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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By Mark Twain
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
This beautifully designed unabridged original edition of the classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is one of the first American novels to be written in vernacular English. This tale of freedom and friendship depicted through a boy’s journey down the Mississippi River, conveyed both the voice and the experience of the American frontier as no other book had done before.
Twain created one of literature’s most unforgettable characters in Tom Sawyer’s cohort, Huckleberry Finn. When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the ‘sivilizing’ Widow Douglas he travels down the Mississippi River on a raft with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. In this scalding social satire they embark on a series of adventures amidst the inherent racism and corruption of the pre-Civil War South. We encounter through Huck’s eyes and voice the perils he and Jim face, including fog, feuding families, and unscrupulous rogues.
Beneath the adventurous exploits are the more serious undercurrents of slavery, adult authority and, above all, the struggle that Huck faces between his inherent goodness and the corrupt values of society which threaten his deep, long lasting friendship with Jim. Huck who thrives in a life without rules and order must confront his beliefs about friendship and turn away from the life he once knew.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist [the United States] has produced", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature."
Twain created one of literature’s most unforgettable characters in Tom Sawyer’s cohort, Huckleberry Finn. When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the ‘sivilizing’ Widow Douglas he travels down the Mississippi River on a raft with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. In this scalding social satire they embark on a series of adventures amidst the inherent racism and corruption of the pre-Civil War South. We encounter through Huck’s eyes and voice the perils he and Jim face, including fog, feuding families, and unscrupulous rogues.
Beneath the adventurous exploits are the more serious undercurrents of slavery, adult authority and, above all, the struggle that Huck faces between his inherent goodness and the corrupt values of society which threaten his deep, long lasting friendship with Jim. Huck who thrives in a life without rules and order must confront his beliefs about friendship and turn away from the life he once knew.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist [the United States] has produced", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature."
Author
Mark Twain
Frederick Anderson, Lin Salamo, and Bernard L. Stein are members of the Mark Twain Project of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Reviews for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Rating: 3.914149850514336 out of 5 stars
4/5
9,138 ratings211 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Things I liked:
The characters voice and train of thought frequently made me smile. The way his mind came up against big moral issues like slavery and murder and things like that were provocative, making me wonder about my own rational for strongly held beliefs.
Things I thought could be improved:
The section at the end when Tom Sawyer was doing all manner of ridiculous rituals as part of the attempt to free Jim I thought stretched credibility of Huck or Jim going along with him. Even with the reveal at the end that Jim was really free anyway I found it tiresome after a while. While I don't mind the idea of Tom trying to add some romance to the escape, I think it definitely could be have been edited down to about a third of what it was.
Highlight: When Jim finds Huck again after being lost on the raft. Huck plays a trick on him to convince him it was all a dream. Jim falls for it but then catches on and shames Huck for playing with his emotions. That made both the character of Jim and Huck sing for me. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I think I was intimidated from reading Huckleberry Finn earlier in my life because it has too many times been designated "the great American novel." I had no idea how much fun it was!
I may have benefited from the fact that I did this as an audio book, and the reader was gifted in doing all the dialects of the characters which may have been thick on printed page. It was like being in the room with a great raconteur--which, of course, is exactly what Mark Twain was.
WARNING: Huckleberry Finn has been banned by some schools because of its liberal use of the "N" word to refer to African-Americans. And sometimes the use of the word feels pretty overwhelming. Furthermore, although embedded in the book is the understanding that humanity transcends skin color, the way blacks are portrayed is not enlightened, looked at through a 21st-century lens, But if some leeway can be granted, given the cultural consciousness of the time of its writing, there much to delight in here. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I highly enjoyed this book, surprisingly. Although the dialect was sort of hard to understand, especially when Jim was talking. However, I enjoyed how Mark Twain wrote in the vernacular.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This would be good to use when talking about the mid 1880s and life on the Mississippi. I think students will like this book because the crazy situations Huck gets into.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like the lessons in Huck Fin as well as in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. A book that is a staple in anyone's Classics' collection.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting, but not exactly riveting. I had to take it in short bursts, because it was very episodic (IMO).
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lots of humor. The travels of Huck Finn and the free slave, Jim down the Mississippi River and they hook up with Tom Sawyer at his aunts and uncles house.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What can i say about this book? Grand? Listened to a reading by Elijah Wood. Fine young man. Score!!!!!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Audio book performed by Thomas Becker
I cannot believe that I had never read this classic of American literature before.
Huck Finn has been living with the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson, being “civilized” and schooled. Judge Thatcher doles out his allowance and he is “tolerable happy.” But when his father returns to town and kidnaps Huck, he decides he has to rely on his own wits. Huck manages to escape via canoe and sets up camp on an island in the Mississippi, where he soon discovers that the runaway slave Jim is also camped. Together, they set off down the river to find their freedom.
There’s plenty of adventure and near misses for any reader in this wonderful yarn. Huck and Jim encounter scalawags and kind strangers, as well as a few friends.
I like how Twain has both Jim and Huck think on their situation and converse about the right thing to do, exploring the standards of the day and whether they were truly good. Despite his resolve to give up being good and go the other way, Huck is a boy with a conscience and his efforts almost always are towards the good.
Becker’s performance of the audio is wonderful. In his voice, Huck is innocent yet cunning. The Duke and Prince are ridiculously pompous. My only problem with his performance is the poor way he voices the women, but that doesn’t diminish the genius of Twain’s writing. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I "reread" this book on audio, narrated by Elijah Wood.
I haven't read this since high school and I thought it would be fun to listen to, and it was. Elijah's voices were true to the story, and brought an additional level to the depth of this tale.
I'm happy to report that this book held up to my memory of it, and then surpassed it. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've read this book twice - first in college, as part of a Great American Authors course. Re-read it this year because of the edited version coming out (the one that removed the n-word).Many parts of the book are really funny, and I read them out loud to my kids, who laughed too. The elaborate 'rescue' at the end of the book is especially funny.My evaluation this time is that this is a great adventure book, full of rich detail on life in America. I read it as a condemnation of slavery, through Huck's struggle to de-personalize Jim (due to his cultural training) despite what Huck sees, feels and believes about Jim as a fellow human (due to his friendship and love for Jim).I think removing the n-word from the book is a copout, and it should either be read as written or not at all.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The actor Elijah Wood nails the voice of Huck Finn as a good actor does.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Obviously the greatest work of American LIterature.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A great classic, this is the story of Huck Finn and his adventures rafting down the Mississippi with Jim, a runaway slave. Although I enjoyed it this go around, I enjoyed it more as a teenager when I read it the first time. Overall, if you haven't read it, you should!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I see it's place in literature and understand why Twain is one of America's great writer's--no disputing that. I just can't get through this book; don't find it interesting enough nor entertaining enough.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a review for the unabridged Blackstone Audio version read by Tom Parker.I know there are other audio versions, and I have not compared them, however, I would venture to guess that Parker's version is one of the best, if not the best reading of this classic story. A narrator's note prior to the story explains the differing dialects used throughout the story. Remaining true to the story's time period and Twain's dialogue, speech patterns, accents and vocabulary vary according the the character's class, color, and geographical location. Tom Parker nails them all. This is wonderful medium for bringing new life to an old classic. About 9 1/2 hours on CD or mp3.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I always thought this was an amazing book until it fell apart in the last few chapters, but I think I finally figured out what Twain was doing. The book is about lies and a society of lies, with slavery the biggest lie of all. Also, I love the bits when they're just floating down the river.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a book club selection. I had only read excerpts of this book in high school and college, so I am glad I had the opportunity to read the whole book. Twain's writing in the dialect of the day enhances the enjoyment of this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Great book except for the last third where Tom Sawyer came back into the plot. For me the best of the book ended in Chapter 31 with Huck's final maturing:I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself:"All right, then, I'll GO to hell" — and tore it up.It was awful thoughts and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never thought no more about reforming. I shoved the whole thing out of my head, and said I would take up wickedness again, which was in my line, being brung up to it, and the other warn't. And for a starter I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again; and if I could think up anything worse, I would do that, too; because as long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, recounts the adventures of 13-year-old Huck, who has escaped from his alcoholic and abusive father, and Jim, a runaway slave who has heard he was going to be sold down river. As Huck and Jim make their way down the Mississippi River, they meet up with robbers on a capsized steamboat, get involved in a tragic feud between the Grangerfords and Stephensons, meet up with the Duke and the Dauphin who lead them into several unlawful situations, and finally with Tom Sawyer at his aunt and uncle's farm in Arkansas.There are many themes and motifs to explore in the text, which I'm not going to do here. But after not having read this book for at least 15 years, what really struck me this time around was just how cruel the last "Tom Sawyer" section of the book is. Through the book, each "scrape' that Huck and Jim get involved with becomes more tragic and dangerous than the next. After they are completely betrayed by the Duke and Dauphin, the "escape" that Tom and Huck plan for Jim seems particularly cruel and unnecessary. The figure of Tom Sawyer is interesting. At the beginning of the book, the organized the boys in town into a "gang" that is supposed to rob and kill people. In the end, it's all pretend. At the end of the book be concocts Jim's elaborate escape without realizing the heartache he causes his relatives and the danger he puts everyone into - including himself.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The advertures of Huckleberry Finn takes place right after the Book Tom Sawyer. Huck has been taken by his father because he hears that he is rich now and wants some of that money. Huck is locked in his fathers house for hours at a time and he decides to escape. As he is running away from home he finds the slave Jim. They both try to go to to the free states. As they go along pn their raft they come into some wierd situations. They even meet a duke and a king. I liked the book a lot, it had lots of different situations. The farther it went on the harder it got to predict. It made me feel how the characters felt in most situations. It made me laugh how Tom made them think what he wanted them to. It was a great book and anyone that likes books should read it.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This story is agout two men. Their circumstance is similar. The boy , Huck is poor and run away from his house to escape from hi father. And he encounter a man who has similar situation.They try to live each other, but living is not easy.I think it is like brave story. I wish they will be happy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is one of the most famous pieces of American literature. It is a story of growing up, of friendship, loyalty, and making difficult choices. This Ladder edition gives learners of english as a foreign language easier access to the story of Huck and Jim, the runaway slave who became his friend. Their adventures on the Mississippi River lead Huck to learn some basic truths about life.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This is a classic story of growing up and friendship. It is the language used that is distracting and hard to parse. Accented phonetic spelling is my least favorite way to illustrate differences in speech.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Follows the story of a young boy living in the rural south. He escapes his life there to run away down the Mississippi with a run-away slave, Jim. A classic must-read and very entertaining.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The second book I had to read for school this summer. Better than I expected actually, but it would have been even more enjoyable if I hadn't of been required to mark it all up for theme. A good book, though.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I always liked Huck more than Tom. Tom always struck me as something of a brat, while I sort of identified with Huck, and his lack of parental security and support. I was rooting for him, and his scrappy can-do ways.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A very important American novel that covers various important issues this country has faced, many of which are still relevant today. A book that mocks racism and shows the relationship between a slave and a lower class white boy who try to escape their respective lifestyles by sailing down the Mississippi river, out of Missouri and into freedom. A fairly entertaining fictional read that everyone should take a look at eventually.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5There is a reason this book is a classic. Twain's tale of Huck Finn leaving his home and traveling with the slave Jim up the Mississippi is endearing. Not only is it telling of the time period, but it also tells the story of a kid and the mischief a young boy can get into.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well . . . . I love Tom Sawyer, and I love Twain's travel stuff, and Huck Finn is a jewel of a character. And in the end this is a good time. But it feels a bit . . . I dunno, hampered somehow? (I keep thinking "behindert," but in German that actually means "retarded," so forget it). Like, the authorial voice, such as you can make it out behind Huck's narrrative, just feels a bit too self-satisfied - with the Huck and his dad hiding out or Huck and Jim on the river stuff, the balance between laughing at and with seems to tip and topple toward the former and only barely keep itself from collapse, like one of those leaning Turkis ice-cream cone towers. And even when everything is simpatico, when we're all "Yes, it would be good to hang out on a raft in your rags and be free free free," it still feels a little to self-satisfied and self-assured, like a guy who knows he's got it all figured out and the rest of the foolish world doesn't. Like Thoreau (Not Huck, Twain). And then Tom comes in and the narrative bursts to life, but there is still a bit of confusion - Tom in Huck's story is too much a golden fairytale boy, for whom everything goes right. The rules of physics are different for him' and it almost makes him a buffoon in this darker more moral tale, until he pays his dues weirdly by getting shot in the leg. (What a fantastic pair, incidentally! Like the two halves of a literate, cynical Peter Pan - Tom the alpha and Huck the innocent, yet also the conscience who lives in a more complex, shaded world).I say so many good things . . . and also the cxircus bit and the Shakespeare bit are pure bursts of fun. But the self-satisfaction of it just takes it so close to the edge of gross for me. And like, the only way you can read Jim the slave and not go mental (he says "uv" for "of"? Ha ha stupid negro! Uh, we all do, Marky Mark. Sound it out) is to do it in a Bill Cosby Jell-o Pudding voice. Which makes him hell of fun.
Book preview
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
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