A review by sonnetson
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

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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