The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Books; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885

I decided to lump these novels together before I had even cracked open either book. All I knew is that it was the same author, same characters, and the same universe, so I thought treating them as one entry would suffice. Therefore, after finishing Tom Sawyer a few months back, I decided to go straight onto reading Huckleberry Finn without writing an individual review. In hindsight, this was inaccurate. Sure, they take place in the same universe, but they couldn't be more different. Tom Sawyer is written in the third person, from Mark Twain's point of view as a distant narrator. Huckleberry Finn is, instead, written in the first person from Huck's point of view, acknowledging that this "Mark Twain" fellow was an unreliable narrator, and bent the truth to fit their story into a novel. Huck's tale is therefore more genuine, honest, and personal. As a result, I enjoyed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a great deal more, but I will still discuss them here under one entry.

Premise - The childhood adventures of two misfits and best friends from the classic American south, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Tom, who constantly disregards his family, and Huck, who has no family, are two of the most reckless and opportunistic kids in the south with a similar love for scheming. The two adolescent boys provide balance to each other's crazy ideas, with Tom's classic and complicated adventures and Huck's simple but risky ones. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer revolves around the two boys witnessing a murder, and then trying to hunt for the murderer's hidden treasure. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a daring tale of the two boys trying to set free a kind-hearted slave named Jim.

Review - While both novels were enjoyable, there were a lot of reasons I enjoyed Huckleberry Finn more. For instance,

1) Huckleberry Finn is told in the first person, showcasing Mark Twain's incredibly ability to voice an adolescent boy. There are also a variety of dialects within it, as he also had to write accurately the way a slave would talk.
2) While Huckleberry Finn is known for being a racially progressive novel, Tom Sawyer actually has a lot of racist undertones. Understandably, Tom Sawyer was written first, and maybe Mark Twain had matured. Or maybe not, and Mark Twain just has different opinions on different races. While Huckleberry Finn was fantastic at humanizing black people, Tom Sawyer definitely demonizes Native Americans.
3) I enjoyed Huck so much more as a protagonist than Tom. Tom can be cruel and manipulative, treating life like a game. He enjoys messing with people, including his own family, actually going out of his way to cause trouble. Tom also unnecessarily complicates things all the time, even if it puts other people in danger. Though Huck often ends up doing the same things as Tom, it comes less from a place of choice. Huck has no dependable family. When Tom runs away, he does it to scare his family for fun. When Huck runs away, it's to find a better life. He wants his "schemes" to succeed not because they are fun, but because they are worth something.

All of this considered, both novels have a lot of merit, namely the humor. I would say the simplest way to categorize these novels are "situational comedy." Literally classic sit-coms. There are so many crazy misunderstandings, white lies, and situational complications. It's hilarious. What makes it even greater is Mark Twain's written voice. He italicizes just the right words in just the right places, so we truly hear the manipulation in the boys' voices. And it definitely does a great job parodying the simplistic and hypocritical thought processes of the American south.

My main issue is that they took me so long to read. Every time I cracked open the book, I enjoyed it. However, I didn't enjoy it enough to keep reading. It took me months to get through each of these because I had no motivation to finish. Although, I guess that's to be expected if a book has more comedy and less riveting plot. (74/100)

Quote - "You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth."

If you liked these books, I'd recommend A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court!

Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: The Modern Library (Tom Sawyer) and Bobbs-Merrill Education Publishing (Huckleberry Finn)