A Million Dollars: A Classic Short Story Collection by Mark Twain

Author: Mark Twain
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Million Pound Bank Note is adapted from the same-name novel by the famous American novelist Mark Twain. It tells the story of a poor American boy, Henry Adams, who has an encounter in London. Two wealthy men in London make a bet, lending Henry an irredeemable million-pound note to see how he would fare in a month. By the end of the month, Henry not only didn’t starve to death or get arrested but also became a millionaire and won the love of a beautiful young lady. The film recreates the satire and humor of the master’s novel with a slightly exaggerated artistic approach, exposing the materialism of early 20th-century British society. The Million Pound Bank Note is written in a very humorous and entertaining way, with joy spilling off the pages. The $30,000 Bequest contains satire, showing how money twists people’s thoughts and emotions, leading the protagonist to become dizzy with confusion and, in the end, "drowning in a dream of vague regret and sorrow," realizing before death that "the sudden, ill-gotten wealth is a trap." In The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark Twain hides his smile, full of biting satire, stripping off the hypocritical masks of those "honest and proud" upright citizens, revealing their greedy faces of "both being whores and standing on a pedestal." This can also be called "laughter," but it is a cold, sharp kind of laughter. To help readers better understand the development of Mark Twain’s creative thought, except for the first story The Million Pound Bank Note, the other short stories in this book are roughly arranged in chronological order of publication, spanning from the mid-1860s to the early 20th century.