Several years ago my family took a summer vacation to Bermuda. During a day of sightseeing we ended up at the Maritime museum. On display was, as I recall it, a fairly sizable display of the Quaker City and Mark Twain's visit to the pink sand beaches of Bermuda. I rushed home and got myself my very own copy of the book, The Innocents Abroad or, the New Pilgrims' Progress.
This book is a hoot! The tale that is woven of Americans traveling in foreign countries in the mid-1800's is hysterical. Every tour guide is called Ferguson since the foreign names are too difficult for them to pronounce. The men are convinced that they will have the most marvelous shave of their lives while in Paris. They are sadly disappointed when their faces are butchered. In Athens they sneak ashore in the dead of night for a look at the Parthenon. I laughed out loud at each new adventure.
I loved The Innocents Abroad especially since I have a few unbelievable travel stories of my own. But this was written by Mark Twain almost 150 years ago in a different style than the modern reader might find appealing. It's very long and I found myself skipping over some parts where I felt he was running on. I really wanted to get to the stop in Bermuda only to find it was only a few paragraphs.
I rate The innocents Abroad as a 4 out of 5 and I plan to keep it on the shelf. It's a classic that's always good for a laugh.
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