Tom Sawyer Abroad (Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, #3)

by Mark Twain

This rollicking adventure novel brings back Twain's best-loved characters - Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and the freed slave Jim - for a balloon trip around the world. Escaping civilization and Aunt Polly once again, this exhilarating tale of far-off exploits is, as Twain wrote, "a story that will not only interest boys but any man who has ever been a boy, which immensely enlarges the audience". Ranging from comic tall tales and bold escapades, as when Tom rescues a child from brigands, to a series of lively conversations among the three friends on topics from the Crusades and the limitations of maps, to religious toleration and racial discrimination, to the fine art of cursing, Tom Sawyer Abroad is a truly delightful book. At the same time, it is an often moving and serious story, as when the trio finds a caravan of corpses, victims of a sandstorm, or observes a bloody battle from the air. "There's a good deal more to Mark Twain than laughs," as Nat Hentoff observes in his thoughtful introduction. Tom Sawyer Abroad is sure to provide plenty of laughs, and a good deal more as well.

• ISBN10: 0785788999
• ISBN13: 9780785788997
• Publish Date: 15 March 1993 (first published 1 January 1920)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 13 March 2021
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Turtleback School & Library ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Did you guys know that there are four books in the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn saga? Well, five, if you count the unfinished story….

I think that most people have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn here in the States, because it’s a pretty common required reading in high school English. Pop culture (and Disney World) itself made me well aware of Tom Sawyer and his fence-painting, treasure-seeking shenanigans. But I wasn’t aware of Tom Sawyer Abroad or the fourth book, Tom Sawyer, Detective, until earlier this year, and as a general fan of Mark Twain, I was in.

Tom Sawyer Abroad brings the trio back together again after The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Driven with interest to see a marvellous travelling balloon, the three find themselves essentially kidnapped as they’re the last ones off the craft, and whisked away into the skies. The balloon is easy enough to handle for the ever-adventurous Tom and after a few mishaps, they sit back and enjoy the skies.

Atmospherically, I really liked this book and I think it stands up well against the travelling sense of Huckleberry Finn, and the general feel of a lazy adventure. Tom, Huck, and Jim end up flying over the Sahara Desert and learning to enjoy it. There’s a lot of philosophical conversation/argument between Tom and Jim. Now, in the hands of many authors it would be easy for this to become supremely racist and given the time when this book was written, my shields were up. However, as usually… Mark Twain was pretty tasteful, especially for the climate of his era. And I mean this both toward Jim as well as to the Muslims they see in caravans from above.

The conversation does turn a bit theological, keeping in line with the character Twain created in Jim. What I did appreciate is that if one was keeping score, the disagreements between the characters left them all pretty even. There was no “Tom is smarter” even though Tom obviously thinks he’s smarter… but come now… that’s just Tom Sawyer. He thinks he’s smarter than everyone. The theological conversation is not preachy in the least – Twain’s skepticism on the topic is pretty well known – but it’s something to be aware of and having a bit of a religious background and knowing what Jim was talking about certainly helped when it came to their flight over Egypt.

Fortunately, what I like about Twain is his writing style and thought provoking conversations. If you’re looking for a strong action plot, you’re not going to find it here. Honestly, I never felt there was a strong action plot in Huckleberry Finn, so the way that Tom Sawyer Abroad rambled came as no surprise to me? The directionlessness can be frustrating for those looking for most of a story and less of a diversion, so that’s something worth mentioning.

Honestly, I thought this was pretty enjoyable. It was a good distration, and the audiobook narrator was honestly fantastic! This isn’t one of Twain’s strongest pieces, but it’s not a waste of time either and if you enjoy the trio, Tom Sawyer Abroad is worth either a read or a listen.