This satirical novel is the sequel to 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' and is one of the first novels to be written in the vernacular with local color. How about this from Jim ,the slave as an example: " I tuck out en shin down de hill, en `spec to steal a skift `long de sho' som'ers `bove de town, but dey wuz people a-stirring yit, so I hid in de ole tumble-down cooper-shop on de bank to wait for everybody to go `way. Well, I wuz dah all night. Dey wuz somebody roun' all de time". Is that great, or what? The language does slow the reader down, but emits all the local color of the mid 1850s! This is the story of Huck Finn and his adventures down the Mississippi River on a raft trying to escape his drunken father. I never saw so many words go red on Google as I did writing this review of Twain's novel. I loved this book because Twain made me feel like I was in the milieu of the South living on a Mississippian river raft. I could actually feel the heat of the day! Absolutely a great job of recreating the atmosphere of the south before things got chaotic and uncontrolable. In another words, this novel's setting is just before the North/South conflict. This is the second novel that I've read recently pertaining to this time period in the South and quite frankly I'm stunned by the Southerner's cavalier attitude towards the suffering of their slaves. Yet Mark Twain made this novel seem like it had a jocular theme, I guess that's all part of his satirical style of writing. This version of the novel has 148 illustrations and is a reproduction of the original 1885 masterpiece now published by Piccadilly Books, LTD.
Does the proverb "boys will be boys" mean: It is hard, often fruitless, to attempt to curb the natural playfulness and tendency to mischief of most growing boys, or does it mean Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn? I think the latter. This novel is the continuing saga of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, two 13-14 year old rascals. This story opens with Huck now living with the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson. Huck has a considerable amount of money in trust with Judge Thatcher, garnered from Injun Joe in the previous Tom Sawyer book. Anyway, Huck's drunken Pap wants the money and somehow gets control of Huck's guardianship and leaves with Huck to a cabin on the banks of the Mississippi River. There Huck is constantly abused, so he fakes his death and heads down river in a canoe. He gets to Jackson's Island ( between Missouri and Illinois ) and discovers that Miss Watson's slave, Jim is there on the run from Miss Watson because he found out that she was going to sell him for $800! Huck learns that the folks back home think either Jim, or Pap killed him. They set off on a raft for incredible adventures. Jim wants his freedom and Huck wants to get away from Pap.
On Huck's journeys he runs into many difficult circumstances and harrowing escapes. First on a shore village where he meets the Granderfords, but they have a feud in progress with the Shepherdsons resulting in a big shootout as Huck egresses to the river again. Huck, now back with Jim, meets two incredible grifters on the run from a town's angry crowd. They hitch a ride with Huck and Jim on the raft and this is where the fun starts. The scams they pull off with Huck are hilarious! One of these swindlers says he is the rightful Duke of Bridgewater and the other claims to be the exiled and rightful King of France. I will not tell you anything else, but the plot thickens and the real fun reading starts at this point in the novel ( chapter XIX, page 100 ).
According to an article from Wikipedia: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing look at entrenched attitudes, particularly racism". The problem is as I read the novel, I was not convinced one way or the other whether Twain was being real, or satirical. I guess it's too late to ask him. Wikipedia also states: "To highlight the hypocrisy required to condone slavery within an ostensibly moral system, Twain has Huck's father enslave him, isolate him, and beat him. When Huck escapes - which anyone would agree was the right thing to do - he then immediately encounters Jim "illegally" doing the same thing". Later in Twain's career he became the harbinger of satirical comedy, but was he the future Will Rogers, or Don Rickles? Regardless of my confusion, I have to recommend this novel as it is considered one of the Great American Novels.
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Signature Performance by Elijah Wood
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Reviews with images
Huck Finn hilarious satire Hardback Sterling unabridged footnoted glossary, allusions explained
Scratchboard illustrations Scott Mckowen, Great Books questions by Arthur Pober principal for oldest lab school for gifted children in the world Hunter College Elementary based on How to Read a Book Mortimer Adler, footnoted running glossary of definitions from the 4 researched dialects and cultural traditions which accurately depict Huck Finn's journey South, footnoted explanations of literary allusions.Sterling's unabridged Huck Finn by Samuel Clemens augments the pleasure of reading well written and well researched prose. Reading more than once and posing questions Factual, Interpretive and Evaluative deepens understanding and provides basis for lively and engaging conversation in Great Books tradition: respectful dialogue, listening without interrupting, trying to understand another's point of view, civil capacity to deal with disagreement. Reading level 5th grade and above.5*
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Top reviews from other countries
Raimundo Pereira dos Santos Neto
Politicamente incorreto
Reviewed in Brazil on January 18, 2022
Xavier Perez-Pons
Great novel about friendship and humanity.
Reviewed in Spain on April 27, 2021