- Paperback: 329 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Australia; Reissue edition (27 Sep 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451524756
- ISBN-13: 978-0451524751
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.7 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,179,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
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Review
"Twain is the funniest literary American writer. . . . [I]t must have been a great pleasure to be him."
--George Saunders --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
--George Saunders --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
Twain, Mark "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" in the revolutionary Bed Book Landscape Reading Format - a new approach to reading in bed as well as other places people enjoy reading while lying down, such as the beach, or on a grassy lawn in the park. Bed Books provide the freedom to lie in any comfortable position without being obligated to sit up in order to read. They can be an essential aid for readers who may be prone to back and neck strain when assuming the contorted body positions normally required for reading while lying down, and for those who have previously found it difficult or impossible to read books in bed, such as the elderly and the disabled. Bed Books can also be read sitting up as easily as with a conventional book. See the current Bed Book Catalog at: www.bedbooks.NET www.readinginbed.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
By
This review is from: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)
Overall I found this disappointing. It had a few good bits in it, where the author/narrator rails against oppression and injustice and a few moving and horrifying scenes depicting said oppression and injustice. However, these were surrounded by oceans of silliness in which the author is preoccupied with reproducing the details, both good and bad, of 19th century American society into 6th century England (of course, it is not really 6th century England, as it is the Thomas Malory depiction of King Arthur in the style of high Medieval chivalry). Despite his self-proclaimed lofty ideals and opposition to the violence of the era, the narrator uses violence himself and casually causes the deaths of 25,000 knights in the final battle. This may be authorial comment on 19th century white American treatment of the native American and Black populations, but I rather doubt it - it all seems too trivial to be satirical.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A great book hindered by politics and continuity,
By Andrew Norris (West Midlands, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)
I bought this book because I hoped, as the title implied, it would be a humourous look at the Arthurian legends.
The book itself starts off on a good footing - a knight in Warwick Castle comes across American Hank Logan, who tells of how he was inexplicably sent backwards in time after being hit on the head whilst working in a munitions factory in 19th century Connecticut. He awakes in Britain during the time of King Arthur, and is taken to Camelot by a knight. From there, everything slips out of control. The humour is quickly lost as Twain begins a long rant about his own opinions about monarchy and the role of the church through his character of Hank Logan. King Arthur himself is pushed into the background, and nearly all of the characters bar Hank himself and a boy named Clarence are shown to be simple and, in some cases, incredibly stupid. Of course, we know differently now thanks to the efforts of archaeologists, and we can give Twain some benefit of the doubt, since he was writing in an age when texts about King Arthur were taken too literally, but that doesn't explain one important problem in the book: Throughout the book, Hank denies the existence of magic, but if magic does not exist, just how can Hank arrive in Arthurian Britain in the first place, and how can Merlin send him back again by just muttering a few threats if magic is not supposed to exist? I know that sounds as if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill - it probably is - but the non-existence of magic is the whole point behind Hank's takeover and industrialisation of Medieval Britain. If magic still exists and he is simply in denial, the whole point of the novel simply falls apart.
16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A blazing satire: on Medieval UK AND (still)contemporary USA,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Oxford Mark Twain) (Hardcover)
DON'T LISTEN TO "A READER, 5 APRIL"!!!!!!!!DON'T read this book if you want a nicey nicey comedy, because Huck Finn gives you a (mistakenly) warm glow, OR to find out about Arthurian legends (read E. R. White instead!) It isn't intended for either of those reasons, and you need to go back to the Children's section. Read this book because you want to be challenged, because you want your view of literature and economics to be turned upsode down. If you want an incisive insight into Mark Twain's take onstorytelling and how it affects our lives, OR to see how corporate America searches and destroys alternative cultures and communities, then this is one of the finest books that literature can offer you. AND it's funny. Medieval England had lots of dragons (Twain explains how come), but corporate America has infinitely worse breeds sucking our communities dry.................... read on
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