The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has to be one of the most classic of classic books there’s ever been. You’d do well to find someone who’s not heard of this title. This is a sequel of sorts to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which came out before it, and follows Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and some friends on an adventure. This is what happens after that and how Huckleberry Finn goes on his own adventure with Jim.
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I always think when I go to pick up a classic like this that, being a reader, everyone will go, “Luke, how on earth have you not read that already? I thought you were a proper reader?” But realisitically, there’s probably a heck of a lot of classics I’ve never read and evene very popular books that I and many other very heavy readers haven’t read, so I don’t feel so bad.
Either way, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is very much a classic. It was published in 1884 in the UK and 1885 in the US and is widely considered one of the Great American Novels. Thus, I knew I had to pick it up and read it at some point.
In fact, the reason I picked this up was because I had intended to read James by Percival Everett, as I’d seen it had good reviews, but soon realised that that book is based on this book, so I needed to read this first.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn plot – 4.5/5
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as I alluded to above, tells the story of Huckleberry Finn and Jim and their adventure they go on after both decide to leave their home time (initially separately and for different reasons).
It’s a story of them discovering the outside world, how slavery is different in different parts of the world (Jim is a black slave) and their coming together as friends despite their vast differences.
None of the adventures that the two protagonists go on are particularly grand, but coming from a very small place, I imagine they felt they were fairly large and this is part of the charm of entire book!
I must make a note on the way the book is written. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is known to be one of the first books published that used vernacular English – this is the process of writing English but in a way that clearly highlights the accents used. This does make reading the actual novel challenging and you’ve really got to sound a lot of the words out in your head. I did find that listening to this via an audiobook was actually far easier and more enjoyable – so if you initially struggle, try that.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn characters – 4.5/5
A good story about two protagonists doesn’t work all that well if you aren’t really that bothered by the two main protagonists by I absolutely adored the connection between Huckleberry and Jim and the adventures they went on together.
The bond between the pair is fascinating as neither has a particularly bad bone in their body – simply the ideals that they’ve grown up with. Huck doesn’t really understand slavery and why it’s only black people who’ve been forced into it and Jim is weary of all white people presuming them similar to those who rule over him at home.
The journey they both go on together makes this a heartwarming story and one where you find yourself really rooting for them both.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn final rating – 4.5/5
Sometimes I read classics and think “i’m not sure they’ve stood the test of time” and feel like they’re “classics” simply because they’re old. Then there are books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn where it’s genuinely a fantastic novel on many levels. It has two fantastic protagonists that have you championing for them throughout. It makes some powerful comments about racism and the whole idea of slavery during a time when it was rife in Southern North American. But most importantly, it’s a book that will definitely leave a mark on you for a long time after. When people discuss classics, this is most certainly one that I will proudly say I really enjoyed.
Buy The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
