Do i have to read 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" first to understand it?

[[deleted user]]

I'm new to reading classics.....

[La Coccinelle]

I read Huckleberry Finn before I read Tom Sawyer. I don't remember being lost.

[[deleted user]]

The synopsis says Twain designated Huck Finn to be the sequel to Tome Sawyer...I got confused after reading that....

[La Coccinelle]

Maybe it's technically a sequel in that it takes place after the events in Tom Sawyer. But the stories are separate, so you can read either of them first and not be confused about what's going on.

Huckleberry Finn was assigned reading in my high school. Tom Sawyer wasn't. Make of that what you will...

But they're both good. If you enjoy one, you'll probably enjoy the other.

[[deleted user]]

Same here, its the only one on my school reading list that I own :P But I hate reading books out of order so I had to know.

Thank you!!!

[Robert]

I concur with all of the above but it strikes me as you're already asking you might as well go on and read Tom Sawyer first. Both of them are well worth reading but for different reasons and as Huckleberry Finn is the more 'serious' of the two it might feel a bit odd going back to the 'simpler' Tom Sawyer.

[Wendy]

i read tom sawyer than huck finn

[Devon]

There are only two details from Tom Sawyer that inform Huckleberry Finn. The first is the vast sum of money that Huck has. The second is that Huck was adopted. Those details matter for context, but you could just as easily accept that Huck has been adopted and he has a large sum of money and you would be fine. The story really rests on Huck's relationship with entirely new characters--Pap, Jim, the carpetbaggers, et cetera.

I'll say this. Mark Twain is amazing. Both are worth the read. Tom is more of a fun story, whereas Huck is a poignant commentary on race relations in a world where slavery was still considered by many to be acceptable. Keep that fact in mind as you read it, because it will really shine some light on Twain's brilliance and the craft he uses to disguise moral ironies in Huck's evils as a result of his poor upbringing.

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (note, there's not actually a "The" in the title) is one of my three favorite books ever. I recommend you read it as soon as you can.

[Fa]

I read both, Tom Sawyer first. But I enjoyed Huck more than Tom. I don't know, i found that Tom Sawyer was a really smart annoying kid. It got me on my nerves while reading it, so i was just.."no, not again" haha. And that's why, yes I agree that Mark Twain is amazing. Both are worth the read. But i recommend Huck if you want more like 'going with the flow - grown up story'.

[Sunsette]

No, it can be read as a stand alone.

[Molly]

For me, I read Tom Sawyer first, and I think it did shed some light on Huck, but my older siblings all said they read Huck without Tom, so I assume it can go either way, depending on how much understanding and help you may need with classics.