tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post7000216155888481312..comments2024-03-22T01:12:01.899-07:00Comments on Buddies in the Saddle: Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)Ron Scheerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-32662308677487912652013-11-29T10:51:12.727-08:002013-11-29T10:51:12.727-08:00I've read THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN a...I've read THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN at least six times over the past five decades ... Now you've got me thinking it's about time to crack open that classic again, Ron.<br />Each time I read it, I find something new to savor, some new layer to its many depths. It is *the* great American novel and certainly among the most significant of all time.<br />Thanks for bringing it to mind again.wayne d. dundeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12468818760811792020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-33873255504261720752013-11-29T10:03:21.177-08:002013-11-29T10:03:21.177-08:00This is a great post, Ron. Has me digging for my c...This is a great post, Ron. Has me digging for my copy right now. . . .Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10070278104646895235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-57541571838653854252013-11-28T22:10:24.378-08:002013-11-28T22:10:24.378-08:00Todd, thanks for the additional insight into Twain...Todd, thanks for the additional insight into Twain and the mention of his other books. I haven't read "Tom Sawyer, Detective" which I have in an ebook. His name crops up almost every time there is a debate on sleuths in early crime fiction. It'd be nice to see more reviews of classics like "Huckleberry Finn" for Patti's FFB.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-15375923878859645152013-11-28T21:59:17.878-08:002013-11-28T21:59:17.878-08:00Ron, I couldn't agree with you more. I could o...Ron, I couldn't agree with you more. I could overlook the obvious superiority of Crusoe as there was no serious racial prejudice of any kind. It was a nice story and I read it thus.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-56769669987503661082013-11-28T20:43:41.045-08:002013-11-28T20:43:41.045-08:00You're quite welcome...just for swank, as I re...You're quite welcome...just for swank, as I recall Jim is the narrator of ABROAD. Think DETECTIVE might be, but probably isn't, third-person omniscient. They're both almost certainly online for the checking...interesting choice for the Abbott FFBstakes (I've just been made aware of the porny potential meaning of FFB by looking at the links that brought people to my blog.)Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-26902111640528626352013-11-28T14:47:22.612-08:002013-11-28T14:47:22.612-08:00Thanks for the review of a favorite book--I read T...Thanks for the review of a favorite book--I read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in school, but have read Huck Finn two more times as an adult. The river and the friendship and the lure of the west--I supposed they all play into my psyche. sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-41722222776116881582013-11-28T14:45:08.269-08:002013-11-28T14:45:08.269-08:00Thanks for the correction, Todd. Thanks for the correction, Todd. Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-14090939867245128572013-11-28T14:43:10.400-08:002013-11-28T14:43:10.400-08:00Wherever there's an assumption about racial su...Wherever there's an assumption about racial superiority or inferiority I think it's safe to say you've got some form of racism. There may be no malice intended, but that doesn't erase it.Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-37037620211190061362013-11-28T14:21:56.843-08:002013-11-28T14:21:56.843-08:00Prashant, there are certainly people of late who a...Prashant, there are certainly people of late who are uncomfortable with Man Friday, as well (and the once-common phrase in the States, at least, "Girl Friday" because to say Woman Friday would be Weird Or Something). <br /><br />I think Twain knew what he was about in not flinching from the use of the word, and other words, too...if there is a more damning treatment of the insanity of chattel slavery, including Stowe's, I'm not sure I'm aware of it (at least until Octavia Butler's KINDRED). Huck's certainty that he's going to Hell for helping Jim, and deciding that he just doesn't care, is a ferocious critique of the notion of racial inequality...and anyone who can't see that, I think, has some difficulties with reading comprehension that a simple chat won't clear up.<br /><br />And, of course, FINN was followed by two more Sawyer/Finn/Jim stories, at least I think Jim was in the fourth, the amiable TOM SAWYER ABROAD, and the deadly dull, even given its brevity (a novelet at best, while ABROAD is a novella), TOM SAWYER, DETECTIVE. Perhaps DETECTIVE also didn't appeal to me due to its similar tone of weariness to the last chapters of FINN. Charles Neider, btw, rather than Seider.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-19139686145685575382013-11-28T13:01:34.909-08:002013-11-28T13:01:34.909-08:00Ron, thank you for a wonderful review of a timeles...Ron, thank you for a wonderful review of a timeless classic. I read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in my teens with an open mind as one is wont to do at that age. It'd be interesting to revisit the books now and see how I feel about them. A couple of years ago, I re-read "Robinson Crusoe" and enjoyed it immensely. I don't recall any race issues concerning Man Friday. Daniel Defoe advocates a similar "humanist view" although the rescued native is employed by Crusoe as his servant. The bond between them is not unlike the one between Huck Finn and Jim.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-27788608347384789842013-11-28T09:36:28.273-08:002013-11-28T09:36:28.273-08:00What you have written is really first rate, Ron, a...What you have written is really first rate, Ron, as is the book you so eloquently summarize.barrylanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09507827607600595861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-54846717109788757302013-11-28T08:26:57.442-08:002013-11-28T08:26:57.442-08:00I was fairly young when I read it. I'd already...I was fairly young when I read it. I'd already started enjoying SF and fantasy so in one way it was fairly tame to me. But the characters grew on you. I remember it fondly now.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.com