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Flashback Friday – “The Adventures of Huck Finn” Published

On this day in history, in 1885, Mark Twain published “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”! Did you know that Mark Twain was a pen name, that his real name was actually Samuel Clemens? Twain saw this book as a sequel to his 1876 novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, but this book also saw a more serious approach as well as it focused on the institution of slavery and other issues of the south at that time.

This wonderful classic of American literature told the tale of Huckleberry Finn and his friend Jim, a runaway slave as they rode a raft down the Mississippi river. If you’ve read the book you know that he ran way because he was about to be sold and separated from his wife and children; Huck went along with him to help him get to Ohio. What I really liked about this book was it’s satirical take on slavery, racism, religion and the overall social attitude of that era. To me Jim was strong, generous and brave as well was wise, whereas the other characters were shown to be violent, stupid and/or selfish. Huck was very naive to me, but the way he ended up questioning society’s attitude in general was just outstanding.

This book has not been without controversy, however, heck a month after it’s publication it was banned by a library in Concord, Massachusetts, saying it’s subject matter was “tawdry” while the narrative voice of Huck was “coarse and ignorant”. Other lemmings, sorry, I mean libraries, followed suit, which followed long after Twain’s death in 1910. In the 1950’s various African American groups protested it, saying it was racist in it’s portrayal of black characters even though others said it displayed a strong criticism of racism and slavery. Even more recently, there have been attempts to edit the book, most notably as of late to remove all reference to the “N” word, replacing it with slave. But I think the best judge  of this book is another literary genius, Ernest Hemingway, who once famously said that this book marked the beginning of American literature. He also said, “There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”

What do you think? Let us know in our forums HERE!

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and the Alabama Butcher

Have you heard the news? Apparently, Mark Twain’s novels ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ are in need of a re-write! You heard me right. According to “Twain Scholar” Alan Gribben, who is currently working with NewSouth Books of Alabama to publish a combined volume of his books, they are in need of some revisions; namely, to remove the N-word from the novels replacing it with the word “slave.” He believes the word is in danger of putting the classics into a list of books that “people praise and don’t read.”

Well, get over yourself Sir. I read them. My son has read them. My daughter will as well. I would recommend them to everyone. I will not, nor will my kids, read your “P.C.” new editions, nor would I ever recommend them. If the new crowd of today doesn’t like the word, well, put down the book.

Mark Twain once wrote that “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter.” This, however, is now being used by Mr. Gribben as a his reasoning instead of what it really means. I would be sure, that even if these classics were in danger of not being read because of the use of certain words, Twain himself wouldn’t change a thing.

‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ are essentially historical pieces. Just because society may not care for our historical past doesn’t mean it should be changed to make people more comfortable. History, well, had some pretty nasty moments. Are we going to go through all historical documents and censor anything some may not like? Just erase it like it didn’t happen? (Wish I could do that!)

In addition to replacing the N-word, Gribben changes the villain in “Tom Sawyer” from “Injun Joe” to “Indian Joe” and “half-breed” becomes “half-blood.” Why change the Injun to Indian? Shouldn’t that be “Native American Joe” Mr. Gribben?

What’s next? A re-write of Salinger? Steinbeck? Henry Miller? Oh I know, how about Harry Potter! I am not too fond of being referred to as a Muggle. Fix that would ya?

Thoughts? Will you read it if the language gets changed? Will you read it if it doesn’t? Have you read it at all? Let us know below or in the FORUM.