Customer Reviews

Following the Equator

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A lot has changed in the 144 years since this book was first published. The Boer Wars have fallen out of the headlines and few people today can locate the Sandwich Islands. Yet Twain's insights into what makes us tick, his witticisms and maxims still cut to the quick today. The book is about his journey around the world--to Hawaii, Australasia, India and South Africa. We're immediately drawn into Twain's confidence and see the world then through our friend's eyes--way back then.

Twain benefits from writing when generalizations about groups weren't frowned upon; they were expected. We can't really learn about a country as lage as India without generalizations. Such generalizations could never be made today for fear of offending some group. That said, if a racist is someone who beleives in the superiority of one race over another, Twain qualifies, as do almost all of his contemporaries. But let's not apply today's standards to 19th century authors and let's not that ruin an enjoyable literary journey.

The Digireads version appears to be published with economy foremost in mind. Chapters begin and end mid-page, the font is tiny and the margins are even smaller. Otherwise this book would deserve 5 stars.

Thank you Mr. Buffett for using this book in one of your songs. Its a hard read but it is worth it. "Fins up"

I got about 20% into this book before my Kindle froze up. I had to restart it by holding the powers switch on for 5 seconds, which turned the screen blank, followed by 20 seconds, which restarted and reloaded all the content. Every time I opened this book from the Home menu, this happened. I had to delete it. I was really enjoying it, too :/