I changed my original rating from 2 to 4 stars. This is in a sense a sequel to the very charming and humorous "The Innocents Abroad" but it not strictly a travelogue as the prior book was.

The book is a farrago of humorous anecdotes, Twain's wry observations on his further European adventures and the difference in character between the various Europeans and the Americans and some phantasmagoria.

There are laugh-out-loud moments and having an interest in the history of exploration and adventure, I found Twain giving background and quoting from other authors on mountaineering and the first attainment of the summit of the Matterhorn.

By the time he wrote this one, Twain had a formula he didn't mess with. This is the formula he put together in his other travel books, like "Innocents Abroad" and "Roughing It". While it's been a while since I read those others, I really liked them. This one I liked much less. I believe it is because in this book he spends a lot of time and effort on mountains and mountain climbing stories, which I got tired of. Those earlier books mixed it up better. Typical Twain, though, grousing and story-telling in equal portions. Read if you want Twains take on the German language, newspapers, Americans traveling abroad, the countries of France, Germany, Italy, and Austria, or the Alps. Pass me some of that barometer soup, please.

First, I'm glad I've already read The Innocents Abroad, or else at some point I'd have little to no idea what Twain is talking about when he refers to incidents on that trip, which happens occasionally. This seems a slightly more 'serious' book than that, too, which shows me some of the changes (not to mention growth) in Twain himself, which adds interest.

Beyond that, there's no easy way to categorize this book: humorous travelogue, social critique of both Europe and the U.S. (in which neither has everything its own way), journey of self-discovery, collection of folk tales, art critique. Twain ventures into all of these areas, and not in exactly an orderly fashion, either. Like a good journey, sometimes one doesn't really know what's coming around the next corner until it arrives.

One rather specialized section near the end will mostly appeal to those like myself who have, starting with English, attempted to master German. In it, Twain offers to reform the latter. I don't know how funny a native speaker would find some of his suggestions, but to me it was in many ways the funniest part of the book.

If you like Twain, this is a must-read. It's a good book to tackle when you have somewhat limited time, since it's divided into longish, but not unconquerable sections, between which you can let the book lie and, once you've come back to it, not have much of a task, if any, to return to the narrative. Those unfamiliar with Twain's longer stuff really may want to start with The Innocents Abroad and then try this, since, although this book can stand on its own, one gets more from it having read the former. That's just a suggestion, though.

A travelogue that is humorous and farcical, at the same time that Twain waxes descriptive and poetic. He relates descriptions of an European journey from Germany, through Switzerland, and into northern Italy. He claims that it will be a tramp afoot, since he and his friend were young Americans. But, at every turn he is quick to admit opting for a more convenient mode of travel, and deludes himself into believing it is still a foot journey.

It is this persistence at appearing innocent and like an uninformed tourist that most reveals his calculated intelligence and sarcasm. At times you are unsure of the punch line because of the slightly archaic language, but you certainly know it is in jest. But, most of the time the humor is hilariously easy to picture, like the French dual he describes, in which he officiated as a second.

I especially enjoyed his attempts to catch an Alpine sunrise that persisted in meeting with failure. In the middle of all the humor, he breaks out into a description of the sun on the mountains that is breathtaking and moves you to tears. You certainly can't trust Mr. Clemens while he is armed with words. He will surprise you on most every page.

I read this classic from both Kindle and Audible in whisper-sync narrated by Grover Gardner and found the voice of good quality. I highly recommend it and it is a book I couldn't put down, but read straight through. This was my stop in Switzerland for my Around the World in 80 Books Journey. The author definitely did an excellent job of describing the landscape and culture. My next stop is Italy.

1880
What I have is the abridged edition [300 pp only] of 1977. In his intro [which I found not terribly well written], Charles Neider gives highly useful context for the book. Twain wrote this book because he had to, he needed the money to support his family. Neider thinks it is better and funnier than Innocents -- in places. But very uneven, and that's why he produced this abridged version. I have never read Innocents, and perhaps need not attempt to...

The chapter making fun of the German language is really priceless, and a few other stories are nice to read, but I did not get far in the book before stopping. The style of humor is perhaps too often outdated for me.

The following passage in the introduction goes a long way to showing me why I don't enjoy these stories more:

In a letter to Howells [editor of the Atlantic] dated 30 Jan 1879, Samuel Clemens wrote:
“I have destroyed such lots of MS written for this book! And I suppose there are such lots left which ought to be destroyed. If it should be, it shall be – that is certain. …. I wish I could give those sharp satires on European life which you mention, but of course a man can’t write successful satire except he be in a calm judicial good humor – whereas I hate travel, and I hate hotels, and I hate the opera, and I hate the Old Masters – in truth I don’t ever seem to be in a good enough humor with anything to satirize it; no, I want to stand up before it and curse it, and foam at the mouth – or take a club and pound it to rags and pulp. I have got in two or three chapters about Wagner’s Operas, and managed to do it without showing temper – but the strain of another such effort would burst me. …. I want to make a book which people will read – and I shall make it profitable reading in spots – in spots merely because there’s not much material for a larger amount.”

*sigh*

I love Mark Twain's books. I love Mark Twain's books and yet I couldn't finish this one. It was just so...slow...and there was so much fluff in between the good bits. Bleh.

My husband said there's a story to the effect that Mark Twain finished writing this book and he loved it but his editors said it was too short, so he had to go back and add a bunch to it and by the time he was done he didn't like it anymore. That's a story I can actually totally believe because if this book were about 50% shorter I think it would be about 300% better.

I seem to remember that his official biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine, said that Mark Twain wrote this book because he desperately needed the money and that his heart was not in it.

It’s true that there is none of the freshness, exuberance and irreverence of “The Innocents Abroad” in this travel book. It was written by an older and more mature Mark Twain. The humour is quieter and for the most part he manages to stop his imagination from running riot (except for the ascent of the Riffelberg), but I really enjoyed it all the same. Many passages reminded me of Jerome K. Jerome’s “Three Men in a Boat”, especially when Twain and Harris are squabbling with each other (their attempt to see the sunrise on the Rigi-Kulm, is hilarious).

There are some wonderful descriptions of Alpine scenery and some interesting anecdotes though this part of the book is maybe a bit too long-drawn out.

On the other hand, Mark Twain rushes through Milano and Venice because he had already written about Italy at length in “Innocents”, so the ending is a bit abrupt and maybe he really did breathe a sigh of relief at having finished this tiresome task.

I'd actually give this 2.5 stars. It's more of a collection of "episodes" than one cohesive story. And so there were certain chapters that I found interesting and pretty humorous. However, there were many parts of the book that I found unable to relate to, or frandly care about, so it was a challenge to continue to plow ahead and finish the whole book (plus appendices). My sense is that if I hadn't been living in Switzerland for the past 4 years, I would have found it even less engaging than I did. The appendix on the German language is a very funny, I think, and I would highly recommend that piece. As for the rest of the book, not so much.

There are moments, particularly in a few aphorisms about strange American characters, where Mark Twain's voice and humor shines. Unfortunately, those moments are largely overshadowed by the monotonous, reverent tone of the rest of the story. I've read that the character "Harris" was loosely based on a minister, "Twichell" and that his tone and opinions were largely incorporated into the story. Its simply not Twain at his best, and its clear that this was a forced commercial endeavor.

I read this book because it was on a lot of book lists about Switzerland and because I was curious to see Mark Twain’s take on Europe in the 1800’s. It didn’t disappoint, his musings and anecdotes were in line with my thoughts on Twain and his personality. It was basically a travelogue of Europe in the 1800’s so I appreciate the historical aspect of it. Some of the stories and legends he shared were sort of boring but most of the book was interesting. I especially liked the parts about Switzerland and mountain climbing. I would have loved the book even more if contained more observations on the people in each place at that time, but it was interesting enough that I want to read the other books like this that he authored.

It's taken me so long to finish A Tramp Abroad that I can't remember what happened in the beginning of it anymore. I've been reading this on my kindle at night while nursing, which is maybe not the best atmosphere to appreciate it properly. I remember really enjoying it some nights, and others it dragged, but that's been my experience with Mark Twain's travel writing overall as well. When it was good it was very, very good, and when it was bad it was boring. I'll have to try this one again sometime when I'm not being distracted by small children.

Honestly, what I read (and enjoyed) was the 15-page Penguin Classics introduction to Mark Twain's biography, his published works, his niche in American Literature as a humorist and the narrative technique of "A Tramp Abroad." Consequently, I had no interest in the book's collection of tall tales, knots along a fabricated "plank" of pedestrian European encounters, with free association glueing together the amble.