Pulse en una miniatura para ir a Google Books.
|
Cargando... Following the Equator, Vol. 1por Mark Twain
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. 2   edgeworth | Dec 9, 2008 |  sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
As America's finest writer, Mark Twain could make entertaining reading -- and great literature -- out of almost anything. Here we have a book begun out of adversity. The great novelist, satirist, and public celebrity was broke, ruined by various ill-advised investment schemes; but, being a man of honor on a public stage, he resolved to pay off every cent of his crushing debt. He did so by going on a two-year, round-the-world lecture tour, where he spoke to sold-out houses in Europe, India, and Australia, all the while gathering material for yet another best-selling travel book, filled with his trademark wit and brilliant observation. Even after more than a century this book is still a must-read. Whatever has been forgotten about the times and places Twain describes he has recreated for us, vividly and forever. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
 Biblioteca heredada:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Enlaces rápidos |
Google Books — Cargando...
(3.67)| 0.5 | |
| 1 | |
| 1.5 | |
| 2 | |
| 2.5 | |
| 3 |  2 |
| 3.5 | |
| 4 | |
| 4.5 | |
| 5 | 1 |
I've never read anything by Mark Twain before. I suppose if I was American I would have read The Great American Novel (Tom Sawyer... or is it Huck Finn?) in high school, but naturally I read the Great Australian Novel (Cloudstreet) instead. So this was my first Twain book, and I was given an opportunity to view my own nation, in the late 19th century, through the eyes of an outsider. It was similar to Bill Bryson's Down Under (which I read earlier this year) in a way, as both writers thoroughly enjoy their time in Australia, with plenty of compliments, and observations on the curious nature of the Australian inferiority complex considering the fact that most foreign visitors are utterly enchanted by this country. Both visitors also criticise Australia's dark past, and for Twain this is no mean feat, considering that he was writing at a time when Aboriginals were considered to be no better than animals. It's all well and good to look contemptuously on the mistakes of the past from a smug modern vantage point, but to be the man decrying such horrors as they are going on around him is quite laudable.
Twain would be a rare breed for this reason alone - compassionate, progressive thinking, breaking away from mindsets which we today consider abhorrent. But he is a jewel among pebbles for other reasons, too. He's funny, intelligent, witty, and accessible even to the 21st century reader. It's always a pleasure to be able to read non-fiction more than 100 years old and find that it is easily understandable and relatable. (