, this one belongs to an American...
Americans are usually pretty good at taking local recipes, tweaking them to taste, and coming up with something good ;O)
Not saying our improvements are ever very healthy, but they often taste yummy :O&
Heh, of course...the duds I've had were prepared by others...this is my first time to make them myself :-)
ReplyDelete