A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (version 2)
Mark Twain
Lu par John Greenman
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The work is a very early example of time travel in literature, anticipating by six years H. G. Wells' The Time Machine of 1895 (however, unlike Wells, Twain does not give any real explanation of his protagonist's traveling in time). Some early editions are entitled A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur. (Summary by Wikipedia) (11 hr 49 min)
Chapitres
Critiques
A very characterful reading
icyjumbo
I have long thought I ought to read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but have never got around to it. When I saw that a recording from LibriVox was available I decided to add it to my queue. I've enjoyed most of the Mark Twain I have read, and I expected to enjoy this too. The story I actually found quite disappointing. The tone is quite didactic, and the references to "modern" times are too obvious to miss, and too clunky to fit easily into the story. I would have stopped listening if it hadn't been for the superb quality of John Greenman's reading. The characters are subtly, but distinctly, voiced. Hank has an appropriately bossy, cocksure tone, leavened occasionally with wonderful notes of irony. The people from King Arthur's time sound suitably naive and credulous. Old people sound old, young people sound young, nobles sound arrogant, and poor people sound beaten down. I can't recommend this reading highly enough.
Amazing!!!
A LibriVox Listener
At first I wasn't excited to read this book, but after I got into it.......That was a whole different matter! I changed my view on some of the characters throughout the book. At the end scene ( the really big scene of the book ) I was so excited to see what happened, that I wanted to speed the recording up, but that would spoil it! It's been a lovely tale of adventure, laughter and suspense. I was sad when the book ended! The reader was fantastic! I loved his way of changing his " mood " to the mood of the character! It was funny also, to see Merlin overpowered by a normal man! Merlin had magic, and the man had brains!
Noisy dragon
John Greenman provides a first class performance. He does “the voice” without the pretentiousness of professional voice acting or sound effects; just tonal and inflection variations enough to distinguish the characters from each other. The audio quality is sufficient for listening on car audio or headphones by Bluetooth or even speakers on a cell phone. Connecticut Yankee has a greatly higher opinion of its own time than the time of its portal fantasy. This attitude is distinct from contemporary portal fantasy or isekai genre stories. If you are reading this review, Devine providence has led you here to hear. There is lightning in the bottle, you need only to listen to discover its secrets.
What a book
Steph
I had to read this book for uni and I must say I enjoyed it much more listening to John Greenman! Nice tale which makes you think about progress and Providence, and how people used to live. John Greenman is definitely my favorite reader.
Excellent Reader
Christopher
I loved the different voices and pronunciations, especially switching back and forth between 6th and 19th century dialects. I was immersed in the world of Mark Twain’s Camelot, and I loved every minute of it up until the end.
A wonderful reading
Doc Hodges
John Greenman's reading is professional quality. His voicing was perfect and evenly paced through the entire book. The book is varied, funny and poignant in excellent measure. Many thanks to Mr. Greenman for a wonderful listen.
David R.Smith
Great and excellent read. A superb listen too, thanks!
Stars for reader, not book
Chandini
First, the reader did a great job, 4/5 stars. Second the book is pretty awful, 1/5 stars. A light and humorous depiction of serious problems of the 19th century ruined by the main character's complete intolerance for anything not his own idea or style pretty much sums it up. I just couldn't get into the satire side of it because the main character, Hank Morgan or The Boss, was such a vain idiot. Was the biggest 19th century issue vanity? It's hard not to call him self centered since even his "altruistic" acts are weighed in his mind for the benefit they will convey upon him. Honestly, I kind of hated the superior attitude he struck when talking about the 6th century people. Thinking of it as an unintended satirization of European treatment of Africans and American treatment of Native Americans made it more palatable. Hank Morgan's self aggrandizing theatricality over shadowed more serious issues like slavery, equality, fair wages, etc. I'm not really sure why so many people like this book.