"The Innocents Abroad"--Mark Twain ....Wonderful "End of Summer" read...or Early Fall...
Our PBS Station did Ken Burns Series, "Mark Twain" last week....and it was wonderful...so ..checked out the books I hadn't read..... I think the "Mark Twain" is up on PBS's Website if anyone missed it.
---------
The Innocents Abroad
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=mark+twain+innocents+abroad&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=28303901481&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10373022282508920114&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1u3zco726r_b
In 1867, Mark Twain and a group fellow-Americans toured Europe and the Holy Land, aboard a retired Civil War ship known as “Quaker City.” Throughout the journey, Twain kept a written record of his experiences. “The Innocents Abroad” is both a travelogue and a critique of clashing cultures—but more importantly, it is an entertaining and insightful work written by one of the great masters of American prose.
For the European Traveler
By rgd on December 27, 2011
Around the world with a jaundiced eye
By Michael J. Edelman TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 4, 2014
The Innocents Abroad is one of the great works of parody of the 19th Century, as well as a thoroughly modern comedic work. Backed by a newspaper, a relatively young (32) Twain joined one of the "Tours of the Holy Land" that were popular with the newly emergent middle class, and sent back regular reports to his paper that, on the surface, read like a typical travelogue. But Twain's acid pen and eye for hypocrisy and cant were in full force, as was his ability to parody subjects in a sly and clever manner.
Even though this book is over 130 years old, Twain's satiric style comes across as very modern. Fans of Jon Stewart would find a very similar sensibility in Twain observations. I first read this book as a teenager, forty years ago, and I still find passages that make me laugh out loud.
---------
Long but intriguing picture of an earlier time
By MamaSylvia on March 8, 2012
Twain records his experiences on a long steamer trip to the Holy Land, from the eager journal-keepers on the trip across the Atlantic, through visits to Gibraltar and Tangier, Paris and Rome, Venice and Constantinople, a meeting with the Czar in Yalta, and finally the Holy Land trek itself.
This is a really, really, REALLY long book. The Gutenberg file lists 10 volumes and I think each of them must have been a normal-sized book by itself. I normally read 1-2 books per day, but I got stuck in this one for over a week and still hadn't finished - I started reading it as filler around other books. Be sure to find the version with illustrations, they are wonderful. Twain's self-conscious wide-eyed innocence as he recounts the ad for the trip, offering a few "exclusive" places to the public, was not particularly funny. But the book improved as he described shipboard life and seeing new sights and people, the humor becoming less strained and more situational (at which Twain had few peers). I found myself particularly enjoying three elements of the books. One was simply Twain's descriptions of the Europe of the time: the country, the towns, the people, and the architecture. Even seeing the places today, they are not the same as they were in the 19th century.
Second, he makes some astoundingly perceptive comments that would do credit to a 21st century philosopher; he describes the European habit of leaving work at work and compares it to the hustling American who lets work rule his life, and notes that none of the many portraits of the Virgin Mary actually pictured a Jewish woman. And then he ruins the good effect by making ugly-American comments on the laziness or stupidity of other nationalities, as well as the Roman Catholic Church. (Although he later notes that although he has been taught all his life about the Catholic evil, he will not hear anything against the kind monks who run hostels along the route to Palestine.) Finally, although Twain's writing in general fully justified his reputation as a cynic, he approaches the Holy Land itself with a deep reverence. His awe at walking where Jesus walked is undisguised, and his knowledge of Biblical history would put a modern divinity student to shame. But the Twain-lover needn't fear he has gotten soft; he also makes caustic comments on the various relics and how so many of the events of Jesus' life conveniently occurred in lovely grottoes.
http://www.amazon.com/Innocents-Abroad-Mark-Twain/dp/1619492350/ref=sr_1_1/188-5543567-1942706?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409354903&sr=1-1&keywords=mark+twain+innocents+abroad#cm_cr_dpwidget
The Innocents Abroad is one of the great works of parody of the 19th Century, as well as a thoroughly modern comedic work. Backed by a newspaper, a relatively young (32) Twain joined one of the "Tours of the Holy Land" that were popular with the newly emergent middle class, and sent back regular reports to his paper that, on the surface, read like a typical travelogue. But Twain's acid pen and eye for hypocrisy and cant were in full force, as was his ability to parody subjects in a sly and clever manner.
Even though this book is over 130 years old, Twain's satiric style comes across as very modern. Fans of Jon Stewart would find a very similar sensibility in Twain observations. I first read this book as a teenager, forty years ago, and I still find passages that make me laugh out loud.
----------
Twain records his experiences on a long steamer trip to the Holy Land, from the eager journal-keepers on the trip across the Atlantic, through visits to Gibraltar and Tangier, Paris and Rome, Venice and Constantinople, a meeting with the Czar in Yalta, and finally the Holy Land trek itself.
This is a really, really, REALLY long book. The Gutenberg file lists 10 volumes and I think each of them must have been a normal-sized book by itself. I normally read 1-2 books per day, but I got stuck in this one for over a week and still hadn't finished - I started reading it as filler around other books. Be sure to find the version with illustrations, they are wonderful. Twain's self-conscious wide-eyed innocence as he recounts the ad for the trip, offering a few "exclusive" places to the public, was not particularly funny. But the book improved as he described shipboard life and seeing new sights and people, the humor becoming less strained and more situational (at which Twain had few peers). I found myself particularly enjoying three elements of the books. One was simply Twain's descriptions of the Europe of the time: the country, the towns, the people, and the architecture. Even seeing the places today, they are not the same as they were in the 19th century. Second, he makes some astoundingly perceptive comments that would do credit to a 21st century philosopher; he describes the European habit of leaving work at work and compares it to the hustling American who lets work rule his life, and notes that none of the many portraits of the Virgin Mary actually pictured a Jewish woman. And then he ruins the good effect by making ugly-American comments on the laziness or stupidity of other nationalities, as well as the Roman Catholic Church.Read more ›
Delightful
By Lilliana on July 13, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
What a step back in time this read was and especially wonderful if you have visited any of the places that Mark Twain traveled on his long voyage around the world. You can picture yourself strolling the deck of his steamer ship and walking the pathways of each town visited. Especially delightful was the interaction of his traveling companions and the various tour guides they hired, not so different today! Would have liked to be on this trip.....
--------
What a step back in time this read was and especially wonderful if you have visited any of the places that Mark Twain traveled on his long voyage around the world. You can picture yourself strolling the deck of his steamer ship and walking the pathways of each town visited. Especially delightful was the interaction of his traveling companions and the various tour guides they hired, not so different today! Would have liked to be on this trip.....
Twain accompanies and makes humor of a group of wealthy folks who charter a ship and travel thousands of miles from New York to Europe and the Holy Land...and other places. It is a true story of a trip that really happened...it was Twain's first book and it made him wealthy. It sold more than any other of his books in his lifetime. An example of the humor: Twain was at the Sea of Galilee and wanted to ride in one of the boats some Arab fellows rented out there. The price was high...so high that Twain said now he knew why Jesus had walked across the water.
-------
Careful...this book causes seizures of laughter
By Kindle Customer on August 12, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Twain accompanies and makes humor of a group of wealthy folks who charter a ship and travel thousands of miles from New York to Europe and the Holy Land...and other places. It is a true story of a trip that really happened...it was Twain's first book and it made him wealthy. It sold more than any other of his books in his lifetime. An example of the humor: Twain was at the Sea of Galilee and wanted to ride in one of the boats some Arab fellows rented out there. The price was high...so high that Twain said now he knew why Jesus had walked across the water.
= new reply since forum marked as read
