A review by hammychelsey
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

4.0

Wow. I had no intention of reading the whole thing— I wanted to skim it for some context before I read Percival Everett’s ‘James’. But this book was compelling and I couldn’t put it down, with humor that holds up, and a lead who is far more clever and thoughtful than I expected. I understand why people refer to it as the “great American novel” and once I was able to push aside my deep-seated grudge against Books They Made Us Read In School….I got caught up in that fascinating discourse that has surrounded this book for 140+ years. Personally, I think it’s a really excellent read—- for its time, and also for today.

I knew vaguely that people don’t love the final quarter of the book….but having experienced it now, I think it’s an incredibly effective critique on how “1 good white (/privileged) person” can and often will still succumb to the status quo of racism and oppression. God, it was brutal and hard to stomach.

Lastly: I must be living under a rock, but I’m a silly goose who didn’t realize the relationship between “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.” As in…Huck Finn is a SEQUEL?! As in…not only are they in the same universe, the 2 characters are best friends in both? Admittedly these books have lived in the same dusty, unvisited corner of my brain where The Goonies does…but I was truly shocked to learn this. And surprised that Tom Sawyer, though I thought he was just an innocent Lost Boy/adventure archetype, may very well be the biggest literary bully of all time!!!