"Taking the Pleasure Trip on the Continent altogether, does it
merit the success it enjoys? In spite of the indulgence that we
cannot but show to the judgments of a foreigner; while recollecting
that those amongst us who have visited America have fallen,
doubtless, under the influence of prejudices almost as dangerous as
ignorance, into errors quite as bad--in spite of the wit with which
certain pages sparkle--we must say that this voyage is very far
below the less celebrated excursions of the same author in his own
country."
Three years later, Mme. Blanc returns to the discussion of Mark Twain,
in an essay in the 'Revue des Deux Mondes', entitled 'L'age Dore en
Amerique'--an elaborate review and analysis of The Gilded Age. The
savage charm and real simplicity of Mark Twain are not lacking in
appeal, even to her sophisticated intelligence; and she is inclined to
infer that jovial irony and animal spirits are qualities sufficient to
amuse a young nation of people like the Americans who do not, like the
French, pique themselves upon being blase.
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