Monday, November 10, 2014

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

The first half of this book is good. Huck Finn is a poor kid living on the Mississippi. His dad is a drunk and always gone. Finn lives with the old church ladies who teach him reading and writing. When dad comes back, things are so bad that Finn decides to fake his death and run away. What I like is the fact that Finn is pragmatic. What is the problem, how do I solve it. Didn't work? Roll with the punches as we develop a new plan. Finn ends up traveling down the Mississippi with runaway slave Jim and the two encounter all kinds of adventure. The second part of the book is just boring. At this point, Tom Sawyer enters the picture (whom Huck adores). Tom has a family and comes across as a bored rich, white kid. Tom also likes adventures, but his are all extravagant and over the top, created adventures not based in reality. Huck goes along, but since the adventure is created, it has no urgency and ends up not being very interesting. Unless your intent is to compare the two adventure styles, stick with the first half.
Wait

note: this book is part of a Reading Lolita in Tehran project, which you can read more about here.

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