Adventures of Huck Finn, The
Twain, MarkThis great American novel is far more than a children's book. On individuality and values, conformity and escape.
Comments from Groups
Loved the book - didn't really see it as a children's book. Felt it was rather like Dickens in giving a picture of the times. Huck was a great character whose conscience always gets the better of him. Auckland 016 A stunning observation of post-slavery southern America. Hamilton 036 Most found the language hard work. Took a lot to get into the story. A good unusual read. Pukekohe 002 Nice revisit of an older book. All enjoyed it and could see more clearly the social comments/issues it portrayed than on first reading as children. Mangaweka 001
Pages
370
370
Year
1884
1884
Reviews
09-10-2023
Those who had read as a child/teenager felt they had missed the social commentary on racism / slavery and general attitudes of the time the book was written. Huck & Jim characters thoughtfully and well-written but all struggled with the book written as they spoke. Good discussion on what freedom really is, slavery and Huck's struggles with the morals of it and the fact that in reality racism and modern day slavery exist today.
03-04-2020
Most members too busy to read, but those of us who did enjoyed it.
03-04-2020
Several of us really enjoyed renewing acquaintance with Huck Finn, though some found the ending hackneyed, and/or had trouble with the dialects. I was very glad to reread it .
03-04-2020
Not everyone enjoyed Huck - 2 didn't finish him. Interesting - the 9 at the meeting had all got a lot more out of it than when read as a 12 year old.
03-04-2020
We found this full of interest. At first some members were not so keen to read it, but at the end found far more to discuss than they had imagined.
03-04-2020
Discussion was good and detailed, but the one member who really loved it wasn't there, so couldn't give her reasons. We enjoyed the humour to a degree, but felt the cruelty the boys showed to Jim was more to make a point than showing Huck's character or the plot. And the passages with the duke and king were gratuitously long.
03-04-2020
Most people enjoyed the book, but the long introduction not liked. The ending was too 'tidy' and Tom Sawyer was irritating in this story. For many it brought back childhood memories of this book.
03-04-2020
A wonderful read - readers found some parts ponderous ( the setting free of Jim), but all agreed that as a book written 120 years ago it's pretty amazing. A picture of the life and times.