Books

Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion 

Mark Twain effusively reports on Bermuda. 

If you have an hour and change to read today, just skip my review and read it yourself:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3182/3182-h/3182-h.htm

I’ve never been to Bali, Vietnam, or Greece, so take it with a grain of salt. But in my opinion, Hawaii is the king of island experiences and Bermuda is the queen. 

Mark Twain would probably not object too strongly, if this short book is to be believed. 

It gives you a charming tour of a charming island, at a charming time. It’s every bit as funny as the rest of his work, but Bermuda manages to take some of the acerbity out of even Twain. 

If you’ve been to Bermuda, definitely read this. If you’ve never been, definitely read this and then visit Bermuda. 

This is the last of my Mark Twain travel book reviews, so I want to reiterate: these books absolutely slay. If you like Twain, Bryson, or Barry, don’t sleep on them. 

Five stars.

Life on the Mississippi 

Mark Twain recounts his experience as a riverboat pilot. It’s mostly memoir, but it’s also part travelogue since the job is necessarily mobile. 

I read this last because I thought I would like it less than the travel books. The opposite proved true. 

He clearly knows and loves the technical minutiae of piloting, the Mississippi, and its denizens. This is what he wrote just before Huck Finn, and his writing is in top form. 

Five stars.

This is definitely an intriguing topic. Keep up the good work!