Reviews for Life on the Mississippi 1983

The average rating for Life on the Mississippi 1983 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-05-21 00:00:00 John Topaum I first read this book fifty years ago when I was in high school, and I recalled Twain's account of his days as a Mississippi steamboat pilot's apprentice as a work of great humor and style with quintessentially American themes, equal in power to Huckleberry Finn. A recent re-reading has left me both gratified and disappointed: gratified because Twain's history and description of the ever-changing Mississippi and his account of his life as a young river pilot are just good as I remembered them, but disappointed because this account occupies only the first third of the book. The other two-thirds has moments of equal power--Twain's account of his return to his boyhood home Hannibal, for example--but most of it is a casually organized travelogue of a trip up the Mississippi by the fifty-year-old Twain, interrupted by random anecdotes and tall tales. This second two-thirds is uneven but entertaining, full of characteristic Twain humor; it is as good as "Roughing It," a book I like and admire. Nevertheless, it nowhere equals the power of the first hundred pages. And a book the ends worse than it began is always a disappointment.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-04-03 00:00:00 Chuck Ivy Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain Life on the Mississippi (1883) is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War. The book begins with a brief history of the river as reported by Europeans and Americans, beginning with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. It continues with anecdotes of Twain's training as a steamboat pilot, as the 'cub' (apprentice) of an experienced pilot, Horace E. Bixby. He describes, with great affection, the science of navigating the ever-changing Mississippi River in a section that was first published in 1876, entitled "Old Times on the Mississippi". Although Twain was actually 21 when he began his training, he uses artistic license to make himself seem somewhat younger, referring to himself as a "fledgling" and a "boy" who "ran away from home" to seek his fortune on the river, and playing up his own callowness and naivete. In the second half, Twain narrates his trip many years later on a steamboat from St. Louis to New Orleans. He describes the competition from railroads, and the new, large cities, and adds his observations on greed, gullibility, tragedy, and bad architecture. He also tells some stories that are most likely tall tales. عنوانها: «زندگی بر روی می سی سی پی»؛ «زندگی روی میسی سی پی»؛ نویسنده: مارک تواین؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش ماه فوریه سال 1982میلادی عنوان: زندگی بر روی می سی سی پی؛ نویسنده: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: ابوالقاسم حالت؛ چاپ اول در 574ص؛ آخرین چاپ، امیرکبیر، 1380؛ در 596ص؛ شابک 9643030407؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 19م عنوان: زندگی روی میسی سی پی؛ نویسنده: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، ناژ، 1390؛ در 624ض؛ شابک 9789649109784؛ بخشی از زندگی «مارک تواین» است، و داستانهایش، بسیار شوخ و خنده دار هستند؛ «زندگی بر روی می.سی.سی.پی» در حقیقت، بخشی از زندگی نویسنده ی اثر است؛ ایشان در این کتاب داستان، حکایت، لطیفه و نکته های تازه، خنده دار، و بانمک آورده اند، که خوانشگر در پایان کتاب شگفت زده، از خویش میپرسد: «آیا نویسنده قصد داشته شرحی از زندگی در کناره ی آن رودخانه ی شگفت، به دست دهد، یا آن که داستان پردازی خود را، از مسائل انسانی به نمایش بگذارد؟»؛ «مارک تواین» از زبان یکی از کشتیرانان بزرگ رودخانه «می سی سی پی» نوشته، که به عنوان بهترین دوره از زندگی یک ملت شناخته شده است؛ نویسنده در این کتاب، به تجربیات کشتی رانی و معاشرتی خود، در آن دوره، اشاره میکنند؛ این نویسنده که «ساموئل لنگهورن کلمس (نامی که مارک تواین با این نلم در مجله ها مینوشتند)» نام اصلی اوست، شرح ماجراهای هیجان آور زندگی ساکنان سواحل «میسی سی پی» را، به بهترین روش ارائه میدهند تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 23/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی