The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - 06/11/2007

I have never read any of Samuel Langhorne Clemens' works, can you believe it? Not a one. Who? Sam? Oh, yea, you may know him by his pen name, Mark Twain.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is on my list of classic books I am reading. Written in 1876, the book is very quaint. "Lovely" is how I think I put it to someone recently. He's British, so he understood what I meant when I said "lovely." The copy I have belongs to my husband. It was printed in 1971. It is 36 years old. Its pages are yellowing and it smells divine. I spent more time than I care to admit smelling the pages as I read along.

Mr. Twain does an excellent job of capturing the mind of a young boy. I don't think I know his age, actually. Tom felt like 8-10 to me. He's gregarious, outgoing, very imaginative and inventive, just like most kids that age are. I love how Tom would "show off" to the new girl by hitting other kids, being a bully, etc. SO like an elementary-aged child. There was danger and adventure at every turn in Tom's world, and I was right there with him. I loved that he loved his Aunt, even if *he* didn't realize that he loved her. He was brave and fun.

You may have heard of Injun Joe too. I know that even though I have never read it, I've heard tell of him. NOW I know who he is; the evil man! I was so proud of Tom for being brave and standing up in court to defend an innocent man against Injun Joe's lies.

The book was a bit controversial later on, with its use of the "N" word. I'll have to admit even I gave a pause when I read the word. I had to remember this was written in 1876. The world has changed a lot since then....hasn't it?? I hope so.

We get a little "happy ending" that Mr. Clemens was criticized for. Back in the day, novels were supposed to be "realistic" and how realistic is it for a couple of boys to have so much adventure and end up with riches?

I for one, am glad Mr. Clemens chose his own way and gave us the slightly fantastical versus the mundane.