Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]

Whispersync deal

Anyone considering this Daily Deal--there are two Kindle editions available, one for a dollar and one for free. Buy the free one, add the Whispersync narration for a dollar, and you get this $5 Daily Deal for $1 =)

(I'll get rid of this review tomorrow until after I have a chance to listen to the book)

18 people found this helpful

Fantastic!

Fantastic read, the best narrator yet!! Rates as high as Huck Finn narrated by Elijah Wood and Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume one.

16 people found this helpful

A meandering tour of the Mississippi River

Of the first fifteen chapters of the book, twelve are reprinted from “The Atlantic.” In the three introductory ones which precede these, the physical character of the river is sketched. The book was published in 1883. The book begins with a brief history of the river beginning with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto then on the French Marquette and La Salle.

The most engrossing section describes the author’s education as a steamboat pilot. Vivid details and anecdotes link the story of life on the River. He tells of the odd habits of the steamboat pilots. There is a section on how to read the river including the conformation of the banks, sandbanks, islands and inlets as well as sudden cut outs of the river after storms.

The rest of the book is an account of Twain’s trip down the Mississippi decades later as an old man. He describes the changes in the river and of American during his lifetime. The book is hilarious, fascinating, meandering tour of the Mississippi River most of all the book is entertain. Grover Gardner does an excellent job narrating the book.

10 people found this helpful

Not all that interesting

I know this is Mark Twain, ... However, it just did not seem that interesting to me.

Mark Twain and Narrator Grover Gardner

It doesn't get much better than this!! Great place to start your own tour of the marvels of the Mississippi River. Grover, narrate more Twain works, please!

What a pleasure to listen to!!

What comments could I add to the greatest American author that lived. Grover Gardner does a great job as usual. This gave me a real sense of the Mississippi in the eighteen hundreds. I loved the part about Huck Finn and those excerpts.

Try something different and dig into some of the lesser known Twain classics

The Elija Wood version of Huck Fine is a treat and some Twian that should not be missed.

Great historical reference

I was very interested to read my first Mark Twain book and I have always enjoyed his observations on life and travel.

I always love the way Twain turns a phrase. And this is great for short stories or snippets. I was surprised at how tedious this can make a novel. When everything is grandiose and larger than life...well..it all starts to sound plain and boring. The actual information and nuggets of truth get lost in the decoration. About half way through I started only listening to 15-20 minute segments before changing to something else and coming back to the book later. He is still witty. I would love to share a corner of a party with him, but maybe not hang out with him every day.

As a history book I was fascinated at the look Twain provided. Both with the development of the river and the communities and cultures along it. Such a valuable look into how people lived and thought at that time. Amazing that while many things have changed many struggles remain universal. Providing for your family, complaints about the dangers of new technology, evils of corporations, etc.

The narrator was a good selection for the voice of Twain in my head. Enough of a drawl to know it is there but not too over the top. Any difficulties with the reading I feel were ultimately with the text and not his performance.

Life on the river.

A great story. The narrator does a great job. This book had everything. Mark Twain can make any subject interesting.

Great story.

I find it impossible not to love Mark Twains writing style. Very seldom do I openly laugh during a story, but did several times with this one. I have never "wasted" a credit with MT. Now on to 'The Guilded Age".

*the narrator was great on this one too. Check it out.

Grover brings life to sometimes lifeless book

Life on the Mississippi is part memoir, part history book, part excerpts from other works, and part twaddle. (Bonus points because I've never had the occasion to use that word in a review before.) It was a little too much twaddle. I'm guessing that the readers of the 1800s purchased the book based on his other well-written works, and just waded through the useless chapters.

I added another star to my rating because Grover Gardner did a wonderful job of narrating this work. Sadly even his humor-infused tones were not enough to get me through some chapters. I was ever so glad that I could also read the ebook.