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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain

Start date: May 1, 2011

Finish date: June 1, 2011

Why we're reading this: Book of the Month, May 2011
[close] Book of the Month, May 2011

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Jul 08, 2012 Franky rated it liked it

Mark Twain has to be approached with a grain of salt, as he is quite the satirist and many of his narrative points are quite “tongue and cheek.” I consider Mark Twain one of the best satirists about life, and, because he can put such a witty twist and spin on the simplest and more complex things in the world, he is one of my favorite authors. I’ve seen countless film renditions of both Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, and I’ve read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn many times and have read some Mark Twain has to be approached with a grain of salt, as he is quite the satirist and many of his narrative points are quite “tongue and cheek.” I consider Mark Twain one of the best satirists about life, and, because he can put such a witty twist and spin on the simplest and more complex things in the world, he is one of my favorite authors. I’ve seen countless film renditions of both Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, and I’ve read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn many times and have read some of Twain’s other classics (The Prince and the Pauper, Pudd’nhead Wilson), but this was the first time I actually sat down and read Tom Sawyer. Therefore, it pains me to admit that I wasn’t as impressed with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as some of his other works.

While clearly the book has some humor, adventure and escapism, it seems to have little in the way of focus, meandering around Tom’s mischievousness through various episodes. Sure, there is a bit of loss of innocence and coming of age in Tom, as he does become more mature when he sees the pain and trouble he’s caused people close to him (like his aunt, for instance). However, this change of character is brushed over minimally, with more of the focus on Tom, Huck and their gang’s adventures and Tom’s “love” for Becky. I don’t think this book can hold a candle to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is much deeper and more meaningful, and has a well-deserved classic status.

Sure, Tom Sawyer is a fine read in some ways, and has murder and adventure and some humor and wit, but really there is not much to be gained from the book other than entertainment, entertainment that comes in the form of random episodes that don’t really revolve around the central plot (the murder). In the book final stages, we finally see things tie together a little, but mostly the novel feels almost as if it is a series of short stories strung together rather than one novel. There are moments where we see Tom’s conscience catching up with him, and feels a sense of moral obligation to help the man wrongly accused of murder, but these are minimal and mostly be just witness the adventures of a mischevious kid.

Still, it’s Twain, and for that reason alone I would recommend. I guess it just wasn’t as good as I had envisioned.

3.5 stars

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