A review by wardjaeger
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
4.0
Probably the most enjoyable piece of classic literature that I have read! The contrast between the attitudes of the 6th century royal court and the 19th century factory manager Hank leads to really hilarious situations. Since the story is told from Hank’s perspective, the humor is usually at the expense of the 6th century. Hank will consistently triumph with his knowledge of future events and his experience in technology, all leading up to the climactic and ridiculous jousting match with Sir Sagramor.
On that note, one criticism I have is that everyone from the 6th century is portrayed as pretty idiotic. They constantly fall prey to the simplest of superstitions, and they are often subject to psychotic delusions. I can’t tell if that is Mark Twain’s view or just Hank’s, but regardless it often struck me as narrow minded to see the people of the “Dark Ages” in this way. I was particularly frustrated at one scene, in which Hank struggles and ultimately fails to explain to some peasants the distinction between purchasing power and nominal wage; even after multiple pages of dialogue, these peasants still prefer higher wages to better purchasing power, which just seems dumb and very unlikely to me. However, in a somber twist at the end of the frame story, we see that Hank isn’t completely free from these sorts of self-deceptions either.
There is a lot of anti-Catholic rhetoric in this book, which the commentary in my edition explains is partially due to the culture of 1880s America. Twain frequently portrays the Church in her actions as a force of ignorance and blindness. The protagonist also explains his thoughts often, saying that “Concentration of power in a political machine is bad; and an Established Church is only a political machine”. He even claims that the Church “had converted a nation of men to a nation of worms” by inventing the notion of the divine right of kings to suppress the commoners, and further beating down the peasants by means of the Beatitudes, “wrenching them from their good purpose to make them fortify an evil one.” This sort of language is frequent throughout the novel, but nevertheless I was able to tolerate it.
As the commentary frequently reminded me, this novel was apparently one of the first in Twain’s pessimistic era of writing. This shows in a few surprisingly poignant moments, especially during Arthur and Hank’s travels together. However, these emotional beats make for a richer experience, and they provide deeper insight into Arthur’s character as a good man and not just a haughty nobleman. And they never overwhelm the overall sense of silliness and joy, except perhaps at the conclusion of the novel.
I really enjoyed this one! Twain lives up to his name as the greatest American humorist, in my opinion. It’s an entertaining read, if you can parse the slightly dated language of Twain’s era, and if you can tolerate the blatant anti-Catholicism. As a reader, you really want to see Hank succeed in his quest to modernize medieval England, and he usually delivers, with the help of his trusty “no more than a paragraph” page boy Clarence.
On that note, one criticism I have is that everyone from the 6th century is portrayed as pretty idiotic. They constantly fall prey to the simplest of superstitions, and they are often subject to psychotic delusions. I can’t tell if that is Mark Twain’s view or just Hank’s, but regardless it often struck me as narrow minded to see the people of the “Dark Ages” in this way. I was particularly frustrated at one scene, in which Hank struggles and ultimately fails to explain to some peasants the distinction between purchasing power and nominal wage; even after multiple pages of dialogue, these peasants still prefer higher wages to better purchasing power, which just seems dumb and very unlikely to me. However, in a somber twist at the end of the frame story, we see that Hank isn’t completely free from these sorts of self-deceptions either.
There is a lot of anti-Catholic rhetoric in this book, which the commentary in my edition explains is partially due to the culture of 1880s America. Twain frequently portrays the Church in her actions as a force of ignorance and blindness. The protagonist also explains his thoughts often, saying that “Concentration of power in a political machine is bad; and an Established Church is only a political machine”. He even claims that the Church “had converted a nation of men to a nation of worms” by inventing the notion of the divine right of kings to suppress the commoners, and further beating down the peasants by means of the Beatitudes, “wrenching them from their good purpose to make them fortify an evil one.” This sort of language is frequent throughout the novel, but nevertheless I was able to tolerate it.
As the commentary frequently reminded me, this novel was apparently one of the first in Twain’s pessimistic era of writing. This shows in a few surprisingly poignant moments, especially during Arthur and Hank’s travels together. However, these emotional beats make for a richer experience, and they provide deeper insight into Arthur’s character as a good man and not just a haughty nobleman. And they never overwhelm the overall sense of silliness and joy, except perhaps at the conclusion of the novel.
I really enjoyed this one! Twain lives up to his name as the greatest American humorist, in my opinion. It’s an entertaining read, if you can parse the slightly dated language of Twain’s era, and if you can tolerate the blatant anti-Catholicism. As a reader, you really want to see Hank succeed in his quest to modernize medieval England, and he usually delivers, with the help of his trusty “no more than a paragraph” page boy Clarence.