The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (Collins Classics)

This is a reproduction of the original 1885 illustrated Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1st edition. You cannot adjust the font size or type so the print is very small. It is just like reading the original book with all the original illustrations in the right places. I wear specs and found it was not a terrible inconvenience at all. The thing to keep in mind is when the book was written and the subject matters. There is much use of the 'N' word and matters involving slavery, but this is part of the story. The writing is Mark Twain at the height of his storytelling powers. The narrative is told through the person of Huck Finn. The characters shine through and each written conversation is in the character's own dialect. I was thoroughly entranced by the amazing and various adventures involving Huck on his journey throughout the book. The illustrations added to the enjoyment. I will not refer to any part of the storyline as I always think this is better for the reader to discover without any spoilers.

Ashamed to say that I had reached my 60s before actually reading the whole of Huckleberry Finn (after having read Tom Sawyer, also for the first time, and you do need to have read that first). I hadn't realised how good a story-teller Mark Twain was, and if you haven't already done so I would thoroughly recommend them to you. OK, the world is rightly more politically correct now and you have to remember the culture that Twain was writing into, but even this is something of an eye-opener on the white-black divide in Mississippi at the time, but with a good deal of humour mixed in. The story requires you to suspend reality checks to some extent; for example, Huck is totally uneducated and in his early teens, but seems to have an excellent grasp of the geography along the river; perhaps he had just hitched rides on the riverboats and kept his ears open. Unlike 'Tom Sawyer', this book is written in first-person and with phonetic spelling; you just have to read with a Deep South accent! The loss of one star is for the Kindle version, which had an irritatingly large number of words joined together - e.g. 'I tellyouifI catchyoumeddlingwithhimagain' - which you become surprisingly quick at decoding but was a bit wearing. If you've not read it - now's your chance.

Great purchase

This is a really entertaining read that gets better and better the further you get into it, and becomes hilarious once Tom Sawyer arrives on the scene towards the end. My understanding is that this book was removed from being taught in school on the grounds of racism, which I find utterly bizarre. It is true that throughout the book slaves are referred to using the n***** word, which is obvious distasteful. But the book is a reflection of its time and this word is primarily used by white people to illustrate their bigotry and ignorance. Throughout the book slaves are portrayed as altruistic, considerate, warm-hearted and family orientated, whilst all the fraudsters and violent drunks, including Huck's father, are white. That aside, this is a very funny book in which Huck gets into all kinds of scrapes along with Jim, a slave he is trying to free. Personally I found Tom Sawyer the most engaging character despite his late appearance. Indeed, Tom and Huck as a double act come across as a childish precursor for the likes of Morecambe and Wise with Tom and as the daft Eric and Huck as the straighter Ernie. I wonderfully entertaining and occasionally thought provoking read.

A very nicely produced edition of this classic story - although ,unfortunately, the first page of the 'Chronology' is missing! Regarding the story itself, there is a problem for the modern reader relating to some unduly racist language. Nevertheless, the story unfolds in an interesting way until it reaches the final chapters which are a real disappointment. It's as though the writer lost interest - sadly, so does the reader.

Arrived promptly New, but the downside is the print is very small

An enjoyable classic, particularly liked it when Huck says "Jim said bees wouldn’t sting idiots; but I didn’t believe that, because I had tried them lots of times myself, and they wouldn’t sting me."

I totally didn't know what to expect with this book after reading tom sawyer. but this is even better! It amazed me and surprised me about the adventures. A really good insight into what life was like back then, though author says there is no moral, it seems to have a lot of modern outlook to me, pointing out the unjust treatment of slaves, trickery of con men, strange ways of town folk, dangers of small minded villagers, and all the time centring around the innocence of boyhood, young male outlook, the inner teacher a boy can follow, the kindness and judgement he can learn to develop. OK, there is a repeated word, not used today, and offensive to people of African origin beginning with 'N', I daren't quote it here. However, it was used as in the original text and is correct in its historical usage. Be aware if passing this onto a child and decide for yourself how they may take on board or understand about this aspect in the language. but otherwise a great book. came on time.