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angelikareadsavariciously's review against another edition
3.0
I slogged through this book, especially at the beginning when I almost gave up on it. Overall, I appreciate the satire, which was hilarious at times, and I'm glad I finished it. It certainly doesn't turn me away from Twain, but I would never read this particular work of his again.
jocelynw's review against another edition
3.0
One can really tell which are the Twain chapters and which the Warner chapters. I liked the Twain ones; I found the Warner ones tended to drag.
shagdalen's review
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
lewismillholland's review against another edition
1.0
Someone -- a politician, for some reason -- said if he had one wish it'd be to un-read "Huckleberry Finn" so that he could relive the experience of reading it for the first time. That book, along with "Tom Sawyer," took on a cult-like status in my home as a kid. Most of our books were cheap beach-read novels with simple binding and thin, cardboard covers. Those two Twain novels were combined in one hardback maroon anthology that included a built-in tassel for marking your page, like some Bibles have got.
The obvious plot twist here is that I never liked either book and it's true, I tried as a kid and joked to my mom that when I couldn't sleep I pulled out Mark Twain and within five minutes I was out. But there was no humor behind my sleep aid joke. Mostly I'd recite it verbatim for the dual purposes of lolling my tongue out and hurting my mom in that innately cruel way everyone wants to hurt their parents, just a little bit.
Since then I've come across some of Twain's writings and pithy quotes. There's one where the narrator is a kid learning to sail a steamboat. Wasn't bad. And the more I came to appreciate the classic works the more unconsciously excited I've become to read Twain, apparently, because my conscious mind was shocked at how much energy flowed through me when I picked up "The Gilded Age."
No need to beat around the bush, especially with that 1-star review up top. It wasn't great. Even in its own time it was one of Dickens' later novels, and the post-Reconstruction era was only christened "The Gilded Age" decades later, by 1920s and 30s intellectuals seeking an appropriate moniker.
If there's one thing Twain's good at, it's pith.
The novel reads a bit like a Dickensian work (says the guy who's read only "Tale of Two Cities" and part of "Great Expectations" lol) -- a bunch of cities, a bunch of characters, and long, long monologues to point out curious ideas or mock archetype the speaker represents. There were a couple times I was drawn into the novel's underlying idea, the false patina of get-rich-quick schemes in the 1870s. It made me think about tech bros and Silicon Valley, actually.
But it's old. It's not a timeless novel and what was mediocre a hundred fifty years ago hasn't aged into something beautiful and revealing. I only read about a quarter of the work before putting it down in exchange for Scaduto's first biography of Bob Dylan, the one published in 1973. That one's been a treat to read.
The obvious plot twist here is that I never liked either book and it's true, I tried as a kid and joked to my mom that when I couldn't sleep I pulled out Mark Twain and within five minutes I was out. But there was no humor behind my sleep aid joke. Mostly I'd recite it verbatim for the dual purposes of lolling my tongue out and hurting my mom in that innately cruel way everyone wants to hurt their parents, just a little bit.
Since then I've come across some of Twain's writings and pithy quotes. There's one where the narrator is a kid learning to sail a steamboat. Wasn't bad. And the more I came to appreciate the classic works the more unconsciously excited I've become to read Twain, apparently, because my conscious mind was shocked at how much energy flowed through me when I picked up "The Gilded Age."
No need to beat around the bush, especially with that 1-star review up top. It wasn't great. Even in its own time it was one of Dickens' later novels, and the post-Reconstruction era was only christened "The Gilded Age" decades later, by 1920s and 30s intellectuals seeking an appropriate moniker.
If there's one thing Twain's good at, it's pith.
The novel reads a bit like a Dickensian work (says the guy who's read only "Tale of Two Cities" and part of "Great Expectations" lol) -- a bunch of cities, a bunch of characters, and long, long monologues to point out curious ideas or mock archetype the speaker represents. There were a couple times I was drawn into the novel's underlying idea, the false patina of get-rich-quick schemes in the 1870s. It made me think about tech bros and Silicon Valley, actually.
But it's old. It's not a timeless novel and what was mediocre a hundred fifty years ago hasn't aged into something beautiful and revealing. I only read about a quarter of the work before putting it down in exchange for Scaduto's first biography of Bob Dylan, the one published in 1973. That one's been a treat to read.
yaelm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
slerner310's review against another edition
3.0
Early Twain, so not as excellent as the more mature writer, but still fascinating for its searing portrait of the corruption that arises from a Congress for sale (sound familiar?).
claudiaswisher's review against another edition
3.0
This was my summer "should have read this in college and didn't" read, and not a favorite at all...my friend and I read it because it's apparent we've been in another gilded age, with get-rich schemes, unscrupulous politicians, and poor dupes who will fall for anything. I was frustrated through most of this because, as a character-driven reader, I couldn't find anyone to like...I ended up being drawn to Phillip and Ruth and Alice, in a subplot I read was NOT Twain's writing, but his partner's.
Hold on to the Tennessee Land...sounds like "Hold on to the Matchless Mine." Well, the Hawkins's did, and it destroyed them. The irony is pure Twain...old, discouraged Twain...but the points are as true today as they were in the 1870's. Too many of us still don't want to work for a living, are willing to lie and steal, work the system, instead of working hard...the old fashioned way.
This felt too much like a 'mandatory assignment' read, not at all like my other summer reads...glad I read it; even MORE glad I'm finished with it. I wonder if other people picked up on the Colonel's initials: B.S., and BOY, was he full of it!!
How I wish I could say humanity has actually learned something since then...but we haven't.
Hold on to the Tennessee Land...sounds like "Hold on to the Matchless Mine." Well, the Hawkins's did, and it destroyed them. The irony is pure Twain...old, discouraged Twain...but the points are as true today as they were in the 1870's. Too many of us still don't want to work for a living, are willing to lie and steal, work the system, instead of working hard...the old fashioned way.
This felt too much like a 'mandatory assignment' read, not at all like my other summer reads...glad I read it; even MORE glad I'm finished with it. I wonder if other people picked up on the Colonel's initials: B.S., and BOY, was he full of it!!
How I wish I could say humanity has actually learned something since then...but we haven't.
dngoldman's review against another edition
3.0
The Gilded Age - A Story of Today
Twain's first novel is a colorful, damming portrait of post-civil war America. A country whose guiding principle is falseness. Businesses are valued based on speculation, rumor, and appearance (Col. Sellers business plans that based on selling ideas that can’t happen, the value of the Tennessee land based on the scene to get Congress to pay). Politicians are bought and sold, and actual motives are covered by high sounding moral causes (the scheme to sell the Tennessee land huge profit guided as a charity for African Americans). General people make up titles (col sellers, squire Hawkins). Twain gets American psyche so well the book reads as much like a satire of our day as his.
Twain mixes sweetness even to most shady characters (see the senator’s trip home) admiration (the corrupt judge's gumption to rise), and the inspiring quality of the ordinary citizen (jurors). I believe this stems from Twain's recognition that the falsity of society stems from a very human inability to see things and themselves as what they are.
Twain’s treatment of women exemplifies the mixture of sarcasm and sympathy. The two women who Twain gives their storyline (Ruth and Laura) and both schemers and strivers - both very unladylike. Yet they are likely the character the reader is most interested in and most sympathies with.
I enjoyed the novel, but it is not entirely successful artistically. The humor is sharp but never uproarious like Vanity Fair, a novel I thought of frequently while reading Guilded Age. The two authors do a tolerable job of blending their styles. Indeed the mix of styles expands the perspective of the novel. But the combination never allows the book full steam.
Twain's first novel is a colorful, damming portrait of post-civil war America. A country whose guiding principle is falseness. Businesses are valued based on speculation, rumor, and appearance (Col. Sellers business plans that based on selling ideas that can’t happen, the value of the Tennessee land based on the scene to get Congress to pay). Politicians are bought and sold, and actual motives are covered by high sounding moral causes (the scheme to sell the Tennessee land huge profit guided as a charity for African Americans). General people make up titles (col sellers, squire Hawkins). Twain gets American psyche so well the book reads as much like a satire of our day as his.
Twain mixes sweetness even to most shady characters (see the senator’s trip home) admiration (the corrupt judge's gumption to rise), and the inspiring quality of the ordinary citizen (jurors). I believe this stems from Twain's recognition that the falsity of society stems from a very human inability to see things and themselves as what they are.
Twain’s treatment of women exemplifies the mixture of sarcasm and sympathy. The two women who Twain gives their storyline (Ruth and Laura) and both schemers and strivers - both very unladylike. Yet they are likely the character the reader is most interested in and most sympathies with.
I enjoyed the novel, but it is not entirely successful artistically. The humor is sharp but never uproarious like Vanity Fair, a novel I thought of frequently while reading Guilded Age. The two authors do a tolerable job of blending their styles. Indeed the mix of styles expands the perspective of the novel. But the combination never allows the book full steam.
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