Roughing It Illustrated

Cenuel reviewed Roughing It by Mark Twain

Rough times

3 stars

Probably, in all honesty, not Twain’s best work, but it helped establish him as a writer so good for those of us who are happy some of his other books, does have some good bits, and its strongest point is probably as a reflection of the author’s time and place. The strongest section is probably while he is settled in Nevada, in terms of stretches of fifty or one hundred pages. Best individual anecdote is a description of some guy on a boat to Hawaii who bothers his fellow passengers by making up brazen stories consisting of horse manure to justify why he supports the Confederates in the Civil War. Finally someone uses the dude’s tactics on him and tricks him into agreeing to some equally tall tale in support of the Union and that gets him to shut up for the rest of the trip.

protomattr reviewed Roughing it by Mark Twain

Review of 'Roughing it' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I absolutely loved this adventure through the Wild West and beyond with Mark Twain, though I found it got a lot better toward the end. When, stricken with wanderlust, he left the mines of Nevada for San Francisco, I was more than happy for the change. As a former resident of the Bay Area, I enjoyed his treatment and exploration of California. But the highlight of all was his trip to Hawaii, especially his discussion of the indigenous people's customs, religion, and history, and his into-the-caldera exploration of Kilauea. Since he wrote this book after Innocents Abroad, but it covers events prior to it, there's some interesting cross-referencing in both works, for example his comparison of Kilauea to Mt Vesuvius, and Lake Tahoe to Lake Como. And of course there is plenty of his singular humor and take on the world. Finally, I wonder if Conan Doyle was influenced by …

I absolutely loved this adventure through the Wild West and beyond with Mark Twain, though I found it got a lot better toward the end. When, stricken with wanderlust, he left the mines of Nevada for San Francisco, I was more than happy for the change. As a former resident of the Bay Area, I enjoyed his treatment and exploration of California. But the highlight of all was his trip to Hawaii, especially his discussion of the indigenous people's customs, religion, and history, and his into-the-caldera exploration of Kilauea. Since he wrote this book after Innocents Abroad, but it covers events prior to it, there's some interesting cross-referencing in both works, for example his comparison of Kilauea to Mt Vesuvius, and Lake Tahoe to Lake Como. And of course there is plenty of his singular humor and take on the world. Finally, I wonder if Conan Doyle was influenced by this book, with his vengeful Mormons in A Study in Scarlet and the mining cabal in The Valley of Fear.

Moorlock

rated it

Aug. 22, 2009