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The Innocents Abroad (Fully Illustrated Edition)
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Product Description
Product Description
Based on letters Twain wrote from Europe to newspapers in San Francisco and New York as a roving correspondent, THE INNOCENTS ABROAD (1869) is a burlesque of the sentimental travel books popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Twain's perspective was fresh and irreverent: tour guides, he writes, 'interrupt every dream, every pleasant train of thought, with their tiresome cackling' and the saints on the Cathedral of Notre Dame are 'battered and broken-nosed old fellows'. As unimpressed by American manners as he is by European attitudes, Twain concludes that 'human nature is very much the same all over the world'.
About the Author
Mark Twain (1835-1910) was born Samuel Longhorn Clemens in Florida. A satirist, and keen observer of American society, he is one of America's greatest novelists. His works include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Tom Quirk is the Catherine Paine Middlebursh Professor of English at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has written several books and is the editor of Twain's Tales, Speeches, Essays and Sketches for Penguin Classics.
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First Sentence
For months the great Pleasure Excursion to Europe and the Holy Land was chatted about in the newspapers every where in America, and discussed at countless firesides. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
For months the great Pleasure Excursion to Europe and the Holy Land was chatted about in the newspapers every where in America, and discussed at countless firesides. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I think Clemen's funniest extended work. He was not far removed from his newspaper work at the time, nor had he established himself as a writer nationally. I believe because of that there is a vitality to the writing and unconcern with maintaining his stature that makes Innocents a serendiptious howler of a read.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book describes a group tour of "Europe and the Holy Land" Samuel Clemens experienced and reported about 100 years ago. He describes, in a way that only Mark Twain can, the people he meets and the places they go from the point of view from the American West. One memorable example of his American perspective is a comparison of Italian mountains, lakes and rivers with his beloved Rockies, Tahoe, and Mississippi. He also paints humorous portraits of the tour guides and his fellow travelers. The first time I read this book I was on an organized bus tour in Europe and quickly realized how many of Twain's human observations on how tourists are treated still apply, which makes the humor very accessible.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Until reading this book I had little, even no perception of the way of life in mainland Europe in the 19th century. Yet after reading Twain's 'The Innocents Abroad' I couldn't help but feel refreshed and energised. My first thought when I got to the last page was that I had to visit the amazing places that he did 150 years ago.
I could never get bored of his sarcastic yet so true statements about the people and places he saw. I particularly enjoyed his synomonous accounts of busy and boisterous Napoli (Naples, Italy) and he really brought all the senses of what the city was like to me through the pages.
Despite being written so long ago it is suprising to see how little the world has changed apart from mass technological discovery. If all travel writers were as honest and 'frank' as Twain then I would be sure that we would all have a better judgement and sense of how the world around us really works.
A historical and cultural masterpieve written by one of America's most treasured and prized authors.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad
The book arrived on time and in perfect condition, as always. Mark Twain's travels always amuse me as the interesting places and people he describes remind me of my own travels... Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. Stonitsch
Hard going
I find it hard to believe I read the same book as the other reviewers! My book group chose this one and for the first time ever, not one of us managed to finish the book. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2009 by Sarah123
His funniest book
This is Twain when he doesn't have to worry about a bloomin' story line or consistant dialogue. He simply writes what comes to mind, and manages to debunk every so-called monument... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 1999
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