By and by, I got to reading Huckleberry Finn

I actually got to listening Huckleberry Finn as I drove to and from my class in Northampton and to and from work. Like Emily, I never had to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in high school or college, and I don't know why. Well by and by, I got to it. I am so glad I finally did-- what a fun story! It was a really good book to listen to because the reader had the dialect and voices down perfect. I think if I physically had to read all the dialect bits with "We would learn Jim how to write on the shirt" instead of "We would teach Jim to write on the shirt" I might get really irritated. Listening to it made those parts blend in. I found the story really funny, especially how Tom is dead set on making everything so hard in order to be "right" and Huck thinks that's ridiculous. I agree with Emily that everything ties up a little too neatly in the end, but I'm glad Jim was freed.

Regarding Twain's use of the word "nigger"-- 60 Minutes did a brilliant segment earlier this year about a publisher replacing every instance of the word with "slave" instead. I linked to the transcript of the show because I found it really interesting. If I were black, I may feel differently, but I find Twain's usage a sign of the times and to change the text in such a way makes it a shadow of the great story it is.

Marissa

“What do you mean, you’ve never read Huck Finn?”

Said Mike when I told him what was next on the list. Indeed, I managed to get through high school and college without reading this book. (I was going to call it a “timeless classic” there. Then Mike started chuckling.)

So, it was pretty cool. I understand why it’s popular. As I’ve personally never actually SEEN the Mississippi River, it was hard for me to envision the action. I have a hard time imagining them floating along on this raft? And they also had a canoe? And all that stuff? It seemed like a lot for them to keep track of. And there’s also all that other stuff floating along in the river? Very weird.

I also thought the ending was kind of a little bit too neatly all tied up in the last chapter. It was like, all of a sudden, everything is wonderful! Hooray! Jim is freed, Huck gets his money back, finds out his father isn’t going to bother him anymore, and Aunt Sally wants to adopt him. It just felt a little bit rushed. But I was glad that everything wound up working out OK for everyone at the end.

I'm glad I finally read Huck Finn. It was a fun adventure story. I can see why everyone likes it so much!