Author: Mark Twain
Genre: Classic
Pages (words): 474 (N/A)
Readability: N/A
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Hank Morgan, a Yankee living in Connecticut in the late 19th century, gets transported back 13 centuries when he is hit on the head, ending up in 6th century England. He soon finds himself right in Camelot, complete with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Being a resourceful Yank, he wastes no time in using some common sense and 13 centuries' worth of knowledge to establish himself as a powerful magician and as the King's right-hand man. With his influence, he constructs some 19th-century amenities, including electricity and the telephone. But when he tries to make things better for the commoners, he meets with some serious opposition.
Thoughts: As will all Mark Twain books, A Connecticut Yankee is an enjoyable book. Twain has a great voice in his writing that is a pleasure to read. But beyond that, I can't say that I loved this book. It was entertaining and it brought out some interesting points (e.g. religion can be as bad as slavery), but much of it seemed a bit forced, like the book was simply a pretense for Twain to get out a lot of pent-up anger about society. The plot seemed like it was just draped over Twain's checklist of things that could be better about society. I don't mind an author writing books with a message in mind--in fact, I prefer it--but there are other Twain books that get his ideals across better than A Connecticut Yankee. Overall, if you're considering reading this book, my advice wouldn't be, "Don't read it," it would just be, "Don't start here." The Prince and the Pauper covers many of the same ideas and was better than this one, and of course Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are both incredible Twain books.
Disclaimer: None.
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