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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
The first half of the book reads somewhat like a memoir, telling about Twain's adolescence as a steamboat 'cub,' or a pilot's apprentice and his misadventures.
The second half covers a long river trip Twain takes approximately 25 years after leaving the profession and the individuals he meets and speaks with while on this trip.
Later in Twain's career, he traveled around the world on a kind of stand-up tour. During these engagements, he would often relate humorous adventure stories he has pick up over the years. The second half of the book has a similar vibe to these types of stories.
Decent read and interesting look into late 19th century life on the Mississippi and the regional South.
The second half covers a long river trip Twain takes approximately 25 years after leaving the profession and the individuals he meets and speaks with while on this trip.
Later in Twain's career, he traveled around the world on a kind of stand-up tour. During these engagements, he would often relate humorous adventure stories he has pick up over the years. The second half of the book has a similar vibe to these types of stories.
Decent read and interesting look into late 19th century life on the Mississippi and the regional South.
I was expecting this book to be a humorous, romantic adventure, but it wasn't. It was just tedious.
A quirky set of anecdotes and tall tales about life in the South. At this point, it's more fascinating as a primary source rather than as a literary work.
I wasn't in the mood for this type of book
This is a bit of an odd book to categorise. Normally, I don't consider travel books to be memoirs, but Life on the Mississippi is very much a book of two halves. The first half is Twain's experiences as a very young man, when he was a pilot's apprentice on a Mississippi steamboat, learning how to traverse the river. It seems a mind-boggling job, as of course there was no radar or anything like that to help navigate the constantly shifting water course, so navigation needed a great deal of attention to detail and a prodigious lot of memorisation. That being said, Twain did not, of course, stay a steamboat pilot to the end of his days. That childhood dream achieved, he changed career and went on to do a number of other things - the most famous of which was writing. He did a few travel books, if I recall correctly, and that's the second half of the book. Over twenty years after he left off piloting the Mississippi steamboats, he returned to travel the river, basically to see what had changed.
Lots, is the answer. I think it's a bit more fascinating for him than me, seeing how things have got on, new buildings sprung up in towns and so forth. Don't get me wrong. It's a likeable enough read, with a few sparkling bits, but... I pride myself on being able to take an interest in most things, but Twain's love of the Mississippi, and his mania for trivia, tested my resolve in a number of places. I really don't care about tables of which boat made the fastest crossing where, and there's only so much description of life in small rivers towns that I can read without it all blurring together. I'm glad I read it, and I liked a great deal of it, but I'm also glad it's over. I probably wouldn't pick it up again.
I would like to see the river for myself one day, though.
Lots, is the answer. I think it's a bit more fascinating for him than me, seeing how things have got on, new buildings sprung up in towns and so forth. Don't get me wrong. It's a likeable enough read, with a few sparkling bits, but... I pride myself on being able to take an interest in most things, but Twain's love of the Mississippi, and his mania for trivia, tested my resolve in a number of places. I really don't care about tables of which boat made the fastest crossing where, and there's only so much description of life in small rivers towns that I can read without it all blurring together. I'm glad I read it, and I liked a great deal of it, but I'm also glad it's over. I probably wouldn't pick it up again.
I would like to see the river for myself one day, though.
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Xenophobia, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Alcohol, War
I loved the first half of the book, where Twain describes his growing pains as a steamboat pilot. It reminded me of Moby Dick and the Dutch book Max Havelaar. Each is an equal amount of story and detailed description of a particular trade (river boating, whaling and planting coffee respectively). The description of the detailed learning necessary to be a pilot and the yarns about the colourful people on the river delighted me.
After that the book changed its tone and theme as Twain now describes a not very romantic trip down the river some twenty odd years later. It had very factual (and in fact quite boring) descriptions and a lot of facts and figures. Interspersed are a few good stories, but they are rare. Fortunately Twain’s famous wit makes this part of the book digestible, but nothing more.
The first part of the book gets four stars, the second two, so three on average.
After that the book changed its tone and theme as Twain now describes a not very romantic trip down the river some twenty odd years later. It had very factual (and in fact quite boring) descriptions and a lot of facts and figures. Interspersed are a few good stories, but they are rare. Fortunately Twain’s famous wit makes this part of the book digestible, but nothing more.
The first part of the book gets four stars, the second two, so three on average.
Recommended for fans of Feverdream by George R.R. Martin. [bc:Fevre Dream|382450|Fevre Dream|George R.R. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388197708s/382450.jpg|2564105]
Mark Twain writes as his time as a steamboat captain, an industry gone with the wind...
Mark Twain writes as his time as a steamboat captain, an industry gone with the wind...
Meandering at times, but really shows Twain's skills as a travel writer. I loved listening to it in audio form.