loyaultemelie's review against another edition
4.0
A book to make you laugh then cry. A little slow at points, but the pacing picks up nicely.
mrrobot's review against another edition
3.0
Слушал в формате аудиокниги. 13 часов 18 минут (но я ускорял воспроизведение в 1.5 раза). Голос чтеца неплохой (Заборовский Юрий), но сама книга не понравилась.
Во-первых, таймтревел-компонента раскрыта невнятно. Во-вторых, книга устарела, т.к. 6 век в ней сравнивается с 19-м, а мы-то в 21-м. Т.е. сейчас она читается уже не так, как могла читаться в 1889 году. В-третьих, с моральной точки зрения события полны всякой жести и чернухи. Книга не для младших классов школы, так считаю. Ну, и в-четвертых, в плане сюжета это довольно скучная книга.
Про так называемого типичного попаданца (типовой прием для книжной фантастики), пытающегося из древней Британии сделать страну-республику. Также здесь присутствует критика рабства (больная для янки, да и не только, тема). Герои легенд о короле Артуре придают событиями элемент знакомости персонажей, но, в общем и целом, это не особо помогает получить от книги удовольствие.
Оценка: 6.5 из 10
Во-первых, таймтревел-компонента раскрыта невнятно. Во-вторых, книга устарела, т.к. 6 век в ней сравнивается с 19-м, а мы-то в 21-м. Т.е. сейчас она читается уже не так, как могла читаться в 1889 году. В-третьих, с моральной точки зрения события полны всякой жести и чернухи. Книга не для младших классов школы, так считаю. Ну, и в-четвертых, в плане сюжета это довольно скучная книга.
Про так называемого типичного попаданца (типовой прием для книжной фантастики), пытающегося из древней Британии сделать страну-республику. Также здесь присутствует критика рабства (больная для янки, да и не только, тема). Герои легенд о короле Артуре придают событиями элемент знакомости персонажей, но, в общем и целом, это не особо помогает получить от книги удовольствие.
Оценка: 6.5 из 10
thomasindc's review against another edition
5.0
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!
spartanjess's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn’t aware of this Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” until Audible served me with the suggestion. The summation of the book made it appealing and narration by Nick Offerman sealed the deal. I can say with confidence that Nick Offerman should read all the Mark Twain books!
This book is a time-traveling, satirical tale about chivalry, monarchy, feudalism, and the church. Hank Morgan, the Yankee in the story, receives a serious blow to the head that sends him back to the time of King Arthur’s Court. Applying what he learned from his time in the 1800’s, Hank impresses the people of 6th century England with his “powers.” It’s an enjoyable listen with interesting and thought provoking perspectives.
This book is a time-traveling, satirical tale about chivalry, monarchy, feudalism, and the church. Hank Morgan, the Yankee in the story, receives a serious blow to the head that sends him back to the time of King Arthur’s Court. Applying what he learned from his time in the 1800’s, Hank impresses the people of 6th century England with his “powers.” It’s an enjoyable listen with interesting and thought provoking perspectives.
hstapp's review against another edition
3.0
The introduction of this book, as an unusual twist, made me very excited about reading it. Unfortunately the book was not nearly as interesting as the introduction made it out to be, but i still enjoyed it.
The humor in the book is mild at best, and we see very little introduction of "modern" technology into Arthurian time. It mostly follows the adventures of our Yankee as he roams Arthur's Kingdom.
The problem with this book is that I like it for the elements that are similar to the Arthurian elements. Well... that and the pictures.
The humor in the book is mild at best, and we see very little introduction of "modern" technology into Arthurian time. It mostly follows the adventures of our Yankee as he roams Arthur's Kingdom.
The problem with this book is that I like it for the elements that are similar to the Arthurian elements. Well... that and the pictures.
wwatts1734's review against another edition
3.0
Not one of the best known of the novels of Twain, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is the story of Hank Morgan, a Connecticut engineer who finds himself mystically transported back to 5th Century England where he encounters King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. Oddly, the Knights and other characters of Camelot are very different in Twains novel than what we read in the works of Mallory and others. In Twain, Merlin is a two bit trickster, the Knights are brutish thugs and the King himself is a slaver and oppressor of the people. In short, Twain uses the context of Camelot to introduce the Progressive ideas of 19th Century New England into the England of the early Middle Ages.
It's interesting to read about how Hank introduces steam engines, dynamite and baseball into the Dark Ages, but in reality I found this novel to be simply silly. Twain imposes his ideas about Utopia on Medieval Europe, and we find that the society that Twain portrays in the days of Camelot resemble the antebellum South more than they resemble Dark Ages. For example, Twain spends a large amount of time discussing slavery in Arthur's kingdom. Now, slavery existed in those days, but it was on a serious decline after the fall of the Roman Empire. It would not have been nearly as prominent as Twain depicts it in this novel. But slavery was very prevalent in Missouri when Twain was a young boy, and so 19th Century Missouri colors what Twain believes Medieval Britain would have been like.
Twain's oversimplistic depiction of the Church as the defender of superstition and oppression are equally silly. Twain's protagonist seeks to overthrow "Established Religion", but in other places Twain gives an actually sympathetic depiction of the Church, such as when priests read public proclamations to the people and when a monk comforted the mother of a baby suffering from the plague. Twain was a man of strong moral sensibilities, but he had a naïve view of the cause of evil, seeing institutions like the Church and the Aristocracy as the main cause of the suffering of man. This belief turns an amusing story into what seemed at times to be a rant.
Other than this, "Connecticut Yankee" is an amusing story and, if nothing else, it is a good literary depiction of a true believer advancing the 19th Century Progressive political agenda. Readers should read this work with this in mind.
It's interesting to read about how Hank introduces steam engines, dynamite and baseball into the Dark Ages, but in reality I found this novel to be simply silly. Twain imposes his ideas about Utopia on Medieval Europe, and we find that the society that Twain portrays in the days of Camelot resemble the antebellum South more than they resemble Dark Ages. For example, Twain spends a large amount of time discussing slavery in Arthur's kingdom. Now, slavery existed in those days, but it was on a serious decline after the fall of the Roman Empire. It would not have been nearly as prominent as Twain depicts it in this novel. But slavery was very prevalent in Missouri when Twain was a young boy, and so 19th Century Missouri colors what Twain believes Medieval Britain would have been like.
Twain's oversimplistic depiction of the Church as the defender of superstition and oppression are equally silly. Twain's protagonist seeks to overthrow "Established Religion", but in other places Twain gives an actually sympathetic depiction of the Church, such as when priests read public proclamations to the people and when a monk comforted the mother of a baby suffering from the plague. Twain was a man of strong moral sensibilities, but he had a naïve view of the cause of evil, seeing institutions like the Church and the Aristocracy as the main cause of the suffering of man. This belief turns an amusing story into what seemed at times to be a rant.
Other than this, "Connecticut Yankee" is an amusing story and, if nothing else, it is a good literary depiction of a true believer advancing the 19th Century Progressive political agenda. Readers should read this work with this in mind.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
5.0
Part joke book, part political tract, and mainly written in a journalistic style of the time, but one of the best books ever written. I would rank it up there with Brothers Karamazov and Our Mutual Friend.
sabregirl's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a little bit on the fence about this book. I haven't read Mark Twain since 8th grade so it took a while to get used to. And it took a lot longer to actually get into the book. More than once I was confused as to what was going on or where things came from. I did like the contrast of an 19th century man living in the 5th and how he wanted to make everything his own at the time because he could. I often found the narrator annoying and a braggy but it wasn't until the 'three years later' mark that I started to like him almost. Especially since he had settled down with Sandy and became a family. It was heartbreaking when he couldn't return to them until he died. I think it might be a while before I read Mark Twain again.