"In my opinion the omitted chapters are strained in theft humor and
contain much superfluous or irrelevant matter." So here is Twain's
1880 European travel book with nine of its chapters removed, eight
others pared down, and all the punctuation modernized - "without
inserting any language of my own, not even the briefest
conjunctions." Very commendable. But what Neider has inserted is
his own taste and network of expectations, a mind-set that has him
reaching for the blue pencil whenever he finds Mark's "artistic
conscience to be dozing more than usual." Legends, for instance.
Twain seemed to be fascinated by them, retelling them, musing on
their development; filler, says Neider, so good-bye Lorelei,
Dilsberg Castle, and the Cave of the Specter. Likewise Mark's
interest in natural history (glaciers and other boring stuff like
that). And when Mark gets "silly" about the pretentious use of
foreign words - as he does, with some delightful results, in the
omitted "Harris Climbs Mountains for Me" - Neider gets itchy and A
Tramp Abroad gets shorter. The issue, of course, is not whether
Neider's taste is good or bad, but that any reader of a collection
of pieces has the ability - and the inalienable right - to skim or
skip or, just possibly, settle down with something as un-Mark-Twain
as the Lorelei; no one interested enough to pick up A Tramp Abroad
needs Neider's help in finding its goodies, and Mark Twain doesn't
need his lapses, if lapses they be, swept behind the typesetting
machine. "If I may venture to say it myself, this edited version of
the Tramp is now a thoroughly delicious book free of the padding
demands of subscription publishing. . . ." What next? How about
those boring stretches going on and on about fog in Bleak House?
After all, Dickens had those incredible padding demands of serial
publishing to contend with, and. . . . (Kirkus Reviews)
Cast in the form of a walking tour through Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy, A Tramp Abroad sparkles with the author's shrewd observations and highly opinionated comments on Old World culture, and showcases his unparalleled ability to integrate humorous sketches, autobiographical tidbit, and historical anecdotes in consistently entertaining narrative.
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