A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

In the home I grew up in, we had a parlor room. It went through several evolutions, new furniture, wall paper and then pink (yes) paint, but one thing that stayed always was the giant wooden bookcase. It covered one entire wall, floor to ceiling, and was full of books.

My mother always bought books, lots and lots of books. Most of them were very old, some were homeschool curriculum, a lot were religious. Sometimes I wondered how certain books made their way there. (Especially the time I crossed paths with the book State Fair (1932) by Phil Stong. I am pretty sure I was too young for that book.)

This is how I stumbled into A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889, Mark Twain.) I picked it up randomly from one of the shelves. I remember it was in the lower right-hand corner, almost hidden. It has a pretty blue cover and red lettering. I had read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, of course, so I assumed I would love it, as I loved them.

However, this story, at that time, for me, was one of the most preposterous, confounding ones I'd ever read. I was taken aback by its utter ridiculousness. And, I felt like a horrible person, when I truly believed the story (even though by such a great author) was BAD!

Hank Morgan, a 19th century resident of Hartford Connecticut, after a strong blow to the head, finds himself magically transported to Medieval England.

He's befuddled, understandably so, as are the people around him. His dress, and his speech, they all make him stand out. King Arthur, upon the insistence of a bumbling Merlin, sentences Hank to be burned at the stake. For no real reason at the time, other than he looked and acted strange.

Happily, Hank discovered what day it was - June 20, 528 -  and his vast knowledge of history gave him an advantage. He threatened the people with darkness, for he remembered a solar eclipse would happen on that day. They ignored him of course.

But as he stood, tied to a stake, the sky grew dark. The people begged for the return of the sun! The king said he would be pardoned, if only he would bring back the sun. Slowly, the sun appeared again.

Hank then became a second in command in the kingdom. They called him "the Boss." He set up all manner of "modern" contrivances: electricity, telephone, roads, explosions.

He debunked and hornswoggled Merlin and his "magic" on several occasions.

There are many more incredulous adventures, I won't relay all of them here.

It is absolutely a story well worth reading, so you can make up your own mind. 

These days, I have a much less skeptical view of time travel, and I don't think the story is quite nearly as preposterous as I once believed.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, 1889, Mark Twain

This post is part of the 31 Days of Bibliophilia series.