The Mysterious Stranger (1916)

I read this in the Delphi kindle product for Mark Twain, which is not clear about which of many possible versions of his unfinished last novel it is. It sounds most like the one described in Wikipedia as the “Paine-Duneka text of 1916,” which is where I get my publication date six years after Twain’s death. Most of his work on it was reportedly done between 1897 and 1900. The Paine-Duneka was slapped together from fragments and various arguably untoward editorial additions, inserted surreptitiously, and it is considered by some to be a literary fraud. So caveats, caveats. What I read more or less worked. Three boys are enchanted by a powerful figure named Satan who hates humanity, often with good cause. He claims to be an angel and a “sinless” nephew of the actual Satan. But he is often casually and astonishingly cruel. In many ways Twain’s conception of Satan here is less as a cackling hooved madman with a pitchfork and more as an irresistible seducer, which ultimately makes him an unnerving character. The three boys love him madly and miss him badly when he is gone. In his spiritual style he is more authoritarian, for example using magic to make it impossible for the boys to speak of him credibly even when they want to. They simply can’t get the words out of their mouths. I thought Twain was formally an atheist, but this is a deeply Judeo-Christian view of the universe, where God is more democratic (if still jealous), granting free will, such as it is. I like that and what I really like is how seductive Satan is. He performs simple miracles for the boys, such as filling their pockets with their favorite fruits, but he works on many readers, including me, with his utterly rational denunciations of humanity. When you’re right you’re right, amirite? Lots of great stuff going on here. Just using the name Satan is bold and effective, continually making us uncomfortable. Then his character. He’s likable. You can even see how people hope he likes them too. He’s like John Wick in his tender regard for animals and ruthless consequences for humans. His idea of mercy is to kill someone quickly. And the boys just go on liking him and liking him. The narrative itself seems to be the most unfinished part. Here it involves lost and found or stolen bags of gold coins and a criminal court trial with a callow attorney. My favorite fragment is the one called “The Chronicle of Young Satan,” where Twain’s great cynical rejections take over. He died a bitter man and there’s some explanation for that here. My sympathies remain all with him.

In case the library is closed due to pandemic, which is over. (Library of America)