Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
It's the final chapter in the RUSC Literary Challenge, but we're finishing with two of my all time favorite childhood books!
Written by Mark Twain, these books had me captivated from the first page. I have fond memories of playing with friends as a child, and always quarrelling over who would play the lead characters in our own adventures...
The mischievous twelve year old boy in our first story had such a wild and vivid imagination that it led to lots of exciting and daring tales.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written in 1876 and it begins in St Petersburg, Missouri, in a graveyard in the dead of night.
Unlikely friends, Tom Sawyer, the spirited middle class young boy, and Huckleberry 'Huck' Finn, the dirty and frequently homeless son of the town drunk, witness a murder from the darkness, and know that the half breed, 'Injun' Joe has framed his drunken friend Muff Potter for the murder of young Doctor Robinson, that he himself committed.
Scared of retribution from Injun Joe, will Tom tell what he knows or will he 'keep mum' as he swore he would to Huck that fateful night?
The sequel, published in 1885, was called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and it is ultimately considered to be Mark Twain's masterpiece. The story is told in the first person, by Huck, and follows his life after he escapes his drunken and abusive father's capture, helping an escaped slave called Jim along the way. It's an emotional tale, with many highs and lows in their perilous adventures travelling down the great Mississippi river together on a raft.
Without realising it at the time, the novel taught us young kids so much about society, growing up and moral integrity.
There have been several other dramatizations of both Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn which are available to download or listen to online. I have listed the links to these below:-
I hope that you've enjoyed the RUSC Literary Challenge as much as I have! I'm pretty sad that it's come to an end, as there are so many more novels I have discovered along the way, but who's to say we can't use them in a future challenge!
Right now, I'm working on the Challenge quiz, which I'm hoping I will have completed for you to test yourselves over the Easter weekend!
Happy listening my friends,
