Synopses & Reviews
"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Hucklberry Finn." (Ernest Heminway)
Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Intended at first as a simple story of a boy's adventures in the Mississippi Valleya sequel to Tom Sawyerthe book grew and matured under Twain's hand into a work of immeasurable richness and complexity. More than a century after its publication, the critical debate over the symbolic significance of Huck's and Jim's voyage is still fresh, and it remains a major work that can be enjoyed at many levels: as an incomparable adventure story and as a classic of American humor. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by John Seelye, author of The True Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and explanatory notes by Guy Cardwell.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Review
"All modern American literature comes from [this] one book." —
Ernest Hemingway
Synopsis
The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen.
Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read A consummate prankster with a quick wit, Tom Sawyer dreams of a bigger fate than simply being a "rich boy." Yet through the novel's humorous escapades--from the famous episode of the whitewashed fence to the trial of Injun Joe--Mark Twain explores the deeper themes of the adult world, one of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge, starvation and slavery.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
The exploits of Tom Sawyer, a consummate prankster with a quick wit, captivate children of all ages. Yet through the novel's humorous escapades, from the episodes of the whitewashed fence and the ordeal in the cave to the trial of Injun Joe, Mark Twain explores deeper themes within the adult world Tom will one day join. These include the baser human instincts of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge, starvation and slavery.
This edition features a new introduction and notes by leading Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen.
Synopsis
A new edition of Mark Twain's timeless classic
From the famous episodes of the whitewashed fence and the ordeal in the cave to the trial of Injun Joe, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is redolent of life in the Mississippi River towns in which Twain spent his own youth. A somber undercurrent flows through the high humor and unabashed nostalgia of the novel, however, for beneath the innocence of childhood lie the inequities of adult realitybase emotions and superstitions, murder and revenge, starvation and slavery.
Synopsis
The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen
A consummate prankster with a quick wit, Tom Sawyer dreams of a bigger fate than simply being a rich boy.” Yet through the novels humorous escapadesfrom the famous episode of the whitewashed fence to the trial of Injun JoeMark Twain explores the deeper themes of the adult world, one of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge, starvation and slavery.
About the Author
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835, and died at Redding, Connecticut in 1910. In his person and in his pursuits he was a man of extraordinary contrasts. Although he left school at twelve when his father died, he was eventually awarded honorary degrees from Yale University, the University of Missouri, and Oxford University. His career encompassed such varied occupations as printer, Mississippi riverboat pilot, journalist, travel writer, and publisher. He made fortunes from his writing but toward the end of his life he had to resort to lecture tours to pay his debts. He was hot-tempered, profane, and sentimental--and also pessimistic, cynical, and tortured by self-doubt. His nostalgia helped produce some of his best books. He lives in American letters as a great artist, the writer whom William Dean Howells called "the Lincoln of our literature."
Table of Contents
Introduction by John Seelye ix
Suggestions for Further Reading xxxi
A Note on the Text xxxv
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 9
Appendix: The Raft Episode 309
Explanatory Notes 323