Classic Starts®: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

By Mark Twain, Dan Andreasen and Arthur Pober

“We said there was no home like a raft. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery…but you feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” Sail down the Mississippi with Huck Finn and the runaway slave, Jim. Twain’s beloved tale, with its folksy language, creates an indelible image of antebellum America with its sleepy river towns, con men, family feuds, and a variety of colorful characters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Union Square Kids
• Release date: Oct 23, 2009
• ISBN: 9781402776144

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.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Scene: The Mississippi Valley

Forty to fifty years ago (1835–1845)

Tom and the Widow

You don’t know about me unless you’ve read a book called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that doesn’t matter. That book was written by Mr. Mark Twain and he told the truth, mainly. There were some things he stretched, though. That’s nothing. I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t lied at one time or another, except Aunt Polly, or the widow. That’s Tom’s Aunt Polly. She and the Widow Douglas are both in that book, which is mostly a true book, as I said before.

The way that book ends, Tom and I found the money that the robbers had hidden in the cave and it made us rich. Six thousand dollars each, all in gold. Judge Thatcher put it in the bank for us and we could each get a dollar a day. We didn’t know what to do with all that money anyway. The Widow Douglas took me in as a son and promised to civilize me.

It was rough living in the house all the time. The widow was so regular and decent in all of her ways. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I ran away. I got into my old rags and felt free and satisfied. But Tom Sawyer hunted me down and said he was planning to start a gang, a band of robbers. He said I might join in if I went back to the widow and acted properly. So I went back.

The widow cried over me and called me a poor lost lamb. She called me a lot of other names, too, but she never meant any harm. She put me in some new clothes again and I couldn’t do anything but sweat and feel all cramped up.

Then the old things started up again. The widow rang a bell for supper and I had to come in on time. When I got to the table I couldn’t start eating right away. I had to wait for the widow to lower her head and grumble a little over the food. There was nothing wrong with the food, except that everything was separate. I was used to eating a stew full of odds and ends. Things in a stew get mixed up and the juice kind of swaps around and everything goes better.

The widow’s sister, Miss Watson, had just come to live with her. She set after me on my first night back with a spelling-book. She worked with me for about an hour, until the widow made her ease up. I couldn’t stand it much longer.

I went up to my room, sat by the window, and tried to think of something cheerful, but it was no use. I got so down-hearted and lonesome I wished I had some company. Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark. I sat still and listened. I could just barely hear a me-yow! me-yow!

I said, me-yow! me-yow! as softly as I could and then I put out the light and climbed out of the window onto the shed. I slipped down to the ground and crawled in among the trees. And sure enough, there was Tom waiting for me.

We went along a short path. Just as we passed the kitchen, I fell over a root and made a noise. We crouched down and laid still. Miss Watson’s slave, Jim, was sitting at the kitchen door.

Who’s there? he said.

He listened some more and walked near us. For minutes and minutes there wasn’t a sound. He couldn’t see us, but he must have known someone was nearby. He sat down on the ground near me and Tom and said he knew someone was there. He told us he would wait until we showed ourselves. He leaned against a tree and stretched his legs out until one of them almost touched mine. Soon he began to breathe heavily and then he started snoring, so Tom and I could finally get away.

When Tom and I got to the edge of the hilltop, we looked down into the village and could see three or four lights twinkling. The stars over us were sparkling. Down by the village was the river. It was a whole mile wide and awfully still and grand. We found Jo Harper and Ben Rogers, and two or three more of the boys. We untied a little boat, floated down the river to the big scar on the hillside, and went ashore.

We went to a clump of bushes, where Tom made everybody swear to keep the place a secret. Then he showed us a hole in the hill, right in the thickest part of the bushes. We lit candles and crawled in on our hands and knees. After a minute or two the cave opened up. Tom ducked under a wall in the cave and crawled into another hole. We followed along the narrow path until we got into a kind of room, all damp and sweating and cold.

Tom said:

Now, we’ll start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer’s Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath.

We were willing so Tom got out a sheet of paper with the oath written on it. It swore every boy to stick to the gang and never tell any of its secrets. If anybody ever did anything wrong to any boy in the band, one of the other boys would be ordered to get even with that person and his family and he would have to do it.

Everybody said it was a great oath and asked Tom if he made it up himself. He said some of it, but the rest was out of pirate-books and robber-books. He told us that every important gang had an oath like it.

Wait, Huck Finn doesn’t have a family, Ben Rogers said. How could we get even with him if he doesn’t have a family? What are you going to do about him?

Well, doesn’t he have a father? Tom asked.

Yes, but you can’t ever find him these days. He used to get in a lot of trouble around town, but he hasn’t been seen in these parts for a year or more.

They talked it over and they weren’t going to let me in the gang. Nobody could think of anything to do. I was almost ready to cry, but all at once I thought of a way. I offered them Miss Watson. They could get even with her if they wanted. That satisfied everyone and they let me in.

Then

Reviews for Classic Starts®

[benkaboo-51322 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Things 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.

[luminous4path · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Might want to read it again sometime. Took me a while to get into it, but by the last third I was hooked.

[nickduberley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very funny, as well as very interesting.

Hard to think of a better book with a teenage main character - Treasure Island, perhaps ?

[et.carole · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Dissected this one for English class. Sometimes, discussion takes all the charm out of a book. So do angry yet subtle attacks at Romanticism.

[profh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The way the language is portrayed, the stylized dialogues, and the underlying condemnation of slavery makes this Twain classic one that everyone should read. In some ways, Twain reminds me of Charles Dickens...Some scenes, particularly towards the end with Tom seem to stretch on and on, long after the humor is gone. Still this novel is an immovable object in American Lit. You just have to read it.

[wickenden-285487 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful language, wonderful dialog, full of my childhood.

[beauxarts79 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love, love, love this book. The humor, the sincerity, the narrative voice. Exceptional. That being said, I struggled with that fifth star. Something about the word "nigger," no matter how eloquent and well-executed its context, leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Intellectually, though, I can appreciate some of what Twain is doing, here. He doesn't patronize his reader by creating in Huck Finn an overly sympathetic character infused with the author's own socio-political pathos. Huck isn't the poster-child for abolitionist propaganda, but a still-burgeoning personality trying to define its own moral good. In fact, it is simply brilliant that Twain ironically reverses Huck's ethical conflict, depicting his reluctance to STEAL a slave from slavery because theft is a sin, and his ultimate decision to toss himself entirely into "wickedness." We love Huck precisely because he wants so badly to do the right thing, whatever that might be.

The scene in which Jim laments his estranged wife and children is particularly moving, for Twain takes care to depict his humanity, though Huck himself is ambivalent about his friend's grief; that's very clever writing.

Michiko Kakutani wrote a very interesting piece in the New York Times about some politically correct editions of the text; the word "nigger" has been replaced with something more palatable for contemporary readers, but with all due respect, completely unrealistic for the novel's characters. Kakutani explains that "'Huckleberry Finn' actually stands as a powerful indictment of slavery (with Nigger Jim its most noble character)" and that censoring the original removes the possibility "of using its contested language as an opportunity to explore the painful complexities of race relations in this country. To censor or redact books on school reading lists is a form of denial: shutting the door on harsh historical realities — whitewashing them or pretending they do not exist." I am a fierce opponent of censorship and could not agree more. Hence, that inexorable little fifth star.

[bhiggs-822148 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eh. It's certainly entertaining. It's undeniably a classic. I'm not sure if I had any major lessons learned from it. Not super high on my list of 'must read' titles.

[charrlygirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I "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.

[nicholasjjordan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Such a hard book to review. Great storytelling, satire, America, funny, etc. The final saga of Jim escaping just makes me hate Tom Sawyer, though.

[headinherbooks_27 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Re-reading since high school. Good classic!

[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.

[antao-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

(Original Review, 1981-03-18)I guess “Ulysses” pushes the envelope of “Literature was made for man, not man for literature” but I like to give the benefit of the doubt to books especially if not only do they have a sustained critical reputation, but if people whose opinions I respect think the book is great stuff. When I was venting some of my frustration about “Ulysses” and “Finnegans Wake” to a well-read musician friend, she just gently suggested that if I let myself listen to the music of the language it might change my perception. When it comes to ”Finnegans Wake” I couldn’t do it…I’m still deaf.I guess Huck is a little trying as a voice, especially in the beginning, but I think it is one of the greatest books ever written, or I ever read. Tom Sawyer is OK, but HF is brilliant. In the most direct way possible Huck learns about the absolute humanity of Jim but also Huck feels guilty because Jim is property and in the South, being property trumped being human. In its quiet, folksy way it presents us with something intensely evil face to face with something just as intensely familiar and homey. All those people, many of them, are such fine nice people so vividly portrayed as such, except that the vilest evil that they live with every day, and have created and sustain, is totally invisible to them. As a really human document, a damning one, it has never been done so well and so quietly. Freud drew attention to the uncanny in his short but influential essay, as having just that quality of being so homey and yet being alien, so human but so inhuman.Not totally sure about the ending though; it was contrived in a way, BUT I was very impressed by the late chapter scene where the doctor, clearly a good and fine man, will not go seek help for a sick child because he was afraid that Jim might run off. Again that MONSTRUOUS blindness vs the child. And the scene where the men, the good folks of the town, were talking about what to do with Jim, some wanting to lynch him, not for running away, but because of his ingratitude!!! And then deciding not to kill him because after all he is someone's property and they might be held liable for his dollars’ worth!!! Nevertheless Huck comes of age.I would agree more with the idea that all American fiction is a response to Huck Finn if it hadn't been Hemingway who said it, but I will not accept that anyone else could possibly admire the book more than I do. Still, the ending is the weakest part. I don't know who could have written a better ending but facts are facts and by the time we get to the last few chapters the really astonishing novelties have already been spent where they'd do the most good.

[fredacochran · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We read it in the great books class. It was a good book. I would read it again.

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One frequently challenged American classic is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons.) The reasons for challenging it are various. It uses the "n-word" to refer to African-Americans of the pre-Civil War period. Huck Finn makes an important choice in the course of the book, in which he defies the law and the moral injunctions of his elders, and is shown as being right to do so. America of the pre-Civil War period is portrayed as being less than perfect--a long way less than perfect.

The story of Huckleberry Finn is simple; in fact, the Author's Note at the beginning threatens dire consequences for anyone claiming to identify a plot in the book. Huck, having come into money in an earlier book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, has been placed in the custody of the Widow Douglas, who is attempting to civilize him. He appreciates her efforts, but feels confined. The alternative, living with his abusive father, is even worse. Huck runs away, heads down the Mississippi River--and meets up with the Widow Douglas' slave, Jim, who has also run away. They raft down the Mississippi together, with Huck getting an education about people, relations between black and white, and injustice. In the end they are back in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, MO, with Jim recaptured and set to be sold. Huck has a difficult choice to make.

This is not a grim book; it is lively and entertaining, and filled with adventures that any young or young-at-heart reader will enjoy. Huck learns a lot, though, and grows as a human being. This is an important book; it's also a fun one.

Highly recommended.

[cj82487 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can see now why this is so often a required read in school. This style of writing is often hard to find and it is rich with descriptions that leap off the page.

My favorite part of this was the dialogue. Say what you wish about the "n-word," but the truth is that it was commonly used in the south. I, personally, don't approve of the word, but I cannot deny it was a part of history, especially during the time of slavery when this novel takes place.

What I loved about the dialogue was I could hear the characters. Huck sounded different from Pap and Jim. The words were thick with Southern accents instead of written in plain English, and it was done well. Writing accents isn't for everyone and can sometimes come across as trying too hard, but you can tell Twain heard these slang terms and thick accents. He wrote the words how they sound not how they should be spelt and it is what makes this "classic" special.

I'm usually remiss about writing reviews for books I am assigned to read, especially if I've had to discuss it at length. Honestly, much of what I'm required to read is not to my personal taste, but Huck Finn is different. Even though I read and discussed this book in class for 3 weeks, I enjoyed reading it. Picking it apart and analyzing it was more fun than an assignment.

There were some really funny moments, like when Huck disguised himself (poorly) as a girl, and the lessons or messages underneath the story are still relevant today.

Slavery is no longer legal, but the relationship between races is still a topic being discussed today with schools named after Confederate soldiers being renamed and historic statues being removed across the country.

Twain's message is simple and beautiful: We are all human beings.

In the beginning, Huck views Jim only as a slave. As they travel together, the relationship changes. Jim is no longer looked at or treated differently because of the color of his skin and Jim takes care of Huck in a fatherly way. If you look at it closely, it is a beautiful father-son relationship between two that aren't related. Huck and Jim's connection is more of a highlight than Huck's actual adventure down the Mississippi River on a raft.

I think everyone should read this book at least once during their lifetime to get a glance at life along the Mississippi River before the Civil War.

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

At first I felt the ending was flawed, agreeing with some of Twain's critics. However, after reflection, I believe it is exactly the right ending for this book.

Without the ending, the story would revert to more romantic prose: white boy learns his lesson about slavery and becomes a better person for it. Such an ending, I believe, would have undermined Twain's purpose in writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In actuality, the ending gives earlier chapters their meaning, showing the difficulty in a person's ability to throw off societal norms. It is his commentary of the influence of society on a person's moral judgment.

[karenvg3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Always love a good classic. Can never go wrong with mark twain.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although I have seen several dramatizations of this, I hadn't read it since high school. It was better than I remembered, but my favorite parts were the ones with Tom Sawyer (which confirms my long-held opinion that I like Tom Sawyer more than Huck Finn). Elijiah Wood was good narrating, and the various dialects were distinct without being overwhelming.

[mariannem85-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I hated this book when we read it in middle school. Fast forward a dozen years, I'm enrolled in a Mark Twain course and have to read it again. Wow, what difference an adult perspective made for me. If his short stories weren't enough to gain my awe and respect, then this book definitively did just that.

I felt good and all washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever felt so in my life, and I knowed I could pray now. But I didn't do it straight off, but laid the paper down and set there thinking—thinking how good it was all this happened so, and how near I come to being lost and going to hell. And went on thinking. And got to thinking over our trip down the river; and I see Jim before me all the time: in the day and in the night-time, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a-floating along, talking and singing and laughing. But somehow I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him, but only the other kind. I'd see him standing my watch on top of his'n, 'stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; and would always call me honey, and pet me and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now; and then I happened to look around and see that paper.

It was a close place. 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.
That's one of the most moving pages of literature I've ever read. Twain cuts right to the heart of social and moral hypocrisy with Huck's character, an outside who struggles to reconcile what his experiences tell him are right and wrong with the civilized folk's definitions.

Oh, how it saddens me to acknowledge that - more than one hundred years after it was first published - Americans could still learn a thing or two about morality from reading this.

**Some people might find the dialogue difficult to manage. I remember this being one of the things I struggled with when I read it as a kid, but it truly is worth the effort. If it becomes too much, I suggest trying one of the audiobook versions. An excellent narration by Elijah Wood is available on Audible.

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

Classic read for many high school students. Huck is one of literature's great characters. He is street smart and dishonest, but loyal (to an extent). His relationship with Jim has stood the test of time. Personally, I think it has one of literature's best ending to any book I have ever read. I would recommend this for upper level high school readers. The language is difficult because of the southern accent. I recommend reading many sections aloud or reading along with an audio version to begin with.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Huckleberry Finn is a young boy whose life hasn’t been easy, with no mother and an abusive drunkard for a father who only has time for Huck when he wants something. After Huck and Tom Sawyer found $6,000.00 in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huck is placed with a widow woman who cleans him up and sends him to school. It isn’t long before his father, with a desire to get his hands on Huck’s money, shows up. He kidnaps Huck and both mistreats him and holds him captive. Huck eventually breaks free by faking his own death. He comes across Jim, a runaway slave and together they journey down the Mississippi River on a raft and forge a lasting friendship. This was a re-read for me, but I do believe that I both enjoyed the story and got more out of it on this second go. Not only does this character have one of the best names in literature, Huckleberry is also a great character to read about. He is a realist and adapts readily to most situations but he seems to be most comfortable when actually on the river. There is a simple decency to the boy, he tries to do the right thing. This trip on the river teaches him many life lessons and the reader is able to see him grow and develop into a conscientious and caring person.I struggled a little at the beginning of the book with the various dialects, but once I picked up the rhythm this was a very fun story. Mark Twain uses straightforward language, humor and a simple story line to show both the hypocrisy of slavery and the ridiculousness of many of society’s rules.

[missbrandysue · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

#2 of the Rory Gilmore ChallengeSo I'm going to go ahead and give this 3 stars because by the last 10 chapters I was pretty ready to be finished with it. I found myself intrigued by the plot by the middle of the book but found it hard to read for long periods. By the time I read 2 chapters I was kind of ready to move on to something else or fell asleep causing my long period in reading.I didn't read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer first, although it was referenced pretty highly in the first 5 chapters or so. If my TBR stack and library stack weren't so tall I'd have considered it. However, when Tom Sawyer appears in the last chapters of the book I'm really grateful I didn't go back. Did anyone else think Tom Sawyer was the MOST ANNOYING character in this book? Being a kid of the 80s I remember the Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro and Elijah Wood renditions of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer that came out all within a few years of each other. So, I was interested in reading the first published stories to see what I remembered and what was actually in the book. I read the Penguins Classics version that had additional notes for background on Twain's writing. I quite liked the intro that talked about Twain's reading history that helped influence pieces of the story. The plot - I liked the plot, except the end with Tom Sawyer. I had no idea it was so gory at parts, but I guess I always read the editions for kids. The King and Duke were quick-paced which I appreciated once I got there. Some of the small river plots were interesting but seemed somewhat far fetched for a novel so acclaimed for giving insight in the Mississippi culture of the 1800s. I definitely want to go back and read Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" novel now while taking a month-long trip (you know, as soon as I save $8000 to do so). The characters - Jim was quite simple and I thought Mark Twain may be more interested in developing the ties of slavery through his character rather than the plot. Huck Finn's morale tests and self-talk were amusing, wish there had been a bit more. Maybe I'm a character-driven reader these days?All-in-all as a historical piece I enjoyed the context of the Mississippi River and the almost short story excerpts of river life. However, the novel dragged a bit for me to really enjoy it more and seemed to be a bit all over the place with Twain's style.

[overthemoon_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unable to put up with the "sivilizing" of the Widow Douglas, beaten by his alcoholic father, Huck escapes to an island where he finds his old friend and former slave Jim. Together they set off downriver on a raft, sleeping by day, sailing by night, what seems to Huck the perfect life. With his (and Tom's) hare-brained schemes, very funny and enjoyable, something that passed me by during my childhood (though I did read Tom Sawyer and remember it well), and extremely well written.

[juva_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After the adventures recounted in Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn takes up the role of narrator in this lively book about racism and social life along the Mississippi river. Huck soon tires of the civilized life and when his father returns he is somewhat relieved to be removed to a remote cabin in the woods. But soon his Father's abuse and controlling ways grow tiresome so Huck fakes his own death and determines to make his living on his own. But shortly thereafter he runs into Jim, a familiar slave who has run away rather than be sold down the river. Huck and Jim soon become fast friends and go on many journeys together hoping to leave Jim in a free territory. The stories are charming, lively and sometimes shocking in their casual cruelty to black people. An important window into the past.

[tgraettinger_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A classic worthy of the name - and you get something new every time you read it.

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

Undoubtedly a good book. Some heavy themes: racism and slavery, child and substance abuse. And lots of clever stuff, like the correspondences between Jim and Huck's situations.At times there are extraneous scenes and a resulting lack of narrative drive that left me stalled.

[jlharmon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I guess this is the summer of reading classic books. People already know the story from all of the various movies and Wishbone episodes. So I won't dwell on the plot too much. There's intrigue and secret pacts and rafts and steamboats and scams. Huck always seems to find the craziest events on the Mississippi.

The best part of this is that it's written in various dialects. Huck's narrator voice is at least easy enough to understand, but lots of times I found myself reading things aloud to even figure out what some other character was saying. It really gives you a feel for the time period, more than any description would. I feel like I have a better understanding of the South now.

I can see why people don't want this to be read in present-day schools, or prefer to read Tom Sawyer's adventures instead. Everyone says the n-word ALL THE TIME. I get it that it was the culture, that it is a historical piece, but it would make reading aloud in class quite difficult. This book has an undercurrent of racism and morality that is definitely more thought-providing my though.

[terribooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Better than I expected.

[browner56 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Over the years, I have occasionally thought about what qualifies a book to be elevated to the status as “The Great American Novel,” as mythical (and unofficial) as that title may be. Certainly, it seems that such a work should capture the attitudes and beliefs of the particular period in the United States it depicts as well as convey a sense of the cultural values that define those times. Of course, as those values and beliefs change over time, so too should the list of books that qualify as TGAN. Whatever one’s particular definition might be, however, I suspect that somewhere near the front end of a lot of people’s lists will be Mark Twain’s masterpiece Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.The regard for this novel remains considerable more than 130 years after its publication, both for its historical significance and the continuing relevance of its humor and strong anti-racism message. Indeed, Ernest Hemingway said “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn…there has been nothing as good since” while Eugene O’Neill called the author himself “the true father of all American literature.” Much of that regard must have come from Twain’s remarkable use of multiple ethnic and regional dialects throughout the novel, which helped to distinguish the newly emerging American literary tradition from its European roots. For instance, here is the way Huck describes some of his time on the raft with Jim, the runaway slave:We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn't ever feel like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed—only a little kind of a low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all—that night, nor the next, nor the next. For all of that, though, it is hard to discuss Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without addressing the author’s frequent and almost profligate use of a certain expression that has come to be regarded as a highly charged racial epithet (let’s call it the “n-word” and just leave it at that). In the context of the story, it is abundantly clear that this term was used as a synonym for ‘slave’ rather than as a slur with any deeper intended meaning. Still, it is an extremely uncomfortable experience for the modern reader to encounter that word under any circumstance and, quite frankly, it was something I never really got used to. Of course, the irony is that the entire novel is a marvelous satire of the hypocrisy of prevailing racial attitudes and a strong indictment of the institution of slavery. One thing that is easily lost in all of these high-minded considerations is the question of whether this is an enjoyable book to read. For most of the story, it definitely is. Huck Finn is a truly unique character in literature and his adventures, which vacillate between being hilarious or harrowing, are almost always engaging. In particular, the encounters that Huck and Jim have while floating their way south on the Mississippi are memorable and exciting; only the last segment of the book when Tom Sawyer shows up felt like a bit of a false note to me. I have no idea what the current TGAN might be, but after reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I know where that list began.