The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Background and Pre-reading Discussion

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am looking forward to reading this book with the group.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a controversial book. It is on a number of banned book lists.
My daughter took a course on American literature in third year university, and Huckleberry Finn was on the course list, along side books by Faulkner, Wharton, Henry James, Djuna Barnes and Ralph Ellison.
So it is much more than a "children's book".
I read a fascinating book about American literature called Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fiedler.
The book discusses a number of works, from the first novel written and published in the U.S,Wieland, or, The Transformation by Charles Brockden Brown ,which is an early example of American Gothic,to the mid-20th century.
I am using my daughter's copy of Huck Finn, which is a Norton Critical Edition.
The last essay in the book is called "This Amazing, Troubling Book" by Toni Morrison.

[Lynnm]

Excited to read Huck Finn - it's been years.

[Lily]

Rosemarie wrote: "I am using my daughter's copy of the book, which is a Norton Critical Edition...."

I presume of Huck Finn (and not of Fiedler's book -- I didn't find a Norton Edition of it)? Is that (N.E. of Huck Finn) where Morrison's essay is? Which edition?

One of the libraries in my system does have the Fiedler book. I can also find a Norton Edition, but I have some annotated edition myself with which I'll at least start. I listened to the audible version within the past eighteen months.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

The book I am using is: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Edited by Thomas Cooley
A Norton Critical Edition -Third Edition
The Morrison essay is in this book.


I borrowed the Fiedler book from our public library. It was an interesting look at various American novels.

[Lily]

Thx for the clarifications and modifications, Rosemarie!

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

You're welcome.

[Lily]

Rosemarie wrote: "...I read a fascinating book about American literature called Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fiedler...."

So, Rosemarie, are you willing to give us a one or two sentence synopsis/tantalizer on the "fascinating" in your description above?

I found the book in a nearby town in our library system, so rather than wait for the inter-library delivery system, I stopped by last night and checked it out. I spent much of the morning browsing it and know that I shall definitely return to the final chapter, which focuses on Huck Finn. I must say I got lost in the thousands of words and pages this author used to excoriate American fiction from what seemed to me a quite masculine perspective -- which is not to say that I necessarily disagreed with him. Will have to reflect on that for awhile. Also, I don't know many of the authors and writings on which he builds his arguments. I am curious as to what influences and experiences, personal and intellectual, drove him to the views he articulates.

Some hints are here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/obi...
And more so here?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_an...

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

What I found fascinating was his opinion that American heroes did not grow up, they were eternal boys, in comparison to European books.
I don't agree with all of his opinions, but he did mention the lack of well rounded female characters in books by certain male authors. He had a select list of books to back up his point of view, of course. If you compare the popular American books of the past to the popular movies of today, you can see there is a connection.
As I said, I may not agree with all of Fiedler's opinions, but it got me thinking about how women are portrayed in European literature versus European literature, and more importantly, the relationships between the two sexes.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I googled Leslie Fiedler and found numerous articles about him. The book was written in 1960, the first of many that he wrote. Wikipedia has a summary of his life and list of works published.

[Lily]

Rosemarie wrote: "I googled Leslie Fiedler and found numerous articles about him....."

We must have been doing so in concert! I added a couple to the entry above and read a few others. He certainly belonged to the rage of the '60's.

To the extent that Huck Finn touches on racial issues, I think I'd like to compare and contrast it with a Mann Booker nominee just discussed on the 21st Century Literature board: The Sellout by Paul Beatty. I haven't read it yet, but it is "calling."

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I was a teenager in the 60's, in a boring small town, but I watched a lot of TV and saw all the protest marches, etc. It was an exciting time to be young.

[Lily]

Rosemarie wrote: "I was a teenager in the 60's, in a boring small town, but I watched a lot of TV and saw all the protest marches, etc. It was an exciting time to be young."

I was in or just through college. Except for Kennedy's assassination, I didn't watch a lot of TV. Always more of a reader.

What I found fascinating was his opinion that American heroes did not grow up, they were eternal boys, in comparison to European books.

The cynical (or perhaps the idealistic) side of me will put on the table the reality those American (farm boy, low brow) boys were the ones invaded Normandy and .. and...

[Lori, Moderator]

At our elementary school, it was a tradition for the 6th grade class to present a class play every year before graduation. Our class play was Tom Sawyer - I think the play took some events from Tom Sawyer and some from Huck Finn (it's been awhile since I've read them, so I don't remember for sure which events were in which book). There were only 30 students in our class, so we each had a part - I was the mayor's wife (forgot her name). There was only one line, making it the smallest part in the play. I was (and still am) horrible at acting.

[Everyman]

Lily wrote: "I was in or just through college. Except for Kennedy's assassination, I didn't watch a lot of TV.."

We didn't even have a TV to watch. I didn't own one, or live in a house with one, until I was in my 30s. I did see some at friends houses, and when visiting my grandmother, but basically that whole period of TV-dom was a closed book, or maybe I should say a blank screen, to me.

[Lily]

Everyman wrote: "We didn't even have a TV to watch...."

The television was in the dormitory common room. As I recall, at the time of the assassination, it was set up so that we could see it as we hurried to classes along the hall that ran through it. I honestly don't remember when my home got a television. We were always more newspaper, magazine and book readers, although we did listen to some radio programs. I know I watched Queen Elizabeth's coronation at a neighbor's, and it was a big deal!

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

In the novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson, they go to watch the Queen's coronation at a neighbour's house. The book is set in England, so it was a really big deal.

I am curious to know how many movie versions there are of Huck Finn.

[Everyman]

Rosemarie wrote: "I am curious to know how many movie versions there are of Huck Finn. "

The Internet Movie Database lists more than 20, including TV shows, the oldest being from 1920.

http://www.imdb.com/find?q=huckleberr...

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I had no idea that this book inspired so many movies and TV series. Thanks, Everyman.

[Lily]

A positive review of this autobiography of Mark Twain just came across my home page:

Mark Twain by Ron Powers

[Lori, Moderator]

Now that we're done with Huck Finn, I decided to find out exactly what problem Twain had with my favorite, Walter Scott:

http://www.twainquotes.com/SirWalterS...

I don't think Twain and I will ever be friends. Those are fighting words! ;-) If we were in the Scottiverse, I'd have to challenge him to a duel. :-D

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Lori, I think we are of the same opinion regarding Mark Twain.