A Tramp Abroad (1880) (The Oxford Mark Twain)

America's post-Civil War years brought a renewed interest in the European scene. Journeys
known as Grand Tours led tourists to take ship to the Continent. They fanned out across the
landscape with the intent to "know Europe." Their return home resulted in a flurry of
published accounts. Twain satirizes both the tourists and their writings with delicious
wit. Ever a man to play with words, his "tramp" refers to both himself and the walking tour
of Europe he purports to have made. By the time you've reached the end of the account of the
"walking tour" incorporating trains, carriages and barges, you realize that the longest "walk"
Twain took occurred in dark hotel room while trying to find his bed. He claims to have
covered 47 miles wandering around the room.
Twain was interested in everything, probing into both well-known and obscure topics. His
judgments are vividly conveyed in this book, standing in marked contrast to his more
reserved approach in Innocents Abroad. A delightful overview of mid-19th Century Europe,
Tramp is also interlaced with entertaining asides. Twain was deeply interested in people, and
various "types" are drawn from his piercing gaze, rendered with acerbic wit. Some of these
are contemporary, while others are dredged from his memories of the California mines and
other journeys. He also relished Nature's marvels, recounting his observations. A favourite
essay is "What Stumped the Blue-jays." A nearly universal bird in North America, Twain's
description of the jay's curiosity and expressive ability stands unmatched. He observes such
humble creatures as ants, Alpine chamois, and the American tourist. Few escape his
perception or his scathing wit. This book remains valuable for its timeless rendering of
characters and the universality of its view. It can be read repeatedly for education or
entertainment.

"A Tramp Abroad" is a humorous account of Mark Twain's travels in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. It is part travel guide, part commentary on European culture, and part tall tale. Like many of Twain's less-known works, "A Tramp Abroad" is rather uneven -- the chapters in the book range from rather boring to laugh-out-loud funny. Yet on balance, the humorous moments make up for the dull moments, and the majority of the less humorous chapters are still interesting. Apart from a few slow chapters, it provides a good read from beginning to end.

Some of the highlights of "A Tramp Abroad" are Twain's exaggerated account of his ascent of the Riffelberg (a mountain in the Swiss Alps), his comments on the peculiarities of the German language, and a hilarious episode in which Twain spends half an hour pretending to know a woman who remembers him though he doesn't remember her.

I have read most of Twain's works, and in my opinion "A Tramp Abroad" is not his best work, but it is definitely one of his most underrated books. It is not as good as his most popular works of fiction (i.e., Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), nor is it as good as "Life on the Mississippi." But I found it to be the most entertaining of his purely travel-oriented books (the other books in that category being "The Innocents Abroad" and "Following the Equator"). The bottom line is that if you are a fan of Mark Twain's style, then you should find this book to be well worth reading.

Finally, if you are going to read "A Tramp Abroad," I highly recommend obtaining a version that contains all 328 of the original illustrations. While I normally would make this recommendation for any of Twain's works, it is especially important for this book since the text makes several references to the illustrations, and since some of the jokes in the text would not make sense without the illustrations. The only current edition I know of that definitely contains *all* of the original illustrations is the Oxford Mark Twain edition (ISBN 0195101375). Also, the Modern Library Classics edition (ISBN 0812970039) apparently has retained some of the original illustrations, since it contains a note stating that "... some illustrations have been omitted" (thus implying that some have not been omitted). I would assume that this edition has retained those illustrations which are essential to the humor, but I can't say for sure since I don't actually have it.

It's fascinating to compare my own experiences, having lived now 3 years in Germany, to those of an American from 125 years earlier. I've been learning to speak German, and his Appendix on the "awful" German language was hilarious. In poking fun at German grammar (e.g., long sentences), he purposely commits the same errors in his own writing. The scene "riding" the glacier down the Alps was so funny I had tears running down my face. It's amazing to think that it was written in 1879, when America was barely a century old, and the insights and perceptions then can be incredibly, eerily similar to either my or "typical" American's attitudes today.

I'd recommend it to anyone, but particularly to anyone visiting or living in Europe. It's way funnier than his "Innocents Abroad", which is also a good read on travel in Europe.