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breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
wboesch's review against another edition
4.0
A project to recapture Huck’s voice, to transpose it to adulthood and another setting, and to imagine it more directly as standing in opposition to something, to an energetic American arrogance. Which it eludes only by outrageous luck. Which rhymes with Huck.
bluenicorn's review against another edition
4.0
This one gave me a lot of trouble in the beginning- dialect that was hard to read, and jumping around. Also: animal deaths. (Trigger warning: there are a fair amount of animals killed in this book. Not from natural causes. You are now more warned than I was. ) But I stuck with it, and found that the book gave me a lot to think about and I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. In the same way that I liked the show Deadwood more than I thought I would- it was a bit violent, grim and crude, but fairly entertaining. And I like westerns.
It really made me reflect on my memories of Tom Sawyer, and reevaluate him. (We always thought he was so clever for manipulating the kids into painting that fence- but was he, instead, a budding sociopathic con-man? Not saying I agree- just saying there's an argument to be made!) It also made me think of the legacy of Manifest Destiny, and the troubling ways in which some of the events were rationalized and how that mirrors contemporary logic. I think it would be a mistake to read this like historical fiction- yes, there are some historical events, but if you think too hard about realism and accuracy, etc- you will find flaws. Instead, it was more like literary historical fiction where the characters were caricatured to the point of absurdity, if that makes sense. But unfortunately, some mindsets are timeless and universal- so this doesn't have to be restricted to an antebellum Western US setting.
It made for a good discussion, even thought the group was split about 50/50 like/dislike.
It really made me reflect on my memories of Tom Sawyer, and reevaluate him. (We always thought he was so clever for manipulating the kids into painting that fence- but was he, instead, a budding sociopathic con-man? Not saying I agree- just saying there's an argument to be made!) It also made me think of the legacy of Manifest Destiny, and the troubling ways in which some of the events were rationalized and how that mirrors contemporary logic. I think it would be a mistake to read this like historical fiction- yes, there are some historical events, but if you think too hard about realism and accuracy, etc- you will find flaws. Instead, it was more like literary historical fiction where the characters were caricatured to the point of absurdity, if that makes sense. But unfortunately, some mindsets are timeless and universal- so this doesn't have to be restricted to an antebellum Western US setting.
It made for a good discussion, even thought the group was split about 50/50 like/dislike.
runningbeard's review against another edition
4.0
Sits nicely beside Bergers' Little Big Man and McBrides' The Good Lord Bird.
sdepina10's review against another edition
3.0
Huck Out West is not only a credible follow up to Twain's best known work, but relevant to and revealing of the times we live in. Huck and Tom run off to the West, supposedly to escape "sivilization". They scout for both the North and South, run for the Pony Express and generally keep themselves moving across the frontier, but Tom continually seeks recognition and, indeed, more civility. He and Huck part ways leaving Huck to tell us the story of how they came to the West with Jim, sold him back into slavery, lived among the Indians and had various run ins and run froms the US Army. Huck is nostalgic for the days spent in Tom's company, but when they are again reunited, he finds that despite his lack of education or "sivilization", he no longer relies on Tom and can see him for what he has become. Robert Coover, I believe Mr. Twain would appreciate your sensibility.
chandrajohnson1208's review against another edition
4.0
After re-reading Huckleberry Finn as a primer, this book feels, at least in style and language, to be a seamless transition. I have no idea how Coover pulled it off. Having said that, this may be the first "Trumpist" novel of our time, with once-beloved characters taking on insidious mantles in a much-too-realistic pastiche of our present political atmosphere.
I found myself nodding even as I was nauseated by the idea that America's own Tom Sawyer could become a two-faced politician/tyrant masquerading as the people's voice. Coover's genius is that he makes this work so well and reminds us the vast trench between Tom (an opportunist to the last) and Huck (an idealist) that existed even as children. Even if we, as children reading those books, didn't see it that way. I recommend, but not if you're hoping to escape the hopeless garbage of our post-election world.
I found myself nodding even as I was nauseated by the idea that America's own Tom Sawyer could become a two-faced politician/tyrant masquerading as the people's voice. Coover's genius is that he makes this work so well and reminds us the vast trench between Tom (an opportunist to the last) and Huck (an idealist) that existed even as children. Even if we, as children reading those books, didn't see it that way. I recommend, but not if you're hoping to escape the hopeless garbage of our post-election world.
gineyre22's review
1.0
The narrative was so all over the place and confusing - it was like bad fan fic
darwin8u's review
4.0
"...all stories is sad stories, but not all the time."
-- Robert Coover, Huck Out West
I'm usually not a huge fan of reading literary fan fiction, but ye gads -- Robert Coover? So, I picked it up. It wasn't [b:The Adventures of Tom Sawyer|24583|The Adventures of Tom Sawyer|Mark Twain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404811979s/24583.jpg|41326609] or [b:The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|2956|The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|Mark Twain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405973850s/2956.jpg|1835605], and it wasn't [b:The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.|156192|The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.|Robert Coover|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347315344s/156192.jpg|977410] or [b:The Public Burning|156198|The Public Burning|Robert Coover|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348324051s/156198.jpg|150731] either, but it was still fantastic.
It felt like a western lit combination of Larry McMurtry and Charles Portis. In many ways Coover captures the baked-in contradictions and tensions of America captured by Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. "We ARE America, client the Bone! This is where the wonderfullest nation the world has ever seen is getting born I BELIEVE that! It'll be GREAT! A new land of freedom and progress and brotherhood!" Well, in this novel Huck is freedom and Tom is the progress and power.
The book reminds me constantly of the brilliance of stories in creating America, from the creation myths of its founding to the later stories told by those settling the West. We are a nation of storytellers and gold seekers. We are a nation of outlaw duos that like binary stars will forever orbit together in myth and legend: Tom & Huck, Kim and Kanye, Brangelina. That doesn't mean there isn't tension, but what is a good American story without a breakup.
________________________________
Some of my favorite lines from this book:
"A river don't make you feel less lonely but it makes you feel there ain't nothing wrong with being lonely."
"Maybe if I went on pretending, she'd go on pretending, and we could live a pretend life like that. Wasn't that how most lives was?"
"Laughing all we have, Hahza. No Great Spirits. Only laughing."
"But paying for sins is like getting the bad luck a body deserves for doing what he oughtn't done, like handling a snake-skin or stealing a dead man's boots."
"Dyin' improves EVERYBODY"
"Did you ever notice, Eeteh says to me one day, how making a world always begins with loneliness? The Great Spirits could invent all the suns and moons and rivers and forests they wanted, but it was never enough. They was still lonely."
"Stuff! I don't know what else humans is GOOD for, Huck"
"A hundred years from now, you and me'll both be dead and forgot and people'll still be killing each other. This is OUR killing time."
"I worked out a long time ago that, no matter what you do or think, you DIE and it's all wiped away. You brain rots and your thoughts, wants, loves, hates, simply aint no more. Others may borrow your thoughts, but you won't know that, you're gone like you never was. What we got is NOW, Huck, and now is forever. Until it ain't. So you can't worry over nothing excepting putting off the end a your story as long as you can, and finishing it with a bang."
"We got to still with our own tribe, even if they ARE all lunatics. If we don't, we'll end up crazier'n any of them."
Huck, EVERYTHING'S a hanging offense. Being ALIVE is. Only thing that matters is who's doing the hanging and who's being hung."
"I do believe it, but I'm prepared to change my mind if it ain't true, or if it's true, but inconvenient."
-- Robert Coover, Huck Out West
I'm usually not a huge fan of reading literary fan fiction, but ye gads -- Robert Coover? So, I picked it up. It wasn't [b:The Adventures of Tom Sawyer|24583|The Adventures of Tom Sawyer|Mark Twain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404811979s/24583.jpg|41326609] or [b:The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|2956|The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|Mark Twain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405973850s/2956.jpg|1835605], and it wasn't [b:The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.|156192|The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.|Robert Coover|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347315344s/156192.jpg|977410] or [b:The Public Burning|156198|The Public Burning|Robert Coover|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348324051s/156198.jpg|150731] either, but it was still fantastic.
It felt like a western lit combination of Larry McMurtry and Charles Portis. In many ways Coover captures the baked-in contradictions and tensions of America captured by Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. "We ARE America, client the Bone! This is where the wonderfullest nation the world has ever seen is getting born I BELIEVE that! It'll be GREAT! A new land of freedom and progress and brotherhood!" Well, in this novel Huck is freedom and Tom is the progress and power.
The book reminds me constantly of the brilliance of stories in creating America, from the creation myths of its founding to the later stories told by those settling the West. We are a nation of storytellers and gold seekers. We are a nation of outlaw duos that like binary stars will forever orbit together in myth and legend: Tom & Huck, Kim and Kanye, Brangelina. That doesn't mean there isn't tension, but what is a good American story without a breakup.
________________________________
Some of my favorite lines from this book:
"A river don't make you feel less lonely but it makes you feel there ain't nothing wrong with being lonely."
"Maybe if I went on pretending, she'd go on pretending, and we could live a pretend life like that. Wasn't that how most lives was?"
"Laughing all we have, Hahza. No Great Spirits. Only laughing."
"But paying for sins is like getting the bad luck a body deserves for doing what he oughtn't done, like handling a snake-skin or stealing a dead man's boots."
"Dyin' improves EVERYBODY"
"Did you ever notice, Eeteh says to me one day, how making a world always begins with loneliness? The Great Spirits could invent all the suns and moons and rivers and forests they wanted, but it was never enough. They was still lonely."
"Stuff! I don't know what else humans is GOOD for, Huck"
"A hundred years from now, you and me'll both be dead and forgot and people'll still be killing each other. This is OUR killing time."
"I worked out a long time ago that, no matter what you do or think, you DIE and it's all wiped away. You brain rots and your thoughts, wants, loves, hates, simply aint no more. Others may borrow your thoughts, but you won't know that, you're gone like you never was. What we got is NOW, Huck, and now is forever. Until it ain't. So you can't worry over nothing excepting putting off the end a your story as long as you can, and finishing it with a bang."
"We got to still with our own tribe, even if they ARE all lunatics. If we don't, we'll end up crazier'n any of them."
Huck, EVERYTHING'S a hanging offense. Being ALIVE is. Only thing that matters is who's doing the hanging and who's being hung."
"I do believe it, but I'm prepared to change my mind if it ain't true, or if it's true, but inconvenient."
leifq's review
4.0
This book was a joy to read from the opening sentence. Coover perfectly recalls not only Twain’s rhythm and syntax, but also his playfulness, characterization, plot propulsion, and ultimately, his morality. I felt as in the hands of a master cellist, in complete control of every part of novel writing. Huck Out West felt immediately like a “only once every few years” monument to fiction