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

[Hunger Artist]

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?

[PeterL]

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.

[dfloyd]

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.

[Insane4Twain]

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!

[Hunger Artist]

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.

[Insane4Twain]

Absolute delight is what you'll get! Please keep us posted on your reactions.

[fb0252]

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.

[Insane4Twain]

I'll find it one way or another. I like to hear from other Twainiacs. ;)

[fb0252]

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.

[Hunger Artist]

@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.

[Insane4Twain]

Do. And thanks for adding me as a "friend." You're the first. But then I'm pretty new here, myself.

[sm66]

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!

[cafolini]

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.

[PeterL]

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.

[dfloyd]

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.

[sm66]

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.

Thanks a lot for those suggestions. I'll make a note of them, and make sure to check them out when I get a chance.

[Insane4Twain]

I particularly enjoyed Connecticut Yankee. That mercenary spirit of the accidental knight-errant posting advertising bills on the side of horses just made me laugh out loud.

[tim270]

"Huck Finn" is a wonderful book. But a flawed one.

It's trite to say, because it's been said so many times, but the book is really the birth of most of the American literature that followed. The prose is wonderful and a real starting point for those that followed.

As a novel, however, it has serious short comings. The ending of the book is not worthy of what precedes it.

Regardless, it's highly readable and moving.

[ennison]

I would hate to read an unflawed novel. It would be so disheartening.