Not sure if it’s still true for the 21st century. But as everybody born in the 20th century, I got to know Huckleberry Finn in my childhood. There was the TV show, movies, he was mentioned whenever Mark Twain got mentioned. I didn’t really understand the depth of the figure. I never read the book. For me, he was a runaway enjoying his life and having fun only doing what he wanted.
Time to rectify this and finally read the book. A book hailed by Hemingway as the first American novel that never was matched again by everything that followed. At least as much time has passed since he made this claim as between the writing of the book and the very same claim. And I don’t think that it still can stand up.
Sure, it’s a fine enough book. It reminded me of an American Don Quichotte, hence I support the description on Goodreads of being a picaresque novel. But so much time has passed since that its relevance is limited nowadays. In a global world, isolated adventures along the Mississippi of the late 19th century have an old-fashioned air. I’m not talking about Blacks still being called by the n…. word. Given the time it was written, that should be accepted. Especially given Twain’s obvious position to see them as human beings as well, having a right to liberty. But if you look at this at face value as a novel about the adventures of a youth, it falls short nowadays. The social situation is too different, the pranks don’t translate to modern times, the story isn’t enough about the universal truths of being a youth, instead focusing on a wild plot of escape.
It’s certainly entertaining. It’s also worth reading as a literary experience. I read it in the English original and was challenged by the various dialects. Especially the one spoken by Jim, the black slave. Sometimes, the meaning only became clear when reading out loud and listening to myself. I liked it but I doubt that I will read anything else by Twain.