A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

I have such mixed feelings about this book. Mainly, I kept being confused: is this really a book extolling the progress of modern (19th century) life, or a satire of self-satisfied Victorians who think they've figured everything out, when really they're only a few decades away from owning slaves themselves, and will also appear deeply flawed in the long view of history? Or both? I think both, but really I found the narrator so much of an arrogant boor that it was a slog to get through.

I listened to the audiobook, which was very skillfully narrated by Nick Offerman, so I'm giving him an extra star.

8/10

Main character was insufferable and has superiority complex. Just because he was from a different time did not make him smarter or better than the other characters. Still, there were some humorous bits, like trying to travel on a hot day in armor and having the sweat build up inside the suite.

Note: I listened to the version narrated by Nick Offerman. He was the best narrator they could have chosen and make this book more enjoyable. Picture Ron Swanson in Camelot. It was fun.

As Twain does, he hides social commentary in a quaint story and sneaks it all in before you realize what happened.

This books is funny, of course. Twain is one of those folks that makes you smile on every page. And he skewers major institution after major institution. In particular, he thumbs his nose at monarchies, hero worship, artificial class structures, the superstitious, and wow does he go at institutional religious entities. He also has a lot to say about mankind's infatuation with heroism through violence, blind patriotism, mob thinking, anti-intellectualism. The story applies today as much as it did then. All of this wrapped up in the story of a “modern” dude being transported to the 6th century. Where at first he thinks he is somehow in an insane asylum and then realizes that everyone is just insane (so to speak). Anyway. It's a must read, I think, if you want a complete western literary education but ...

BUT! I didn't love it.

The language is ... just too dated. Huckleberry Finn is one of my favorite novels of all time, but it didn't bog down in the language like this book did. I'm not sure why this was different. And all the 6th century folks spoke in a Twain-ified 6th century dialect that was sometimes quite funny (he was making fun of them) but also ... just too much.

And the book is entirely too long. It needed to be about 1/3rd shorter. Maybe more. It reminded me of Forest Gump and how it just went on and on and on and on. Anyway.

Glad I read it. It is indeed brilliant. But I will never read it again. :)

No, just no. A book written in the 19th century, with vocabulary from the 15th? century, following a story structure from the NO century.

Mark Twain, just like not many, but ALL of the classic writers, bears no attraction to me. The opposite actually. I can't stand his prose, his story structure, nothing.

I think it starts in the present, explaining how the protagonist (the author himself?) is visiting some old castle, and he meets an old timer who starts telling some tales of the old chivalry times. Then it changes perspective, and all of a sudden a very flourished Sir Lancelot tale is being told.

I hate this old knight tales, that more resemble a poem, and have no content whatsoever. Sir Lancelot, who is valiant, gallant, invincible, and... I can't take this any more.

Read 0:13 / 13:25 2%

4/14/23 - This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I picked up my paperback copy and started reading then re-reading chapters I particularly enjoy earlier this year. Then a few weeks ago I resumed a previous re-read on the audiobook version. Early this morning while walking I finished up the last third or so of it, so I'm calling this as a 2023 book for me. I love this book!