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The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

By Mark Twain

(371)

| Paperback | 9780590433891

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Book Description

'Cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town because he was idle, and lawless, vulgar, and bad - and because all their children admired him so', Huckleberry Finn, the fourteen-year-old son of the town drunkard, joins runaway slave Jim on an exciting journey down the mighty MississippiContinue

Critics

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (Racially Sensitive Beware) Share

I only just got around to reading this a little while ago, despite the fact that it's been sitting on my shelf at home for several years. I think when I first got it (it was a Christmas present), I was not quite ready for it - I couldn't read the lan ... (read full critics)

blogcritics published on Wed, 28 Jan 2004

11 Reviews

3 people find this helpful

I am not an expat given to homesickness (home? what, where?) but after re-reading this for the first time since high school, when I think I probably skipped over most of the descriptions of the Mississippi: I want a river. A big chocolate river that you can drown in. The Arno simply does not hack it ... (continue)

I am not an expat given to homesickness (home? what, where?) but after re-reading this for the first time since high school, when I think I probably skipped over most of the descriptions of the Mississippi: I want a river. A big chocolate river that you can drown in. The Arno simply does not hack it, and the Po is a middling attempt... to be fair, peninsulas are not suited to rivers, but this one hustles them to the sea as quickly as possible, like vacationers with only a week off. I want a river where the sea is a distant inevitability that seems eternally evitable, where Huck and Jim can mistake islands for branches in its stream and get so meanderminded they forget that freedom is just across the way in Illinois. A big old heartbreaking American motherfucker of a river.
(PS: This is the GOOD picaresque novel I'd been hankering for all spring. Maybe now I'll even be inspired to re-read Tristam Shandy.)

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Biscia said on Jun 30, 2008 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

A rite of passage

When this "adventure" begins we see just a boy, Huckleberry Finn. He lives with the widow Douglas, who tries to "sivilize" him raising him as her own child. In this sort of "captivity" he finds a good friend and a mentor in Tom Sawyer. Tom is part of that world that is so small and uncomfortable for ... (continue)

When this "adventure" begins we see just a boy, Huckleberry Finn. He lives with the widow Douglas, who tries to "sivilize" him raising him as her own child. In this sort of "captivity" he finds a good friend and a mentor in Tom Sawyer. Tom is part of that world that is so small and uncomfortable for Huck, but he's a rebel, and that fascinates him. Nevertheless, Tom isn't so different from the widow Douglas: he believes only in books, as she does. Huck, on the other hand, is completely pragmatic. Even though Twain doesn't let us forget his "adventurer" is just a teen-ager, we feel he has a sort of adult way of thinking: sharp, objective, bereft of those "frivolities" that belong to the young and naive world Tom lives in. To Huck, parents are one the many bothers of his life. One day, after finding a canoe, Huck escapes from his father and his life, finding a father figure in the black slave Jim. He so begins his his journey and the passage from being a boy to becoming a man. When during the journey Tom pops up again Huck abandons the river and its calm waters, beginning a new and "fake" life. He falls into the chasm of lies once again. Tom uses his strong personality and egotism to subdue Huck, now unarmed against his friend. When this last lie finally comes to an end, Huck decides to live his own life without any pressure and influence. He's now a man: he successfully went through his "rite of passage". The world (the river, the woods, even the raft) that protected him during the journey is now vanished: welcome to the real, adult world, Mr. Huckleberry Finn.

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Silvia said on Jan 21, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I know it's a classic for youth and it has been written more than a century ago, but I forund it a little bit demanding. Difficult from the start, mostly because of the abundant use of spoken dialects, partly because the plot itself was difficult to follow (too much adventure). But it was worth read ... (continue)

I know it's a classic for youth and it has been written more than a century ago, but I forund it a little bit demanding. Difficult from the start, mostly because of the abundant use of spoken dialects, partly because the plot itself was difficult to follow (too much adventure). But it was worth reading, becuase it gives a good picture of the Deep South.

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Ciski72 said on Jul 27, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

One of the most intriguing, funny, amazing book I have ever read!!!!

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Luisina said on May 14, 2011 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Dragging

I had to use my will power to finish the book. I am not saying that the story on the whole is horrible but I found it so dragging. I do understand it has a historic importance but for me it was more like reading a study book then a book to look forward during the day to read.

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Acquafortis said on Apr 5, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

A classic reading

For somebody who is not English mother-language, this classical reading is rather hard. Mark Twain uses several dialects and it is sometimes very difficult to understand their meaning. The tale and the plot are sometimes slow and almost boring but it is always an interesting reading, at least to see ... (continue)

For somebody who is not English mother-language, this classical reading is rather hard. Mark Twain uses several dialects and it is sometimes very difficult to understand their meaning. The tale and the plot are sometimes slow and almost boring but it is always an interesting reading, at least to see what life was in those times. Huck Finn is a scoundrel, wiser and more cunning than it is depicted, while Tom Sawyer plays more the part of the bully and dumb. With them a number of different characters, who enrich the novel, which, good or bad, is a milestone of the American literature.

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Rob. said on Dec 15, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback