A review by madgerdes
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It’s hard to rate this book! There are two reasons I picked it up: 1) I want to read James this year, and decided to read this and reread Huck Finn before reading James and 2) I’m on somewhat of a “classics” appreciation journey in both film and literature. This journey is not necessarily a comparison of historical and modern media, nor have I been doing it to become more “well read” per se because I disagree with the way that characteristic is usually defined!  Rather, something has gotten me curious about the “foundations” of the modern era of film and literature. I want to understand more of the lasting tropes and references! Rating this and other books I read in this journey might be difficult because I’m not necessarily reading them for the same type of curiosity that I approach my usual reads with. This book was funny in a predictable way – but that’s probably because (I assume) it helped shape a lot of the humor in 1900s American literature? But even though the humor was predictable, I did enjoy it! I did find the characters lovable despite their flaws, etc etc etc, and enjoyed some of the low-level critiques on society of that time. I found it  difficult to get past the racial slurs and stereotypes, which is what I’m struggling most to contend with. Trying to balance the existence of a piece of art as a product of its time as both a criticism and a way to understand said art is something I don’t have the language for yet but I’m hoping to find some as I’m on this journey!