Pudd'nhead Wilson

At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson a young slave woman, fearing for her infant's son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's.  From this rather simple premise Mark Twain fashioned one of his most entertaining, funny, yet biting novels.  On its surface, Pudd'nhead Wilson possesses all the elements of an engrossing nineteenth-century mystery:  reversed identities, a horrible crime, an eccentric detective, a suspenseful courtroom drama, and a surprising, unusual solution.  Yet it is not a mystery novel.  Seething with the undercurrents of antebellum southern culture, the book is a savage indictment in which the real criminal is society, and racial prejudice and slavery are the crimes.  Written in 1894, Pudd'nhead Wilson glistens with characteristic Twain humor, with suspense, and with pointed irony:  a gem among the author's later works.

La inceputul lui Pudd'nhead Wilson, o tanara sclava, temandu-se de viata fiului copilului ei, isi schimba copilul cu pielea deschisa cu stapanul ei. Din aceasta premisa destul de simpla, Mark Twain si-a creat unul dintre cele mai distractive, amuzante, dar inca muscatoare romane. La suprafata sa, Pudd'nhead Wilson poseda toate elementele unui mister captivant din secolul al XIX-lea: identitati inversate, o crima oribila, un detectiv excentric, o drama suspensiva in sala de judecata si o solutie surprinzatoare, neobisnuita. Cu toate acestea, nu este un roman de mister. Fierband cu curentii inferiori ai culturii sudice antebelice, cartea este o acuzare salbatica in care criminalul real este societatea, iar prejudecatile rasiale si sclavia sunt crimele. Scris in 1894, Pudd'nhead Wilson straluceste cu umor caracteristic Twain, cu suspans si cu ironie ascutita: o bijuterie printre lucrarile ulterioare ale autorului.