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Summary: Good Book
Review: I really liked this book very much. I never have had my mind go so crazy before. It was like having a movie play in your head and it was great. I would recomend this to anyone who loves to read Mark Twain!
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Summary: English teacher's opinion
Review: Twain provides a philosophical proposition within an interesting plot. My students did not reach the philosophical level and became caught up with the story line. Both levels are accessible and provides viable means of studing the work. It depends on the view of the reader and it is perfectly acceptable to read just for the story.
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Summary: Truly biting satire
Review: Although this book's concept is no longer novel - one may now even call it cliché - its "time travel" aspect was - at least in the sense that it is used in this novel - a fairly new concept in fiction at the time Twain wrote it. No less a science fiction authority than Robert A. Heinlein even goes so far to say that Twain "invented" the time travel story. Now, this is certainly stretching the truth a bit, but one can see how Heinlein was heavily influenced by Twain from reading this book. This novel's time travel aspect is not used for science fiction; no, it is a purely satirical vehicle. Twain transplants an "aw shucks", no nonsense American smack dab in the middle of The Dark Ages. By having his character attempt to transplant American ideas of technology, government, and morals into this staunch, backward (anyway, by our standards) British society, Twain is clearly forging an attack upon monarchy - which he once called "surely the grotesquest swindle ever invented by man." That said, we see from the devastating ending (which surely no one who has read this book wasn't surprised by) that the book is as much a satire on American arrogance and idealism as it is on the British. One may not always agree with Twain's politics, but one must at least respect them. He also demonstrates in this book the oft-forgotten truism that one's tribal customs are not the laws of nature - and what business do we have trying to force ours upon anyone else's? A devastating satire all around.
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Summary: Amusement vs Learning
Review: This book was at first a huge disappointment. I went into to it expecting a humorous, light-hearted Mark Twain book. However, this was far from what I got. The story begins as a narration through the eyes of Hank Morgan, a 19th century factory manager. The plot starts when Hank is knocked out by an employee and wakes up in the 6th century. After dropping the idea that he is in a dream, he tries to make the best of the situation by improving the lives of the people. Using the knowledge he has of the future and his formal education, he wins the social rank known as "The Boss" and begins to educate a small group of people. His goal is to set up a republic and to destroy the overruling church officials. As time progresses, he sees the life of the people through their position (sees the life of a knight as a knight) and his desire to create an equal, yet effecient civilization increases. He tries to introduce the new ideas of his present time to them and the effect is something to read about. In the end, he learns that trying to change the atitude and customs of a large group of people is not as easy as he at first thought. The Yankee observed some very dark and distrubing facts about people. The book was not the most entertaining book, but the insight to humanity makes it well worth the read.
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Summary: Revolution by The Boss
Review: You might wonder what prompted Mark Twain to sidle from "straight" fiction into the realm of outright fantasy. Twain transports a Connecticut shop foreman twelve centuries into the past [and 5 000 kilometres!] to Camelot and Arthur's court. Initially confused and dismayed, Hank Morgan's Yankee practicality is quickly aroused and he becomes a major figure among the panopolied knights. With the title of The Boss, his rank equals The King or The Pope with its uniqueness. His elevation doesn't distract him from a more profound impulse, however. Hank's Yankee roots and wide experience evoke an ambition - nothing less than revolution. He wants to sweep away the monarchy and aristocracy and establish an American-style republic in Arthurian Britain. Mark Twain's scathing criticism of the sham of hereditary monarchy bolstered by an Established Church makes this among his choicest writings. He resents the condition of a Church which "turned a nation of men into a nation of worms." A fervent believer in individual freedom, Twain uses Hank to voice his disdain of Britain's royalty. It's no more than might be expected of a man who boasted of but one ancestor - who sat on the jury that executed Charles I. Hank knows revolutions never succeed when implemented from above. Revolution be achieved only when the individual's attitude changes from meek acceptance to
self assertion. Hank's method reaches people through clandestine schools and factories, publication of a newspaper and establishment of a telephone system. These new forms of manufacture and communication become the foundation by which Hank expects to abolish the ancient, mis-named, chivalric tradition. Does he change the course of history? Twain relocates the roots of American democracy from the heart of the frontier yeoman farmer to the brain of the urban industrial worker. Here the man of wide, practical experience shows how to survive compared to those with a formal education. Hank has a simple ambition - establishment of a republic - but utilizes a broad spectrum of ideas to bring it about. He would gladly replace the Established Church of Rome with his own Presbyterian ideals, but is aware that it would be swapping one evil for another. "Each man should select his own religion, or make one" he contends. Yet, finally, it is this dread force that impairs his desire for change. The final sequence stands as a peer to the biblical Armageddon, Twain wallowing in a frightful bloodletting unseen in any of his other works. Mark Twain contrasts the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution with the centuries of slavery, serfdom, and poverty that killed countless more people than that spasm of excising of aristocracy. What else spurred him to write of human rights with such passion? He had written of slavery before, but this book is especially wrathful in describing the "peculiar institution" eliminated in his homeland but a generation before. He forces the king to experience the slave's condition, a form of degradation he would have all aristocrats endure. Every feature of the human condition is examined in this timeless treasure. He challenges you to follow his gaze, considering whether today's societies, monarchical or not, will endure the scrutiny.
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Summary: It starts off fine enough, but gets gruesome fast....
Review: This book may seem like a perfectly innocent book that you would want your children to read. Mark Twain's a fabulous American author, right? Well, "Connecticut Yankee" starts off innocent enough.... Hank Morgan, a factory owner in 19th century Connecticut is hit over the head with a crowbar by a rowdy employee. He is knocked out, and when he awakes he finds himself with Sir. Kay, one of the knights in King Arthur's Court, who brings him back to Camelot to be executed. The beginning of the book shows off Mark Twain's obvious distaste for 6th century society in Britain, but also has a few of its more humorous moments. We learn that the knights of the round table are nothing more than Vulgar Braggarts, we witness the destruction of Merlin (the yankee's enemy)'s tower, the cruelty of Queen Morgan LeFay, and the antics as Hank and Sandy go on a quest to find several captive princesses (who are nothing more than hogs!)
Hank impresses everyone by institutionalizing modern conveniences back into that era (trains, telephones, guns, newspapers....) Anyway, the book takes a darker turn when King Arthur and Hank travel incognito as peasants and witness the downtrodden and oppressed peoples. One of the more touching moments of the book is when King Arthur carries a dying girl out of a hut to her mother, risking getting infected with smallpox. It gets even darker when Hank murders 10 knights with a pistol, then later when he and a handful of other men kill off 50,000 knights with high-voltage electric fences, land mines, and trenches with sharp spears sticking out on the bottom, only to almost die from the stench of the dead. This book is better for the mature reader because it deals with many issues of society, such as discrimination between social classes, and not accepting other cultures. I definetly wouldn't reccomend this for: SQUEAMISH PEOPLE, PEOPLE WITH LIMITED READING SKILLS, AND PEOPLE WHO LACK MATURITY. Despite all of the defects of this novel, it sure is a classic!!!
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Summary: A historical, hysterical tale of anachronisms
Review: Mark Twain likes protagonists that are cynics, that think outside the lines, question authority, challenge the status quo, and use their ingenuity to outwit their adversaries, making wisecracks all the while. While Tom Sawyer tricks his friends into doing his chores for him and Huck Finn sails against the tides of 19th Century American bigotry, Hank Morgan, the hero of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," rallies against feudalism, idle aristocracy, and a Unified Church. Hank is a 19th Century Hartford blacksmith who receives a blow on the head and wakes up in 6th Century England. He is taken to Camelot, King Arthur's court, and imprisoned, soon to be executed. However, he manages to trick the court into thinking he's a magician by pretending to conjure an eclipse and blowing up the tower of Merlin, the resident court magician. Thus proving his mettle, Hank is given a special post at the court and proceeds to introduce many 19th Century technologies, including firearms, explosives, newspapers, and a telephone network, continually upstaging Merlin in the department of wizardry. While in Camelot, Hank has "traditional" adventures, too. He accompanies a young wench named Alisande ("Sandy") to rescue some princesses from a castle guarded by ogres (a joke with an excellent punchline) and meets Morgan Le Fay, Arthur's wicked sister, on the way. Later, he and Arthur go undercover as peasants to get the lay of the land, which gives Hank opportunities to observe the ignorance of the common folk and the social injustices wrought by the combined tyranny of the church and the nobility. Even if Twain's sense of humor isn't your cup of tea, it's hard to dismiss the urgency and conviction of his social commentary, which this novel does little if anything to disguise. And Twain is smart enough to end the book with these capricious nuggets of irony: Hank's efforts to separate church from state and replace the monarchy with a republic serve as much to destabilize the political climate as save the common folk from oppression, and his technological advancements serve as much to increase wartime killing capacity as raise the standard of living. Civilization advances no faster than the weapons to destroy it.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable also in the 21th century
Review: A classic read, a man from the modern age is displaced in time winding up in Camelot.
Mark Twain makes plenty of fun of chivalry and middle-age wizardry.
The book first appeared in 1889, but it's an entertaining read today. The novel is filled with humor and at times takes an optimistic stance on technology and modern age versus middle age, but there're also some touching moments and more than meets the eye at a first stance. When considered at a deeper level, it can lead the reader to think about ancient times and their real connections to our current society. What was Mark Twain's perception of history, and what are the main influences on this perception? Anyway, it's not compulsory to ask such questions, and the novel is enjoyable from a purely "entertainment" perspective. The book is suited both for kids and adults.
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Summary: Witty yet serious.
Review: A Connecticut in King Arthur's Court gives the reader a feel for how someone must adapt to a new surrounding they are put into. Mark Twain shows that in the Yankee, as he gets more involved in the community as the novel goes on. The book starts in an upbeat comical mood. Jokes are being thrown, and people are having fun times. Thenn the mood of the book starts to get darker. The flaws of Camelot and the King start to come out. Twain does a great job using detail in the story, setting, and characters. He must have done some research while writing. The beginning of the book will hook you in to keep reading. I couldn't wait for the next adventure or squabble to pop up.
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Summary: Fun story but suffers from distorted worldview!
Review: A "modern" (late 1800s) man named Hank Morgan, after getting into a fight with a subordinate at his factory and being knocked on the head, is mysteriously transported back to Britain, 19 Jun 528 AD, the heyday of Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Table Round. The book is presented as a kind of diary of his experiences there. Hank is able to use his modern knowledge to perform feats which awe the locals and their king and is promoted to being the king's right hand man. Hank goes about making various improvements, with an eye toward eventual revolution to free the common people from the oppressive social system. He starts secret "man factories", recruiting those real men (and women) who seem to have an inkling that they can and should break free of domination and live in freedom and independence. A main thrust of the story is to disabuse the reader of any romantic notions he may be harboring about this era of history. The author clearly portrays the barbarism, filth, injustice, senseless violence, backwardness and brutality of this time and these people, often mocking their ignorance and superstition in the light of our more enlightened ways. A particular gripe is the humble but ignorant reverence of the common folk for King, Church and nobility. He vents that the terrible violence of the French Revolution pales in comparison to the centuries of depredations imposed on the common people who, in his view, were fully justified in that bloodletting. He rails against the Catholic Church of the day as a chief enemy of the freedom of the common people, encouraging them to remain humble toward authority (however unjust) and comtemplate the higher, God-ordained reasons for their sufferings. Among my favorite of the host of bit-part characters to make an appearance in the book is Sir Ossaise of Surluse, "a brave knight and of considerable celebrity" resulting from significant skill in past knightly jousting tournaments. He is one of the many knights that Hank has put to work as traveling salesmen, wearing bulletin-boards front and aft advertising Hank's many innovative products, such as tooth-wash and soap. Hank explains that Sir Ossaise was "of a light and laughing disposition, and to him nothing in this world was serious," which is why he has chosen him to advertise his stove polish (there are no stoves yet). When we meet him, Sir Ossaise has played a trick on another salesman (of toothbrushes) by sending the latter after a group of "likely customers." After a long, hard chase, that energetic knight discovers the group consists of five poor souls released the night before from a long dungeon imprisonment, it having been "all of 20 years since any one of them had known what it was to be equipped with any remaining snag or remnant of a tooth." One touching scene happens when Hank and King Arthur disguise themselves as commoners and travel throughout the kingdom to assess what's really happening there. Along the way, they are captured for the purpose of being sold into slavery (since they cannot prove their status as freemen and the ancient Roman law holds that they are slaves until proven otherwise). Hank is able to play along, knowing he'll eventually work out a way to get free. The king, with his high-born pride, keeps his chin up and maintains an attitude of resistance and defiance, refusing to yield to the abusive slave trader. Hank observes that the king truly knows how to act like the free man he is, regardless of circumstances. While early in the book it seems we are headed in a promising direction toward a happy and virtuous end, Twain later turns the plot in darker directions. Hank stages a "final battle" between the forces of Chivalry (about 30,000 knights) and his own forces of republican progress (himself and 52 boys!). The Battle of the Sand Belt is an outright slaughter of the larger reactionary force. Unfortunately, the evil Merlin has the last laugh and puts Hank into a 13-century sleep, even as his co-conspirators are trapped in their cave fortress and being sickened by the 30,000 decaying corpses of the opposition (so much for a light-hearted and happy ending). In the last scene, Twain has finished reading the manuscript given to him by Hank back in the 19th century. It is toward morning at the lodge where they are both staying and Hank is sleeping fitfully and making noises in the next room. When Twain checks on him, Hank is muttering about his beloved 6th century life (including a wife and child), apparently relieved that his 19th-century experiences were "just a dream." We, of course, are left assuming that Hank's 6th century experiences were the dream (but of course, there IS that written record ... hmmmm). Before he wakes up, Hank dies in his sleep, so we'll never know for sure. The author clearly holds the misguided assumption that religion is hostile to freedom (see The Theme is Freedom by M. Stanton Evans for a full treatment of this error). He sees morality, human nature and society as being malleable by human reason, rather than as following fixed norms created by God. This way of thinking sees a strong affinity between the (very different) American and French Revolutions and interprets both as a throwing off of the shackles of religion and tradition which are believed to encumber the pure, relativist, rationalist and optimistic vision of liberty. In summary, its a fun story, but suffers from incorrect assumptions about reality.
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