 2nd (1st US) edition book cover | |
| Author | Mark Twain |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | E. W. Kemble |
| Language | English |
| Series | Tom Sawyer |
| Genre | Picaresque novel |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus / Charles L. Webster And Company. |
Publication date | December 10, 1884 (UK and Canada) 1885[1] (United States) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 362 |
| OCLC | 29489461 |
| Preceded by | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
| Followed by | Tom Sawyer Abroad |
| Text | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at Wikisource |
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885.
Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, the narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective) and a friend of Tom Sawyer. It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
The book is noted for "changing the course of children's literature" in the United States for the "deeply felt portrayal of boyhood".[2][better source needed] It is also known for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist over 20 years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.
Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. The book was widely criticized upon release because of its extensive use of coarse language and racial epithets. Throughout the 20th century, and despite arguments that the protagonist and the tenor of the book are anti-racist,[3][4] criticism of the book continued due to both its perceived use of racial stereotypes and its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger".
- ^ Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade)…. 1885.
- ^ "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Summary & Characters". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ^ Twain, Mark (October 1885). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade).... ... - Full View – HathiTrust Digital Library – HathiTrust Digital Library. C. L. Webster.
- ^ Jacob O'Leary, "Critical Annotation of "Minstrel Shackles and Nineteenth Century 'Liberality' in Huckleberry Finn" (Fredrick Woodard and Donnarae MacCann)," Wiki Service, University of Iowa, last modified February 11, 2012, accessed April 12, 2012 Archived March 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine