About this title: In Twain's history/memoir/travel book, he writes about his early life, his experiences as a river pilot, and his return to those scenes many years later, evaluating the changes in the landscape, the political and social climate, and himself.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harper & Brothers, New York
Description: Good, edge wear. xiv p., 1 l., 15-481 p. front., plates. 21 cm. Facsimile inscription with author's signature on verso of added title page. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780553213492ISBN:0553213490
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Near flawless condition. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 416 p. Bantam Classics. Audience: General/trade. Ships to USA by First Class Mail read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books, New York
Date Published: 1979
ISBN-13:9780553127485ISBN:0553127489
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Good copy with some overall wear. light edge rubbing. a couple of small creases on front cover corners. small stain at top edge of front cover. pages clean and unmarked. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Peter Smith Publisher Inc
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780553210026ISBN:0553210025
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Mass Market PaperBack, Very Good / read more
"I read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of, when I was a boy; more accurately, my dad read them to me and my sister Jessie in nightly installments. My dad read these from a giant book, the illustrated works of Twain, while Jessie and I sat at his feet. I would later peruse the book, reading a chapter here and there, but mostly enjoying the old-timey illustrations. My best childhood friend was somehow related to Samuel Clemens and looked up to him as an idol (he still does). On a trip to St. Louis, my family stopped in Hannibal to see Clemens' boyhood home.
I bring this all up because reading Twain again after 20 years was an exercise in nostalgia, and nostalgia is infused in every page of Life on the Mississippi. The book is roughly divided into two parts--the first is a colorful description of Twain's time training to be a steamboat pilot, while the second half is a sort of travelogue of Twain's return to the river, many years later, in which he rides a steamboat from St. Louis to New Orleans and back up the river to Minneapolis. The amount of detail is impressive, and all warmly rendered. At times it feels as though he is describing every twig in the river, but that is his point--he knows the river that well. The man clearly loves the Mississippi, and I gained a much better sense of its natural and human history through this quirky book."
"Two things drew me to this book: I like Samuel Clemen's writing style and I am a hardware junkie, especially with ships and planes. His descriptions of becoming a cub pilot from the childlike "When I grow up" stage to the "If you love me,...Back her up" drama of running a steamboat seem clear enough that I feel I could talk shop with the pilot of the current Delta Queen. For me, the best ways to open up the world is a day at a time, a lesson learned, an experience described. Life for me is revealed in everyday work. This book felt like a rambling conversation with an articulate tradesman, who I find to be some of the best people to be with."
"As a huge fan of the Mississippi river and, well, New Orleans in particular, I really really wanted to enjoy this book! I was so excited to find it in the classics section of What the Book in Seoul, namely because I usually would never explore this area of a used bookstore. Having not read Twain since he was assigned to me as a teenager, I had high hopes for this acclaimed author. Unfortunately, it took every ounce of patience I could muster to make it through this never ending tale of nothing in particular. Sure, there were interesting bits here and there but the 'story' itself doesn't actually ever surface.
Twain rides the river. It used to be hopping. Now it ain't. Boatmen lie. The river changes. But even so, it remains the same.
I hope that I'm not so disappointed by the next Twain piece I come in to seeing as how even though I did not enjoy this particular book, I simply can't imagine that the legend of this man is built around nothing of substance!
Short and awkward review. Off to south-east Asia. Books will be consumed but likely left unreviewed until a later date at which point comments will be limited!
"I read this book after a trip to Hannibal Missouri. We toured the Riverboat Museum there and I was enthralled with the Mississippi River and wanted to know what would drive a young author to want to be a riverboat captain. I found myself wanting to board a river boat and ride it from the great lake it originates in to the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn't a book I got lost in but I learned a lot."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
