Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 19

Thread: Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    27

    Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

    I've decided to start reading "Huckleberry Finn", but before I do I just wanted to read the opinions of people who've already read this novel. For a long while I've heard how amazingly impactful Twain's work has been on the development of American Literature; in stating this I would like to ask how so?

  2. #2
    Voice of Chaos & Anarchy
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    In one of the branches of the multiverse, but I don't know which one.
    Posts
    8,716
    Blog Entries
    556
    You should read various 19th century American writers,and you wll se the difference quickly. Twain wrote about reqal people in readable language. He wrote for the masses, rather than for the refined.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    1,206

    Cool While The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can be read as a stand alone novel,

    it was published after The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I would read Tom Sawyer first, then Huckleberry. Ernest Hemingway said all subsequent Amrican literature was based on these two books.

  4. #4
    Registered User Insane4Twain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    South Texas
    Posts
    72
    You can't go wrong starting with Huckleberry Finn, although Tom Sawyer seems more logical. But you'd be excused by Twain himself:

    "You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter."

    Peter L is quite right that Twain wasn't writing for the refined. The refined disdained Twain, and he disdained them right back. He employed the vernacular to make the characters more realistic. But his real impact isn't just because of the language, but because he raised moral questions which made society squirm.

    I hope you'll enjoy the work as much as I have many times.

    You know what? I think I'll read it again starting tomorrow. Thanks for the idea!

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    27
    I would like to thank all of you for your insight and advice. I'm going to begin reading this novel tomorrow with absolute delight.

  6. #6
    Registered User Insane4Twain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    South Texas
    Posts
    72
    Absolute delight is what you'll get! Please keep us posted on your reactions.

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    102
    this thread will probably get moved. it's too bad imo. for unknown reasons moderators avoid permitting specific books be discussed in the general section. every time a good discussion gets started, poof it's gone.

  8. #8
    Registered User Insane4Twain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    South Texas
    Posts
    72
    I'll find it one way or another. I like to hear from other Twainiacs.

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    102
    fyi Harold Bloom has an interesting review of Huckleberry Finn in his book "Genius". Only 3 pages. Twain is listed as one of the 100 geniuses discussed.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    27
    @fb0252 I'm actually interested in purchasing Harold Bloom's "Western Canon". I'll most certainly read Bloom's review; actually I'm intrigued by Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood". But before I get there I have to read some unread novels currently sitting on my shelf.

    @Insane4twain: I will definitely keep you posted.

  11. #11
    Registered User Insane4Twain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    South Texas
    Posts
    72
    Do. And thanks for adding me as a "friend." You're the first. But then I'm pretty new here, myself.

  12. #12
    Registered User sm66's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    5
    This thread made me inspired to start reading Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". I've already read several chapters, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, as I expected. The only other work of his which I have delved into is "A Tramp Abroad". I daresay, I have yet to find a writer who is as witty!

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    3,890
    Hope you enjoy the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was the first book I read in my life and was delighted and very impressed by how much I connected with it as a child. I read it several times until at last I realized among other things how fortunate I had been in getting it as a present from my parents who understood diddly about what it was and only gave it to me because it was famous.
    Last edited by cafolini; 04-17-2012 at 04:05 PM.

  14. #14
    Voice of Chaos & Anarchy
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    In one of the branches of the multiverse, but I don't know which one.
    Posts
    8,716
    Blog Entries
    556
    Quote Originally Posted by sm66 View Post
    This thread made me inspired to start reading Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". I've already read several chapters, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, as I expected. The only other work of his which I have delved into is "A Tramp Abroad". I daresay, I have yet to find a writer who is as witty!
    If you want wittiness, then try A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The and Letters from the Earth are his wittiest, but Bored of the Rings by Beard and Kinney is wittier, and The Aluminum Man by G. C. Edmondson is funnier.

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    1,206

    Cool I read Tom Sawyer in the second grade ....

    then Huckleberry Finn in the third grade. A couple of years later, I moved on to a Connecticut Yankee. I have read these three innumerable times since, as well as other Twain classics. Just this past year I read Innocents Abroad. If you enjoy American humour, pick up any Twain book, including his Life on the Mississippi or Roughing It. Or The Prince and the Pauper. Or his short stories. Or anything by Twain. They are all good.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. leaving your mark
    By waxmephilosophical in forum General Chat
    Replies: 2202
    Last Post: 05-16-2015, 08:26 PM
  2. Goodbye, city lights
    By jurisprudent in forum Short Story Sharing
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 06-17-2010, 08:15 AM
  3. mark Twain and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
    By tysingleton34 in forum Huckleberry Finn
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-02-2010, 06:12 AM
  4. For those who have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    By nome1486 in forum Huckleberry Finn
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 05-08-2008, 09:42 AM
  5. Racial Controversy in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    By Airplane_Chic in forum Huckleberry Finn
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 04-09-2007, 09:48 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •