
发表在1869年,被马克吐温称为“很适合在船上看的书”,是他畅销最好的书之一。
At first glance, Innocents Abroad is an ordinary travel book. It is based on an actual event, in a retired Civil War ship (the USS Quaker City). The excursion upon which the book is based was billed as a Holy Land expedition, with numerous stops along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as a train excursion from Marseilles, France to Paris for the 1867 Paris Exhibition, and a side trip through the Black Sea to Odessa, all before the ultimate pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
乍看之下,它是一本普通的旅行书,但是它却是一本发生在一个退休军舰上的真实的圣地考察的书。这个旅行从法国马赛,到1867年的巴黎展览会,再通过黑海敖德萨,最终朝向圣地作为终点。
吐温记录了他在征途上遇见的文化和社会各方面的意见和批评,并将语气转为更加机智和幽默。一旦到了圣地,他的语气再次转移,又以轻松愉快的喜剧相结合。
Many of Twain's criticisms were based on his own experiences and the contemporary travelogues, which were regarded in their own time as indispensable aids for traveling in the region. Twain lampooned William Cowper Prime's Tent Life in the Holy Land for its overly sentimental prose and its often violent encounters with native inhabitants. Twain also made light of his fellow travelers and the natives of the countries and regions he visited, as well as his own expectations and reactions.
他的批评基于自己的旅游经验和当代游记,被视为是欧洲地区的不可缺少的援助(使他们清醒)。吐温讽刺William Cowper Prime(American journalist,During 1855 and 1856, Prime traveled in Europe, North Africa, and the Holy Land)在帐篷生活中过于伤感的散文和当地暴力的居民。
