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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Timeless Classics
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Timeless Classics
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Timeless Classics
Audiobook (abridged)1 hour

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Timeless Classics

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Freedom is everything to Huckleberry Finn. How can he avoid being "civilized" by the good-hearted Widow Douglas? But just now Huck has more important things on his mind—like helping his friend Jim escape the slave-catchers!

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 1, 2011
ISBN9781612474946
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Timeless Classics
Author

Mark Twain

Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, left school at age 12. His career encompassed such varied occupations as printer, Mississippi riverboat pilot, journalist, travel writer, and publisher, which furnished him with a wide knowledge of humanity and the perfect grasp of local customs and speech manifested in his writing. It wasn't until The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), that he was recognized by the literary establishment as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. Toward the end of his life, plagued by personal tragedy and financial failure, Twain grew more and more cynical and pessimistic. Though his fame continued to widen--Yale and Oxford awarded him honorary degrees--he spent his last years in gloom and desperation, but he lives on in American letters as "the Lincoln of our literature."

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Reviews for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Rating: 4.042918454935623 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I liked this book a lot. The experience of encapsulating every chapter into a poem was a fun but challenging experience. Twain had a lot more than just a kids book in mind when he wrote this book. He was writing to all people who were caught up in the political question of the time: "Should one leave slavery alone, or do something about this issue?"

    I however, did grow tired of Tom and felt like grabbing him by the lapels and screaming, "Grow up Kid!" But it was merely a book, and Tom Sawyers merely a fictional character, so I restrained myself.

    This book is an astute answer to the political cross hairs of the nineteenth century.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This 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: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful voice for the Finn character. Excellent setting and world building. The racism is a little hard to take.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The boy nobody wants finds courage and destiny. An adventure.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After a few months vivisecting Huck Finn using various types of literary theory in my tenth grade English class, I don't think there is much I can add. But I can say I read it when I was ten, and it was a fun adventure; I read it when I was fifteen, and it was rich in symbolism; and reading it as an adult it is a relevant delight. It grows with us and with our society.A must-have.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Twain’s travel narrative is quite beautiful. The characterization of the river will strike anyone but especially those who grew up near water. It is also an excellent example of the social struggles present at the time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not near as good a book as Tom Sawyer - but it was still good to revisit this book after all these years ...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Huckleberry Finn" is set in Missouri in the 1830's and it is true to its time. The narrator is a 13 year old, semi-literate boy who refers to blacks by the N-word because he has never heard them called anything else. He's been brought up to see blacks as slaves, as property, as something less than human. He gets to know Jim on their flight to freedom (Jim escaping slavery and Huck escaping his drunken, abusive father), and is transformed. Huck realizes that Jim is just as human as he is, a loving father who misses his children, a warm, sensitive, generous, compassionate individual. Huck's epiphany arrives when he has to make a decision whether or not to rescue Jim when he is captured and held for return to slavery. In the culture he was born into, stealing a slave is the lowest of crimes and the perpetrator is condemned to eternal damnation.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Huck Finn is about Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim. Huck Finn likes to lie, and so does Tom Saywer. Huckleberry Finn likes to lie because he needs to help himself, and Tom Sawyer likes to lie with drama. Huck Finn in one part dressed up as a girl, and there were lots of exciting parts. My favorite part was when Huckleberry Finn and his dad, Pap, were in his cabin across the Mississippi River, and they were up to a lot. And I have another favorite part, when Jim and Huckleberry found Paps cabin and Pap was dead. There was a King and a Duke, who were frauds, and we don't actually know if they were a King and a Duke because they were frauds. What I liked about the book: My Dad read this book before me. I like the word Huckleberry because I like the ice cream. It's a long book. The way my Dad read it to me was funny - the language, especially Jim's. What I didn't like about the book: I liked all of the parts.-by Naomi Fotenos on Feb 28, 2009 (age 6)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book. It is exactly what I look for in a book, a great adventure and story. It moves at a good pace and doesn't get caught up in detail of a rock or the weather. The language and writing can be difficult at times to sit through but you get used to it and soon you don't even think about it. A great read
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Took me a while to chew through this one... its longer than I remembered from high school! I'm glad I read it again, however, and am looking forward to the next title in my classics challenge!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mark Twain wears well, I think. I first read Huck Finn in college, which I think is the appropriate place for its introduction -- not grade school, as seems to be the norm. You need to be able to apply historical context to the story, to grasp Twain's sense of irony and satire, as well as his political motivations. You also need patience, as there is dialect and regionalisms in this book. It was a first in that regard. I recently acquired a copy for my library, and I started reading it again while my toddler played outside on a sunny afternoon. It wasn't long before I was swept away into Huck Finn's world. Twain has a gift for telling a good story while doing a lot more at the same time. His famous introduction cautions against finding a motive, moral or plot in this story, but how can you help it?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of those classic novels that I truly enjoyed despite having to read it for school. Huck Finn is a fun, light-hearted character who embarks a grand adventure. There is lots of action. Twain's use of dialect for the characters puts a reader into the time, though it does demand more carefulk reading to catch all the nuances. Overall, I recommend this to ALL readers. Just a a good book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book was fantastic in the beginning, with the adventures along the Mississippi, and the moral dilemmas between helping a slave gain his freedom (ironically deemed "immoral") vs turning him in. The second half of the book was honestly pretty bad though. The hijinx with the Duke and the King were pretty pointless. The plan with Tom and Huck to bust out Jim from captivity was downright stupid. I understand that was the intent, but it was cruel, and not enjoyable to read at all.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Book title and author: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) by Mark Twain. Published in America, 1885 reviewed 4-30-23Why I picked this book up: This was the second book in the The Banned Books Compendium: 32 Classic Forbidden Books that I won in the April 2023 LibraryThing early review.Thoughts: This novel is about a young boy, “Huck,” from a first-person narrative along the Mississippi River in the 1840’s told from the main character in this story, and it begins in his youthful imagination. He then goes through adventure, struggle, racial situations, and the forming of friendships. He dealt with many struggles faced with several situations, travels with an escaped slave. There are different characters, two con men, developed a friend, Jim, and others. This books uses the N-word many many times which has been outlawed in speech since I was a kid so I have never used it. In the United States various states banned this book particularly for the N-word use and also for the lack of language in general. In the review of the book “Many Twain scholars have argued that the book, by humanizing Jim and exposing the fallacies of the racist assumptions of slavery, is an attack on racism. Others have argued that the book falls short on this score, especially in its depiction of Jim.”From rinews website talking about why this book was banned. we read, “However, readers should be aware of two major points that Mark Twain was making. One source states it perfectly: “First, the novel is a satire; that is, irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit are used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity. Second, the novel is first person narrative (told from Huck’s point of view). Confusing either of these issues can lead the unsophisticated reader to drastic misinterpretations. The feelings and interpretations of situations, issues, and events advanced by Huck are not necessarily those the author is advocating.”Why I finished this read: IMO, this books started interestingly with the clear child imagination then it slowed then started to drag a little to dragging a lot. I continued, I forced myself actually and it thankfully picked up. This is why I finished. Stars rating: I do like parts, dislike others but because this novel dragged for a long portion, I wanted to rate it at a 1 or 2 stars but because the positives were good and the end finishes more positively I am rating it at 3 out I’d 5 stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fantastic somewhat comical adventures of boy who goes off with an escaped slave on a raft. Pokes fun at mankind. This was my second reading of it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Might want to read it again sometime. Took me a while to get into it, but by the last third I was hooked.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very funny, as well as very interesting.

    Hard to think of a better book with a teenage main character - Treasure Island, perhaps ?
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Dissected this one for English class. Sometimes, discussion takes all the charm out of a book. So do angry yet subtle attacks at Romanticism.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful language, wonderful dialog, full of my childhood.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Re-reading since high school. Good classic!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    (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.