Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Elizabeth Leahy Stein - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Composition and Publication, Criticism

Pros: Twain, knights! Castles! Satire!

Cons: nada zip zilch

The Bottom Line: Oh how I wish I was that Yankee!

Review: For my one year anniversary at Epinions, I asked some foolhardy folks to pick something medieval, real or fantasy, and write a review of it... or, write any regular product review but using some form of Olde English. After setting down the rules of...

Pros: Twain has done a great job of writing an exciting story, but laying social commentary under the surface.

Cons: Again, many people consider this a child's story so will overlook it and miss the well penned satire that lies in these pages.

Review: As with much of Twain's work A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is deceptively simple. Under the guise of a child's tale about going back into the romantic days of Arthurian legend Twain sows the mental field with seeds of satire.
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Pros: Excellent Arthurian account

Cons: Connecticut Yankee simply assumes position in medieval times, doesn't really give a hoot about why he should suddenly be there and/or how to get back to his former time.

Review: First allow me to shed some light on the following opinion -- I recently graduated college as an English major; my Senior Thesis class revolved around King Arthur & the Arthurian Legend. In other words, I brought much background to this story,...

Pros: A fantasy novel with many satirical twists about our own society, an enjoyment to read.

Cons: Have to read it a few times to get the full experience - not much of a con, though.

Review: Mark Twain's work has been well known for years, and so, that this be considered a good book, is no surprise whatsoever. The book is set in a 'present day' time of when he lived himself, with the Connecticut Yankee being sent back - where else? To the...

Pros: Very Extremely Funny

Cons: A Bit Long For the Younger Reader

Review: OOPS! You just got dropped into sixth century Britain!! What to do now, but to "teach," the court a thing or two about good livin'.

Our Yankee insists on HIS being the better way of life, the court theirs, so they go about...

Pros: Entertaining story on the surface, very moving tale on a deeper level

Cons: Some outmoded word usage requires a little thought to translate

Review: Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" pulls the reader in from the first page. Hank Morgan, a down-to-the-bones practical factory supervisor, is hit on the head and wakes to find himself in a strange land. He's confronted...

Pros: Fun, fast, energetic, real kid appeal

Cons: None

Review: This book is silly, fun, adventuresome, serious, enlightening, and well written. In other words, it is the perfect book for young people who need to be fired up about something in order to read it. Once you get past the first few pages you can't put it...

Pros: Good read for kids, even better for adults

Cons: Depth of detail may bog down younger readers

Review: Most readers are more familiar with "Tom Sawyer" and "Huck Finn" than
"Connecticut Yankee". Most movie buffs are more familiar with the
latter because the basic plot line - a modern time person, whether
man,...

Pros: great satire, fun characters, mostly interesting story

Cons: sometimes boring and too wordy; tone of satire changes

The Bottom Line: Not a racy, vulgar novel. Doesn't need that.

Review: By coincidence I started reading A Fractured Mind by Robert B. Oxnam and his other personalities at the same time as I began Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court. Oxnam observes that all of us, whether healthy or sick, act in ...

Pros: black comedy, style, art

Cons: rambles, may be difficult to read

Review: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is that rare achievement, the novel as prophecy. The cultural fate of being pureed into a harmless fantasy is reserved for the strongest, most primal, and thereby most threatening works of art-the bowdlerized...