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37th out of 766 books
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1,210 voters
Life on the Mississippi
A stirring account of America's vanished past...
The book that earned Mark Twain his first recognition as a serious writer...
Discover the magic of life on the Mississippi.
At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Mark Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, Life on the Mississippi is the raw...more
The book that earned Mark Twain his first recognition as a serious writer...
Discover the magic of life on the Mississippi.
At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Mark Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, Life on the Mississippi is the raw...more
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Published
November 2001
by Signet Classics
(first published 1883)
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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.
Another book I've read over and over--It's free on Kindle in the old edition, which is fun to read because of its authentic touches. America's 1880s are my current decade of choice, having spent years mired in research about the period, and Life on the Mississippi captures the rapid change in this country that took place after the Civil War, as it changed from a land of bucolic wilderness filled with independent workingmen to one of safer, duller regulated organized industrialization and automat...more
Starting with a humorous and informative history of the river, Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain continues to describe piloting that waterway. In the same home-down style established by all of his more well known works, Twain paints a brightly-colored portrait of that long river with all its twists, turns, rapids, shallows and landmarks. The book traces river travel from the time that the river pilot was almost a god to their downfall with the building of levees, dykes and the placing of lig...more
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 book, it's ea...more
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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 of detailed...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 of detailed...more
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 it his own policital and social vie...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 it his own policital and social vie...more
What a satisfying book to read! This edition included an afterword that called the piece uneven, which i suppose has some validity. But as it says, Twain lived in a changing era from natural river to conduit of commerce. Im not going to critique his writing, it rocked! A couple of big giant picture windows into another time and way of life, and way of writing.
(..always avenue of commerce, quickening pace of industrialization)
(..always avenue of commerce, quickening pace of industrialization)
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 rail or train were, and...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 rail or train were, and...more
I won't go into the long story of how and why I read very little of Mark Twain's works while in school, and now with the ever-growing list of modern books to read, I don't know when I'll get a chance at another of his. I just happened to stumble across this book on CD at my local library and thought I'd finally give it a shot.
I did enjoy it for various reasons--for a true glimpse back in time to a way of life long gone, for a nice taste of Twain's dry humor that still resonates today (after all...more
I did enjoy it for various reasons--for a true glimpse back in time to a way of life long gone, for a nice taste of Twain's dry humor that still resonates today (after all...more
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, there is the period of Twai...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, there is the period of Twai...more
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 river h...more
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Oct 30, 2011
Simran
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone willing to read only half of it; the 1st half.
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 out of cont...more
However; around the halfway mark, the whole story just seemed to spiral out of cont...more
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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.
Full disclosure here, Mark Twain is both my favorite author and my mentor as a writer. Or he would be my mentor if he wasn't dead. That kinda puts a crimp in things. So anything I review by Twain is going to be heavily biased in his favor.
This is one of his autobiographical works, similar to Innocents Abroad and Roughing It. It's also one of his earlier works, but his inimitable style is unmistakable from the beginning. Twain has a sense of humor that might fairly be called dessicated. Although...more
This is one of his autobiographical works, similar to Innocents Abroad and Roughing It. It's also one of his earlier works, but his inimitable style is unmistakable from the beginning. Twain has a sense of humor that might fairly be called dessicated. Although...more
Samuel Clemens looks back at what he remembers as one of the happiest times of his life, when he worked on the Mississippi River. I learned a few things about Twain's early life that I didn't know and also what Mark Twain means. I might be dense but I didn't know it was a boating term and could not recall ever reading or being told that.
The story is not strictly about boating as Clemens can't help but digress into his storytelling. Then you realize that the stories ARE about life on the Mississ...more
The story is not strictly about boating as Clemens can't help but digress into his storytelling. Then you realize that the stories ARE about life on the Mississ...more
Aug 30, 2009
Adam
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
No one really. . .other than retired steamboat captains
Shelves:
classics
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 nothing i...more
Mark Twain, the inimitably funny, exuberant creator and describer of American characters and scenes, is also a serious documenter of American commercial history and cultural pressures. His alias comes from the nautical expression meaning two fathoms deep. This autobiography recounts the expertise and memory power needed to steer a steamship on the Mississippi River from Saint Louis to New Orleans and back up to Saint Paul in the days before railroads existed. I recommend it highly, think it's a...more
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 to a thi...more
A version of the book edited to a thi...more
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 years of living as a writer...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 years of living as a writer...more
This is not so much as a book but as a series of the author's experiences and thoughts about the Mississippi river. He originally published a bulk of the book as individual articles in The Atlantic magazine, and when you read it as a book, you notice right away that it really doesn't tell a story from front to back--or really in any kind of order.
The opening chapters are very technical, explaining in what for me was far too much detail how ships navigate up and down the river. I quickly bored of...more
The opening chapters are very technical, explaining in what for me was far too much detail how ships navigate up and down the river. I quickly bored of...more
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...
One l...more
One l...more
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 enjoy Twain's wit and c...more
Some people may find this book boring because it is more of a history than a story, but I always enjoy Twain's wit and c...more
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...more
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....more
UPDATE: Twain is a very likable narrator as he relates the events of his early life piloting steamships on the Mississippi. My home town is in Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi, so I felt reconnected to a bunch of stuff I probably learned in 3rd grade history but hadn't thought about in 30 years. So that's cool I guess. But 55 pages was enough, and this baby is going in the sell pile.
So here's the deal. I cut myself off from buying new books until I read or otherwise dispense with the 40...more
So here's the deal. I cut myself off from buying new books until I read or otherwise dispense with the 40...more
Started off good as I liked the descriptions of the river. I did not enjoy it so much when the chapter from Huck Fin was included; it has put me off wanting to read it.
Getting back to this book, I found the commentary of life on the river and the training how to be a pilot very entertaining; Twains dry sense of humour comes across.
Through the long time span, Twain revisits, we et to see how life on the river, and the river itself changes. The book is an example of how nothing is forever, even...more
Getting back to this book, I found the commentary of life on the river and the training how to be a pilot very entertaining; Twains dry sense of humour comes across.
Through the long time span, Twain revisits, we et to see how life on the river, and the river itself changes. The book is an example of how nothing is forever, even...more
The first portion of Life on the Mississippi primarily recounts Twain’s days as a cub pilot on a steam boat. The latter portion is essentially a journal of Twain's revisiting of the old river towns of his youth. This is a wonderful read. Though chock full of farce, tall tales and drollery, this is a history. I can think of no other biography, history or autobiography that better gives the flavor of the Mississippi valley during the 1850’s and 1860’s. The novel if full of profanity without saying...more
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 a t...more
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 education as a...more
The most engrossing sections describe Twain's education as a...more
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.
Yet he executes the f...more
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.
Yet he executes the f...more
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
More about Mark Twain...
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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“Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.”
—
207 people liked it
“The Mississippi River towns are comely, clean, well built, and pleasing to the eye, and cheering to the spirit. The Mississippi Valley is as reposeful as a dreamland, nothing worldly about it . . . nothing to hang a fret or a worry upon.”
—
4 people liked it
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