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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics)
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Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $5.95
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Average Customer Rating:
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.4
EAN: 9780553210798
ISBN: 0553210793
Label: Bantam Classics
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 320
Publication Date: 1981-03-01
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Product Release Date: 1981-02-01
Studio: Bantam Classics
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.4
EAN: 9780553210798
ISBN: 0553210793
Label: Bantam Classics
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 320
Publication Date: 1981-03-01
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Product Release Date: 1981-02-01
Studio: Bantam Classics
Editorial Review of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics)
A seminal work of American Literature that still commands deep praise and still elicits controversy, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is essential to the understanding of the American soul. The recent discovery of the first half of Twain's manuscript, long thought lost, made front-page news. And this unprecedented edition, which contains for the first time omitted episodes and other variations present in the first half of the handwritten manuscript, as well as facsimile reproductions of thirty manuscript pages, is indispensable to a full understanding of the novel. The changes, deletions, and additions made in the first half of the manuscript indicate that Mark Twain frequently checked his impulse to write an even darker, more confrontational book than the one he finally published.
Customer Reviews of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Not my cup of tea
Review: I was disappointed after reading this story. Of course the message is important and Mark Twain is a talented writer, no one can deny that. However I found it difficult to read this book with the dialoge and the plot wasn't really holding my attention.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: disappointed
Review: Maybe I shouldn't have read Tom Sawyer before Huck, as it might have been to much Twain all at once. Words don't bother me in a story, it's the boring repetion the boy had, we all have dreams and children maybe more, but to act them all out over and over, I couldn't wait to finish the book. I think some books fit their period more so, maybe Huck being one of them, and it just may be the books controversy and popularity is because of a few certain words, and that is a same.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: My favorite book
Review: It's hard to write a review of your favorite book. It's hard to describe in words the wonderful hours I spent reading and rereading it. No other book has captured the joy of being a kid so well, and the adventures that the world has to offer. Through excitement and peril to lazy days spent on Huck's raft, this book absorbs you from start to finish.
The plot is superb and extremely well-written. Twain writes with a remarkable feel for dialog and description. This knowingness probably stems from the fact that the story is partly inspired by Twain's own boyhood. He himself lived along the Great River, and he knew all of its sights and sounds.
The characters are extremely well-crafted. I could always relate to Huck, who seems to represent boyhood personified. His wish for greater adventures, for fun - for the easy life - was something that enthralled me when I was young. I, too, wished to have a raft, to be floating down the Mississippi River with Huck.
However, this remarkable book is not so much an adventure story as it is a critique of the society of that time. Many not-so-childish issues are addressed, such as the evil of slavery.
The story is filled with adventure: Huck runs away from his abusive father, finds a canoe and sails to an island, where he finds a runaway slave named Jim. Together, they sail through the Mississippi River while danger hounds our protagonists every step of the way. There are twists and turns, but be assured that all will be fine in the end.
What I believe makes this book great is how Twain is able to make the reader feel as though he is with Huck. The story, told from Huck's perspective, complete with bad grammar, etc. is so convincing that you almost forget that Huck himself didn't write the book. A remarkable achievement in American literature.
The Dover Thrift Edition is cheap and unabridged, and I highly recommend it. There are, however, no pictures, but in a book as good as "Huck Finn", it seems as though one sentence is worth a thousand pictures!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A great American classic
Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of those novels that could easily go either way in the minds of a reader. Some people find it either boring or offensive, particularly because of its excessive use of the "n word." Others balk at the unbelievability of the plot premises (such as carrying an escaped slave south rather than north). Still others find the excessively colloquial linguistic style distracting and difficult to read. Any or all of the above could cause a person to dislike this story.
I myself certainly noticed the shortcomings above (although I personally enjoyed the colloquial language and realized that the use of the "n word" was historically accurate and would have been used much as we today say "black" or "African-American"). However, I was able to largely overlook the problems of the novel and appreciate it on a more simple level: an adventure-filled journey down the river.
In addition, I appreciated the central device of Huck's character: he acts consistently against his conscience, which is representative of the deplorable attitudes that were prevalent at the time. Through his actions, we see that he is not truly racist, but that society has imposed racism upon him. We see that he is impressionable, and will allow bad things to happen for a while, but ultimately he will step in and try to stop them. In this way, he is representative of the "innocent" child, whose worse qualities are always a result of others around him rather than anything innate.
Overall, this book is worth reading as a parable on freedom and conscience, and deserves a place among the great American classics.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An American ClassicThat Everyone Should Read And Enjoy..
Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a boy named Huck who lives in Missouri in the 1930's where and when slavery is allowed. He has been brought up around slaves and sees slavery as being an acceptable practice because he has never really seen what goes on behind the scenes and how blacks are really treated in the United State at the time. One day Huck decides to escape from the madness of his family and abusive father, fakes his own death, and runs away. Jim, a slave friend of Huck's is blamed for the murder and runs away from the chaos of the town's reaction. Jim and Huck run into each other while being on the run early on and decided to stick together and go down the river together. A part of the reason why they decide to stick together is because Huck decides he wants to free Jim. They encounter different obstacles and adventures along the way. Through their friendship they hope to make it down the river safely together and in one piece in hopes of giving Jim the freedom he deserves and Huck is just in it for the independence and the love of being on his own with no worries or people not letting him do what he wants to do. Huck and Jim also experience many things along the way down the river and run into other people who help them with their journey and other who try to stop it. They get a better picture of how slaves are actually treated in the south and both are shocked by the mistreatment. Seeing this mistreatment of slaves and talking to a few slaves about their situations pushes Huck and Jim to try even harder at making it down the river safely and freeing Jim once and for all.
The main theme of this book is friendship and compassion. Through friendship and compassion Huck and Jim go on this incredible adventure together and with compassion and care for one another they look after each other and both want the best possible outcome and result for each other. Major issues in the book include seeing slaves being mistreated, death of friends, and evading capture by the people after Huck and Jim. The style of writing is certainly an interesting one and at times I got frustrated with the way the author presented the story and how Huck and Jim talk. Both are semi-illiterate and say things in a different way then one would say things now and how one would say things correctly at the time. The `N" word is used constantly throughout the book but it makes sense because it was used commonly and throughout the nation by many at this time. While it's not acceptable to be used nowadays, it was more acceptable back then. The author's description of the characters and the south makes the story an excellent one. The detail and description the author provides and even how he present the dialogue makes you feel like you are right there alongside Huck and Jim on a raft sailing down the Mississippi River. I personally think that anyone would enjoy this book and it's definitely a true American classic. Twain is a genius and this story certainly proves that. The man knows how to write ad good story that will make people think and feel for the characters and situations in the book.
JLind555 says this book is a controversial masterpiece and I would have to agree with them because while it is in fact controversial with the subject matter of the book it is a masterpiece because of the overall story and how everyone who reads it gets something out of it. Justin Evans claims the book is one that is not meant for everyone, but that everybody should read it. I have to agree with this point too because it certainly isn't for everybody. Some people may not be able to handle some parts of this book, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't read it because they will learn many things from this book. Tessa says this book is dragged out and boring and while it wasn't the most exciting book in the world the entire time, it wasn't boring at all. This book is full of constant action and adventure and I don't see how anybody can claim a book like this is boring. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could see myself reading it over and over because of it's positive message and story. I give this book five stars.
Review Summary: Not my cup of tea
Review: I was disappointed after reading this story. Of course the message is important and Mark Twain is a talented writer, no one can deny that. However I found it difficult to read this book with the dialoge and the plot wasn't really holding my attention.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: disappointed
Review: Maybe I shouldn't have read Tom Sawyer before Huck, as it might have been to much Twain all at once. Words don't bother me in a story, it's the boring repetion the boy had, we all have dreams and children maybe more, but to act them all out over and over, I couldn't wait to finish the book. I think some books fit their period more so, maybe Huck being one of them, and it just may be the books controversy and popularity is because of a few certain words, and that is a same.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: My favorite book
Review: It's hard to write a review of your favorite book. It's hard to describe in words the wonderful hours I spent reading and rereading it. No other book has captured the joy of being a kid so well, and the adventures that the world has to offer. Through excitement and peril to lazy days spent on Huck's raft, this book absorbs you from start to finish.
The plot is superb and extremely well-written. Twain writes with a remarkable feel for dialog and description. This knowingness probably stems from the fact that the story is partly inspired by Twain's own boyhood. He himself lived along the Great River, and he knew all of its sights and sounds.
The characters are extremely well-crafted. I could always relate to Huck, who seems to represent boyhood personified. His wish for greater adventures, for fun - for the easy life - was something that enthralled me when I was young. I, too, wished to have a raft, to be floating down the Mississippi River with Huck.
However, this remarkable book is not so much an adventure story as it is a critique of the society of that time. Many not-so-childish issues are addressed, such as the evil of slavery.
The story is filled with adventure: Huck runs away from his abusive father, finds a canoe and sails to an island, where he finds a runaway slave named Jim. Together, they sail through the Mississippi River while danger hounds our protagonists every step of the way. There are twists and turns, but be assured that all will be fine in the end.
What I believe makes this book great is how Twain is able to make the reader feel as though he is with Huck. The story, told from Huck's perspective, complete with bad grammar, etc. is so convincing that you almost forget that Huck himself didn't write the book. A remarkable achievement in American literature.
The Dover Thrift Edition is cheap and unabridged, and I highly recommend it. There are, however, no pictures, but in a book as good as "Huck Finn", it seems as though one sentence is worth a thousand pictures!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A great American classic
Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of those novels that could easily go either way in the minds of a reader. Some people find it either boring or offensive, particularly because of its excessive use of the "n word." Others balk at the unbelievability of the plot premises (such as carrying an escaped slave south rather than north). Still others find the excessively colloquial linguistic style distracting and difficult to read. Any or all of the above could cause a person to dislike this story.
I myself certainly noticed the shortcomings above (although I personally enjoyed the colloquial language and realized that the use of the "n word" was historically accurate and would have been used much as we today say "black" or "African-American"). However, I was able to largely overlook the problems of the novel and appreciate it on a more simple level: an adventure-filled journey down the river.
In addition, I appreciated the central device of Huck's character: he acts consistently against his conscience, which is representative of the deplorable attitudes that were prevalent at the time. Through his actions, we see that he is not truly racist, but that society has imposed racism upon him. We see that he is impressionable, and will allow bad things to happen for a while, but ultimately he will step in and try to stop them. In this way, he is representative of the "innocent" child, whose worse qualities are always a result of others around him rather than anything innate.
Overall, this book is worth reading as a parable on freedom and conscience, and deserves a place among the great American classics.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An American ClassicThat Everyone Should Read And Enjoy..
Review: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a boy named Huck who lives in Missouri in the 1930's where and when slavery is allowed. He has been brought up around slaves and sees slavery as being an acceptable practice because he has never really seen what goes on behind the scenes and how blacks are really treated in the United State at the time. One day Huck decides to escape from the madness of his family and abusive father, fakes his own death, and runs away. Jim, a slave friend of Huck's is blamed for the murder and runs away from the chaos of the town's reaction. Jim and Huck run into each other while being on the run early on and decided to stick together and go down the river together. A part of the reason why they decide to stick together is because Huck decides he wants to free Jim. They encounter different obstacles and adventures along the way. Through their friendship they hope to make it down the river safely together and in one piece in hopes of giving Jim the freedom he deserves and Huck is just in it for the independence and the love of being on his own with no worries or people not letting him do what he wants to do. Huck and Jim also experience many things along the way down the river and run into other people who help them with their journey and other who try to stop it. They get a better picture of how slaves are actually treated in the south and both are shocked by the mistreatment. Seeing this mistreatment of slaves and talking to a few slaves about their situations pushes Huck and Jim to try even harder at making it down the river safely and freeing Jim once and for all.
The main theme of this book is friendship and compassion. Through friendship and compassion Huck and Jim go on this incredible adventure together and with compassion and care for one another they look after each other and both want the best possible outcome and result for each other. Major issues in the book include seeing slaves being mistreated, death of friends, and evading capture by the people after Huck and Jim. The style of writing is certainly an interesting one and at times I got frustrated with the way the author presented the story and how Huck and Jim talk. Both are semi-illiterate and say things in a different way then one would say things now and how one would say things correctly at the time. The `N" word is used constantly throughout the book but it makes sense because it was used commonly and throughout the nation by many at this time. While it's not acceptable to be used nowadays, it was more acceptable back then. The author's description of the characters and the south makes the story an excellent one. The detail and description the author provides and even how he present the dialogue makes you feel like you are right there alongside Huck and Jim on a raft sailing down the Mississippi River. I personally think that anyone would enjoy this book and it's definitely a true American classic. Twain is a genius and this story certainly proves that. The man knows how to write ad good story that will make people think and feel for the characters and situations in the book.
JLind555 says this book is a controversial masterpiece and I would have to agree with them because while it is in fact controversial with the subject matter of the book it is a masterpiece because of the overall story and how everyone who reads it gets something out of it. Justin Evans claims the book is one that is not meant for everyone, but that everybody should read it. I have to agree with this point too because it certainly isn't for everybody. Some people may not be able to handle some parts of this book, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't read it because they will learn many things from this book. Tessa says this book is dragged out and boring and while it wasn't the most exciting book in the world the entire time, it wasn't boring at all. This book is full of constant action and adventure and I don't see how anybody can claim a book like this is boring. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could see myself reading it over and over because of it's positive message and story. I give this book five stars.