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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Huck is a good kid and I wonder what he’d be like when he’s a grown-up.
adventurous
funny
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I found Huck Finn a slog, mainly because it is tough to follow. It seems to be just a part reading novels form the 19th century: the narratives are told in this different way that makes it tough. I do love how the Mississippi River becomes a main character and kind of bastion for Huck and Jim. When they are on the move they are safe. It's when they stop in towns through many vignettes that trouble brews. On to Percival Everett.
I think I liked Tom Sawyer more. There wasn't much of a through line in this book, just a bunch of happenings.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Never got the opportunity to read this in school—we were required to read other classics instead. But now to get into James by Percival Everett, and to understand its context, I’m reading this now.
Literature, and all other forms of art and media, tend to be trapped in time. Which you think obviously, but when reading them centuries later, sometimes you really have to keep that in mind.
In my first read of Huck Finn, I believe it to be a story about escaping what you once knew to find better, abandoning who you once were, what you once believed, and the life you once knew to become more. to be free. for its time, i think, it exists to challenge certain racial stereotypes, humanize black folk in ways they might’ve not been before. reading it now, in 2025 it’s like, i question this—to humanize us, how much do you have to dehumanize us to get there? because the depiction of jim—and with that a whole host of racial stereotypes (c’mon a watermelon, the way he talked… how he talked…) humanizes him in the most dehumanizing way, if that at all makes sense.
it made me wonder, if you sat with a black person in america at the time, and told them about this story, written by mark twain, told them all about jim and his depiction, would they be grateful to have this sort of representation that challenges preconceived notions of race that likely existed at the time or would they feel dehumanized too? would they feel both even? i genuinely wonder this because it’s easy for me, sitting in such a privileged life as an educated black american in 2025, to be like hey this feels… eh, but what would a black person in those times think, if they could even be afforded the space to sit and read a mark twain book and analyze it. does this make sense? am i making sense? maybe not.
ANYWAY… this is why i am super looking forward to read James. I have a pretty good feeling it’ll give that extra layer of commentary and ultimately humanity to the people (jim most notably) that weren’t given it in this one. i can tell just by the title—james the full name for jim.
Literature, and all other forms of art and media, tend to be trapped in time. Which you think obviously, but when reading them centuries later, sometimes you really have to keep that in mind.
In my first read of Huck Finn, I believe it to be a story about escaping what you once knew to find better, abandoning who you once were, what you once believed, and the life you once knew to become more. to be free. for its time, i think, it exists to challenge certain racial stereotypes, humanize black folk in ways they might’ve not been before. reading it now, in 2025 it’s like, i question this—to humanize us, how much do you have to dehumanize us to get there? because the depiction of jim—and with that a whole host of racial stereotypes (c’mon a watermelon, the way he talked… how he talked…) humanizes him in the most dehumanizing way, if that at all makes sense.
it made me wonder, if you sat with a black person in america at the time, and told them about this story, written by mark twain, told them all about jim and his depiction, would they be grateful to have this sort of representation that challenges preconceived notions of race that likely existed at the time or would they feel dehumanized too? would they feel both even? i genuinely wonder this because it’s easy for me, sitting in such a privileged life as an educated black american in 2025, to be like hey this feels… eh, but what would a black person in those times think, if they could even be afforded the space to sit and read a mark twain book and analyze it. does this make sense? am i making sense? maybe not.
ANYWAY… this is why i am super looking forward to read James. I have a pretty good feeling it’ll give that extra layer of commentary and ultimately humanity to the people (jim most notably) that weren’t given it in this one. i can tell just by the title—james the full name for jim.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
That this is considered a classic is so disturbing to me. The acceptance of slavery and the way the characters talk about other human beings is really disturbing. Took me forever to finish because of it.