Free eBooks A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court (Mark Twain Library) Available To Downloads
When A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was published in 1889, Mark Twain was undergoing a series of personal and professional crises. Thus what began as a literary burlesque of British chivalry and culture grew into a disturbing satire of modern technology and social thought. The story of Hank Morgan, a nineteenth-century American who is accidentally returned to sixth-century England, is a powerful analysis of such issues as monarchy versus democracy and free will versus determinism, but it is also one of Twain's finest comic novels, still fresh and funny after more than 100 years.
Series: Mark Twain Library
Paperback: 501 pages
Publisher: University of California Press (March 6, 1984)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0520051092
ISBN-13: 978-0520051096
Product Dimensions: 1.8 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (444 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #2,214,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #126 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Arthurian Romance #1051 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Genres & Styles > Gothic & Romance #1748 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Classics
You might wonder what prompted Mark Twain to sidle from "straight" fiction into the realm of outright fantasy. Twain transports a Connecticut shop foreman twelve centuries into the past [and 5 000 kilometres!] to Camelot and Arthur's court. Initially confused and dismayed, Hank Morgan's Yankee practicality is quickly aroused and he becomes a major figure among the panopolied knights. With the title of The Boss, his rank equals The King or The Pope with its uniqueness. His elevation doesn't distract him from a more profound impulse, however. Hank's Yankee roots and wide experience evoke an ambition - nothing less than revolution. He wants to sweep away the monarchy and aristocracy and establish an American-style republic in Arthurian Britain.Mark Twain's scathing criticism of the sham of hereditary monarchy bolstered by an Established Church makes this among his choicest writings. He resents the condition of a Church which "turned a nation of men into a nation of worms." A fervent believer in individual freedom, Twain uses Hank to voice his disdain of Britain's royalty. It's no more than might be expected of a man who boasted of but one ancestor - who sat on the jury that executed Charles I. Hank knows revolutions never succeed when implemented from above. Revolution be achieved only when the individual's attitude changes from meek acceptance toself assertion. Hank's method reaches people through clandestine schools and factories, publication of a newspaper and establishment of a telephone system. These new forms of manufacture and communication become the foundation by which Hank expects to abolish the ancient, mis-named, chivalric tradition. Does he change the course of history?
If you think Bing Crosby's 1949 movie was anything like Mark Twain's fantasy classic published in 1889...Forget It! Like the precursor novels,'Gulliver's Travels' written in 1726 by Jonathan Swift and 'Alice in Wonderland' written in 1865 by Lewis Carroll were made into movies that are barely representative of the original novels. The film starring Bing Crosby was a musical / comedy only touching on the very basic part of Twain's novel.Mark Twain's view of England's Lifestyle in 528 was very harsh pertaining to church and throne to say the least.On page 246, he says..." if one could but force it ( manhood ) out of its timid and suspicious privacy, to overthrow and trample in the mud any throne that ever was set up and any nobility that ever supported it". The book has none of the film's niceties, instead it graphically tells of unjust hangings,stake burnings, murder, slavery, and an unfair caste system. This is a brilliant novel written 113 years after the Revolutionary War and 24 years after the Civil War. The contents truly reveal Mark Twain's political and social views, which I think are worthy of the study they have received. For further information on his thoughts see: 'Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1, Reader's Edition (Mark Twain Papers)'.In the year 1879, Hank Morgan ( his name is only mentioned once ), an arms factory foreman, gets into a fight with a man named Hercules ( no, not him ) and wakes up under a tree in King Arthur's Camelot in the year 528! He is captured by the less then adequate knight, Sir Kay. At first Hank thinks he is in an insane asylum, but then as he is brought before The Knights of the Round Table to receive justice, he realizes that he really is in the sixth century.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Mark Twain Library) The Complete Works of Mark Twain: The Novels, short stories, essays and satires, travel writing, non-fiction, the complete letters, the complete speeches, and the autobiography of Mark Twain Quien fue Mark Twain? /Who Was Mark Twain? (Quien Fue?/ Who Was?) (Spanish Edition) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Dover Thrift Editions) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Norton Critical Editions) Mark Twain: The Man and His Works The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions) The Bible According to Mark Twain: Irreverent Writings on Eden, Heaven, and the Flood by America's Master Satirist California Rules of Court - State, 2015 ed. (Vol. I, California Court Rules) (California Rules of Court. State and Federal) Arthur Turns Green (Arthur Adventure Series) Arthur's Birthday (An Arthur Adventure) Arthur's Valentine (Arthur Adventure Series) Dayton Board of Education et al., Petitioners, v. Mark Brinkman et al. U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record with Supporting Pleadings The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook The Lost Tomb of King Arthur: The Search for Camelot and the Isle of Avalon Fairest Isle King Arthur Beginner Piano Sheet Music Chronicles of King Arthur King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table (Illustrated Edition) The Infinite Character of King Arthur: His History and Legend, His Camelot and Avalon The Death of King Arthur
