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Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Penguin Classics) by Mark Twain, Guy Cardwell, John Seelye ISBN: 0-14-243717-4 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.54 (24 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Great Adventure :By Matthew Moriarty
Comment: I think the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a very exciting and adventurous story that should be shared with all ages. The story is about a boy named Huck Finn who is kidnapped by his cruel and drunken dad. He escapes his father and then he travels down the Mississippi River and finds his friend, Jim. He comes across two imposters and the story just continues to keep your attention. This book is a real all American story. It is definately a story that you wouldn't want to miss reading.
Rating: 4
Summary: By and by, it's a darn good book.
Comment: What Ernest Hemingway called, "the best book we've had," The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is written in a southern slang that is initially difficult to follow, yet, once you learn to follow Huck's voice, it becomes a revelation of the human spirit. Huck Finn is a derelict boy on the run from his drunken, abusive father in the late 19th century. Along with his friend, Jim-a runaway slave-Huck travels down the Mississippi on a raft and learns about the ironies of life in a pious yet oppressive society. Twain uses Huck's ignorance to reveal the truths that were tearing America apart, and he does so with such grace and flare that I found myself indignant with laughter at the follies of a national doctrine. Even though slavery has been abolished, the book is still relevant today, describing a boy's awakening to the world around him, and how he-morals, judgement, and upbringing-fits into that world. A moving, fun, and insightful read, I found some of the most impressive moments in literature within the covers of this book; I hope you will too.
Rating: 4
Summary: Timeless Social Commentary,
Comment: As the many erudite scholars and their students tell us, Huckleberry Finn is representative of the sweeping influence Mark Twain has had on American literature, form and style. The Mississippi River boyhood adventure story is required reading for any 10-year old who can pull himself away from Game Cube and other modern distractions to wade into Twain's "life on the river." Too, adult readers will gain from Twain's insight into human nature with its honesty and cruelty, ideals and reality, innocence and cynicism.
I find the everlasting worth of the book to be Twain's underlying social commentary and his capturing of an era of changing values (Civil War slavery issue, in particular) in mid-19th century America. Purely as a work of literature, though, the book falls short of my (perhaps inflated or too modern?) expectations. The plot is sometimes choppy and contrived (e.g., when Tom Sawyer coincidentally reappears late in the book) and the events often too exaggerated (e.g., the many escapades of the notorious king and duke)--however superb Twain's storytelling and final wrap-up may be. Also, Twain's painstaking effort to have all characters speak in their vernacular dialects, while interesting for some adults and linguists, unfortunately poses a barrier for the younger reader, who ironically stands to benefit most from early exposure to the classic.
Unlike in other well-known tales, no character in this adventure story qualifies as an all-American hero. Huck is understanding, compassionate and quite the realist, but too much of a follower to be truly a hero. Jim is a good-hearted, well-behaved "nigger" (controversial language from the text), largely a product of his lifelong enslavement, but nevertheless he seems too simple in outlook and possibly too concerned with money like many other adults we meet along the river ("en I tole you I ben rich wunst, en gwineter be rich ag'n"). Tom, while a fun-loving, determined and imaginative leader, is too concerned with sophomoric protocol and principles to embrace the broader perspective a hero should.
Ultimately, by the author's design I suspect, the book leaves us with an unresolved restlessness. As Huck says at the end of the book: "But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before." This quintessentially American, youthful "spark" is what still breathes life into Huckleberry Finn today after more than a century in our libraries.
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Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, John Seelye ISBN: 0140390839 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: October, 1987 List Price(USD): $7.00 |
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Title: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne ISBN: 0553210092 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 April, 1965 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 0684801523 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Cliffs Notes) by Robert Bruce ISBN: 0764586041 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 30 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck Centennial Edition (1902-2002) by John Steinbeck ISBN: 0142000663 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 03 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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