The novel explains the tale of Hank Morgan, a 19th-century resident of Hartford, Connecticut who awakens to find himself inexplicably transported back in time to early medieval Britain at the time of the legendary King Arthur. While the book pokes fun at Twain's contemporary society, the main thrust is a satire of romanticized ideas of chivalry, and of the idealization of the Middle Ages.
A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 5 Up-While Mark Twain is most often identified with his childhood home on the Mississippi, he wrote many of his enduring classics during the years he lived in Hartford, Connecticut. He had come a long way from Hannibal when he focused his irreverent humor on medieval tales, and wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The hit on the head that sent protagonist Hank Morgan back through 13 centuries did not affect his natural resourcefulness. Using his knowledge of an upcoming eclipse, Hank escapes a death sentence, and secures an important position at court. Gradually, he introduces 19th century technology so the clever Morgan soon has an easy life. That does not stop him from making disparaging, tongue-in-cheek remarks about the inequalities and imperfections of life in Camelot. Twain weaves many of the well-known Arthurian characters into his story, and he includes a pitched battle between Morgan's men and the nobility. Kenneth Jay's narration is a mix of good-natured bonhomie for Hank and more formal diction for the arcane Olde English speakers. Appropriate music is used throughout to indicate story breaks and add authenticity to scenes. This good quality recording is enhanced by useful liner notes and an attractive case. Younger listeners may need explanations of less familiar words, and some knowledge of the Knights of the Round Table will be helpful. Libraries completing an audiobook collection of Twain titles will enjoy this nice, but not necessary, abridgement.
Barbara Wysocki, Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, CT
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Review
"Twain is the funniest literary American writer. . . . [I]t must have been a great pleasure to be him."
--George Saunders --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
--George Saunders --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
79 of 81 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book--at times disjointed, rambling, self-referential, and irreverent--is decades ahead of its time. It's an interdisciplinarian's dream as Twain takes on economics, geography, politics, ancient and contemporary history, and folklore with equal ease. Mostly though, one appreciates his knack for exaggeration, the tall tale, and the outright lie. It's a triumph of tone, as he lets you in on his wild wit, his keen observation, and his penchant for bending the truth without losing his credibility as a guide.
The book's structure is also modern: He recounts his days as a paddlewheel steam boat "cub," piloting the hundreds of miles of the Mississippi before the Civil War, then, in Part 2, returns to retrace his paddleboat route. Although a few of his many digressions don't work (they sometimes sound formulaic or too detailed) most of the narrative is extremely entertaining. Twain seems caught between admiration and disdain for the "modern" age-but he also rejects over-sentimentality over the past. He writes with beauty and cynicism, verve and humor. Very highly recommended!
134 of 145 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Take a careful look at the Publisher before you buy "Life on the Mississippi"
July 21, 2010
When you do the "Look Inside" thing, you'll read "This view is of the Mass Market Paperback edition (1983) from Bantam Classics. The Paperback edition (2010) from General Books LLC that you originally viewed is the one you'll receive if you click the Add to Cart button at left." And that's correct. The General Books LLC version is a completely different book. To wit....
General Books LLC puts together books using an OCR automated scanning device which can miss complete pages. There are many many Typos and no table of contents. There books receive NO EDITING of any kind, also, the OCR scanning is done by a robot (which the publishers website outright says can miss pages). This is all stated on the publishers web site (google them and read for yourself to get all the details). Almost every review of books published by General Books LLC (around 500,000 of them from one imprint or another now listed on Amazon) by buyers is negative, many are extremely so.
As the General Books LLC version has reviews of other publishers versions associated with it, you need to be very careful to make sure you've bought a decent version. If you have bought the version from General Books LLC by mistake, you can return to Amazon within 30 days(but check Amazon's Return Policy for the details).
General Books LLC puts together books using an OCR automated scanning device which can miss complete pages. There are many many Typos and no table of contents. There books receive NO EDITING of any kind, also, the OCR scanning is done by a robot (which the publishers website outright says can miss pages). This is all stated on the publishers web site (google them and read for yourself to get all the details). Almost every review of books published by General Books LLC (around 500,000 of them from one imprint or another now listed on Amazon) by buyers is negative, many are extremely so.
As the General Books LLC version has reviews of other publishers versions associated with it, you need to be very careful to make sure you've bought a decent version. If you have bought the version from General Books LLC by mistake, you can return to Amazon within 30 days(but check Amazon's Return Policy for the details).
48 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Let me guess: your total exposure to Mark Twain came in high school, when you were forced to read about the antics of Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer, right? Well, now that you've reached adulthood, you should make time to read _Life on the Mississippi_. It's mandatory reading if you live in a state that borders the great river, anywhere from Minnesota down to Louisiana. It's mandatory reading if you have come to that point in life when you can suddenly appreciate American history and post-Civil War stories written by someone who lived through that time.
Writing in the first half of the 1870s, Twain retraces the steps of his youth: the watery highway he knew when he trained to be a riverboat pilot nearly 20 years earlier. He speaks of how life _was_ along the river, and what life _became_. It's almost a "you can't go home again" experience for him, while the reader gets the benefit of discovering both time periods.
I have two favorite parts that I share with others. Chapter IX includes a wonderful dissertation about how learning the navigational intricacies of the river caused Twain to lose the ability to see its natural beauty. And Chapter XLV includes an assessment of how the people of the North and the South reacted differently to the war experience. If I were a social studies teacher, I'd use that last passage in a unit on the reconstruction period. So put this title on your vacation reading list, and don't fret: the chapters are short and are many -- 60! -- but you can stop at any time, and the words go by fast. _Life on the Mississippi_ should make you forget all about any Twain trauma and report-writing you may have suffered as a teenager. [This reviewer was an Illinois resident when these comments were written.]
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Book needed for class
I got this book for a class I took last semester. It's alright. Not sure if it'd be something I would buy just to buy but it's not horrible.
Published 3 days ago by Megan M
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the Twain I thought I knew
In his forward to his book, "Once There Was a War," John Steinbeck wrote: "Mark Twain in `A Connecticut Yankee' uses the horrifying and possible paradox of the victor's being... Read more
Published 7 days ago by Tom Bruce
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old Man River Just Keeps Rolling Along---Gloriously!
Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" as a book seems to have changed almost as much as the great river itself did when young Sam Clemens was a cub pilot in the 1850s, daily even... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Lois-ellin Datta
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wibbly-Wobley-Timey-Wimey
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain was overall a worthwhile read. It started off extremely slow with a bit off knock-out style time travel and a bit of... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Batya
3.0 out of 5 stars
A hard read.
it was a hard read due to when it was written and then add the King Arthur type of verbiage. The story begins in an interesting way and then goes wild, ending very odd. Read more
Published 22 days ago by k. david boley
4.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
Despite Amazons requirements, I don't think I'm qualified to review or critique the work of Sam Clemens. I did enjoy reading it though.
Published 26 days ago by tony
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not the best.
I read this book soon after reading The Prince and the Pauper. In retrospect this was an appropriate thing to do since Mark Twain wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court... Read more
Published 26 days ago by Steve Challis
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read
This is a funny book but also expresses the deepseated humanity of Mark Twain. He was sharply critical of slavery and monarchy.
Published 27 days ago by Love the 19th century
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but slow read
I mostly liked this book, but there are a few points that keep me from loving it. First, there is quite a lot of Olde English dialogue (whenever one of the 6th century characters... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Amanda Greene
3.0 out of 5 stars
Started reading.
It's in Olde English, as it should be, but I haven't gotten into it yet. I feel like its not going to catch my interest; Not that its not written well, I just don't know if I care... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Joanne A. Ocak
