The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Publisher: Penguin 1985

Foy Cheshire (in Paul Beaty’s “Sellout”) held one book aloft at one Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals meeting and addressed the audience in a Southern Methodist drawl even though he was from Hollywood by way of Grand Rapids.  “One night, not long ago, I tried to read this book, Huckleberry Finn, to my grandchildren, but I couldn’t get past page six because the book is fraught with the ’n-word’.  And although they are the deepest-thinking, combat ready eight- and ten-year-olds I know, I knew my babies weren’t ready to comprehend Huckleberry Finn on its own merits.  That’s why I took the liberty to rewrite Mark Twain's masterpiece.  Where the repugnant ’n-word’ occurs, I replaced it with `warrior’ and the word `slave’ with `dark-skinned volunteer’.”

Then I had to read Huckleberry Finn.

This novel takes place in the Mississippi river and its surroundings from Illinois to Arkansas in the late 1840s.  An escaped slave (Jim) and a twelve year old poor white boy (Huck) who is running away from his father floated down the Mississippi meeting interesting characters along the way. 

This Penguin classics edition has a thorough introduction written by John Seelye, graduate research professor of American literature at the University of Florida.  The text of this edition follows that of America’s edition of Mark Twain’s Mississippi Writings (1982), which in turn was based on that of the first American edition published on February 8, 1885, by Twain’s own publishing company.  To give you an idea let me take you to the island in the Mississippi where runaway Huck met runaway Jim.  (Jim thinks he is facing a ghost since everybody thinks that Huck has died.) 

I says: “Hello, Jim” and skipped out.

He bounced up and stared at me wild.  Then he drops down on his knees, and puts his hands together and says:

“Doan’ hurt me—don’t!  I hain’t ever done no harm to a ghos’.  I awluz liked dead people, en done all I could for ‘em.  You go en git in de river agin, whah you b’longs, en doan’ do nuffin to Ole Jim, ‘at 'uz awluz yo’ fren’.”

I have not read any Mark Twain before, but I agree that this is a masterpiece. 

I wonder if Martin Wickramasinghe got the idea to write “Madol Doova” (මඩොල් දූව) after reading this book.  I have not seen any reference to that effect.  He (Wickramasinghe) mentioned Karaka (කරකා) in his book "Handa Saaki Keema”(හඳ සාක්කි කීම).  (I have downloaded a Karaka book that I am going to read soon.)