A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain Book Review

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"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"
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Review Summaries

"In this short novel, Twain undertook to make an enjoyable story for children that also highlighted a couple pet peeves of his own. First, the "courtly honor" of knightly times was, to him, a delusion that led directly to the destruction of several hundred thousand men in the US during the Civil War. He despised Sir Walter Scott and his whol set of Waverly novels with what he considered to be the pernicious themes of knightly honor. Here, he undertakes to show the exact same characters as ignorant, power hungry tyrants. Second, the idea of technology as a boon bothered him. Certainly, he accepted the value of much of technology, but in his view it was overstated in its value so he used this anachronistic story to highlight technology hurting, rather than helping, his main character and the ignorant selfishness of supposed "knights.""
Kelly Whiting, Resident Mark Twain Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - part earth & part fantasy world
Political power play Yes
Political plotlets - saving govt/kingdom from external overthrow - factions fight within govt for control
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - weapon - power source - state secrets
War or Invasion Yes
Major kinds of combat: - guns - sword fights
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 60's-90's
Profession/status: - mage/magician
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - general past
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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