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ggcd1981's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Murder, Slavery, Alcoholism, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Confinement and Classism
joshkiba13's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I listened to the William Drufis recording, and he did a wonderful job bringing Mark Twain's work to life. His voice as narrator was whimsical and boisterous enough to well match the well exaggerated and hyperbolic prose Twain adopted to portray the mind and personality of young mischievous boys. His voices for Tom himself and for Huckleberry Finn were done well too.
The story reminded me much of The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, due to the aforementioned exaggerated and hyperbolic adventures of adolescent boys. It was a fun and mostly lighthearted story that made me chuckle several times while listening.
I understand that the sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a tad more serious in nature (just like Okay For Now, the sequel to The Wednesday Wars was) and I'm excited to read that soon. I really enjoyed a lot of Twain's word choice, so hopefully the prose in the sequel is similar to this one. If not, I'm sure I'll still enjoy it.
The story reminded me much of The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, due to the aforementioned exaggerated and hyperbolic adventures of adolescent boys. It was a fun and mostly lighthearted story that made me chuckle several times while listening.
I understand that the sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a tad more serious in nature (just like Okay For Now, the sequel to The Wednesday Wars was) and I'm excited to read that soon. I really enjoyed a lot of Twain's word choice, so hopefully the prose in the sequel is similar to this one. If not, I'm sure I'll still enjoy it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism
heidipretzel's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs
willow_the_wisp's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Bullying, Child abuse, and Racial slurs
ladyethyme's review against another edition
Frankly the main character of Tom Sawyer is portrayed as having all the characteristics of the serial killer. He's deliberately tricks people into doing chores for him, he emotionally manipulates girls and physically abuses them, sexually harassing them. And this is supposed to be like an eight year old? They also physically torture animals, and for some reason it's supposed to be funny. And that's not even getting into all of the racism, and I mean like, serious racism. "All n@ggers are liars"; and that kind of thing. I don't know why this is considered a classic. Frankly I find Tom to be a complete asshole, and I'd love to see him end up in prison where he belongs. But I guess this is the kind of masculinity that was encouraged or even laughed about in the 1870s.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Animal death, Classism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Racial slurs
celery's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug abuse, Racism, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Racial slurs
buttongirl22's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It’s definitely a book of its time. I enjoyed it a lot more than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but it’s still not something I would seek out if it wasn’t a “classic” (or, more honestly, if Nick Offerman wasn’t narrating this audiobook).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexism, Death, and Child abuse
amalas_bookstop's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I mainly read this so I can read the James perspective retelling. Mark twain did a good job of capturing the way a child dreams and can create a whole new alternate reality. Tom and Huck get into plenty of trouble that works out for them in the end. However this book has some pretty awful language about African and Native Americans that I find it hard to believe that people read this book to their children currently.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Racism, Animal death, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse
emmacb's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Ok off the bat, some of the language in this is uncomfortable. However, as a window into a world I have almost no connection to, it was an interesting read and the sweet, uncomplicated perspective of Tom Sawyer (as much as a proud little hooligan could be considered sweet!) was tempered with an adults longer view of his day to day life that resulted in a gentle story that really reminded me at times of how huge and dramatic things felt as a kid that I look back on now very differently.
I was also a little jealous of all the crap they got up to. I don't want to get lost in a cave, but exploring one as a kid sounds fun. And I don't want to run away for days and go back to my own funeral, but I was impressed by how well these literal children knew to survive!
I was also a little jealous of all the crap they got up to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Murder and Racism
idesofmarch's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty