Roughing It by Mark Twain fulfilled the category “Book by or about a Journalist” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. The book is a chronicle of Mark Twain’s adventures in the new West in the 1860s. I’m not sure how much is autobiographical, just plain fiction, or something in-between. It’s Twain, after all.
The book begins with a lengthy trip by coach to Nevada, where Twain’s brother will become an assistant to the Secretary of the Territory. Along this leg of the journey, Twain discusses the coach system of travel, lamenting the current use of trains. It’s amusing to hear him gripe about how trains are taking all the fun and adventure out of long journeys. Good thing he wasn’t much around for plane travel. During this part of the trip, he talks about the Pony Express, the transportation of regular mail, and travel in general. It was funny and interesting, but I couldn’t tell you one of his anecdotes. (And I read this pretty recently, in September.) Not necessarily forgettable, but not so memorable, but fun.
Throughout the narrative (if I can use that term for an “enhanced” autobiographical story), Twain tries on many hats, including Journalist. He wrote for various papers in the Nevada Territory and California during his eight years there. Thankfully, it earned him some money because silver mining didn’t seem to work out too well. His stories of trying to get rich quick with both silver and timber are hilarious.
The book’s title reflects more of the beginning and middle of the story when he’s headed to Carson City. He talks about living in the woods (the timber attempt) and sharing space with other men until they achieved silver mine dreams. Most of the time, he was flat broke, in debt, surviving on the basics. It was interesting to see how life was in the Old West, where one had to live by his wits and little else. Of course, it is Twain, so take it all with a grain of salt.
He includes some travels in the book beyond Nevada and California. He describes a trip through Salt Lake City where Brigham Young still reigned supreme. Twain’s account sounded much like A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I wonder if Conan Doyle read Roughing it when he wrote his tale. I found Twain’s description of the Mormon city a little disturbing. But again, Twain—so how real was it? Later, Twain goes to Hawaii—a neat trip with some great details.
I feel like I’m not doing Roughing It justice. But it’s Twain. His humor, his sarcasm, his interesting take on the world is as evident here as it is in Huckleberry Finn. The man is a master storyteller. You feel you are sitting down with your eccentric uncle, and he always has a great story for you. The book was very long, but I listened on audio. The reader wasn’t great. I wanted him to have a bit of a Missouri twang, but alas, no. Like Innocents Abroad, it’s quintessential Twain and a must-read for an American lit junkie like me.
I give Roughing It by Mark Twain Four Silver Strikes.
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