Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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Summary: Adventures in Life
Review: Devoid of a mother, unloved and ignored by his father, and best friend and sidekick to a man whose skin color is reason enough for a lynching. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain, is about a boy set on living his life free of hassles. That, however, is not what he gets as a feigns his own death in order to escape his drunken old man, and meets up with another disregarded soul, a runaway slave who becomes his only steady friend. Together they high-tail it down the Mississippi river on a make-shift raft, narrowly escaping death, thievery, and capture from a variety of southern folk. Their experiences serve as true examples of adventure, as both discover that there is more to their character and souls that what they had ever imagined. They develop a sense of courage, acceptance, and happiness as they float their way to freedom, knowing that water always finds its way, and by following it they will too.

The story of Huck shows the growth and molding of identities of both Huck and his companion Jim, with the use of eloquent diction. Twain writes in the typical language of the time period and exercises the slang and frank use of words that would be ever so appropriate of the homeless waif and runaway slave. This use of the literary device enhances Twain's theme by speaking a pure American dialect in order to paint a picture of one of the most piercing images of the devastation slavery had on those enslaved as well as the society that allowed such an act to take place. The controversial topic and writing technique which Twain uses, succeeds in relaying to the readers what his purpose was in writing the great American novel: that existence and the participation in it is short and measured, sometimes by others, but mostly by actions of the individuals themselves. Therefore, it must be taken as a continual learning process, with which understanding and growth are a byproduct to the daily highs and lows of what is known as life.

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Summary: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain
Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a great book to read. It contains good literal context of what is happening around the late 1880's, which was around the time the book was published. At that time, slavery was not completely abolished and the author, Mark Twain had made a great illustration by having to hide Jim, who was a slave, when he and Huck were on their adventure. Where they had travel through the heart of America. Mark Twain also makes good little adventures that Jim and Huck run into. They go through the story going from one adventure after another, in the same time they also learn to bond as friends depsite the color of their skin. This is interesting for readers because it was rare to see blacks and whites talk to one another or let alone to even do things together. Though this book uses a derogatory word for African American, I do not find this inappropriate because during the time this book was written, this word was how people looked at African Americans. Mark Twain seems to display the social injustices that were happening America, and instead of following them he turned them around and made the bad seem good. I would recommend this book because a lot of children and maybe even adults could learn how life was like in the past and how there were social injustices. It can also show the meaning of how people can bond, regardless of his or her race, sex, or age. I think highly of this book even though it used to be banned in educational systems because of it's context and I think that this is one of the best books I have read in my life.

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Summary: Classic Twain
Review: This book is a classic. As like many of the books I was forced to read in high school this one was great. I beg parents to read this with their children. Some derogitory remarks are made towards african americans but children need to be exposed to this and told that it is not the way to act.

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Summary: A brilliant achievement in American literary history
Review: Don't listen to the naysayers. This is a truly great piece of literature. On the surface, it's a great adventure story in the tradition of "The Odyssey". But there are deeper issues to be tackled, issues that still can provoke lively discussion more than 100 years after the book was written. In my opinion, the central theme to the story is Huck's development of a moral code. Huck's sense of right and wrong is forged in the furnace of experience and the need for survival. The reader is put in the position of rooting for Huck to escape his abusive father even if it necessitates the use of deception, making people believe that he, Huck, had been killed. In the journey down the Mississippi with escaped slave Jim, Huck survives by use of his wits, pretending to be someone he's not (his attempt to pass himself off as a girl fails miserably), and encountering various interesting characters. For awhile, he stays with a very respectable, upright family who has one problem: they are in a feud with another family, which results in a tragic ending for all concerned. (As a sidenote, I read that section of the book the morning of September 11, before turning on the TV only to be horrified by the events of that day when America and freedom itself was so violently attacked. Why must the world continue partaking of the bitter fruit of violence?) The comic pair of "royal" con men who become traveling companions with Huck and Jim scheme to dupe the unwitting out of money as they travel from town to town, until Huck helps to foil their biggest scheme. Huck's moral code is continually shaped by the extent by which he values people as friends and worthy individuals. Once Jim is recaptured, Huck has to make a decision which becomes the central moral dilemma of the book: should Huck return Jim to Miss Watson, from whom he escaped, because now Huck is having severe misgivings about helping take someone else's "property", or should he help Jim escape because Jim has become a friend to him? Interestingly, Huck does not debate, in his own mind, the morality or immorality of the slave trade in and of itself, but be makes his decision based on Jim's friendship, which Huck thinks is the wrong decision based on what he was taught. But, of course, Huck basically follows his heart.
At this point, the book bogs down a little. There is a contrived situation where Huck reunites with Tom Sawyer, and what should have been a fairly easy escape for Jim is complicated needlessly by Tom's romantic ideals gained by his reading of adventure books. Even though I found this part of the novel frustrating to read, it does point to the difference between Huck's pragmatism and Tom's romanticism. Huck gives in to Tom too easily on this point, and the whole escape plan almost blows up in their faces. Don't allow the rather weak ending (or the liberal use of the n-word) to deter you from reading perhaps the paramount achievement in American literature. Enjoy it for the rousing adventure it is, and think about the deeper moral questions raised by this book. If any novel deserves the label "classic", it's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".

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Summary: Is It the Most Overrated Book?
Review: Ever since Hemingway's unfortunate comments about HUCKLEBERRY FINN the book has been required reading for the literati. Like most people, I read it as but a lad. I had finished TOM SAWYER and was swept up in the stories of lost treasure and endless caverns and Injun Joe. I thought HUCKLEBERRY FINN would be more of the same, and was disappointed to find it was about a boy abused by a drunken father who runs away in a bildungsroman where he meets all sorts of unengaging characters. Even the Duke and the Dauphin come off better in the movies than on the original page.

Before continuing, I suppose I ought to give my bona fides. I have nothing against "classics". They've been my principle study for nearly thirty years -- Proust, Dostoevsky, Dickens, Tolstoy, &c. all are great chums of mine. I'm unafraid of dead while males (oddly enough, unlike Huck, who says, "After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people." I get a grim satisfaction knowing Sam Clemens is now among their number, as everyone will be who criticizes what they've produced.

I've recently turned 40, and just read TOM SAWYER again for the first time in a quarter century. It's still a solid book, exciting, well-written, and funny. It's a swell book, and great for imaginative children, as it was for me at Tom's age. I'm now fighting Huck again, and it's rough sailing and choppy seas. I wish I was back with Swann and Baron de Charlus! Huck's aimless drifting down the river is less interesting than seven volumes of Proust.

The "racist" accusation is fraudulent. Twain is careless with his use of certain verboten words, but one must not judge a writer by modern standards of racial sensitivity (as with Twain) or plot development (as with Smollett) any more than future -- and I hope more rational and well-centered -- generations that come after modern writers are dead like Moses, that some of their books are not written off simply because of the twentieth century writers' rabid obsession with sex.

One reason young people don't like to read is because in schools, which is unfortunately the first place many young people face anything to read, force them into areas over their heads. Tom Sawyer's story would be a better start. It's a book written by a man who hasn't forgotten what it's like to be a boy. Huck's book is written by a man exploiting a child's voice as a mouthpiece for his own prejudices and petty dislikes. It's written above the heads of youths.

Perhaps its appeal is more like MOBY DICK or LES MISERABLE. As the vision of Ahab after the white whale is more powerful than can be contained in a book, as the vision of Javert after Valjean transcends a magnificent novel, so perhaps the image of Huck and Jim on the big river simply couldn't be expressed by a writer of Clemens' fine humor but rather limited abilities.

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Summary: For all kids at heart
Review: This was the first classic I read. Wow, have I come a long way!!!!! Adventure is the most obvious theme of this novel, which in return leads to self-discovery. Hucks average day consists of danger, trouble, and a few screams but never intentionally only because his natural boyish interest always seems to lead him to dirty water. With trials and tribulations, something Huck finds plenty of on his great journey, comes growth. At the end of the novel, Huck goes from overlooked to the looked up to kid. All kids, and kids at heart should read this novel.

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Summary: A Boy's Book
Review: This is truly one of the great American novels, but not only is it popular with critics and academics, it is a great story for the everyday reader. I was originally assigned to read this book over the summer before eigth grade and thought it was a terrifically fun story about a young boy on an adventure down the Mississippi River, but now several years later I can still relate to it, but on a new level. This book contains fabulous social satire, excellent use of the vernacular, wonderful characters such as the Duke and Dauphin, and several lessons in morality presented by a savvy young boy who doess not realize how intelligent are his instincts. Mark Twain is a marvelous author, this being only one of his fine novels and short stories, and I envy his ability to get in touch with his childhood and create such a genuine and accurate character as Huck Finn. This is a terrific book, and I feel that anyone who has not had the privilege of reading it is missing out on something wonderful.

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Summary: American Classic
Review: This book is undoubtedly the icon of American Literature. It's about an innocent orphan's journey with an escaped slave named Jim along the Mississippi River. The elements of prejudice, loyalty, friendship, and moral values are all present. It is definitely a must-read for any American, and anyone who speaks English!

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Summary: Very exciting
Review: This book is a great classic. I can definetly see why people would call it racist. However, we have to remember when the book was written and take it for what it is worth. THis is a great adventure story and every body should read it.

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Summary: Slightly Abridged
Review: This particular edition does not claim to be abridged, but in relation to the audiobook version available on Audible.Com, there is at least one "adventure" (story) missing from this edition of which I'm aware. Specifically, Huck's visit to the very long raft where he over-hears the ghost barrel story does not seem to be present. Chapter XVI opens with a mention of the long raft, but then the story continues on to the next adventure without Huck visiting it. I'll be ordering a different print edition for cross-checking purposes.