It seems this book is in fact a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer which I wasn’t aware of at first. At least, it comes chronologically afterwards!

Read: Nov. 4 – Nov. 8, 2024

Genre: Classic, Adventure, Satire
Audience: Children
Book contains: child abuse, kidnapping, slavery, use of “n” word, fake death, murder, alcohol

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

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More Enjoyable Than the First Book!

After the adventures with Tom Sawyer and becoming rich, Huckleberry Finn finds himself thrust into society, and then out again as his father comes back, greedy for his money. After faking his death, Huckleberry is on the run, searching for freedom—and some fun to fill his days.

The first thing I’ll say is that there is some heavily racial language in this book—even more so than in Tom Sawyer. Because of this, it’s faced much criticism and is even banned in some places still, though as I continue to read, I’m seeing the true intention clearer every time. It’s an anti-slavery tale, as it shows Huckleberry and Jim interacting and traveling together. With a modern eye, the treatment of black people was barbaric, but back then, it was the sad truth.

Instead of Mark Twain, it’s Huckleberry himself that’s the narrator of this book. He speaks in first person, so all we know is what Huckleberry knows, putting the whole story through the lens of an uneducated young boy. Because of this, he tends to parrot a lot of the beliefs of the people around him, but he’s an overall reasonable narrator.

Like with the first book, I chose to listen along to the Great Audiobooks podcast on Spotify. It was the same reader as the first, who read in a southern American accent that perfectly matches the book.

Huckleberry is a fun main character. He wants what he wants and he’s not ashamed of it. He doesn’t really have any ambitions aside from living a life of freedom outside society’s strict rules. He is genuinely happy to go whichever way the wind blows, so luckily other characters and circumstances are around to direct him.

Huckleberry is much detached from regular society, but that doesn’t mean he’s not good at making friends. Though his father is a rough piece of work, Huckleberry seems to see their relationship as normal, which is sad. I much prefer his relationship with the Widow, and then with Jim (once they start getting closer). For the most part, Huckleberry lies to most people he meets, never giving his real name (he can’t of course, since he’s pretending to be dead), but he’s sincerely happy whenever people show him kindness, and there are times he feels guilty for doing the “wrong” thing.

The writing style is even better than the first book. I much prefer Twain’s first person writing, as it seems to give him much more freedom in expressing the world through the eyes of Huckleberry. There’s much more moral debate and questioning as well, which I enjoy.

This is also much more of an adventure tale, in which Huckleberry (along with Jim) are on a big adventure together, and they face trials and tribulations along the way. This helps the pace tremendously, as they can’t stop moving.

I highly recommend this book to readers who want to know more about social and racial injustices. It may be a painful read, but it does very well in questioning society.

Related Reviews:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Great Expectatons by Charles Dickens
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Moby Dick by Herman Melville