Tuesday, June 10

Book Review: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Author: Mark Twain
Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Adventures #1)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, and Classic
Pages: 189
First Published: 1876
Where I Got It: My shelf  (Given to me by my parents)

"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 reality—base emotions and superstitions, murder and revenge, starvation and slavery."

I haven't read this book in YEARS! I could barely even remember what happened. All I remembered was Tom and his girlfriend getting lost in the cave. haha. That's pretty bad memory. However, I didn't like Tom Sawyer when I was younger. I didn't come to even like Mark Twain's writing until High School when we read 'Huckleberry Finn'.

Honestly, 'Huckleberry Finn' was better then this. Odd, because that was a sequel to this one. Normally it's the first book that is better then the second. 

OOOooooooooooooh Tom and Sawyer. What a bunch of trouble making and danger seeking boys. If I tried ANYTHING they tried my mother wouldn't hug me and forgive me. No. I would be grounded forever! It was so annoying how everyone just forgave them for disappearing for a week, because they wanted to be pirates. >_> They showed up during their funerals and everyone just forgave them. I read somewhere that Mark Twain was pretty much mocking society's hypocrisy. I can see it. Mark Twain is a very cynical dude if you read between the lines. He is allows bashing society in some shape or form. However, he uses children as the main characters to throw off the reader. It's fantastic. 

Sometimes I honestly believe that Mark Twain wanted to runaway himself and hide away from the world. Do you blame him? He lived in a world of prejudice and hate and war. He lived through the Civil War and seen what people do to each other. Plus he lived through the industrial revolution. This boom took so much beauty away from the world. Yes, we are reeking the benefits in society, but at what cost? I think he really tries to show us this through Huck and Tom always running off and being "uncivilized". The biggest difference between the two boys is that Tom accepts that he HAS to come back at one point, because being "civilized" is the way of the world, but Huck hates it and doesn't completely accept it. Hence, he runs away in the second book. 

Off my rant....

It was a fun adventure. Sometimes it seemed a little cheesy and very childish, but it was fun. It makes me wish I ventured more when I was kid. Perhaps I would've found some treasure that would get me through college. ;D Sighs. Oh well. Tom was a little poop. He was a complete manipulator! Granted without him there would be no adventures and story, but he was still bad. The people in town call Huck a "bad influence" and a "bad egg", but Tom really was. Huck just wanted a simple life without the constraints of society. He wanted to run around with no shoes and never go to church or school. Tom was a trickster and could convince anyone to do anything. I didn't care for Tom much. 

I liked the way that Mark Twain ended this one. It left a nice open door for what will happen next if anything happens next. It could be labeled as "an open-ended" and I would agree with that. However, Mark Twain did it in a way that it made sense and that it isn't annoying. We all know he continues the series, but one could be content with just reading the first one and never move on. The ending was fantastic. I loved this not by the author at the end, "CONCLUSION: So endeth this chronicle. It being strictly a history of a boy it must stop here; the story could not go much further without  becoming the history of a man. When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop - that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can."

Well, in the end I loved the adventure. It was fun! It's a great introduction to the next book. Tom was a poop, but without him there would be no story. Huck would've never gone off on his own adventure without Tom's influence. There were some parts of the adventure that were cheesy, but overall it was fun. I would recommend this to those that like the classics or for those just looking for something different. It's a quick read, so worry not. Out of five stars I grant this one....mmmmm....4 stars. It's more like 3.5, but I rounded since I don't give out decimals. 

  Favorite Character(s): Huck, Tom (sometimes), and Aunt Polly
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Tom (sometimes), Injun Joe, Sid, and Becky (annoying little girl. >_>)


2 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Never read...

Carole Rae said...

Worth it if you are bored.