A Connecticut Yankee - Ch 39 thru Final P.S. by M.T.

[Gem , Moderator]

Our final week with the Connecticut Yankee. Thank you again to everyone who participated in the discussions, I apologize for wimping out... this was just not one I could get through.

[Jonathan]

I think it was a good book, but I do not feel the need to jump into another Twain anytime soon.

[Lori, Moderator]

It was fairly entertaining, but not one of my favorites, and I don't really have any remarks to add to a discussion of it.

Oh, I remembered something. I know it's supposed to be a satire, but... holy plot holes? How on earth would Hank know how to make guns, electric fences, and dynamite?

That said, Cowboy Hank was pretty funny. I felt sickened at all the killing at the end, though. I know it's just a book, but I found it disturbing.

[Wendel]

This may not be a particular good book, but I found it quite interesting. It cannot be read as an historical novel, nor as an attempt at inverted science fiction (an intriguing idea, though). So I came to see it as a parable on the Civil War, and the failed Reconstruction of the South after the war. In a wider context the story may be understood as a reflection on the awful power of unreason.

One drawback is that the book is so overly didactic. But to some degree it is saved by Twain’s ambiguity on the most important issues. Sir Boss, the level-headed Yankee, has a lot to offer the downtrodden in a world dominated by slave-owners and their church. Even so, making this world 'save for democracy' proves to be a task beyond his powers. Moreover, while Twain clearly loathes Arthurian ideology, we cannot help to think of Hank an insufferable wiseacre - and that is because Twain wants us to feel that way.

Culture (some would say 'identity') is what we are, it is stronger even than self-interest, far stronger than reason. And in the case of Arthur’s knights Twain cannot help himself: he must admire their stupid stubbornness. Hank’s conclusion is that there is only one remedy: kill them all. I wonder if that was Twain’s recipe for the South: despatch all slave owners? And would that have changed the sentiments of their rednecked followers?

[Brit]

Finally done! Loved Merlin's revenge! That was the best part of the book.

[Jonathan]

Brit wrote: "Finally done! Loved Merlin's revenge! That was the best part of the book."

You'll have to refresh my memory. What was Merlin's revenge?

[Brit]

Jonathan wrote: "Brit wrote: "Finally done! Loved Merlin's revenge! That was the best part of the book."

You'll have to refresh my memory. What was Merlin's revenge?"

“Ye were conquerrors; ye are conquerred! These others are perishing — you also. Ye shall all die in this place — every one — except HIM. He sleepeth now — and shall sleep thirteen centuries. I am Merlin!”

[Jonathan]

Yeah, that was a shocker. After Hank had outwitted him every time.