Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I reread this book for the first time in years after reading James by Percival Everett. I was curious how the two books lined up, and couldn't recall after all this time what the major events were in Huckleberry Finn. I had completely forgotten the weird part at the end where Huck pretends to be Tom. I had also forgotten the sheer volume of times the n-word gets used. It was very unpleasant.

James is a book for adults. Huckleberry Finn is a book for children. Both wrestle with race in very different ways, but ultimately, Huckleberry Finn misses the mark badly. I prefer James for a number of reasons.

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momobedier's review against another edition

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adventurous funny reflective 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? Yes

4.75

Sure fun read, but can be challenging to read without context for the dialect it's written in. Super funny, Huck is such a character. It's fascinating to explore the South at this time through the eyes of a boy with his background.

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sonnetson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Of the few "Great American Novel" contendors I've sofar read, this is the weakest. It is, still a good book, however. The first two acts in particular are very tight; there's the conflict between Huck and attempts to 'sivilize' him, when sivilization really means adherence to the brutal southern slave society. This plays out until the end of the book, with all its spectacle, and critique of spectacle as a part of this violence, until Tom Sawyer leads us in the greatest spectacle of them all. This this third act is hard to read, infuriating at times; the book, so much about cruelty, makes Huck and Tom Jim's torturers. Especially when it is revealed that Jim has been free for the whole "adventure." This flip does make the whole book kind of ricochet back: Huck Finn the book is an adventure, and it is the spectacle it critiques so heavily. Where that leaves me, I'm not quite sure. I do know that this is an important book, and I believe pretty fervently that it is, despite some blunders, a pretty staunchly antiracist book as well. This is my third time reading it, first as an adult, and I have to say, it's enjoyable.

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kcc810's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

1.5

The story is hard to follow, rambling, too much dialect. The middle third is mildly funny I guess, but the racism and racial language are so heavy it feels difficult to tolerate. Most of the characters are incredibly flat and lack dimension. Tom Sawyer in the last third is one of the most obnoxious characters ever written. Risking someone’s life and freedom for child’s play? Not the entertaining story you might expect from a story that I’ve heard proclaimed to be anti-slavery. Twain seems very tied to his time, this novel is anything but timeless. If you want to read it for a glimpse into a period in history, I’d still suggest you choose another novel that focuses less on childish folly.

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celery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative slow-paced

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

3.0

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thewitchofnj's review against another edition

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adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

0.5

I somehow made it through the American public school system and college without having The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as my assigned reading. I’ve never had a desire to read it, but I saw that Percival Everett recently came out with James, a reimagining of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. I thought I should read the source material it’s referencing before starting that book.

Now, I’m normally someone who vehemently defends classics against charges that they’re boring, but I have no defense for Huckleberry Finn. I found this to be an excruciating read. The plot is a bunch of episodic nonsense strung together with lies, incredibly unbelievable coincidences, and general shitty behavior. I didn’t like the characters or the satire. There were a lot of scenes I found to be straight-up unpleasant in their casual violence (also, lots of animal abuse!). Throughout most of the book, I liked Jim’s character and thought that he was actually supposed to be written to subvert racial stereotypes, but by the end, I realized that was just wishful thinking. The racism in this book is a product of its time, sure, but I think we’ve reached the point where we can let this book go as a beloved American classic.

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