A book that I’ve had on my shelf for ages (clearly!). And,
to be honest, had I also owned a copy of The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer I would have probably started with that (which
would have been a bad call, considering that I quickly came to dislike Tom
Sawyer in this novel).
Am I at ease with the way in which Jim is portrayed? Not
always.
Do I think Huckleberry really escapes civilization? Not
fully, just see so many of his moral dilemmas regarding Jim’s future (and
past).
Do I think this is a work of art? Absolutely.
Huckleberry Finn combines
the sense of adventure of the best Verne, Stevenson and Conan Doyle with what
is ultimately a great moral depth (sure, so many of the comments on slavery
make – and well they should! – people cringe, but it’s undeniably a step in the
right direction for late-19th century white Americans).
But, to go back to my first few lines, I honestly disliked
Tom Sawyer a lot – and I think that all the ordeals he made Jim go through in
the last few chapters were just too mean, gratuitous and so not funny. So,
despite liking Huckleberry Finn so
very much I am not going to read The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer anytime soon…
