abl

(The rating is an average: Tom Sawyer Abroad gets 5 stars, and Tom Sawyer, Detective 3.) Relatively unknown, Tom Sawyer Abroad is an insightful masterpiece of parody, directed mainly at insufferable know-it-alls, but never forgoing a chance to take a poke at religion or contemporary society. Set after Huckleberry Finn, this novella tells the tale of Tom, Huck and the former slave Jim being whisked across the Atlantic on a dirigible balloon. Time after time, Tom tries to show off his superior knowledge to Huck and Jim, only to be stopped short by an innocent question from one of the latter. My father read this book aloud to the brother and I when I was about eight or nine; and several times we had to call it a night, having been reduced to tears and unable to stop laughing. (The paperback edition I own, on the back cover, lists the principals as "Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Nigger Jim"; I would like very much to know when it was printed, but the title page, on which the publishing date would normally appear, is missing.) In Tom Sawyer, Detective, Tom solves a murder mystery; his Uncle Silas is the prime suspect. Here, Tom displays a gift for observation and an admirably keen intuition that both starkly contrast with his bumbling storytelling in Tom Sawyer Abroad. This story is worth reading, but is not exceptional Mark Twain.

2022-11-14 18:41