Life on the Mississippi

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, but other than that classic, I have not read much Mark Twain. Now that I am off of my Jane Austen kick (with only one or two more books to go through her writings), I decided to turn to Mark Twain.

I love the Mississippi River. There is just something about that River that gets in your blood. I know that in part it is the connection to New Orleans, but I get excited any time I cross any part of it (which is usually just NO, Baton Rouge, or Memphis). Some day I want to walk across the Mississippi, which means a trip to Minnesota will have to be planned at some point in my life. Because of my love for the Mississippi, I decided to read this book first in my journey through Mark Twain.

I love this book! The way that Twain describes the steamboat life makes me want to live in the 1800s during the highpoints of the era. Usually I would get bogged down in descriptions of things, but I guess my love of the River made me interested in every bit of information. The sarcasm and wit mixed in with the almost factual accounts made the book a delightful read from cover to cover. Sure, I had to pull out a dictionary and map at times, but the book was definitely worth reading. If Mark Twain had not written this account, an important character in our nation's history would have been lost forever - the steamboat captain.

This book makes me want to take a ride on a steamboat from the start of the line all the way down to New Orleans. The book also makes me love the Mississippi even more. I feel like this book is an important part of American history and should be required reading, at least for those who are close enough to the Mississippi to love it. The journey from the peak of the steamboat era to the almost mourning of an era gone by is something that many of us can relate to - especially those in contact with the River. The constant changing of the River also reminds the reader of the constant change we face in life. Mark Twain is one of the most brilliant authors America has ever been privileged to claim. I think that this book should be required reading before the reading of Huckleberry Finn because that book now makes so much more sense to me.


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