A la dure

by
Mark Twain

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A la dure

by Mark Twain

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 3,296 ratings · 305 reviews

In his youth Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West, working in a variety of professions. This is a record, fact and impression, of those early years.

Mass Market Paperback, 317 pages

Published November 4th 1993 by Payot (first published 1872)

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Oct 18, 2012 Judi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

I read someone else's comment that this book is not his best... that it is disorganized and the beginning parts are based on his brother's diary entries and not his own. Regardless, I decided to read this after vacationing in Nevada and visiting Virginia City. As a followup to that vacation, it was a good read. In my opinion, the best part of this book is the beginning. I liked reading about life during that time. It seemed to me that it was better written, but that may have been because its sty...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Michael Clemens rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very obviously an early work, and a patchwork of Twain's experiences as he opted to mostly miss the Civil War by traveling into the then-territorial west of North America. This is very much a patchwork, and a long one at that: personal recollections are interwoven with tall tales, and occasionally peppered with some political incorrectness that's uncomfortable to read in these supposedly more enlightened days. The Mormon church and native Hawaiians bear the brunt of this, and Twain was not yet a...more

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Jan 06, 2013 hamptonenglish10 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Joshua Aippersbach
Ms.Brooks
English 10
07 January, 2013

Roughing It is mainly about a young man named Mark Twain is on an adventure west on a stage coach. After a brief time of being a Confederate Cavalry militiaman he decides to go visit his brother Orion Clemens about a job offer. Orion is going to let Mark Twain become his personal secretary due to him becoming the Secretary of the Nevada Territory. During the years of 1861-1897 Mark Twain is on an adventure to the American West where many inter...more Joshua Aippersbach
Ms.Brooks
English 10
07 January, 2013

Roughing It is mainly about a young man named Mark Twain is on an adventure west on a stage coach. After a brief time of being a Confederate Cavalry militiaman he decides to go visit his brother Orion Clemens about a job offer. Orion is going to let Mark Twain become his personal secretary due to him becoming the Secretary of the Nevada Territory. During the years of 1861-1897 Mark Twain is on an adventure to the American West where many interesting adventures occur for Mark Twain as he writes in his brother's personal journal. As Mark Twain travels farther west he finds his start of becoming a great writer, which is what he is so highly recognized for today. Because of the writing of this book Mark Twain develops his own sense of humor which is expressed in many of his books such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventured of Tom Sawyer, and a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Mark Twain visits many places such as a visit to Salt Lake City, a time of gold and silver prospecting, and a trip to Hawaii. From his journey in the Wild West Mark Twain meets many people in which cause him to develop a certain type of humor that many people thoroughly enjoy. Lastly, in the book Mark Twain and his brother become millionaires overnight just to have it all taken away from them the next day.

The genre of my book falls into the category of a semi-autobiography which is also non-fiction for many different reasons. First, Mark Twain mainly writes in his brother's personal journal in which his adventures he manipulates a little bit. Second, all the events in the book actually happened it is just a twist has been added. Third, Mark Twain made some history happen in his book that makes it important to history. Last, Roughing It is mainly a non-fiction book due to history being made from it, and it being a man's semi-autobiography.

Mark Twain's book, Roughing It is a non-fiction book; so many things can be learned from it. First, before Mark Twain went to go visit his brother Orion he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Second, during Mark Twain's time as a prospector he was completely unsuccessful for prospecting for gold. Third, Mark Twain is not his true name, it is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Lastly, rather than the book being about mainly one man's life it also teaches many morals and values whether they be good or not so good.

Roughing it is a very interesting book and I would suggest for everyone to read it for many reasons. First, it is very addicting to read because of the humor Mark Twain puts in it. Also, some of the adventures Mark Twain is involved in are very exciting to read because they are real places that many interesting events occur on. Also, Mark Twain has a very extent imagination that makes his books just so much more interesting to read. Last, this book is an amazing book to read if you like to be entertained while reading a book.

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Jun 29, 2012 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, humor, history, literature

Writing the follow-up to “Innocents Abroad” wasn’t as easy as Twain expected to be. His memory of many of the events, which took place before those in “Innocents Abroad” wasn’t as good as he thought. Nevertheless, with the aid of his brother’s diary he pieced together some wonderful adventures. The result is “Roughing It”, which covers Twain’s life in the early and mid 1860s, from the point at which he came out to Nevada (Territory) through his prospecting for silver and gold, a trip to the Sand...more Writing the follow-up to “Innocents Abroad” wasn’t as easy as Twain expected to be. His memory of many of the events, which took place before those in “Innocents Abroad” wasn’t as good as he thought. Nevertheless, with the aid of his brother’s diary he pieced together some wonderful adventures. The result is “Roughing It”, which covers Twain’s life in the early and mid 1860s, from the point at which he came out to Nevada (Territory) through his prospecting for silver and gold, a trip to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and of course more than enough on Salt Lake City and the Mormons.

Throughout the79 chapters and 3 appendices of “Roughing It”, Twain takes the reader on adventures too numerous to even attempt to cover in this review. As with many of his works, he finds humor in being human. Twain has no problem poking fun at religious organizations either, and in “Roughing It”, it is the Mormons who are under attack of his pen. With at least six chapters and two of the appendices on the Mormons, I think it is fair to say that Twain does not hold back his scathing wit at all.

As with the other books in the series, it starts with a Foreword by Shelley Fisher Fishkin. The series also includes both an “Introduction” and “Afterword” by other writers, and in the case of “Roughing It” the “Introduction” is by George Plimpton, and the “Afterword” is by Henry B. Wonham. These are usually enjoyable reads and provide the reader with some interesting information about the book between the two, but of course the main course is the book itself.

While not at the level of “Innocents Abroad”, “Roughing It” has plenty of wonderful moments. I suspect it is somewhat overshadowed by its predecessor given that it has a similar format of relating tales of Twain’s travels. As a result, it seems as if it is always compared with “Innocents Abroad” and its reputation ends up suffering because though it isn’t as good, it is not far behind.
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Feb 28, 2012 Thom Swennes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mark Twain’s seven year adventures in the west culminated in his writing and publishing his trip in the novel Roughing It. He embarks on this westward expedition when the Civil War was raging on the east coast. I found it a little strange that nothing was said about this monumental event but must confess that its exclusion didn’t distract from the yarn as a whole. His trip westward was made with all manner of conveyance (save a hot air balloon) and took him through Utah with an enchanting portra...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Supineny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first quarter of Roughing It is really great -- the description of his stage coach trip with to Nevada is great travel writing, laced with irony and sly humor. That it is describing a lost world makes it that much more entertaining. Exquisite.

There's just one 'humorous' episode concerning a bull that interjects during this part of the book and it seems disconcertingly false -- kind of corny and cartoonish in a not terribly clever way. Perhaps the sort of thing he could bring life to in his f...more The first quarter of Roughing It is really great -- the description of his stage coach trip with to Nevada is great travel writing, laced with irony and sly humor. That it is describing a lost world makes it that much more entertaining. Exquisite.

There's just one 'humorous' episode concerning a bull that interjects during this part of the book and it seems disconcertingly false -- kind of corny and cartoonish in a not terribly clever way. Perhaps the sort of thing he could bring life to in his famous lectures with his drawl and deadpan. But I remembering thinking...'uh oh'.

And 'uh oh' was right. The book continues to have some marvelous episodes as Twain continues his western adventure, but they are stretched out with a prodigious quantity of flimsy material. Comic set pieces with caricature-like characters get stale before they've begun, and he spins them out as if he was being paid by the word. A certain kind of broad, formulaic humor obtains - probably what he needed to write for newspapers at the time, but it seems out of place amidst his more mature writing.

Whereas the parts where he is achingly funny tend to have a certain realness about them - Clemens is making observations about things trivial and profound that he actually sees or concepts he is grappling with in life. There's a certain kind of sincerity beneath the irony and stretching of facts.

Flawed though they are, the middle chapters of Roughing It do, in fits and starts, present a compelling picture of various societies in the wild west and San Francisco, and a shadowy autobiography of Clemens. (Those familiar with Clemens later financial troubles get a glimpse of some of his worst financial impulses early on in his life.)

However, the book finally takes an abysmal dive when he takes a trip to Hawaii. It seems like a tacked-on bonus that doesn't relate to the rest of the book. Where the wild west actually sucked Twain in and conferred some of its insanity on him, Hawaii remains just another location to file travel writing from. He presents a lengthy history of the Hawaiian people, which seems cribbed from a textbook. And then, suddenly, unceremoniously, he ends the book with a dull thought or two about travelling.

One has the impression that he was inspired it when he started the book, but that by the end, he was just trying to get through it.

In short, read the first third, and then feel free to skip chapters after that. There's a bunch of really classic Twain here, but it gets pretty patchy after awhile.(less)

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Sep 06, 2011 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe my attention span has dwindled over the years or I've lost my taste for 19th century prolix prose, but I had trouble getting through this book. And I was unpleasantly surprised by this since I really enjoyed Twain's other classics, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

The book's plot is broken up into dozens of short narratives chronicling the narrator's several year journey into the wild west. In theory, this sounds like an exciting premise, but the narratives did not coincide with any central plot...more

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May 16, 2011 Marty rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, school-bookshelf

Mark Twain is one of the main reasons I went into the English Literature field. For many of my students, that probably is cause enough for desecration to his remains, yet it is undeniable that the man hit a chord with me that has never gone away. So, I figured I ought to hark back to the old man for some good ole' nostalgia.

Perhaps these high expectations led to mediocre results; or perhaps, because this was more a collection of mini-essays in chronological order, it lost some of its appeal; or...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Margery rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel inadequate to finding the words to recommend this book. It is one of those books that I have read so many times I can nearly recite it.

Here is the young Sam Clemens heading from Missouri to the unknown territories "out west" by the fastest transportation of the day -- the Overland Stage where horses were changed every 10 miles to keep up the pace. The railway connection from east to west was still years away. His first person account of the trip will resonate with travelers today (he and...more

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Jan 25, 2010 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the first book I read while on a month long sojourn in northern California. Living with the dog in a yurt in the wilderness, this was the perfect storm from one adventurer to another. Twain's escapades and the accompanying humor made for a good companion to my own experiences. If only in the fact that we were both in a sense "roughing it".
The multitudes of characters and the tall tales they spun in their rough language marked for endless laughter and guffawing. I even found the journey...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The memoir itself: Rough. Racist. Much prone to exaggeration. Sometimes funny, but sometimes slang & other issues got in the way of comprehension. Lots of uncredited contributions from others, and even more that were credited. Of special interest to those familiar with the regions he spent time in (I've lived in Carson City for 15 years so it was neat to see the references to this region). Obviously an early work.

This edition: Heavy. Lots of notes & references & pictures. I wasn't t...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Cathy Douglas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-classic-fiction

The good, bad and ugly, all wrapped into one. I loved about a quarter of this book, liked another quarter, and yawned through the rest. The parts about Hawaii seem especially forced, like something by a hired-gun travel writer.

But the good parts make this very much worth reading. I mean, we have here a first-hand account traveling the American frontier by stagecoach. We have Twain getting his feet wet as a writer. The politics and culture of Nevada silver mining, again first-hand. This genius of...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, epic-travel-of-the-19th-century, history, leisure, tall-tales, the-frontier

Keep in mind: at this point, I think I've been spoiled by reading a concentrated amount of Twain in a very short period. It's like becoming a truffle enthusiast: even amongst a pile of what is arguably the best and most flavorful food in the world, there is bound to be something that is... well, not lesser, but something you're not as likely to prefer. So with that insane metaphor in mind, read on.

Roughing It was good in some parts -- chiefly, the beginning and the end. I'm keen on reading Twain...more Keep in mind: at this point, I think I've been spoiled by reading a concentrated amount of Twain in a very short period. It's like becoming a truffle enthusiast: even amongst a pile of what is arguably the best and most flavorful food in the world, there is bound to be something that is... well, not lesser, but something you're not as likely to prefer. So with that insane metaphor in mind, read on.

Roughing It was good in some parts -- chiefly, the beginning and the end. I'm keen on reading Twain talk about his travels; perhaps I'm a creature of habit in that way, but Twain is at his best when he is discovering things for the first time and talking about these things and people with an innocence he was still capable of mustering into his sixties (and beyond, I'm sure). And really, Roughing It does persist in this even as he settles into his life in Nevada; after all, this strange alkali desert was as foreign to his Mississippi boating ways as I'm sure the moon would be to me, etc. etc. That said, there is the elephant in the review, the very reason why this has obtained three stars instead of my usual and over-masturbatory four or five:

Twain won't shut the fuck up about mining.

To be fair, to talk about Nevada in the 1860s and neglect the silver rush is like writing a novel about lobotomies without any mention of brains (and where are these metaphors coming from today?), but it doesn't make it any less boring to someone who could give less of a fuck about a bunch of rocks and blah-de-blah-blah-blah. Even Twain prefaces one of his chapters with an apology on its mining-only content and gives the audience permission to skip it. Jesus H. Christ, what kind of author does that? Why did you write it, then? (This is rhetorical, of course, and leads to the lobotomy acknowledgment, but that's neither here nor there.)

There are a few faults attributed to Twain in this book too; he's young and therefore a more squeamish Twain, more likely to take offense (if you can imagine!) and definitely more likely to ramble. Perhaps this is what's meant by saying that Roughing It is the first draft to Tom Sawyer? But there's still a promise of the older Twain, who is my favorite, the man who bullshits you about skin color to tell you whether or not a person is just generally being decent or not -- but it's just a promise, mind you, hidden underneath standard nineteenth century bigtory. But you can't expect a man to change up overnight, can you? I submit not.

(As an aside, you can also see the beginning of Twain's incredibly shitty business sense with this book. Oh, Twain, you broke-ass soul.)(less)

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Dec 12, 2010 Isis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, memoir, history, travel

This is a rambling, entertaining, beautifully written travelogue about places (and ways to get to them) that no longer exist. Twain travels by stagecoach across the plains to what is now Utah and Nevada; his casual references to "back in the States" remind the reader that at the time, these places were frontier territories, barely one step of civilization past wilderness. He works, more or less, in a frontier town, and tries his hand at what passes for silver mining. He takes passage to the Sand...more

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Apr 29, 2009 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Twain fans and those with a strong interest in horses or the Old West

Shelves: audiobook, library_books, bio-and-memoir, travel

I'd given up on his Life on the Mississippi a while ago, but decided to try this one as a travel narrative. Overall, it held my attention ... barely. The first part, regarding his stagecoach trip from MO to NV, with a stopover in Salt Lake City, wasn't too bad. The middle part, focusing on his time in Virginia City, Nevada (territory) didn't hold my interest completely, but I wasn't surprised; I'm just not that into mining details and lengthy description of horses. The last part on San Francisco...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As other reviewers have said, this should have really been a much shorter book. It's about Twain's time in the Nevada territory, with some short excursions to other locales, but the last third of the book (and it's over 500 pages total) is about living in other places and doesn't really flow with the beginning. I really enjoyed it right up until he left Nevada for San Francisco, sort of enjoyed the San Francisco part just because I am often there, and then was super bored and struggling to make...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As any kid with a Missouri education, I'd had plenty of exposure to Twain, but it had always been his more well-known fiction (Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn) that we'd read in class. This book, a nonfiction account of Clemens' trip west with his brother, is decidedly different. Twain was in Nevada during the great silver mining rush, and in San Francisco during one of its biggest earthquakes. He discusses his visits with the Mormon community in Salt Lake City, his newspaper-editor days in the Nevada min...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Gerri Alexander rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: travel

The American Civil War began in 1861. That same year Orion Clemens became secretary to the governor of the territory of Nevada and had to travel there by stagecoach from Missouri. He took along his little brother, Sam, to keep him company. This was fortunate because it kept both of them out of the war!

The young Samuel Clemens thought it would interesting to travel in the west for the needed 3 or so months the trip would take but it led to 6 years of experiences which helped create one of this co...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: project-gutenberg

This is the best of the biographies by Mark Twain (well- better than Innocents Abroad - I haven't read them all.)

This stories span his life as a young adult; from the StageCoach between St. Jo. and Salt Lake City, through Nevada Silver Mining, touching on California Gold fields and San Francisco and ending in Hawaii. It is unavoidably full of facts, stories, opinions, and tall tales - which combine to express truths about human nature and the history of his times in an entertaining manner. I co...more

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May 11, 2013 Carla Patterson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought I'd read everything Mark Twain ever got published but found this book through OverDrive at the Oakland Public Library. Really enjoyed it on several levels. First of all, it's well-written (like all of his books) - both well-observed and very funny in a dry, very clever way. Secondly, it's discussing areas I've lived in or experienced myself at an earlier time, when they were part of the 'wild west'. Fascinating. Thirdly, I am in my 6th decade on earth now and that's giving me a differe...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Harrison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Who would have thought Mark Twain could actually be funny! It's a shame most students' first exposure to him is through Huck Finn, which I found to be much less accessible than this book, which was entertaining and interesting and to me a much more palatable introduction to his style. This book is delightful and episodic, and some encounters (the "Bemis and the Buffalo" tale and the encounter with Slade in particular) are standalone masterpieces of comedy; even just dipping into this book is a r...more

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Oct 11, 2012 John Falch rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's got some good parts, some boring parts and some hysterically funny parts. "Roughing It" is basically bits and pieces of a young Mark Twain's journeys through the American old west and Hawaii. It is a bit dated for this day and age and I think most modern readers would find it boring. But people like me (who love to relive history through the horse's mouth) will find this book a pleasant bedside read. My favorite parts are his stories of the gold and silver miners and the lives they led. He...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Lyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just finished Mark Twain's semi-autobiographical work about the American west in the 1860's. I know that most every student in most every American Lit 301 class is instructed that Melville's Moby Dick is the great American novel, but Twain's works must be high on the list of great American literature. This was like Forrest Gump a hu...ndred years early. Twain meets Brigham Young, works as a silver miner, explores the Nevada territory, visits San Francisco during the earthquake, and then goes off...more

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Apr 08, 2009 Barry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: quotes

I read most of this book about a dozen years ago in college, and while I enjoyed it, I read it with too much of an academic eye and with too much reverence for Mr. Twain, who probably would have scorned such a development. This time around I enjoyed it far more as straight entertainment, though, having been to far more places in the American West than at the time of my first reading I also appreciated it much more as a travelogue.

Twain's digressions are so numerous in Roughing It that about two...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Jan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm sure I must have read some Twain back in primary school, but...are ALL his books this racist? Damn. Otherwise, it's a very interesting portrait of frontier culture and American culture overall in the late 1800s.

UPDATED: I soldiered through and bits of it were enjoyable. But yeah, the racism...that view that white men of the Christian faith hold all the keys to truth and rightness...EWW. Hard to read.

On a brighter note, he visits Hawaii and a picture of what that was like in the 1800's reall...more

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Aug 05, 2011 David Brawley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audio-book, library, classic

Mark Twain’s Roughing It is a mostly (somewhat?) autobiographical travelogue. I listened to this as an audio book, and I have to say that the reader was much better than the one who read The Mysterious Stranger!

Like The Mysterious Stranger this book is a mixed bag. Twain ambles along through his adventures, and describes in wonderful detail the characters he encounters and the things he does as a young man newly arrived in the west. From silver mining to sailing to the Kingdom of Hawaii, it’s an...more

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Dec 28, 2010 John P rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With appendices, notes, supplements, maps and illustrations together augmenting the book size by around 50%, this volume is loaded with information. It 'documents' a long trip to what would become the states of Nevada, California and Hawaii during an important time in American history. We have first-hand accounts of the Pony Express, Indian encounters, gold and silver fever, and much more, recounted in the now-familiar Twain style. Based on the huge Explanatory Notes section it is clear that man...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Catherine Woodman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mark Twain did a series of memoirs about his travel experiences, and I had never read any of them prior to this year. One of my sons is taking a Mark Twain class, and I have been reading the books with him, so I have had the opportunity to read them.

Twain's brother is appointed to a government position in Nevada, and he takes his little brother along as his secretary. The west is still pretty wild at this point in time--the two travel some by train, but they also travel by stage coach. My son c...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Daniel Hadley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Twain's sense of humor is uncanny. I am amazed by how much of this book is still funny. And not just funny. It's portrayal of the Old West is romantic and thrilling, yet tinged with ennui. Twain manages to give a realistic portrait of the follies of gold mining and chasing after the American dream, all while exaggerating and making up whole cloth almost every detail of his voyage. In the end, this book inspired me to be more adventurous and to be more appreciative of what I have at the same time...more

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Aug 30, 2012 John Harder rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Twain has always confessed to being lazy, but for a slug, he was always on the move and prolific with his pen – Roughing it is a primary example. This wonderful travel book is history disguised as a yarn wrapped in an autobiography. This “bioyarnistry” follows Twain through his travels in Nevada, Utah, California and the Sandwich Island (now Hawaii). The most interesting portions revolved around the wild west towns and the mining camps – where respect was purchased by putting another man in the...more

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About Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more

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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

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Quotes from Roughing It

“I am not given to exaggeration, and when I say a thing I mean it.” — 14 people liked it

“It was a splendid population - for all the slow, sleepy, sluggish-brained sloths stayed at home - you never find that sort of people among pioneers - you cannot build pioneers out of that sort of material. It was that population that gave to California a name for getting up astounding enterprises and rushing them through with a magnificent dash and daring and a recklessness of cost or consequences, which she bears unto this day - and when she projects a new surprise the grave world smiles as usual and says, "Well, that is California all over.” — 8 people liked it

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