Reviews - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Illustrated

5.02k reviews for:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Illustrated

Although it is thematically richer than Tom Sawyer, it is nowhere near as amusing. I wouldn’t describe it as a slog exactly but I wouldn’t consider it a page turner, either.
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Huck Finn for its use of the N word but, obviously, a pre-civil war set in the American south prominently featuring a runaway slave would be unrealistic and inauthentic without it. I find I haven’t got a whole lot to say about it. It is interesting to watch Huck struggle with the morality of aiding Jim’s escape as he considers, at least intellectually, Jim to be more akin to stolen property than a person deserving of the same rights as himself. The power dynamics of race dictate that Huck, a “white trash” child with little in the way of formal education, is the “shot-caller” in the party of two; when two white, male, adult scam artists join the voyage Huck is forced to empathise with Jim more deeply as he is demoted to a pawn in their chess game of scamming a family out of their inheritance.

amytelli's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous reflective medium-paced

imperrterritus's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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: No

sinikation's review against another edition

2.0

challenging medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

ruminating_blayne's review against another edition

Was reading for James but not really enjoying it and about 1/3 gave me a good enough sense for James.

adrienne_adrimano's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging lighthearted medium-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

White boys and men having 'fun' at the expense of others.

I never was too interested in this "classic" but I wanted context ahead of reading James.

Excellent audiobook narration and production.

This story was quite an imaginative adventure, both now and for its time, I imagine. However, it is very much a fanciful tale for little boys, who have no need for reality and consequences, I suppose.