The Innocents Abroad: The Authorized Uniform Edition
by Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens
published
September 30th 2003
(first published 1990)
by Wildside Press
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binding
Paperback, 332 pages
isbn
0809531615
(isbn13: 9780809531615)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1006)
Read in June, 2007
It was with delight that I picked up Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad. Above all other other authors, it was probably Twain that directed me towards my degree (minor though it is) in English. I also love to travel and see new cultures and places. Because of this I couldn't have imagined a better author than Twain to accompany on a romp through Europe and the Middle East. The first couple of pages alone were entertaining, so I plunged into it with excitement. What I found is that not even Mark Twain...more
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Read in January, 1984
recommends it for:
Anyone with a cynic's eye of the world
When I lived in Madrid years ago I used to buy pistachios from an Iranian refugee in Retiro Park. I don't recall his name, but I decided to call him Stan. It drove him crazy, but I called him Stan anyway. Why did I call him Stan?
One word: Ferguson.
Ferguson is every tour guide that graces the pages of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad. The author and his cohort call their guides Ferguson, whether in Paris or in Athens. The name drives each Ferguson crazy, but they do it anyway. And ...more
One word: Ferguson.
Ferguson is every tour guide that graces the pages of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad. The author and his cohort call their guides Ferguson, whether in Paris or in Athens. The name drives each Ferguson crazy, but they do it anyway. And ...more
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Read in April, 2008
Another book I can't believe it took me this long to read. Many parts of it were a bit thick, given the subject matter. Some sections I skimmed through which meant I made one big mistake:
In the Azores Islands (the first stop on the way to Europe 3000 miles from New York and 1000 from Lisbon) I read about how they made their first stop there. The locals hand saddled monkeys and leased them out so the tourists could ride them around the island.
I couldn't believe it. Then, a couple hund...more
In the Azores Islands (the first stop on the way to Europe 3000 miles from New York and 1000 from Lisbon) I read about how they made their first stop there. The locals hand saddled monkeys and leased them out so the tourists could ride them around the island.
I couldn't believe it. Then, a couple hund...more
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Read in October, 2006
A fascinating & snarky look at The Grand Tour - Americans traveling Europe and the Holy Land in the latter part of the 19th century.
Not too surprisingly, Twain was a often condescending about the other passengers, and in fact, much of the actual trip itself, at least when it came to the natives. For example, while touring Palestine - Twain was disgusted & depressed by the state of the people and the environment and how the holy places no longer seemed holy when there in person.
...more
Not too surprisingly, Twain was a often condescending about the other passengers, and in fact, much of the actual trip itself, at least when it came to the natives. For example, while touring Palestine - Twain was disgusted & depressed by the state of the people and the environment and how the holy places no longer seemed holy when there in person.
...more
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recommends it for:
Twain fans
An incredible treat.
Twain's first book, collected from his syndicated writings from his trip aboard the first American commercial cruise to Europe and the Holy Land.
Ironically this book was his biggest seller during his life, and even though it was full of Twain's acute observations on the shortcomings of the different members of the various cultures he visits...it is the most damning of the religious companions he had to endure on the tip...and the book was sold door to door by travelin...more
Twain's first book, collected from his syndicated writings from his trip aboard the first American commercial cruise to Europe and the Holy Land.
Ironically this book was his biggest seller during his life, and even though it was full of Twain's acute observations on the shortcomings of the different members of the various cultures he visits...it is the most damning of the religious companions he had to endure on the tip...and the book was sold door to door by travelin...more
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God you've got to love Twain.
A funny sacred cow roasting romp through Europe and The Middle East, taking on stereotypes, high society, and decorum with a shotgun blast to the face. However, this is young amused by humanities flaws Mark Twain, not embittered "Fuck the World." Mark Twain. So there's still plenty of room for real wonder and occasional awe.
Plus it has the best reaction to a Mummy you will ever see.
A funny sacred cow roasting romp through Europe and The Middle East, taking on stereotypes, high society, and decorum with a shotgun blast to the face. However, this is young amused by humanities flaws Mark Twain, not embittered "Fuck the World." Mark Twain. So there's still plenty of room for real wonder and occasional awe.
Plus it has the best reaction to a Mummy you will ever see.
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This book is fantastic. It feels like it could have been written yesterday. Mark Twain's writing style is so conversational, and so satirical, which I associate more with the modern world than I do with the 19th century.
And, his perceptions of American tourists are spot on-- for today! Loud, boorish, overbearing, seems like that has never changed. His take on the French train transportation system, compared to the American one, is priceless. I'm glad this is such a long book, because I do...more
And, his perceptions of American tourists are spot on-- for today! Loud, boorish, overbearing, seems like that has never changed. His take on the French train transportation system, compared to the American one, is priceless. I'm glad this is such a long book, because I do...more
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Read in August, 1984
Funny and timeless. Twain's observations of Americans... all tourists really, are as true today as then. When I visited the Vatican recently and watched tourists of all stripes snapping their pictures in defiance of the signs, I could only think of Blucher stealing his little bits of the various sights. In Rome, where we had hired a driver/guide, by the guides third mention of Christopher Columbo, I nearly died laughing. Twain wasn't just a comedic genius, he was a speaker of truth.
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I'm up in the air about this book. On one hand, Twain offers some pretty cogent analysis on the difference between Europeans and Americans, many of which are still vital today, while simultaneously offering up some seriously funny lines along the way. On the other hand, he is extremely arrogant and ethnocentric, at times ridiculing the people he meets because they aren't American, and you know by the way, we do it best. One to read, but to take with a grain of salt.
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Read in February, 2008
10 percent humorous versus 90 percent tedium. And that may even be a generous assessment.
The humor is actually laugh-out-loud humor - and I rarely LOL while reading - but the tedium... oh, the tedium! It became more and more of a trudge.
I may yet give this another try, as I really do *want* to read more Twain, but not in the foreseeable future.
The humor is actually laugh-out-loud humor - and I rarely LOL while reading - but the tedium... oh, the tedium! It became more and more of a trudge.
I may yet give this another try, as I really do *want* to read more Twain, but not in the foreseeable future.
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Read in July, 2008
Funny, I suppose. But it took me 8 months to slog through the whole book. If you're a big Twain fan, I'm sure you'll love it. Otherwise, I'm not sure you'll appreciate the long dry spells. Even the funny passages were ten times as verbose as they needed to be. Maybe your strategy should be to read the section on the most recent place you've vacationed. That way it'll take a decade to get through the whole book, but it might seem less tedious.
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Read in June, 2007
This book was amazing. I've read some Twain before, but I don't remember any of it being quite so entertaining. Maybe because it was non-fiction and he was part of the story? Who knows. But Twain has an amazing sense of humor, and he's not afraid to say what he thinks; or, if he is, he keeps his mouth shut rather than making up something nice. Well worth reading, in my opinion... I may have to look up some more of his stuff after this.
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I especially like this book because it was written by a 32 year old Mark Twain who was still a curmudgeon in training at that point in his life. Thus, while he finds much he cannot stand in the Old World he is still able to appreciate the occasional encounter (e.g. his midnight quarantine breakout to see the Acropolis which he wonders at or his awestruck stroll through the streets of Tangiers). Mark Twain is a great travel companion.
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This, along with FE, is the subject of the dissertation chapter I'm currently plowing through. Reading travel writing can sometimes be as labor-intensive and exhausting as simply taking the trip, and Innocents is no exception, but Twain's portrait of the original ugly American and his bungling violence is fascinating. This is funny, it's cutting, and it exposes that always-present gap between expectation and reality.
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One of the funniest books I've ever read. It helped to read it as a teenager living in many of the places he was visiting and eviscerating... My brother and I still quote lines from this to each other regularly, cracking each other up. I re-read the Egypt section just before going to Cairo for the first time in 2008, and found it very true to contemporary life as well. Essential reading for an American in a global world.
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Read in January, 2002
I am a diehard Twain fan, having read most of his works at least twice, but I had to slog through this one. Enjoyable overall, both for it's Twain flavor and it's reporting on what it was like to travel by steamer in the 19th century, but it took persistence to finish. Their times in The Holy Lands, which of course have new names now, and in Turkey were the most memorable to me, and the funniest.
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Only Mark Twain would decide, since he couldn't pronounce the name of any of the smaller cities in the Holy Land, that they'd all just become "Jacksonville." Hey, y'all want to go to Jacksonville for supplies? I wonder if there'll be water to buy in the next Jacksonville. And only Twain would call every one of the guides, from city to city, from country to country, "Ferguson." God, I love Mark Twain.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Americans on vacation in foreign countries
Finishing this was a chore. I'd read 50 pages or so, then have to go read something light and devoid of substance. Good, but very dense. Works best, I think, if you're an American traveling on vacation (or if you travel frequently).
It's a travel journal, so don't expect a flowing novel. It's repetitive and monotonous, but it's worth it for some of Twain's insightful comments along the way.
It's a travel journal, so don't expect a flowing novel. It's repetitive and monotonous, but it's worth it for some of Twain's insightful comments along the way.
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Earlier this year I made a trans-Atlantic voyage similar to Twain's. Even though his trip was nearly 150 years ago, I found many of his observations to still be relevant, his satire still hilarious, and his writing skill timeless. Although a few of his opinions would not be considered "politically correct" today, this is one of the greatest travel books ever written.
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Read in May, 2008
Mark Twain's characteristic wit make this an enjoyable read, but I am a bit frustrated with the lack of plot so far. Also, the narrator-character that Twain's constructed for himself can be a bit choppy at times, changing rapidly from sensitive observer to ignorant Yank. Nevertheless, Twain's criticisms of his fellow American travelers still ring embarrassingly true.
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