One of the items that stuck out to me in the back of the book was Mark Twain's own description of the adventure he found himself in when writing the Adventures of Huck Finn. I thought it was extremely interesting that before the beginning of this novel he knew that he did not want to write another boy's novel, he wanted an adult novel but one that still contained youth. He realized he could never do this with Tom Sawyer because he felt that he would have to make him older and then it would just become a lost cause. He came to the idea of writing a coming of age story or an ignorant to cultured story about one of Tom Sawyer's counterparts and he chose Huck Finn. Mark Twain's letters to his friends and editors were very insightful to the challenge that he had when he first started writing this book. He set it aside for awhile but then in a short amount of time it was completed. He seemed utterly surprised by himself for writing a vast amount of words in a single day and also working on Sundays! I also liked how he added in that throughout the book the adventure primarily lies around a raft and the Mississippi River. What made me appreciate Mark Twain’s view on his book even more was the fact that he felt so empowered by it and so sure that it was going to succeed. But he even said that if it didn’t he did not care what those critics thought he enjoyed it no matter what.
Learning in the Age of the Trigger Warning
11 years ago
I feel that Mark Twain to do an exceptionally good job with Huckleberry Finn.It definitly was not your typical boy book. There was a lot of material in there was for older readers which made it easier to read and relate to. After reading Huckleberry Finn I had a greater appreciation for it as well when I found out Mark Twain knew and felt that he had written a great novel. It is obvious that he succeeded due to the fact it is a classic book ans schools are teaching and reading the book everywhere. Even though Huckleberry Finn was a good book, I would like to read Tom Sawyer as well. When Tom was introduced in Huckleberry Finn, it seemed to have changed to whole dynamic of the book. I don't think Twain would have been able to write a coming of age book with Tom Sawyer's character, but because of that he was Twain was able to write another great book.
ReplyDelete