Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Well, I’ve just finished reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and I didn’t find it as interesting as Tom Sawyer. It lacked complex relationships and did not keep my interest through some of the chapters. It is not that I had trouble with the dialects, because I enjoyed deciphering the words.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn consisted of two main characters, Huck and Jim. Their relationship kept my attention, mimicking a father/son bond while travelling down the river. It was the added characters, especially the King and Duke, that I found were unnecessary to the storyline, and the numerous chapters dedicated to them could have been condensed into something that would keep the reader’s attention.
I also became bored with the saga of preparing for Jim’s escape. I understand that Tom Sawyer loves his adventures, but this part read like an epic novel. Clarifying the use of the spoons, candlestick, pie tins, rats, snakes, and rope ladder was unnecessary filler that just made me beg for Jim’s inevitable release.
I actually enjoyed the portion set aside for the Grangerford family – the description of the house and family was long enough to leave me informed, but did not bog me down with useless details.
If I had to choose between the two books, I would definitely recommend Tom Sawyer over Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to anyone who asked.

Some Learned Fables for Good Old Boys and Girls

Today in class we discussed two short stories and one fable. I wish we could have spent more time on the fable, entitled “Some Learned Fables for Good Old Boys and Girls”, because IT WAS FANTASTIC!!! Mark Twain was brilliant when he selected this topic, then wrote it in the perspective of animals after man’s extinction. The fable was extremely entertaining, yet profound.

His selection of animals and their assigned tasks showed the amount of thought he placed in the character analysis. He selected turtles for transport, glow-worms and fireflies for illumination, and tumble-bugs and ants for excavation. It reminded me of the movie Ants that either Disney or Pixar put out a few years back.

Trying to describe a known object as if seeing it for the first time is a difficult task. It was fun figuring out what the animals were describing.

I loved the way Mark Twain made fun of the professors and the educational system in the book. It rang so true to the contemporary world. Professors were believed no matter how absurd their analysis was, and the “uneducated” were immediately discounted even after providing valid points.

Bring us some more of this genre, I can’t get enough!