Huckleberry Finn

De: Mark Twain

Narrado por: Thomas Becker

Revered by all of the town's children and dreaded by all of its mothers, Huckleberry Finn is indisputably the most appealing child-hero in American literature.

Unlike the tall-tale, idyllic world of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn is firmly grounded in early reality. From the abusive drunkard who serves as Huckleberry's father to Huck's first tentative grappling with issues of personal liberty and the unknown, Huckleberry Finn endeavors to delve quite a bit deeper into the complexities - both joyful and tragic of life.

"American literature began with Huckleberry Finn." (Ernest Hemingway)

"This required standard of American literature is brought to life for students. A wonderful selection for school libraries." (School Library Journal)

Thomas Becker is a Shakespearean actor and high school teacher.

Public Domain (P)2021 Spotify Audiobooks

Fantastic narration, slightly marred by technical difficulties

This review is solely regarding the performance of this audiobook and not the novel itself, which is a classic of American literature and should be read (or listened to!) by all.

I sought out Mr. Becker’s narration of this book after listening to his reading of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which I whole-heartedly recommend.

Mr. Becker’s narration of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is truly fantastic. His ability to give authentic voices to the myriad of characters in this book (which is necessary given the vernacular-based, dialogue-heavy nature of the novel) is superb, and his reading transported me to the setting of the story. The humor and pathos of the book effectively shown through in Mr. Becker’s reading.

My only gripes with this audiobook (which are minor, and should not dissuade someone from listening) come on the technical side. There are various points in chapters where different recordings with differing levels of quality are spliced together, which briefly took me out of the story itself. On a handful of occasions the splicing also resulted in the repetition of sentences. Generally minor things, but it happened with enough regularity to take my attention away from Mr. Becker’s reading. All-in-all this is an issue with about 2% of the book and not a major detraction, but enough for me to give 4 stars rather than the 5 that Mr. Becker’s performance deserved.

Additionally, the chapter numbering in the Audible app is off by one - Chapter 2 in the app is actually Chapter 1 in the book/narration, and this variance continues throughout. Chapters 42 and 43 of the book (the last two) are both present in Audible’s Chapter 43, so fear not, you will hear the full story through to the end. Just something to keep in mind!