Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain is our November 2021 Old School Classics read.

This is the Spoiler thread.

This is a reread for me. I am listening to the book, but I may have slept through a little of it! 🙂

I haven't started yet, but I'm thrilled to get to read more Twain!

I'm about 40% into this and enjoying the back and forth with Tom and the Prince of Wales. It reads very similarly to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court which I read a few weeks ago.

The change in Tom is more noticeable than in the Prince. It's interesting to read how Tom, so far, has taken on the power he now has. And he is realizing that his fanciful dreams of princely life may not have been all he actually imagined. I'm waiting to see how the Prince will change in his new lowered status. So far, he is very adamant about claiming his royal status.

When I was young, Walt Disney had a movie of this which was shown on the Sunday night TV show in a couple installments. The fellow who helps the prince while he is a pauper was the same actor as Zorro, Guy Williams. I sort of had a crush on him. He was later the father on Lost in Space.

I also really liked the story of The Prince and the Pauper as told in that movie.

Robin P wrote: "When I was young, Walt Disney had a movie of this which was shown on the Sunday night TV show in a couple installments. The fellow who helps the prince while he is a pauper was the same actor as Zo..."

I too have vivid memories of watching that movie and enjoying it very much. IMDb has it being shown on The Magical World of Disney over weekly episodes on March 18 and 25, 1962 but I'm sure it was repeated. Like so many American kids of our generation, I saw numerous Disney pictures in such installments rather than in the theater during that time. It was when everyone watched the same shows and would talk about them at school the nest day. It was also when Guy Williams served as a young American kid's version of Errol Flynn.
The 50's and early 60s was also the time when Disney was making a lot of its movies/shows over in England, starting with its first live action film Treasure Island in 1950.

I've been listening to this one on audio and the reader is pretty dry. That could be why I'm finding it boring. I've never read this that I remember, but I am very familiar with the story, maybe from a film or a kids version.

I like the themes of class and power, but overall this is just okay for me.

Sue, I am also listening and also finding this to be drier than I had remembered.

I agree Sue and Terry. I finished it last night and thought it was ok. I liked A Connecticut Yankee better than this one. The characters don’t really arc and this one is more about the plot and what happens to each boy while they are switched.

I am also listening to the audio and find it extremely dull. I’ll stick it out but I find my mind keeps wandering when it’s on so I don’t know how much I’ll actually “hear.” 😆

By coincidence, this read came up just after I had finished Hilary Mantel’s “the Mirror and the Light”, ( a future classic read I’m sure) which is a completely different genre but roughly covers the same time frame and characters. It made for an interesting contrast.

I am very glad to have finally read this after hearing the story all my life. I enjoyed it very much and was interested to see that the story is of King Edward VI since I have recently been reading about Henry VIII and his family. I had always thought that this story was just of some fictional characters. It adds historical interest to it.

I read this a couple of years ago and also enjoyed it very much. It was interesting to see how people lived back then.

I‘m only 20% through so far, but what impresses me is Twain’s command of Shakespearean English! This is the same author who gave us the Missouri dialects of Huck and Tom. What incredible mastery of the width and breadth of the English language Twain demonstrates both here and there. I would love to hear what a native Brit thinks about Twain’s emulation of Tudor court English and manners.

I finally finished! It took me a long time. Honestly, I just didn't like it. It was too long and I didn't care about anything that was happening. I think I'll stick with the 30 minute Mickey Mouse version. That's more my speed.

This is the fourth Mark Twain book I've read and I haven't liked any of them. I'm thinking he's not an author for me.