The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (The Great American Novel?)

I am so far behind on my book reviews and I have been reading some interesting novels and a couple of short stories in between. I have also been purchasing more books (surprise, surprise). But to get back into it, I read the AMERICAN NOVEL, the one that put American authors in competition with their European peers, none other than by Samuel Clemens himself, Mark Twain.
Mark Twain is quite the celebrated author, writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court among others. However, I will confess that this is the first novel of his that I have read. I am pretty sure I read short stories of his in grade school but never a novel. I did watch the Wishbone episode on PBS when they did Tom Sawyer, but I am pretty sure that doesn't count, neither does the Disney film, A Kid in King Arthur's Court count either. So, I have owned both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn for over a year now, one of the spoils that I got when Borders went out of business. I never read it, but since I have been on a Brit Lit kick, I figured my next book would be, what literary scholars deem it, The GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL.

My Take: Meh, after getting used to the language (I guess the old Missouri back woods talk), you can see the novel evolve from a Tom Sawyer sequel (which was the intention of the book until Twain saw it was becoming something much more than that) to a novel with it's own voice. Now, I am drawing from my experience from watching the Wishbone episode, but Sawyer was the ring leader and main mischief maker. There is less Tom Sawyer in this novel because Huck Finn sails down the Mississippi with Jim, the slave that ran away from Huck Finn's caretaker.

The book is fun and far fetched but I don't see why this book is always on the banned list (I mean, yes the use the n word a lot but Twain was writing in the style of the times). I laughed in a couple of places but this book never stood out as the novel that all others are derived from. The message was different but I never quite understood why Twain sent Jim and Huck down the Mississippi and not north to obtain Jim's freedom.

I gave this book 4/5 stars mainly because I laughed and I always like a book that can make me laugh.

Next review will be on Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell!

Until next time, happy reading!

The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby

FINALLY! I have finally finished Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens and it took me almost two months to accomplish! If you have read any of Dickens before, you will know that he is one of the wordiest authors that I have come across. I read, and you can find this info on the USC Dickens Project site, that the myth is was that Dickens was paid by the word, when in fact, he was paid by each installment he published in the paper. In Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford, one of the characters is actually reading The Pickwick Papers in the paper and looked forward to the installments. So, yes, I will and you can as well, assume that the more he wrote, the more he was paid. While I appreciate the vivid imagery that Dickens gives me, there are some details that I can do without.
I will try to give you a concise summary on this very long book: The main character is Nicholas Nickleby, the son of a country gentleman who has died because he has lost the little fortune that he has (or died of a broken heart as Mrs. Nickleby would say). This forces the Nickleby's to sell their country house to settle the debts of his father's estate and they move to London to come into contact with Mr. Nickleby's brother, Ralph Nickleby, who is essentially a money lender and is very rich. Ralph Nickleby also happens to be a miser (a la Mr. Scrooge from A Christmas Carol) and really doesn't want to help his relatives in any way financially and decides to set them up in various jobs, so that he performs his duty as an Uncle.
To speak a little but of the characters, Mrs. Nickleby reminds me very much of Mrs. Bennett from Pride & Prejudice. She is one of the most annoying characters in literature. Mrs. Bennett still has her beat, but Mrs. Nickleby gives her a run for her money. Kate is the angelic younger sister of Nicholas who loves her family and keeps her mother in check (or tries to). Ralph Nickleby is just a jerk and his secretary Noggs, who when introduced to, think he will be the biggest creeper but turns out to be a hero.
The whole story is about Nicholas' journey to make his fortune and to provide and protect his family from the evil doings of Ralph Nickleby who hates Nicholas, absolutely abhors him. We are introduced to fun characters such as Miss La Creevy, and also characters we hate such as Mr. Squeers and his entire family. Dickens added unlikely plots to the story and even redeems a character but then kills him off.
I enjoyed Great Expectations so much better (I also enjoyed the Ethan Hawke, Anne Bancroft film) but there were parts that I got into and it was a fast read but then there were other parts of the story where I just wanted it to end. I was also hoping for the redemption of Ralph Nickleby but that's one thing Dickens never lets happen.

Books I have read and will review are Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Aesops Fables and I am currently reading Cranford. I ordered Wise Children by Angela Carter so we have lots of reviews to look forward to!

Until next time, Happy Reading!