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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Unavailable
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Unavailable
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Audiobook11 hours

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Written by Mark Twain

Narrated by Richard Henzel

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Ernest Hemingway wrote: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." The book Papa Hemingway credits has been the subject of controversy since its publication in 1884. It is an unblinking portrait of American society during slave times, as seen through the eyes of the title character, who narrates the tale.

Thirteen-year-old Huck runs away from his alcoholic and abusive father in a stolen canoe. Hiding on a wooded island, he comes upon a slave named Jim, who is also fleeing--from slavery. the two set off down the Mississippi on a piece of a raft, each in search of his own kind of freedom.

Some critics have condemned Huck's attitudes towards slavery, his treatment of Jim, and his derogatory language, citing it as evidence that Mark Twain was a racist. But noted African American author Ralph Ellison rejects this criticism, saying "one also has to look at the teller of the tale, and realize that you are getting a black man, an adult, seen through the condescending eyes -- partially -- of a young white boy."

This Mark Twain In Person Library recording is an approximation of Mark Twain's own voice, just as his family might have heard the story for the first time in the family library.

(P)2008 Richard Henzel

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 9, 2003
ISBN9780974723754
Author

Mark Twain

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Reviews for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Rating: 3.9116760392968497 out of 5 stars
4/5

9,301 ratings214 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Yet another banned book that kicks ass.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A nicely bound, nicely printed, edition of Huckleberry Finn, this time by an Indian publisher and printer. The validity and accuracy of this edition yet to be determined.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book is quite humourous and satirical, and for the most part, it's quite fun to read. I did zone out for a bit in the middle there, losing interest when it wasn't about Huck's tomfoolery, but I greatly enjoyed the parts with Tom. The relationship between Huck and Tom is quite interesting and captivating, and really elevates the story itself.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Re-reading since high school. Good classic!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While I really enjoyed this book, the constant use of the word nigger made me really uncomfortable. I know that during the time that the book was both written and set it was in common usage and I also know that if the book had been edited to remove any offensive terms then I wouldn't have read it because then it wouldn't have been Twain's work. Other than that I found this to be a really well written and engrossing read, couldn't put it down. Confession time - I am 37 years old and this is the first Mark Twain book I have read but I am looking forward to reading more.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    matters appear hysterical on goodreads these days. Ripples of concern often appear daunting to the literate, cushioned by their e-devices and their caffienated trips to dusty book stores; why, the first appearence of crossed words often sounds like the goddamn apocalypse. Well, it can anyway. I find people are taking all of this way too seriously.

    I had a rough day at work. It is again hot as hell outside and I just wanted to come home and listen to chamber music and read Gaddis until my wife comes home. Seldom are matters that simple. It is within these instances of discord that I think about Pnin. I love him and the maestro's creation depicting such. I situate the novel along with Mary and The Gift in my personal sweet cell of Nabokov, insulated well away from Lolita and Ada, perhaps drawing strength from Vladimir's book on Gogol, though certainly not his letters with Bunny Wilson. It is rare that I can think about Pnin washing dishes and not tear up. I suppose I'll survive this day as well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Emily GooseAmerican LiteratureMrs. J. Clark Evans27 August 2007Reaction to A Walk to Remember by Nicholas SparksNicholas Sparks’s A Walk to Remember is a heart wrenching story about a young, first love and heartbreak. While this may sound like a traditional love story, this novel was nothing of the sort. I laughed, cried, and took time to dwell on the storyline. At times I put the book down to think, ponder, and imagine “what if.” Sparks writes about two seventeen year olds, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, who live in Beaufort, North Carolina and find themselves unexpectedly in love. Landon was a typical rule-breaking, willing-to-do-anything-for-fun teenager, while Jamie was anything but. She carried her bible wherever she went, wore a plaid skirt with a sweater and a smile everyday, spent time weekly at the local orphanage, and said “hello” to every person she passed by, “just because.” Through a school play and periodical conversations on her front porch, they slowly grew quite fond of each other. It wasn’t long until they spent all their time together and Landon was falling for the girl he had once spent time making fun of. Throughout the formation of their friendship, however, Jamie had been keeping something from him. She had been diagnosed with leukemia six months previous and the side effects were worsening as the days passed. With the secret out, the two faced monumental hurdles together and their lives were changed forever. While they knew their love was special, strong, and impossible to let go of, they were aware that their time together was quickly coming to an end. A surprising conclusion led the reader to believe that miracles can and do happen, one just needs to look deep for them. Sparks has a way of making every story he writes easy to connect to, even if the reader has never experienced what he’s writing about. His word choice is descriptive, picture-painting and mind boggling. The plot twisted and turned throughout the story, keeping the reader guessing to the very end. Jamie and Landon’s story is one that I will not soon forget. Their strength together in the situation they were in was truly admirable. I believe that young love is a rare and extraordinary occurrence. Sparks sent a message to the reader that if it happens, to hold it tight and value it because it may never happen again. I recommend Nicholas Sparks’s A Walk to Remember to all readers who are willing to let themselves cry and genuinely appreciate a one-of-a-kind love story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Truly deserves its status as an American classic.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    (Original Review, 1981-03-18)I guess “Ulysses” pushes the envelope of “Literature was made for man, not man for literature” but I like to give the benefit of the doubt to books especially if not only do they have a sustained critical reputation, but if people whose opinions I respect think the book is great stuff. When I was venting some of my frustration about “Ulysses” and “Finnegans Wake” to a well-read musician friend, she just gently suggested that if I let myself listen to the music of the language it might change my perception. When it comes to ”Finnegans Wake” I couldn’t do it…I’m still deaf.I guess Huck is a little trying as a voice, especially in the beginning, but I think it is one of the greatest books ever written, or I ever read. Tom Sawyer is OK, but HF is brilliant. In the most direct way possible Huck learns about the absolute humanity of Jim but also Huck feels guilty because Jim is property and in the South, being property trumped being human. In its quiet, folksy way it presents us with something intensely evil face to face with something just as intensely familiar and homey. All those people, many of them, are such fine nice people so vividly portrayed as such, except that the vilest evil that they live with every day, and have created and sustain, is totally invisible to them. As a really human document, a damning one, it has never been done so well and so quietly. Freud drew attention to the uncanny in his short but influential essay, as having just that quality of being so homey and yet being alien, so human but so inhuman.Not totally sure about the ending though; it was contrived in a way, BUT I was very impressed by the late chapter scene where the doctor, clearly a good and fine man, will not go seek help for a sick child because he was afraid that Jim might run off. Again that MONSTRUOUS blindness vs the child. And the scene where the men, the good folks of the town, were talking about what to do with Jim, some wanting to lynch him, not for running away, but because of his ingratitude!!! And then deciding not to kill him because after all he is someone's property and they might be held liable for his dollars’ worth!!! Nevertheless Huck comes of age.I would agree more with the idea that all American fiction is a response to Huck Finn if it hadn't been Hemingway who said it, but I will not accept that anyone else could possibly admire the book more than I do. Still, the ending is the weakest part. I don't know who could have written a better ending but facts are facts and by the time we get to the last few chapters the really astonishing novelties have already been spent where they'd do the most good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    We read it in the great books class. It was a good book. I would read it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I guess this is the summer of reading classic books. People already know the story from all of the various movies and Wishbone episodes. So I won't dwell on the plot too much. There's intrigue and secret pacts and rafts and steamboats and scams. Huck always seems to find the craziest events on the Mississippi.

    The best part of this is that it's written in various dialects. Huck's narrator voice is at least easy enough to understand, but lots of times I found myself reading things aloud to even figure out what some other character was saying. It really gives you a feel for the time period, more than any description would. I feel like I have a better understanding of the South now.

    I can see why people don't want this to be read in present-day schools, or prefer to read Tom Sawyer's adventures instead. Everyone says the n-word ALL THE TIME. I get it that it was the culture, that it is a historical piece, but it would make reading aloud in class quite difficult. This book has an undercurrent of racism and morality that is definitely more thought-providing my though.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One frequently challenged American classic is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons.) The reasons for challenging it are various. It uses the "n-word" to refer to African-Americans of the pre-Civil War period. Huck Finn makes an important choice in the course of the book, in which he defies the law and the moral injunctions of his elders, and is shown as being right to do so. America of the pre-Civil War period is portrayed as being less than perfect--a long way less than perfect.

    The story of Huckleberry Finn is simple; in fact, the Author's Note at the beginning threatens dire consequences for anyone claiming to identify a plot in the book. Huck, having come into money in an earlier book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, has been placed in the custody of the Widow Douglas, who is attempting to civilize him. He appreciates her efforts, but feels confined. The alternative, living with his abusive father, is even worse. Huck runs away, heads down the Mississippi River--and meets up with the Widow Douglas' slave, Jim, who has also run away. They raft down the Mississippi together, with Huck getting an education about people, relations between black and white, and injustice. In the end they are back in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, MO, with Jim recaptured and set to be sold. Huck has a difficult choice to make.

    This is not a grim book; it is lively and entertaining, and filled with adventures that any young or young-at-heart reader will enjoy. Huck learns a lot, though, and grows as a human being. This is an important book; it's also a fun one.

    Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a tough classic to rate. The story is written entirely from Huck’s point of view, which I loved. He speaks to his reader no differently than if I were in the presence of a friend, listening to a telling. Mark Twain has the language of the time and class perfectly on spot.The trouble that I had was that as an adult reader who was reading it in its entirety, it became boringly repetitive at times. It is a story more suitable to reading by the chapter to a young child, but… There is a problem with that as well. The book is not appropriate for a young person either, since the lines of prejudice may be overwhelming with the use of the “N-word” on a regular basis. Now, I am not complaining about that. Taking into account of when the book was written and the time period of the story, it is historically correct. I don’t think that we can pretend that history didn’t happen if we are to learn anything from it. It’s just that I don’t know where this book fits in for today’s reader, which makes it unusual in of itself.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A very important American novel that covers various important issues this country has faced, many of which are still relevant today. A book that mocks racism and shows the relationship between a slave and a lower class white boy who try to escape their respective lifestyles by sailing down the Mississippi river, out of Missouri and into freedom. A fairly entertaining fictional read that everyone should take a look at eventually.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Summary: Good old Huck Finn sets out on an adventure and helps runaway slave Jim along the way. We see him battle with his conscience in trying to figure out right and wrong in a world where men are valued based on the color of their skin. It's Mark Twain for heaven sake, so of course it's brilliant.Quote: "Well I tried the best I could to kinder soften if up somehow for myself, by saying I was brung up wicked, and so I warn't so much to blame; but something inside of me kept saying, "There was the Sunday school, you could a gone to it; and if you'd a done it they'd a learnt you, there..."
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It was on a syllabus for one of my college classes and I really debated just giving Sparknotes a glance, but I'm glad I actually put the effort in and read it. The most difficult part of the story is the regional dialect. I had to read it out loud sometimes to figure out what was being said, but it you can get past that, it's a pretty silly, entertaining story. There of course deep morals and lessons to be learned, but it's the cast of characters that really made this book enjoyable for me. They're just ridiculous, and I found nearly all of them reminiscent of some old classic stories. See if you can pick them out!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Everyone loves a classic novel. In this case, you may not. Mark Twain was a realism writer. Meaning he believed that good characters were more important than plot. So, if you're only looking at the plot, this book has no point whatsoever. But if you do look only at the characters, they develop before your eyes and you really get to know them. This novel has many great themes like racism, classism, and freedom. I would not consider this novel racist, or Mark Twain, because (once again) Mark Twain was a realist writer. He wrote how it was in the civil war era. So there was slavery and discrimination of colored people. I learned a lot from this book, so I recommend it to you!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Huck is a very good narrator and has all the common sense Tom lacks. Even though I wanted to hate Tom for making Jim suffer so many odd thing, I couldn't help but to laugh from all his occurrences. Still I like Huck better.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Yeah, I wasn't terribly impressed by this book. It started out good enough, but by the middle it was just like pulling teeth. All that stuff with the Duke and the King and all that stupid stuff just bored me tears. It was all I could do to read ten pages a night. And then I absolutely hated the end of it, it just seemed so stupid, and entirely heartless to make such a game of helping a man escape from slavery. I didn't find it funny at all...rather I found it pretty disgusting.

    And even though I knew that the language was accurate according to the dialect of the time, I'm a 21st century girl, and couldn't help but feel disgusted and actually offended by the attitudes and language. It's just constant, and Twain entirely embraces just about every negative stereotype possible to use in this book. I can completely understand why this book has been banned, even if the greater themes of it are not racist at all. I think it's just one of those books that it's hard to see past what's on the surface, especially by those of us raised to the greater sensitivity of the 21st century.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is the Twain work most writers of the 20th century claim is THE American novel. I would rather place "Tom Sawyer" in that spot, but there are underlying social issues in "Huckleberry," not the least of which is the constant use of the word "nigger." This has caused the book to be censored by many a school district.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Huckleberry Finn has been taken in by Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, who intend to teach him religion and proper manners. Huck soon sets off on an adventure to help the widow's slave, Jim, escape up the Mississippi to the free states. Huck tell's his own story, the book is able to tell the painful contradiction of racism and segregation in a "free" and "equal" society.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This started well and the first few chapters read like a direct continuation of Tom Sawyer, which I really enjoyed. But I did not find the subsequent adventures of Huck Finn engrossing beyond a few humorous touches; the one positive was the friendship between Huck and the runaway slave Jim, but after they fell in with a pair of eccentrics who thought they were royalty/nobility, my interest waned and I gave up just over half way through. 3/5
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Follows the story of a young boy living in the rural south. He escapes his life there to run away down the Mississippi with a run-away slave, Jim. A classic must-read and very entertaining.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is one of the backbone books of post Civil War American Literature. Twain writes a wonderful story about the journey of a runaway boy and a slave. He uses regional dialect so it helps to read out loud in parts, otherwise the dialect adds a great layer to the story.This book is really funny! Don't read it becauseit is literature, read it because it is good!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The story of a young boy and an escaped slave down the Mississippi on a raft. In each chapter the hero meets an archtypal character of the American landscape. Been said American Literature started and ended with Huckleberry Finn. I'll agree it started here.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Simply wonderful.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I understand that this book was considered The Great American Novel for it's time period, but it didn't resonate with me. Part of it was the character of Huck, part of it was the seemingly scattershot nature of his adventures on the Mississippi River (it certainly wasn't the language, I have no problem with that in this or any other book), but by the time the story got to the fued between the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons, I had checked out of the story. The rest was one of the toughest slogs I've ever had to get through in reading. (Each time it was for a class assignment--the last time was to see if I had the wrong idea about the book,. I wasn't) I won't be reading it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    a story about a boy and a slave traveling by raft down the Mississippi river. Anything else is hearsay. Mark Twain was born in the year of Haley's comet, and he said he'd die on the year of Haley's comet, which he did! i think that's cooler than anything..
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a very good production of Huck Finn's adventures. They say Mark Twain was a great story teller, and I think you get a feel for that from this audio book. Because of the written dialects, this may be the best way for new readers to discovery Twain. There is an error in it, chapter 12 starts over with chapter 10, but it's not too long and then goes on from there. Tom Parker does an excelent job of bringing the many characters to life. I'd definately listen to anything he does. I purchased the this audio book from audible.com wich I really love.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm not sure if it was the narration or the subject matter or a dated book, but eh..... Won't make my favorite list.That being said, the ending did surprise me and I liked that part.