Rating: 
Summary: A Must-Read "Must-Read Novel"
Review: "All modern literature stems from this one book. There was nothing before, there has been nothing as good since." I wish I could have been the one to coin that description of Twain's best known work. I guess coming from Ernest Hemingway it does carry a bit more weight. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is one of the more commonly referred to works when people speak of the "Great American Novel." A fictional account of a young boy's voyage down the Mississippi River, Huck Finn guarantees that as long as he is around people will still care about American literature. It combines Twain's knack for humor with very real and mature social issues.The main character is of course Huckleberry Finn. When "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" . . . Huck had found $12,000 and was living with the Widow Watson. At the beginning of this book Huck is kidnapped by his Pap, who only has come back to get his son's money. Huck escapes his father and soon finds himself floating down the Mississippi River with a slave named Jim. Jim was the property of the Widow Watson and overheard her plans to sell him to a slave trader. When he realized he would be leaving the relative comfort of the widow's home he decided to escape. Brought up by a racist, abusive and drunken father, Huck at first sees the escape by Jim as totally wrong. However, as the two travel along the river enjoying one adventure after another Huck finds himself growing fond of his companion and the two form a strong bond. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" can only be described with one word, classic. It is one of the few novels that can be read by a child and then re-read year after year without becoming the least bit stale. Such staying power is rare and is proof positive that this book before most others most assuredly belongs on the shelves of every school library. But don't read it because it's a classic -- read it because it's fun! And let me suggest another quick pick: The Losers' Club by Richard Perez
Rating:
Summary: A few memories of reading an American classic
Review: "Alright then I'll go to hell" Huck's great moment of loyalty to Jim, and decision to let that personal loyalty override the traditional conventional morality that straightjackets him is one of the great memorable moments of the book. Another is the " lighting out of the territory ahead of the rest" the near final word of the American adventurer on- the- road again, the proof that in Quixote's words it is the ' road not the inn' that matters, and it is the great going on like the river itself which is what we want when we are young. America as a dream of always going westward and the river as moving on and on with us moving along with it , and its never coming somehow to the sea. Huckelberry Finn the great colloquial classic in which Mark Twain succeeds through speaking the many dialects of his time in putting American literature in closer touch with the Everyday . He connected American Literature with the heartland a moved the whole enterprise down- to- earth in a more humorous and realistic way. In childhood it was the scary Duke and Dauphin that almost turned me away from the book. And I must admit that there were many pages which seemed to me to be there just to make me turn them faster. But in the end and somehow there is that picture of a time, of Huck and Tom and Jim and The Widow Douglas and the Judge and of America itself more American and more rural than the American of my small - town Troy, New York streets. The river rolling on with more life than I could imagine and the dreams of a different time and a different world strange to me then. O America my old home and lost country , land of my childhood and youth , where have you gone ? still rolling on whether I am there to see you and read you, or not .
Rating:
Summary: The Struggle towards Independence
Review: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a real masterpiece, which everyone must read, no matter his/her age. I remember when I first read it in 8th grade at High School. I was amazed then only by the adventures of the little boy and nothing else. However, when we discussed it again this semester in the college, I realized the plot of the book and its representation of the harsh reality during the slavery period in USA.
In "Huck Finn", Mark Twain satirizes a society, which has no moral issues and which is trapped between its obdurate way of thinking and the rapidly changing reality. He also exposes very important problem as showing us the way for reaching independence as a constant struggle between freedom and slavery. This struggle exists for both Jim and Huck. For Jim this is more physical struggle than mental, while for Huck it is based on mentality and experience. Jim fears the physical slavery of that period in USA and Huck does not want to be "civilized" by a society without any moral values and chooses to live his own life free and independent.
Having read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" twice, I strongly recommend it to everyone interested not only in risky and funny adventures, but also to those who think that morality is important in the humans' relationship.
Rating: 
Summary: A worthless classic
Review: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a tedious, exasperating, and mind-numbing story. This is my first Mark Twain book, and it's surely to be my last, as I was sorely disappointed. While the grammar and dialect are supposed to be written realistically, I found it cumbersome. The adventures changed constantly, and if Twain had written with one adventure in mind, then my attention span would not have diminished. When Tom Sawyer entered the book permanently, I became irritated, because when he arrived, the story became prolonged and trivial. I feel I wasted my time reading this book. I do not recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Read Tom Sawyer
Review: Adults need to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to realize that they should never forget all the trouble they got in when they were young. Young kids should read this book because it shows them what they can only dream about doing when the get older. It is a very interesting book, about two young adolescent kids who are best friends: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. This book has everything a reader likes: adventure, mystery, and romance.
This book has the perfect amount of adventure. In the book, Tom and Huck decide to run away from home and live on an island. It was an adventure to steal all the food they needed, to actually sneak out of the house, and to meet up and sail down to the island. Also, they built a raft to sail down to the island.
In the story there is a big mystery. Tom and Huck witness a murder, and they almost get killed for it. Also, they know there is a treasure buried some where near the town. Tom and Huck go around for a couple of days and try to find the treasure.
There is a little romance in the plot too. Tom is in love with Becky, a girl that lives down the street. He gets in all kinds of trouble when he is with Becky. Tom and Becky go into a cave to explore with all the other children and somehow they get lost for three days.
Tom is a young kid that is confused with the world around him, so he goes off and tries to experience new things. Whenever Tom goes out on an adventure there is always some kind of consequence no matter what he does. Tom learns from his mistakes and learns to deal with all sorts of challenges.
Rating:
Summary: Don't hesitate on this
Review: Always hesitant of the word "classic," I picked up this book with trepidation. It wasn't required reading at any point, and some libraries still have problems with it today because of certain words and scenes. That said, I plunged right in and haven't been sorry since. This is a charming tale that will definitely take you someplace you've not been before. And isn't that what we all want?--to go where we haven't been or can't go? Though not as funny as some other of Twain's books (think "Life on the Mississippi"), "Huck Finn" is an easy read, told by a child narrator. Like other child narrated books--Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood," Twain's "Huck Finn" uses this technique to great effect. This, coupled with a very distinctive style, not really like any other Twain work except one, makes this a highly unusual book. One must also take into consideration "when" this book was written and how new it must have seemed then with its incorrect grammar and style. Suffice it to say that "Huck Finn" will stay on my (and other's) bookshelf for a while. Also recommended: To Kill a Mockingbird, Bark of the Dogwood, Catch 22
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless Social Commentary,
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: One of the classic novels about chilhood and slavery
Review: At the start of this novel it starts out like the end of Tom Sawyer. The story states Huck's struggles like living with the widow, problems with all of his money and being civilized. He runs away from his home from the widow and then rethinks his situation. Huck soon reconsiders his first choice of running away and soon returns to the widows where he is home again. Soon Huck finds out that his "pap" is back in town and Huck gives all his money to Judge Thatcher and tells him to keep it, for Huck is afraid that his pap will find out about his money and want to have it. Huck's dad finally shows up and he lectures Huck about how he is trying to be better than he is and how he thinks he is better than his dad. Huck soon is captured by his dad and kidnapped to a small cabin in the forest. Huck is a prisoner of the cabin; the only time he is let out is when pap is home. When pap is out at night getting drunk Huck is locked up in the cabin and cannot escape. Huck finally devises a plan that will free him to travel down the Mississippi River to the south.
One night when Huck's dad was out getting drunk in town Huck snuck out of the cave and sets up a fake death of himself so that pap will believe that he was murdered. Huck takes a raft that he had found down the river to the abandoned Jackson's Island. He soon encounters Jim, one of Miss Watson's slaves. Jim soon tells Huck of how he had escaped from Miss Watson because he had overheard her talking about selling him down in the south. Huck and Jim unite and they both take the stolen raft down the river where they are trying to gain their freedom. They travel up the river and encounter a bunch of robbers that are holding a man hostage. Huck sneaks on to the wreck and listens in on what the robbers are saying. They are threatening a man and are about to kill him. Huck and Jim almost got caught up in the mess but slyly escaped. Huck and Jim are determined to save the fellow and they get help from a local fisherman who has a boat. Huck and Jim continue to travel south on the river. Huck and Jim miss the entrance to the Ohio River and are forced to continue their journey down the river. The next night a steamboat bashes into their raft and Huck and Jim are separated. Huck ends up at the home of the Grangerfords and is kindly accepted in to stay with them. Then Huck gets caught in the middle of the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, who have been enemies for a long time! Huck's friend Buck who is one of the Grangerford children is killed along with many other family members in a gun battle between families. Huck is almost sick from all this killing and he reunites with Jim, who shows up with the repaired raft. They continue to travel down the river.
Huck and Jim meet up with two men who identify themselves as "The Duke" and "The King". They go on many troublesome adventures together and Huck starts to believe that they are con-artists and only use people for their money. On one scheme that the cons are trying to pull Huck finally gets sick of their nonsense and rats on them and their scheme. They slyly escape and while Huck and Jim are departing from them they catch up and reunite. The cons finally pull their worst scheme of all when they sell Jim as a slave to a bunch of white folks. Huck finds out where Jim is located and goes to try to free him. Huck suddenly finds out that Jim is the slave of Tom Sawyer's aunt and uncle, Silas and Sally Phelps. The Phelps think that Huck is Tom and Huck plays along to try to free Jim. The real Tom Sawyer shows up at his aunts and Huck and Tom devise a plan to free Jim.
Tom fixes a crazy plan that they all hope will free Jim. Even though Huck is a little doubtful about the plan he sticks along and carries it out. They successfully free Jim and in the process Tom is shot buy someone following them. Jim sacrifices his freedom to help Tom and get him a doctor. They all are returned to the Phelp's home and Jim is put back in chains yet again.
When Tom is awaken the next morning he tells everyone that Jim has been a free man all along because Miss Watson in her will before she died left Jim his freedom. Tom had just planned all this as a game. Jim is freed and he tells Huck about his father's death. Huck is somewhat relieved since he had though hid father would show up and take him again. Aunt Sally offers to adopt Huck but he refuses because he wants to travel out west!
Rating:
Summary: The Adventures of Huckleberry finn
Review: BOOK REVIEW
The Book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it starts off really great and through the whole book it stays great. I enjoyed this book because I really like adventure and this book is filled with adventure and obstacles the characters had to overcome through out the adventures. If you are a person that like going on adventures and like overcoming things in life that are difficult you will really enjoy this novel. Also I like how the main character in the story which is Huck, made his own decision by running away from his abusive father. When Huck decided to run away from his father that was a good decision because I feel you should not stay with someone that abuses you. This book is filled with laughter and sadness but you will be very satisfied at the results. If you don't read this book you will never know anything about the wonderful Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A book that been around for a long time and will be around for long time more. This book is one of the greatest masterpieces that Mark Twain made and he is remembered because of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Rating:
Summary: The Adventures of Huckleberry finn
Review: BOOK REVIEW
The Book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it starts off really great and through the whole book it stays great. I enjoyed this book because I really like adventure and this book is filled with adventure and obstacles the characters had to overcome through out the adventures. If you are a person that like going on adventures and like overcoming things in life that are difficult you will really enjoy this novel. Also I like how the main character in the story which is Huck, made his own decision by running away from his abusive father. When Huck decided to run away from his father that was a good decision because I feel you should not stay with someone that abuses you. This book is filled with laughter and sadness but you will be very satisfied at the results. If you don't read this book you will never know anything about the wonderful Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A book that been around for a long time and will be around for long time more. This book is one of the greatest masterpieces that Mark Twain made and he is remembered because of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
|
