Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Yourbooks) (Ek Classics, #7) (Readitnow, #5) (Classic American Literature - Mark Twain)

by Mark Twain

Breezy, outrageous, thrilling from first page to last, Huckleberry Finn is the most widely read and universally loved work in American fiction. It is also the most imitated. "All modern American literature," according to Ernest Hemingway, "comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.
--back cover

Reviewed by ammaarah on

1 of 5 stars

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“All right, then, I'll go to hell.”

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of America's popular classics and has a lot of hype behind it, but I found it so boring. It's like I read a different book.

I get a sense that this book is an important piece of literature, maybe because it's a product of its time, but it isn't politically correct and can be offensive at times. One of the themes is racism and some characters are racist and use racial slurs. I'm going to give Twain the benefit of doubt though because I feel like this book was written to be anti-racist even if it wasn't done well. On another note, while the dialect might be true to its time, it's very difficult to read.

The plot is frustrating, tedious, unnecessary and all over the place. What was the point of it all? It's just one absurd adventure after another and it's all so dull and uninteresting. I only found a small section of the last quarter engrossing which is when Huck stops the King and Duke from stealing the girls' inheritance.
 

The characters are bland and I feel indifferent towards them. Huckleberry's attempts to figure out wrong and right are interesting and I feel like if he was given an opportunity, he could have had a better life. Twain did Jim dirty though because he's such a passive character and reads like a caricature. I also couldn't stand Tom. He's so annoying.

I know that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was trying to achieve something, but even after reading it, I don't know what that something is. I really thought I'd like this book more, but it isn't engrossing.

“Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.”

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Reading updates

  • 5 September, 2021: Started reading
  • 11 September, 2021: Finished reading
  • 12 September, 2021: Reviewed