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bree_bee's review against another edition
2.0
Getting through this book is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I am honestly not sure if I want to finish it. I am reading it for school so I might just spark note it or something. I am really not enjoying it.
seventhchariot's review against another edition
One of my least favorite classics, but that might just be because I had to read it for school.
catieoakley's review against another edition
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
bedcarp's review against another edition
3.0
a novel that careens wildly between searingly poignant realism and burlesque satire, and never lets up its powers of scorn. for all of twain's disdain for 'empty' aestheticism, huck's adventures never feel linearly allegorical or mere stand-ins for clear-cut social themes relevant to 19th century america, neither is huck conveniently turned into a literary role model by means of a straightforwardly didactic story of maturation and rejection of racist tenets. twain's views are relentlessly grim, and in huck finn he writes as if perennially disgusted with the confines of his work's genre classification, pushing the extravagance of the popular "dime novel" to grotesque, cubist extremes. the last 12 chapters, along with *the* plot twist, seem to deliberately ravage the heart and soul of the novel in an orgy of senselessness that pynchon probably took influence from. by the end of the novel you're left wondering whether the novel itself, like its seemingly infallible boy protagonists, is in fact a deeply sinister panopticon, a repressive overarching structure that callously throws its puppets around until it gets bored and stops, in the words of its ultimately indifferent protagonist - "there ain’t nothing more to write about, and I am rotten glad of it, because if I’d a knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldn’t a tackled it, and ain’t a-going to no more."
coffeeneur's review against another edition
2.0
Read/listened to this because it is a literary artifact and wanted to read this before Percival Everett's James. The audio was too folksy and definitely a lot of rage listening to get to the end. Glad I never had to read this for any classes, it was really a grind in many parts. Sorry Mark Twain!
andrewkerndc's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
auntie_em's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
legallois's review against another edition
1.0
Any kind of potential merit from this book is outweighed by the racist language and discrimination. The language used and level of disrespect is intolerable. It also reuses ideas from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, like the characters allowing people to think they're dead so they can carry on their adventures and characters eavesdropping on villains. Felt a bit repetitive after The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.