Rating: 
Summary: Mark Twain's Tribute to the Mississippi River
Review: "Life On the Mississippi" is Mark Twain's tribute to the Mississippi River, which surrounded the earlier part of his life. Mark Twain had been in awe of the river for many years; and inspired him to become a river boat pilot - explained in length in this book; much of which is quite humorous, while other parts are heartbreaking, including that of the horrible death of his brother, Henry. One of the main complaints about this book that some people have is that is uses too many facts and figures, which tends to bog the reader down. This is true. Yet, the avid reader, and Mark Twain enthusiast, will not bypass these chapters. We will revel in them, and read them with inspired intent; simply because the Mississippi River has been such an integral part of Mark Twain's life, that the more we get to know about the river, the more we get to know about the real Mark Twain. "Life on the Mississippi" is a work of nonfiction; perhaps Twain's truest account of historical fact concerning his life. For those who are just getting interested in knowing about Mark Twain's writings, I would recommend reading "Roughing It"; as it is humurous throughout. "Life on the Mississippi" would be the second book I would recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: commendable
Review: "Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835, and died at Redding, Connecticut, in 1910." He is well known for the great humoristic writings through "a miscellany of history, all balanced by his most complex narrative." On his fourth travel book, Life on the Mississippi (1883), he deliberately described the tension surrounding of his life as well as the events history that was happening. His vivid working inspired and kept me on the edge from reading chapter after chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Mark Twain's Tribute to the Mississippi River
Review: "Life On the Mississippi" is Mark Twain's tribute to the Mississippi River, which surrounded the earlier part of his life. Mark Twain had been in awe of the river for many years; and inspired him to become a river boat pilot - explained in length in this book; much of which is quite humorous, while other parts are heartbreaking, including that of the horrible death of his brother, Henry. One of the main complaints about this book that some people have is that is uses too many facts and figures, which tends to bog the reader down. This is true. Yet, the avid reader, and Mark Twain enthusiast, will not bypass these chapters. We will revel in them, and read them with inspired intent; simply because the Mississippi River has been such an integral part of Mark Twain's life, that the more we get to know about the river, the more we get to know about the real Mark Twain. "Life on the Mississippi" is a work of nonfiction; perhaps Twain's truest account of historical fact concerning his life. For those who are just getting interested in knowing about Mark Twain's writings, I would recommend reading "Roughing It"; as it is humurous throughout. "Life on the Mississippi" would be the second book I would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting for a while
Review: As always, Mark Twain is a pleasure to read. However, after a while this book sort of lags along. Twain's tale of his post-civil war trip down the river is not interesting enough to take up the space and detail that he devotes to it.
Rating:
Summary: He puts you on the deck of a Mississippi riverboat. Hold on!
Review: He picks you up off the spot where you are sitting and places you standing on the deck of a Mississippi riverboat in pre-Civil War America. His writing craft is so vivid, detailed, and compelling that you feel as if you yourself have followed each bend and turn, avoided each logjam, and squinted over the bow each starlit night of a journey down the mighty Mississippi River. Additionally, he adds context to the voyage, in the form of digressions about the times, the way peole thought and acted, real items from newspapers of the era, and his own opinions and observations of human nature. It is not a novel. It is non-fiction, but it's writing style makes it as readable as a novel. It was pure pleasure
Rating:
Summary: commendable
Review: If you are unacquainted with Twain's work, this is the ideal starting point. So much of his life was spent by and on the River that it has saturated into many of his greatest works such as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. His years training as a riverboat pilot (when the pilot was in charge, not the captain) and, years later, his visit to the same towns and cities provide a stunning portrait of how the River played a major role in shaping America. No one has the wit, charm and command of language of Twain.
Rating:
Summary: Great Reading
Review: If you are unacquainted with Twain's work, this is the ideal starting point. So much of his life was spent by and on the River that it has saturated into many of his greatest works such as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. His years training as a riverboat pilot (when the pilot was in charge, not the captain) and, years later, his visit to the same towns and cities provide a stunning portrait of how the River played a major role in shaping America. No one has the wit, charm and command of language of Twain.
Rating:
Summary: Twain's Mississippi River Recollections..........
Review: In Life on the Mississippi, Twain recounts his river experiences from boyhood to riverboat captain and beyond. Encompassing the years surrounding the Civil War, this book is an excellent source of 19th-century Americana as well as an anthology of the mighty river itself. Replete with rascally rivermen, riparian hazards, deluge, catastrophe, and charm, Life on the Mississippi is another of Twain's stellar literary achievements. Wit and wisdom are expected from Twain and this book does not disappoint. It is equally valuable for it's period descriptions of the larger river cities (New Orleans, St. Louis, St. Paul), as well as the small town people and places ranging the length of America's imposing central watershed. The advent of railroads signalled the end of the Mississipi's grand age of riverboat traffic, but, never fear, Life on the Mississippi brings it back for the reader as only Samuel Clemens can. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Twain's Mississippi River Recollections..........
Review: In Life on the Mississippi, Twain recounts his river experiences from boyhood to riverboat captain and beyond. Encompassing the years surrounding the Civil War, this book is an excellent source of 19th-century Americana as well as an anthology of the mighty river itself. Replete with rascally rivermen, riparian hazards, deluge, catastrophe, and charm, Life on the Mississippi is another of Twain's stellar literary achievements. Wit and wisdom are expected from Twain and this book does not disappoint. It is equally valuable for it's period descriptions of the larger river cities (New Orleans, St. Louis, St. Paul), as well as the small town people and places ranging the length of America's imposing central watershed. The advent of railroads signalled the end of the Mississipi's grand age of riverboat traffic, but, never fear, Life on the Mississippi brings it back for the reader as only Samuel Clemens can. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Magnificent Journey to be Savored
Review: Life on the Mississippi is by far one of the most wonderful books ever written about the post Civil War era in America. Mark Twain takes the reader on a melancholy look at this period of time in history as you journey into the Mississippi of his youth, adulthood, and the people and the communities he knew so well. He conveys a miraculous picture of this lively river giving it the grandeur and prominence it deserves. He defines the river very much like a living organism with a power and personality all its own. As the book unfolds, he begins in his days when he grew up along the river and became a steam boat pilot, ending that career with the advent of the Civil War. Later he returns to the river after some twenty years and takes a journey as a writer from around St. Louis to New Orleans and back up the river into what is present day Minnesota. You learn about the different cultures along the river, its tributaries, as well as the remarkable people who become part of the forgotten history of our nation. Twain's anecdotes are sheer brilliance, and he has an incredible way of choosing just the right story to illustrate a particular point transporting the reader back into time as if it was the present day and you are standing beside Twain observing what he is seeing. His reflections of his times along the river and his descriptions of the people and places make this a true masterpiece of literature and I highly recommend it. I found myself only able to read short portions at a time, as I personally found the sheer beauty of the entire book was a work to be savored and digested rather than rapidly consumed as you would with any other book. As I poured through the book, I felt often as if I was traveling with Mark Twain as a companion along his charming and magnificent journey during a wonderful period of history.
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