Public reader discussion about A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court in the WeRead Catalog by Mark Twain.
By lucky_fork7
Honestly, at this point I feel like reviews from this Anne should count as cheating. She always seems to have the absolute worst takes, and I keep running into her in the review section. She supposedly gave 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea a bad rating because it spent too much time talking about fish and didn’t have some huge squid battle like the movies that came out a hundred years later.
By Island_Rapid
Not trying to shill or anything, but this might be the best audiobook I’ve ever heard.
By PantherSky
Back in 5th grade I was partway through the third Harry Potter, and while I wasn’t paying attention, a friend (or maybe more like an enemy) grabbed my bookmark out of the book. After that, I just stopped reading it right away and I never really went back to that series. So what weird reasons have you all had for bailing on a book so suddenly?
By library_looks53
It’s got time travel, knights, adventure, fake wizards who are really just con artists, and it ends with this big awesome battle. Plus, it’s by Mark Twain. I kind of think a lot of r/Fantasy would be into it, since it’s basically a fantasy book with no real fantasy in it, except for the time travel.
By Story_Ash
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949) This Bing Crosby version really leaves out most of what made Twain’s book so good. Mostly it’s just him singing at the young ladies like he’s some kind of old weirdo. Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979) Also called “A Spaceman in King Arthur’s Court,” and yeah, it’s Disney doing sci-fi with the Twain story. Instead of a Yankee engineer waking up in medieval England, you’ve got some random astronaut and his robot buddy. A Kid in King Arthur’s Court (1995) Disney tries again, this time with a kid as the main character. I guess the only real reason to watch is to catch early stuff from Kate Winslet and Daniel Craig, but it’s not really worth the time.
By tender-badger
What’s kind of funny to me is that the book actually has some genuinely solid, useful strategies, but the stuff everyone keeps repeating is basically just the common-sense basics. It’s like, sure, people quote the intuitive parts, but then there are also moments like that “make sure your opponent has an escape route so they don’t feel trapped” idea, and that they’ll get pulled into some other kill zone instead. That one sounds kinda messed up, but it’s at least a real tactic and it feels like it deserved to be included.
By HiddenSeal
I’ve always liked Mark Twain, and I grew up on stuff like *Tom Sawyer*, *Huckleberry Finn*, and *A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court*. Yeah, there’s some casual racism in those, but it feels pretty mild compared to what was going on in the 1800s. *Huckleberry Finn* especially always read to me like it was calling out white America’s views of Black people, like the characters are trying to get past racist thinking. So I finally picked up *Roughing It* and figured I’d get that fast, biting Twain humor right away. And for the first few chapters, I really did. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed that hard—between the goofy dangers of those pepper-box pistols and his jokes about the whole stagecoach thing, it was great. Then it all kind of flips right around Chapter 19. Randomly, wedged between two hilarious chapters, you get this section about the “Goshoot Indians” (sic), and it’s honestly one of the most vile, unsettlingly racist things I’ve read. Twain treats them like they’re less than human, and his usual wry tone just makes the contrast way worse. It’s stuck with me since I finished it, and now I don’t really see Twain the same. I know he’s still remembered as pretty progressive compared to a lot of people from his era, and I still think that’s true in some ways—but when it comes to Native Americans, it’s definitely not.
By WinterButton4155
I know there are a bunch of different editions of that book, but I can’t seem to track down the exact one I read. Pretty sure it was about a guy who time traveled (maybe by accident) to the time of King Arthur, and then he got mixed up with the Knights of the Round Table. I can’t remember the author either, which makes it even harder to find. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
By martenMarket3689
I’m considering getting this for my book club, but it’s pretty long and I don’t want it to drag. I haven’t seen much talk about it around here, so I’m curious what everyone thinks before we pick it.
By library_looks53
I feel like a lot of authors probably think their “less loved” books should get more hype, and honestly I’m pretty sure we all have at least one favorite writer where their breakout series gets all the attention while the books we really like just kind of get ignored. Like, people have *so* many strong opinions about Stephen King, and you hear about Carrie, The Stand, IT all the time, but I rarely see anyone mention The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, even though I thought it was great. And I wonder if some of the people who roll their eyes at Twilight or Stephanie Meyer in general might actually really enjoy The Host—because I personally think that one is phenomenal. So what are those underrated books from big-name authors that you wish got more spotlight?
By goldenarch
My mom taped this off TV onto a VHS, and for a long time we’d just keep putting it on, because it was basically one of the only movies we had around for years.
By Narrow_Horse50
I’m trying to find books that mash up two or more genres that don’t really get mixed much—like western + fantasy. I’m open to pretty much any combo people can suggest, except the super gory stuff or super scary horror, and I’m not really into stories that are purely romance. Any recs are welcome, honestly.
By thread80
I picked up this older copy of Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court at the used shop where I work, and I’m not seeing anything like it online. It looks like it might be from 1889, with G.M. Rose and Sons listed, and the cover is just plain green with the title and Twain’s name, nothing else. Does that make it unusual?