The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Barnes & Noble Signature Editions)

By Mark Twain and Eric Carl Link

It seems like an idyllic scene from the antebellum South: A carefree young country boy and his happy companion glide down the Mississippi on a raft, smoking pipes and chattering amiably­—but nothing in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is what it seems.

     Fresh from his escapades with Tom Sawyer, with six-thousand dollars in the bank and the Widow Douglas as his guardian, Huck Finn faces unforeseen challenges. He bridles under the Widow’s and Miss Watson’s attempts to “sivilize” him­, as even Tom insists he become respectable. Then, Huck’s father, Pap, shows up, determined to lay hands on Huck’s fortune. When things don’t go Pap’s way, he kidnaps Huck.  

     Escaping from Pap, Huck meets Miss Watson’s slave, Jim, who has run away after learning that Miss Watson may sell him. Jim plans to head north, find work, and buy his wife and children out of slavery. Huck joins him on a salvaged raft, but due to fog, they pass the mouth of the Ohio River and drift into a world more perilous for Jim than the one they’ve left behind, where disguise and duplicity are as essential as air.

     Telling his story in an innocent, sometimes crude vernacular, Huck struggles to understand the bizarre characters and events he and Jim encounter. The result is a spirited satire, not just of the old South, but of human frailty in all its self-deluding forms.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781435140998

Mark Twain

Who Was Mark Twain? Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens (1835 -1910), was the celebrated author of several novels, including two major classics of American literature: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor. Early Life Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to nearby Hannibal, a bustling river town of 1,000 people. John Clemens worked as a storekeeper, lawyer, judge and land speculator, dreaming of wealth but never achieving it, sometimes finding it hard to feed his family. He was an unsmiling fellow; according to one legend, young Sam never saw his father laugh. His mother, by contrast, was a fun-loving, tenderhearted homemaker who whiled away many a winter's night for her family by telling stories. She became head of the household in 1847 when John died unexpectedly. The Clemens family "now became almost destitute," wrote biographer Everett Emerson, and was forced into years of economic struggle - a fact that would shape the career of Twain. Twain in Hannibal Twain stayed in Hannibal until age 17. The town, situated on the Mississippi River, was in many ways a splendid place to grow up. Steamboats arrived there three times a day, tooting their whistles; circuses, minstrel shows and revivalists paid visits; a decent library was available; and tradesmen such as blacksmiths and tanners practiced their entertaining crafts for all to see. However, violence was commonplace, and young Twain witnessed much death: When he was nine years old, he saw a local man murder a cattle rancher, and at 10 he watched an enslaved person die after a white overseer struck him with a piece of iron. Hannibal inspired several of Twain's fictional locales, including "St. Petersburg" in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. These imaginary river towns are complex places: sunlit and exuberant on the one hand, but also vipers' nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness and soul-crushing boredom - all parts of Twain's boyhood experience. Sam kept up his schooling until he was about 12 years old, when - with his father dead and the family needing a source of income - he found employment as an apprentice printer at the Hannibal Courier, which paid him with a meager ration of food. In 1851, at 15, he got a job as a printer and occasional writer and editor at the Hannibal Western Union, a little newspaper owned by his brother, Orion. Steamboat Pilot Then, in 1857, 21-year-old Twain fulfilled a dream: He began learning the art of piloting a steamboat on the Mississippi. A licensed steamboat pilot by 1859, he soon found regular employment plying the shoals and channels of the great river. Twain loved his career - it was exciting, well-paying and high-status, roughly akin to flying a jetliner today. However, his service was cut short in 1861 by the outbreak of the Civil War, which halted most civilian traffic on the river. As the Civil War began, the people of Missouri angrily split between support for the Union and the Confederate States. Twain opted for the latter, joining the Confederate Army in June 1861 but serving for only a couple of weeks until his volunteer unit disbanded. Where, he wondered then, would he find his future? What venue would bring him both excitement and cash? His answer: the great American West.

Reviews for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Barnes & Noble Signature Editions)

[nu5bibliophile · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Re-reading since high school. Good classic!

[karenduff · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I really enjoyed this book, the constant use of the word nigger made me really uncomfortable. I know that during the time that the book was both written and set it was in common usage and I also know that if the book had been edited to remove any offensive terms then I wouldn't have read it because then it wouldn't have been Twain's work. Other than that I found this to be a really well written and engrossing read, couldn't put it down. Confession time - I am 37 years old and this is the first Mark Twain book I have read but I am looking forward to reading more.

[she_climber · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I believe that the Notice provided at the very onset of the book (Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.) pretty much sums of the book. I did not find a motive, a moral, nor a plot but nevertheless found the book somewhat enjoyable. I kept wanting the book to get where it was going, only to remind myself that it wasn't going anywhere and like a raft on the Mississippi I was just going to have to sit back and enjoy the ride. I cringed at the racism in the book, but understood that's just the way it was back then and was fascinated by how people could have once (and sadly some still) think the way they did. Overall the book was just too slow-paced for me, but I found myself several times thinking that I needed (and should have previously) read Tom Sawyer.

[fufuakaspeechless_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it much better the second time. Mark Twain has an amazing writing style. Definitely recommend.

[mlpybas33 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Everyone loves a classic novel. In this case, you may not. Mark Twain was a realism writer. Meaning he believed that good characters were more important than plot. So, if you're only looking at the plot, this book has no point whatsoever. But if you do look only at the characters, they develop before your eyes and you really get to know them. This novel has many great themes like racism, classism, and freedom. I would not consider this novel racist, or Mark Twain, because (once again) Mark Twain was a realist writer. He wrote how it was in the civil war era. So there was slavery and discrimination of colored people. I learned a lot from this book, so I recommend it to you!

[rebeccaann_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

10. [The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn] by [[Mark Twain]]1010 Category: None324 pagesI read this once about ten years ago. I remember thinking it was alright but that Twain wasn't an author I was ever really going to explore on my own. My, how the times have changed. This book was amazing. It was absolutely hilarious (I couldn't stop laughing at the end when the whole scheme was revealed to Aunt Sally) and yet it had just the right amount of the brutality and cruelty of the time showing through. The atmosphere created was perfect.This is a very character driven story. Plot-wise, it kind of mirrors life (Twain was a realist) in that it doesn't really go anywhere. Events happen and the characters develop because of it, but there's not really an "ultimate event" at the end. Well, there's sort of one but it was completely pointless in the end. I loved Huck's development from spouting off what he was taught to making his own decisions.I loved this book so much that I bought seven or eight other books by Mark Twain before I even finished this one and I cannot wait for them to get here!5 stars!

[jonfaith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

matters appear hysterical on goodreads these days. Ripples of concern often appear daunting to the literate, cushioned by their e-devices and their caffienated trips to dusty book stores; why, the first appearence of crossed words often sounds like the goddamn apocalypse. Well, it can anyway. I find people are taking all of this way too seriously.

I had a rough day at work. It is again hot as hell outside and I just wanted to come home and listen to chamber music and read Gaddis until my wife comes home. Seldom are matters that simple. It is within these instances of discord that I think about Pnin. I love him and the maestro's creation depicting such. I situate the novel along with Mary and The Gift in my personal sweet cell of Nabokov, insulated well away from Lolita and Ada, perhaps drawing strength from Vladimir's book on Gogol, though certainly not his letters with Bunny Wilson. It is rare that I can think about Pnin washing dishes and not tear up. I suppose I'll survive this day as well.

[egoose_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Emily GooseAmerican LiteratureMrs. J. Clark Evans27 August 2007Reaction to A Walk to Remember by Nicholas SparksNicholas Sparks’s A Walk to Remember is a heart wrenching story about a young, first love and heartbreak. While this may sound like a traditional love story, this novel was nothing of the sort. I laughed, cried, and took time to dwell on the storyline. At times I put the book down to think, ponder, and imagine “what if.” Sparks writes about two seventeen year olds, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, who live in Beaufort, North Carolina and find themselves unexpectedly in love. Landon was a typical rule-breaking, willing-to-do-anything-for-fun teenager, while Jamie was anything but. She carried her bible wherever she went, wore a plaid skirt with a sweater and a smile everyday, spent time weekly at the local orphanage, and said “hello” to every person she passed by, “just because.” Through a school play and periodical conversations on her front porch, they slowly grew quite fond of each other. It wasn’t long until they spent all their time together and Landon was falling for the girl he had once spent time making fun of. Throughout the formation of their friendship, however, Jamie had been keeping something from him. She had been diagnosed with leukemia six months previous and the side effects were worsening as the days passed. With the secret out, the two faced monumental hurdles together and their lives were changed forever. While they knew their love was special, strong, and impossible to let go of, they were aware that their time together was quickly coming to an end. A surprising conclusion led the reader to believe that miracles can and do happen, one just needs to look deep for them. Sparks has a way of making every story he writes easy to connect to, even if the reader has never experienced what he’s writing about. His word choice is descriptive, picture-painting and mind boggling. The plot twisted and turned throughout the story, keeping the reader guessing to the very end. Jamie and Landon’s story is one that I will not soon forget. Their strength together in the situation they were in was truly admirable. I believe that young love is a rare and extraordinary occurrence. Sparks sent a message to the reader that if it happens, to hold it tight and value it because it may never happen again. I recommend Nicholas Sparks’s A Walk to Remember to all readers who are willing to let themselves cry and genuinely appreciate a one-of-a-kind love story.

[taciturning · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Truly deserves its status as an American classic.

[kellyholmes-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Yet another banned book that kicks ass.

[edwin6gleaves · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A nicely bound, nicely printed, edition of Huckleberry Finn, this time by an Indian publisher and printer. The validity and accuracy of this edition yet to be determined.

[ainjel-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is quite humourous and satirical, and for the most part, it's quite fun to read. I did zone out for a bit in the middle there, losing interest when it wasn't about Huck's tomfoolery, but I greatly enjoyed the parts with Tom. The relationship between Huck and Tom is quite interesting and captivating, and really elevates the story itself.

[ani_na_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is an important part of American fiction, so I'd recommend it for anyone interested in canon on that note alone. As a novel? I'd have more reservations. Some parts of the book are hilarious, others drag along (especially when you get Tom Sawyer involved, the jerk.) Twain is a great writer, but I think his style is better found in other books, especially his nonfiction. The scene where Huck condemns himself to hell for defying social norm and aiding his friend - well, that's beautiful and powerful and worth the slog for it alone. The rest of the novel you could really pare down without losing anything. The book is frequently targeted at too young an audience, I think. For anyone curious about US fiction, though, this is definitely required reading. I'd recommend pairing it with "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison.

[silverdaisy1975 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the backbone books of post Civil War American Literature. Twain writes a wonderful story about the journey of a runaway boy and a slave. He uses regional dialect so it helps to read out loud in parts, otherwise the dialect adds a great layer to the story.This book is really funny! Don't read it becauseit is literature, read it because it is good!

[heatherswinford · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Huckleberry Finn has been taken in by Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, who intend to teach him religion and proper manners. Huck soon sets off on an adventure to help the widow's slave, Jim, escape up the Mississippi to the free states. Huck tell's his own story, the book is able to tell the painful contradiction of racism and segregation in a "free" and "equal" society.

[maybird25 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am reading this now in class, and it is very interesting!

[alexandraboxer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was a good book about morality and growing up. Throughout the book Huck Finn matures and really grows into a respectable young man. Huck runs into many problems. He has money of his own, but his drunk father wants to take it from him. When he is finally given a safe home, he doesn't feel comfortable because he is so used to not being treated right. After his dad locks him up in their home, he runs away with a slave. Huck constantly questions society and realizes how wrong the mistreatment of Jim is. The story is long, but good. It teaches many lessons and is a great tale of growing up.

[saieeda_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful book that is full of humor and adventure. Heart wrenching characters, beautifully crafted dialogue, as well as social and political issues serve to make this exquisite novel a masterpiece. I personally believe this book to me Twain's best work ever.

[minnesotadebbie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my all-time favorite books! Huck's redemption scene - and the fact that he doesn't even know he has saved himself - is the most powerful moment that I know of in American literature. Coming-of-age, travel, friendship, and social commentary: this book gets my nomination for the Great American Novel! Oh - and don;t forget the two greatest rapscallions in American literature: the King and the Duke. PS: Thanks to my long-ago English teachers who first helped me get into this book!

[tyuiop159 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had to read this book for school, and I was dreading it. It's taken me quite a long time to read 281 pages, and it was pretty boring, but I can see why it has won the awards that it has and why it's a classic. A story about a boy's adventures along the Mississippi River that are a perfect portray of life during this time. A book that any high school teacher, college professor, student, or author to be should read.

[dougwood57 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I envy anyone who has not yet read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is great fun and serious business at the same time; it is decidedly not a children’s book like Tom Sawyer. Twain weaves an entertaining tale. He gets off the funniest line in the book right off the bat: "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."Huck and the runaway slave Jim take off down the Mississippi and somehow manage to miss its confluence with the Ohio (where a left turn would have been in order). Amidst the wild adventures, slippery characters, and general hilarity, Twain slips slavery in as the central moral feature. The better Huck gets to know Jim, the more he realizes, to his surprise, that the black man is every bit as human as Huck himself. Huck, however, has been taught that helping an escaped slave is a sin for which he must surely burn in Hell. Huck decides he must consign himself to eternal fire rather than desert his friend.Read this book.

[booksbooks11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed reading this after tackling a couple of George Eliot classics this was a nice break. I haven't laughed out loud to many books but this one got me eventually. Capable readers from age 11 or so would enjoy it (not that I've managed to convince any to finish it).

[digikata-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Had to read this long long ago as a high school assignment. Rereading it is much more meaningful now than then.

[mybucketlistofbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yes, yes…this is another instance of not having yet read a book virtually everyone in the English speaking world had read when they were young. Yet it is true…I had never before this past week read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

In this case I am glad I hadn’t read it before. Having grown up with the Disney-ification of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer I am convinced had I read this as a youth, it would not have made any more an impression on me than any other book of adventure. Having now read it as an adult I can appreciate the biting social and political commentary contained within the story. Themes of slavery and freedom, gender roles, the role of religious worship, class and regional distinctions, and competing economic systems are all contained in the prose….wrapped within a humorous, and exciting adventure story.

I would absolutely love it if a movie were made of this that was actually true to the book; one that explored all of these themes and didn’t shy away from the ugliness Huck and Jim encounter on their adventure. Coen brothers…are you listening? :)

[fouroffivewits · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really do love this book but those final chapters really make me angry at Mark Twain. Here we have Huck's big revelation that he'll go to hell to save his friend Jim from slavery after the duke and the king sell him out for a bit of whiskey money then who takes over the book but good ol' Tom Sawyer. All of Huck's progress as a character is thrown out the window for Tom Sawyer's crazy schemes for Adventure. Huck has lived the adventure while Tom is merely pretending, having no idea what horrific scenarios Huck has seen that came with the price of said adventure. To free Jim would be a straight forward plan in Huck's mind but Tom has to romanticize it that puts Jim, Huck, and himself in danger. Then Huck and the reader finds out due to Miss. Watson freeing Jim in her will that all of it was for nothing. Does Huck get angry at his friend Tom Sawyer over this fact like a older boy would after seeing people kill each other for reasons they can't remember, a man kill a innocent drunkard in cold blood, two crooks swindle people out of their hard earn money, and grown to see a person who society says isn't a person become a friend and a father figure? Nope, Huck just accepts this as everything is resolved nicely. Thus the failure of those final chapters of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

[lynleys-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Check. That's how I feel about this book -- I've read it now, so can cross it off the list.Not sure why I found this one hard going compared to Tom Sawyer. I had expected them to be about the same in terms of difficulty, but Huck Finn has so many plot twists -- might I even dare suggest it sags in the middle? Were huge coincidences more accepted in fiction back in the day, or were huge coincidences actually more likely in a smaller population? I'm talking about the coincidence of Huck meeting up with Jim, and the even bigger coincidence later of Huck turning up at Tom Sawyer's auntie and uncle's house. Then there's the coincidence of meeting up with a whole string of baddies. Were there really that many bad people around to be met?I don't know. All of this is background noise, to a story written by a man with progressive politics. Now I really don't understand all that fuss about the frequent use of 'nigger'. Better instead to turn our aggravation towards stories such as Dead Wood, in which the language is all wrong for the time period. Nothing wrong with 'fuck', but no one talked like that back then, so why insert it? If the word 'nigger' was the word for Huck Finn's time period, then we are obliged to use it. If I never read this as a kid I can see why, despite its always adorning our bookshelves -- the phonetically reproduced dialogue is quite tough to understand for a child of the antipodes. Then there's the different word usage. Not sure I would've known enough about American history or what 'vittles' meant. Honestly, I loved Little House On The Prairie but at no stage did I have an education on how white people entered the American West. Likewise, nothing was ever said at school about American slavery. So I guess it's no wonder I only just got around to reading books like this.

[schmechi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In seinem berühmtesten Werk lässt Mark Twain die bereits aus seinem Roman "Tom Sawyers Abenteuer" bekannten Figuren erneut auftreten. Diesmal ist die Geschichte in der Ich-Perspektive aus Sicht des ungebildeten, am Rande der Gesellschaft lebenden Huckleberry Finn verfasst. Dieser reisst von zu Hause vor seinem alkoholkranken und prügelnden Vater aus und reist gemeinsam mit dem entlaufenen Negersklaven Jim auf einem Floß den Mississippi flußabwärts. Dabei bestehen die beiden zahlreiche Abenteuer und werden in diverse Gaunereien verwickelt anlässlich derer Huckleberry Finn immer wieder Gelegenheit bekommt, sein grundgutes Wesen zu offenbaren.Sprachlich bemerkenswert ist,dass sämtliche Protagonisten nicht in der Hochsprache sondern in ihren eigenen Dialekten, quasi so wie ihnen der Schnabel gewachsen ist, sprechen. Twain sorgt so für Authenzität zu Lasten der Lesbarkeit. Die aus Sicht eines die (Erwachsenen)-Welt gerade erst entdeckenden, staunenden Kindes gezogenen Rückschlüsse sowie satirische Seitenhiebe des Autors bringen den Leser immer wieder zum Schmunzeln. Trotzdem hat mich das Werk nicht überzeugt, zu hanebüchen sind die geschilderten Abenteuer und Wendungen.

[renee0sutter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is about a young boy, Huck, in search of adventure. He travels the shores of the Mississippi River. Huck is kidnapped by Pap, his drunken father. Pap kidnaps Huck because he wants Huck's $6000. Huck was awarded $6000 from the treasure he and Tom Sawyer found. Huck escapes from a deserted house in the woods and finds a canoe to paddle down the river. Instead of going back to the widow's house, he decides to run away. He finds Jim, a slave, and together, they spend nights and days journeying down the river searching for freedom. Through all of the adventures down the river, Huck learns a variety of life lessons. I love this book I read it several times growing up and had a lot of fun reading it as an adult. I love the humor and the adventure. I think one theme I would address if I used this in the classroom would be Humanity. One example is Huck starts to feel guilty that he is helping free Miss Watson's slave. He says that he thinks he is mean and he doesn't think that she deserves to have her slave stolen. After all, she never did anything to him. Another example of humanity is when Huck sees the King and the Duke tarred and feathered, even though he hates them and thinks they are awful people, he can't help but to feel bad for them. It makes him sick how people can be so cruel to one another.

[hollyinnnv · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I truly enjoyed reading HF for the second time. I first read it in high school. However, I found it more compelling and humorous as an adult reader. Painting a vivid picture of all of the quirky characters, Twain brings such an air of authenticity to his story. Huckleberry is my favorite character. When he attempted to logically make decisions, I had to laugh because I could see my son thinking in the same way. But I especially appreciated the way Twain shows the conflict in Huck’s mind over the issue of slavery. It feels authentic.

[porch_reader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I grew up just a few miles south of Hannibal, Missouri, one of the many towns in the US that calls itself Mark Twain's hometown. In third grade, our class trip was to Mark Twain Cave, where the tour tells about Tom Sawyer's fictional adventures in the cave. In college, I got a summer job as a tour guide in Hannibal, MO, riding on a trolley and telling stories about Mark Twain, the cave, the river, and other interesting points of interest. As a result, I know a bit about Tom Sawyer. However, Huck Finn didn't figure into the tour much. After all, Huck leaves Hannibal near the beginning of his book, taking off down the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim. So it was fun to revisit this book. I remembered very few of the details of Huck's adventures, but fell right back into Mark Twain's comic and observant writing style. Huck is a resourceful boy, which is good because he is always getting into trouble. I found myself wishing that Huck would learn from his previous adventures occasionally because he always seemed to be getting into the same scrapes. But his relationship with Jim develops as they go down the river on a raft together with Jim looking out for Huck even when Huck doesn't realize it. This made me want to revisit Tom Sawyer, which I have read in years, and maybe branch out into some of Mark Twain's other stories.