Life on the Mississippi Audiobook

" This edition of Life on the Mississippi has become one of my favorite audiobooks. The story has all the great earmarks of Mark Twain's writing. The narration is also good with a couple of exceptions; the narrator reads at a fast pace with a bit of an annoying intensity in his voice. To mitigate this, I dropped the playback speed from 1.0 to 0.8 and it worked perfectly. I definitely recommend this audiobook. "

" This was a fun read! Mark Twain is hilarious, as always. It's nice to know how he got his start (and his pen name!). "

" This book really bogs down around 40% of the way through. Mark Twain starts with a grand description of the history of the river, reminiscent of McPhee describing, say, New Jersey. Then it becomes a memoir or Twain's time as a pilot on the a Riverboat in the 1840s-1850s, and he tells lots of interesting tales. But then he switches to talking about a current (1880s) trip on the river and how all the towns have changed, and how much bigger they all are, and how the nature of boating on the river has changed. And Mark Twain sounds like your boring grandmother talking about the good ol' days. Not something you want to read a lot about. I couldn't wait for the book to be over. And I merely skimmed the appendices, although appendix D was not too bad--it contained a supposed Indian legend about a giant bear. It almost sounds like something out of the Mahabarata--seems like a fantastical Hindu tale rather than American Indian lore. In fact, I might go back and re-read it. "

" This is the first Twain I have read that is nonfiction. And I didn't realize it was until I began reading. It is so great! He makes a topic I could care less about so fascinating. I love his word usage. It feels like he is having a conversation with you. It really makes the 1800's seem not so different from the 21st century. "

" Twain on the river as a kid. Twain back on the river again as a sneaky pete writer. I wanted to like this book, which is why, I suppose, I hung in for 350-odd pages before setting it aside. The book is entertaining intermittantly and occasionally sharp and funny but it meanders. I should probably have my keyboard revoked for using the word 'meander' in a review about a book about a river, but clearly I can't help myself. Seriously, tho, Twain needed an editor with a heavy hand for this one. "

" Bottom line: I like Twain, but I just don't care that much about river boats. "

" Any and everything by Mark Twain is terrific. My favorite author. You need a variety, try Adam and Eve's Diary, and Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven as especially good short stories. "

" Colorful memoir, good writing, good read. "

" Colorful memoir, good writing, good read. "

" Second half drifts into an oxbow but the first half is a wonderfully written (and satisfyingly geeky) treatise on the art and science of steamboat-driving. A great memoir. "

" Hilarious and informative...if you love Twain, you'll love this one. "

" wasnt my fave but not unbearable "

" The first third of the book was great. The stories about the Mississippi river pilots were very interesting. The second two thirds were verry slow. There were a few interesting side stories, but the rest was boring. I guess if you lived in some of areas mentioned it would be of interest. "

" This book was a rambling and slow as the river it describes. While I enjoyed it from a English scholar perspective (in its connections to Huck Finn and as a demonstration of Twain's style), I would not read this unless it were required. His nuggets of comedy are great, but can be easily missed among the disjointed stories and paragraphs. I needed a plot and this was a memoir without a clear sense of direction. "

" Twain on the river as a kid. Twain back on the river again as a sneaky pete writer. I wanted to like this book, which is why, I suppose, I hung in for 350-odd pages before setting it aside. The book is entertaining intermittantly and occasionally sharp and funny but it meanders. I should probably have my keyboard revoked for using the word 'meander' in a review about a book about a river, but clearly I can't help myself. Seriously, tho, Twain needed an editor with a heavy hand for this one. "

" This was a fun read! Mark Twain is hilarious, as always. It's nice to know how he got his start (and his pen name!). "

" A quirky set of anecdotes and tall tales about life in the South. At this point, it's more fascinating as a primary source rather than as a literary work. "

" This is a timeless classic. It's very well written and I often found myself laughing out loud! "

" This was a very informative book written by Twain about his boyhood. I found it really fascinating even if it plodded along slowly sometimes. It was worth the time it took to get through it. "

" Life on the Mississippi was fun to read! I liked his country sense of humor floating as a riverboat pilot down the Mississippi. "

" A great combination of droll humor, information, and a glimpse into the past. "

" Read this when I was 14 and learned how to pilot a boat. It is a fascinating read! "

" Read this when I was 14 and learned how to pilot a boat. It is a fascinating read! "

" So far, great book if you skip the first two chapters. "

" Mostly autobiographic, this is an interesting and fun read. "

" Excellent yarn about a part of the world we know so little about. "

" Niet uitgelezen. Reisverslag van Mark Twain die terugkeert naar de Mississippi, waar hij een groot deel van zijn jeugd heeft doorgebracht. De jeugdherinneringen zelf zijn verreweg het mooist. Ook mooi is een kort verhaal over een schat. "

" Any and everything by Mark Twain is terrific. My favorite author. You need a variety, try Adam and Eve's Diary, and Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven as especially good short stories. "

" Mark Twain is a great story teller. There's a lot more to piloting a steamboat than I had ever imagined. Prior to the Corp of Engineers taming the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, life on these rivers were no picnic. "

" There were a few amusing parts, but mostly it was tedious. "

" Beautiful tribute to the Mississippi River and America in general. "

" The title led me to believe it would be light and breezy, and instead what I got was almost a technical essay, firstly on the intricacies of steamboat piloting, and then of the various stops along the river. Laboured, if nothing else. "

" I read this in the spring of 2011. With the flooding on the lower Mississippi this year it was interesting to compare Twain's observations to what happened this year. "

" This book is Twain's telling of the history of the Mississippi River. Although I enjoyed many of his "tales" there were several long tedious sections as well. I actually caught myself whispering, "blahdy, blahdy, blah" through those sections. "

" Niet uitgelezen. Reisverslag van Mark Twain die terugkeert naar de Mississippi, waar hij een groot deel van zijn jeugd heeft doorgebracht. De jeugdherinneringen zelf zijn verreweg het mooist. Ook mooi is een kort verhaal over een schat. "

" I had to give up on this; it was soooo tedious and repetitive. It might be a lot better later in the book but I didn't make it that far. "

" Rather tedious disjointed and long. This is the first Mark Twain book I haven't enjoyed very much. Got as far as about chapter 53. "

" We are leaning about the mississippi "

" I've read the popular Twain books but this is very special b/c he describes the Mississippi and the way it changes day by day, month by month, year by year in great detail. Can't put this one down. "

" Another of my favorite Twain books. "

" The first half is the best American nonfiction writing I knew best. The is the art book on Mississippi River paddle wheeler piloting. "

" You simply cannot go wrong with a book by Mark Twain. "

" Excellent yarn about a part of the world we know so little about. "

" Twain's wit, way with words, understated humor made this book very appealing to me. Plus I learned about Mississippi River history. "