Reader discussion: Life on the Mississippi

Public reader discussion about Life on the Mississippi in the WeRead Catalog by Mark Twain.

Mark Twain did the math for the Mississippi river (3rd quote down).

By basilcomet77

It kind of blows my mind that in about 176 years the Lower Mississippi has already shrunk by 242 miles. Do the math and it’s a little over a mile and change a year, so you’d think someone could just “see” that a million years back, in that Old Oolitic Silurian time, the river would’ve been insanely long, jutting out into the Gulf like a fishing rod. And then if you go the other way, you can almost picture it 742 years from now—like Cairo and New Orleans would’ve basically grown into the same place and be sharing everything. I don’t know, but science is weirdly fascinating like that. You toss in a small piece of fact and somehow you end up with a whole bunch of guesses.

What to read by Mark Twain?

By ink_midnight81

If you’re into those bohemian, Kerouac-style road stories, this is pretty great—also the writing is really eloquent. :)

I've never read anything by Mark Twain. Does his work still really hold up? Where is a good place to start?

By Lazy_Velvet39362

I’m a pretty big Kurt Vonnegut fan, and I know he always saw Twain as a huge influence on both his style and the ideas in his books, so I’ve been thinking about trying Twain. But I honestly have no idea where to begin, or even if his stuff is still really worth reading these days. Any suggestions?

I am confused with a sentence in “Life on the Mississippi “ by Mark Twain. It saids, “No other river has so vast a drainage-basin.”

By BookmarkBookish65

I think if you changed it to “No other river has a so vast drainage-basin,” it would read a lot more naturally to me. And then, about the style—can I do stuff like these? - She has so sweet a smile. - The city has so fantastic a skyscraper.

“Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” -Mark Twain

By cosmos_peastone

If 2020 taught me anything, it’s probably this: …

What is your favourite book by Mark Twain?

By Desk45

I really love Mark Twain, but here in the UK it feels like he’s not all that popular. Other than *Huckleberry Finn* and a few of the kids’ books, it’s kind of hard to track down his stuff. My favourite is *A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court*—and I honestly think it’s even funnier and more heartbreaking than *Huckleberry Finn*. I just love how he can jump from laugh-out-loud moments to something really deep and moving. I actually laughed and then ended up getting teary reading it.

The only existing footage of Mark Twain, filmed by Thomas Edison in 1909, a year before Twain's passing.

By paperbackmarket2003

Kinda feels like all those old famous guys were bros with each other sometimes.

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain - unknown date. Help

By copperBrush

I just came across this addition of Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. I can’t really tell what edition it is since there’s no ISBN or anything like that. If anyone knows how to figure it out (or recognizes it), I’d really appreciate the help. Sincerely, A recent buyer of an old house