Fashioned from the same experiences that would inspire the masterpiece Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi is Mark Twain’s most ...
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Jan 31, 2008
Aaron
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Twain on the river as a kid. Twain back on the river again as a sneaky pete writer. I wanted to like this book, which is why, I suppose, I hung in for 350-odd pages before setting it aside. The book is entertaining intermittantly and occasionally sharp and funny but it meanders. I should probably have my keyboard revoked for using the word 'meander' in a review about a book about a river, but clearly I can't help myself. Seriously, tho, Twain needed an editor with a heavy hand for this one.
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Jan 06, 2010
Mike
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The semester finally ended and I'm free to read what I want. So what do I do? Start reading books in anticipation of the studio project for next semester: planning and designing for a river town. Ruth and I got this book at the Becky Thatcher House in Hannibal, MO a few years ago when we went for a visit and even got it inscribed with a seal indicating so. Being from Missouri, I'm required to be both skeptical (it is the "Show-Me" state after all) and proud of Mark Twain. With this boo
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Jun 25, 2009
Jo
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I listened ( audiocassette, something like 16) right before traveling to Ohio and taking a steamboat excursion on the Ohio river. That's the circumstance,here's the review.
I love Mark Twain. I wish I could memorize quotes, because I would love to have a slew of his at my beck and call to drop into conversation at just the right point. His sly humor, satire and observations on human nature are spot on in his fiction books. This one, however, can be dry as dust with the myriad numbers More...
I love Mark Twain. I wish I could memorize quotes, because I would love to have a slew of his at my beck and call to drop into conversation at just the right point. His sly humor, satire and observations on human nature are spot on in his fiction books. This one, however, can be dry as dust with the myriad numbers More...
Jun 04, 2009
Dick
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This book was loaned to me by Lisa Arrindale-Anderson and is surely a prize. It was published originally in 1874 with this copy being published in 1883. This is a hardback book with 481 pages. It was signed by Mr. Clemens/Twain with the following inscription . . . " This is the authorized uniform edition of all my books."
It is a great "picture" of his times as he saw them during the mid to late 1800's. It not only covers life on the Mississippi, but has within More...
It is a great "picture" of his times as he saw them during the mid to late 1800's. It not only covers life on the Mississippi, but has within More...
Jul 30, 2010
Daniel
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I didn't finish this book - I stopped around page 220 in my edition.
As much as I love Mark Twain, and as much as he can write...the book is about a river. The first few chapters are about Twain's days as an apprentice steamboat pilot, and they are interesting and fun to to read.
After them, however, begin a series of chapters regarding how the towns on the Mississippi have changed, what European travelers of old said of them, what the different prices of shipping through More...
As much as I love Mark Twain, and as much as he can write...the book is about a river. The first few chapters are about Twain's days as an apprentice steamboat pilot, and they are interesting and fun to to read.
After them, however, begin a series of chapters regarding how the towns on the Mississippi have changed, what European travelers of old said of them, what the different prices of shipping through More...
Jun 03, 2011
Stanley
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Life On The Mississippi
Written in the 1880s, this is nevertheless a topical book in view of the recent flooding along the river. Twain describes its ebbs and flows, its ever-changing nature, inundations, ever changing course, how it straightens or takes new twists and turns which can leave towns and villages formerly by its banks stranded miles from the flowing waters, perhaps even transferred from one state to another.
The book falls basically into two parts. Firstly, the More...
Written in the 1880s, this is nevertheless a topical book in view of the recent flooding along the river. Twain describes its ebbs and flows, its ever-changing nature, inundations, ever changing course, how it straightens or takes new twists and turns which can leave towns and villages formerly by its banks stranded miles from the flowing waters, perhaps even transferred from one state to another.
The book falls basically into two parts. Firstly, the More...
Feb 10, 2012
Alan
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This book really bogs down around 40% of the way through. Mark Twain starts with a grand description of the history of the river, reminiscent of McPhee describing, say, New Jersey. Then it becomes a memoir or Twain's time as a pilot on the a Riverboat in the 1840s-1850s, and he tells lots of interesting tales. But then he switches to talking about a current (1880s) trip on the river and how all the towns have changed, and how much bigger they all are, and how the nature of boating on the rive
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Oct 30, 2011
Simran
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I had such high hopes for this book. It started out being a 4/5 star and held its own about halfway through. There were moments of 'where's he going with this?' but when confronted with his sense of humour, all was forgotten. After all, it was just yesterday I was laughing out-loud in a crowded cafe, with an emphasis on loud ! He's probably just taking a little detour around the bushes or something, I told myself.
However; around the halfway mark, the whole story just seemed to spiral o More...
However; around the halfway mark, the whole story just seemed to spiral o More...
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Dec 16, 2009
James
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In my bedroom is hung a giant piece of paper. The image on the paper is of a steamboat on the Mississippi. The image is black & white and comprised of shaded text from this work. A friend who works at a KINKO's back in MKE made it for me a while back. I stare at it a lot and feel cool. I love Mark Twain's writing.
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Aug 30, 2009
Adam
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As a huge fan of the Mississippi river and, well, New Orleans in particular, I really really wanted to enjoy this book! I was so excited to find it in the classics section of What the Book in Seoul, namely because I usually would never explore this area of a used bookstore. Having not read Twain since he was assigned to me as a teenager, I had high hopes for this acclaimed author. Unfortunately, it took every ounce of patience I could muster to make it through this never ending tale of nothin
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Oct 06, 2010
Ero
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An odd mishmash of Twainisms (tall tales, wild exaggerations, deadpan reportage, self-deprecating personal stories) and self-conscious & awkward magazine writing. Lots of 'so and so said this, while so and so said that', complete with verbatim excerpts several pages long. At times this seems more like notes for a book than like a book. Twain being Twain, there are amazing bits of prose throughout, though often they seem to have crept in against his will.
A version of the book edited More...
A version of the book edited More...
Dec 19, 2009
Matthew
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I haven't actually read Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn yet, but I plan to. This book shows where Clemens got the inspiration for those stories.
The first part involves his stories from days working on steamboats as a young man. It involves some interesting tales of captains and pilots and the river itself, which plays the mute starring role. These were 8-15 page quick hitters that were lively but not tiresome in their repetition.
The second part chronicles his return after 30 More...
The first part involves his stories from days working on steamboats as a young man. It involves some interesting tales of captains and pilots and the river itself, which plays the mute starring role. These were 8-15 page quick hitters that were lively but not tiresome in their repetition.
The second part chronicles his return after 30 More...
Jun 07, 2009
Katy
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This book sparked my love for the Mississipi River a few years back. As a person whose eyes glaze over when someone talks about science, Twain's very detailed description of geological aspects of the Mississippi River was surprisingly fascinating. His stories about the people on the steamboats of the river are hilarious, and there is a great appendix of a few beautiful Native American stories that I will never forget. I also love the historical bend to the book, but I love so many things...
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Jun 23, 2011
Sonia
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There is something that draws me to stories about the Mississippi River and steamboat travel that this book helps to satisfy. These times will never return, so I like to read this book on occassion. The narrator of this audio version, Grover Gardner, did a good job but I wish he would have been more of an "actor" and given more variety to the voices of the different characters.
Some people may find this book boring because it is more of a history than a story, but I always More...
Some people may find this book boring because it is more of a history than a story, but I always More...
Nov 14, 2011
BarbaraNathalie
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Samuel Clemens found writing material and his name on the Mississippi. 'Mark Twain' was an essential part of the jargon of Steamboat communication. Life on the Mississippi preserves a rich heritage that affects our world today. When someone opens its pages, the reader glimpses a world of characters who no longer exist, but merge with present day life on the Mississippi. We are shaped by our location and our experiences, as was Mark Twain on the Mississippi steamboats. When the reader joins him t
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Aug 28, 2011
Evan
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The preface to this book describes it as a central effort in Twain's literary coming-of-age. Life on the Mississippi comes after Tom Sawyer but before Huckleberry Finn. The reader gets a real sense of Twain's finely-honed genre switching - from the travelogue to the tall tale, and to the memoir. People who enjoy Twain's craft will like this book. It sincerely deepens his public persona and adds complexities to just another old white guy that may help readers understand Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.
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Oct 21, 2009
Sam
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I read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of, when I was a boy; more accurately, my dad read them to me and my sister Jessie in nightly installments. My dad read these from a giant book, the illustrated works of Twain, while Jessie and I sat at his feet. I would later peruse the book, reading a chapter here and there, but mostly enjoying the old-timey illustrations. My best childhood friend was somehow related to Samuel Clemens and looked up to him as an idol (he still does). On
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Aug 09, 2009
Evan
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Disjointed, outrageous, hilarious, fascinating, meandering tour through a strange, lush, vanished America. Also a series of autobiographical meditations by a singular genius, whose voice you will find yourself imitating in your speech and writing as you immerse yourself in this lovable book. It is an example of writing meant foremost to entertain and educate, which also attains the level of high art. Twain never neglected his audience.
The most engrossing sections describe Twain's More...
The most engrossing sections describe Twain's More...
Jun 22, 2011
Cory
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Mandatory reading for anyone raised under the vast stretch of the Mississippi River Valley.
Published in the 1880's, Mark Twain's memoir chronicles the history and significance of the great river -- from de Soto's discovery, the golden age of the steamboat industry, to the brink of the Civil War.
Brief, digestible chapters help the reader absorb Twain's fondness for tangential commentary on a host of topics, including history, politics, economics, geography, and architecture.
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Published in the 1880's, Mark Twain's memoir chronicles the history and significance of the great river -- from de Soto's discovery, the golden age of the steamboat industry, to the brink of the Civil War.
Brief, digestible chapters help the reader absorb Twain's fondness for tangential commentary on a host of topics, including history, politics, economics, geography, and architecture.
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Dec 18, 2011
Emily
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Mark Twain begins this book with a brief history of the Mississippi which is not completely accurate (for example, he states that the Delaware River is part of the Mississippi watershed.) Then he tells about his life on the Mississippi River in the next section of the book. He shares his many experiences while working on a steamboat. The last portion of the book talks about his trip on the Mississippi in the early 1880's. I found this was the most satisfying portion of the book. He visits dur
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Jan 29, 2012
Susan
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This is essentially the tale of Twain's love affair with the Mississippi River. It tells of his days as a child playing on the river; his time learning to be a riverboat pilot and then actually piloting a boat himself on the river; and a later trip on the river after the country had largely switched to using trains, and Twain himself had moved on to other things. Twain's journalistic experience shows through clearly, and some of the best parts are his reports of various incidents he observed or
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Aug 20, 2010
Leah
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I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Life on the Mississippi (Mark Twain, 1883). I didn’t even know if it was fiction or not, but I decided to read it because I now live about five miles from the actual Mississippi, and thought it would be appropriate summer reading material.
The book is in two parts: the first part is a memoir of Samuel Clemens’s days of apprenticeship as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. The second part is a memoir of Clemens’s return to the river, when he More...
The book is in two parts: the first part is a memoir of Samuel Clemens’s days of apprenticeship as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. The second part is a memoir of Clemens’s return to the river, when he More...
Oct 28, 2008
Sherry (sethurner)
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I read Life on the Mississippi as an undergrad, and I taught snippets from the beginning to freshmen, but I had never read this wonderful book while on a steamboat. We were traveling from Cincinnati to St. Louis, reading about young Twain traveling with dreams of becoming a steamboat pilot, from Cincinnati to St. Louis, and then onto New Orleans. The setting made rereading this book almost a perfect experience for me. I could read Twain's descriptions of sunrise on the water, and see it. Rea
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Oct 08, 2008
Ryan
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I love Mark Twain, I really do. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as well as the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are just classic. He was a satirist (a brilliant one at that). He was a story-teller. He was so good at being a satirical orator that he made a living of it! He travelled the world. He was a celebrity if there ever was one.
Maybe it was because I read his fiction first, maybe it was because I idolized him, but good god this was a hard book to get through for me. This wasn't his f More...
Maybe it was because I read his fiction first, maybe it was because I idolized him, but good god this was a hard book to get through for me. This wasn't his f More...
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Nov 10, 2008
q
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A large part of this book is concerned mainly with Twain's experiences on the river as a pilot in training. This part was written in 1875 and covers the height of the steamer trade. It's beautiful, riveting, awesome, and often hilarious. If that weren't enough, there's the account of the boiler explosion which destroyed the steamer his brother was on; it's understated and devastating.
He writes with a delicate balance of humility and arrogance. The style is self-deprecating, but hi More...
He writes with a delicate balance of humility and arrogance. The style is self-deprecating, but hi More...
Dec 08, 2008
Justin
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Twain shares his memories of the Mississippi river from his youth to late adulthood. I loved the easy storytelling style but wished he had gone with the humorous slant or without it. The back and forth made me miss some jokes!
One great part was Twain recounting the tail of an acquaintance who had spent time in the corpse watching houses of Germany. I had recently read about these in Bondeson’s Buried Alive. It was kind of a treat to read a current account of these places and the More...
One great part was Twain recounting the tail of an acquaintance who had spent time in the corpse watching houses of Germany. I had recently read about these in Bondeson’s Buried Alive. It was kind of a treat to read a current account of these places and the More...
Aug 21, 2008
Helene
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Life on the Mississippi is not really about the river itself, but the people and places on and around it. The first chapter introduces the river and gives various facts and statistics about it, as well as "historical history". The book continues with Mark Twain's personal experiences with the river, starting with his early steamboating days, when he was training to be a pilot. Twain also writes of his trip up the Mississippi years later.
The stories here have a loose sense of chro More...
The stories here have a loose sense of chro More...
Aug 02, 2008
Cyndia
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I love Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, but other than that classic, I have not read much Mark Twain. Now that I am off of my Jane Austen kick (with only one or two more books to go through her writings), I decided to turn to Mark Twain.
I love the Mississippi River. There is just something about that River that gets in your blood. I know that in part it is the connection to New Orleans, but I get excited any time I cross any part of it (which is usually just NO, Baton Rouge, or Memp More...
I love the Mississippi River. There is just something about that River that gets in your blood. I know that in part it is the connection to New Orleans, but I get excited any time I cross any part of it (which is usually just NO, Baton Rouge, or Memp More...
Sep 21, 2007
Sarah
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Life on the Mississippi is one of those books that has stuck with me from the time when I was first discovering my love of books. I first read it in 7th grade (21 years ago). As it was the year before I started my book diary, I can't pinpoint when with any greater accuracy. Rereading the book was like visiting with a long lost friend. I surprised myself at how well I remembered the "good bits."
A vacation tour up the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Paul, detailed in the More...
A vacation tour up the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Paul, detailed in the More...
Jun 30, 2010
Bill
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I first read this book forty-five years ago when I was in high school, and I recalled Twain's account of his days as a Mississippi steamboat pilot's apprentice as a work of great humor and style with quintessentially American themes, equal in power to "Huckleberry Finn." A recent re-reading has left me both gratified and disappointed: gratified because Twain's history and description of the ever-changing Mississippi and his account of his life as a young river pilot are just good as I
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