Reviews

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

Only show reviews with written explanations

redlynx's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

4.5

daja57's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

An engineer from 1890s Connecticut is transported back to Camelot in the mid-6th century. Appalled by the feudalism and the monarchism (as an American he is a staunch republican), he sets about to defeat superstitious magic with the aid of science (mostly by dynamiting Merlin's tower) and to develop the economy using engineering, newspapers and advertising. It is a paean to the virtues of the nineteenth century.

But it is a small conceit for such a long novel and I found the joke wearing very thin at times. In addition, it left a rather bad taste in my mouth. Twain seems utterly blind to the possible evils of his own society. In the middle of the book, the narrator (known as The Boss) takes King Arthur in disguise to learn about the condition of the common people (shades of Twain's The Prince and the Pauper here). The poverty and sickness and cruelty of the master to the serf and the wickedness of slavery are highlighted, but in the end one gets the feeling that the narrator doesn't actually care whether poor people are lynched or starve to death or are burned alive ... providing it's not him. For example, when The Boss and The King have been enslaved and are on a scaffold waiting to be hanged for slave rebellion, he watches the first two slaves hanged with equanimity and only starts worrying when the noose is around the King's neck.

And towards the end, when The Boss is battling the knights, he kills at first one, then dozens and later tens of thousands using guns, electrocution and explosives. If anything, he is proud of the body count. It reminded me of the jingoistic exultation of Victorian Britons when their soldiers, armed with guns, slaughtered soldiers armed with spears and swords and called their opponents 'savages'.

If course it is possible that Twain intended the book as a satire against colonialist capitalism. I think the Introduction of the Penguin edition is trying to make this point. ... but I certainly didn't get that sense.

curivm's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful informative lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jennybun's review against another edition

Go to review page

Loveable characters? No

2.5

Took me a reallllly long time to get through this. The narrator is insufferable.

Nick Offerman’s narration certainly fits the main character and thus is good in that regards, but made listening for long periods of time impossible.

kb_johnstone's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The story itself was so good but Twain kept going off on preaching rants about the virtues of modern America and how every other time and place is trash. That made me almost dislike the book for all the derailing from the story but the ending had me almost crying and that’s what upped the rating.