The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an excursion into boyhood, a return to the simple, rural Missouri world of Tom Sawyer, his friends Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher and Aunt Polly. It is a world of summertime and hooky, of pranks and punishments, of villains and adventure, seen through the eyes of a boy who might have been the young Mark Twain himself.

Public Domain (P)2009 Phoenix

Love Wil Wheaton but...

I have loved everything Will Wheaton has narrated, up until this. His voice is to modern, too clean to make it believable. He does the accents, and they aren't bad, but the narration between the dialogue sounds so very modern that it takes you entirely out of the scene. Even the pacing is off.

Love you Will, but I think historical southern is not your strong suit.

Abridged!

Very good narration, but contrary to what is suggested, this is only about one-half of Tom Sawyer.

Classic for Good Reason - and Brilliant Narration!

This book is a classic for a reason. It's smart and hilarious and just flat-out great writing. Mark Twain does a brilliant job of putting you inside the mind of an 11-year-old boy with a mischievous heart and a way of making himself in the world (or making the world in his own way). Wil Wheaton's narration is brilliant and stunning and brings the book to life. He could make the phone book sound interesting. This is a treat on every level.

Wil Wheaton is perfect as a young rascal

This is Tom Sawyer; anything less than a 5 is arrogant.

Wil Wheaton has made his name as an author and Interner pioneer--he understands the frontier, the tricks, the risks and whims and the smirk in his voice is perfect for another soft-hearted romantic charlatan, Tom Sawyer.

Does anyone listen to these before they put them out?

Im not even on chapter two when wil Wheaton mispronounced , “oblige” as “O-bleej” “deluge “ as “day-looj” and a few others too. It takes one out of the story and makes me wonder if anyone listens to these things before putting them out for consumption?

Classic

I love this book. I like Wil Wheaton. The two combined ain't the greatest but I'll take it

Not Quite as Good as I Remember

I've heard several people say that you shouldn't re-read books you enjoyed as a child because you won't enjoy them as much. I usually found that to be a load of hogwash (pun intended) myself. Would I enjoy them for the same reason? Of course not, but I would still love them the same. That was until I re-read Tom Sawyer. Mr. Twain well understood the culture he wrote about and hoped to attract with this book. It is just no longer a culture I agree with. It seems like a culture steeped in ignorance, greed and pride with no desire to even try to understand another's perspective. I hope I never really did associate much with that type of society, I did however seem to have found some of their antics more funny than I do now.

Presently Unimpressed with the Legacy of this Book

I could be wrong and it's only my opinion, but I'm not really a fan of this book. I did listen twice and did enjoy it more the second time. It is a cute, coming-of-age story that reminds me of some of the shenanigans attempted by my friends and me during our youth.

It's worth a listen as a "classic" just to know where literature has its roots, but I don't know if I'll listen or read it again.

I usually listen at 3x speed and did so on my first pass, but slowed it down on my second listen attempting to appreciate it more (that did work). Wil Wheaton is one of my all-time favorite narrators and he was great with this reading (however, I prefer him in science fiction e.g., Ready Player One, Armada, Masters of Doom).

Over the last year I've been reading the classics, some I've thoroughly enjoyed (Twenty Thousand League Under the Sea) and others I haven't even been able to finish (Moby Dick). In all I've listened to three dozen "classics" and I'm split a little more than 50/50 with scholarly consensus on "being great" or "must reads". Which is why we should just read these books instead of counting on reviews like this.

background noise

there was a weird echo in the background nearly the whole time. it seemed like Wheaton recorded it in a cafe, and people were having conversations, you can't really make out in the background

MOST OF THE BOOK IS MISSING!!!

What disappointed you about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?

I purchased the unabridged version (Wil Wheaton performing), I checked and checked that it was unabridged. But when I listened to it, more than half of the book is just missing.

Would you recommend The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, but not this version.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Yes, disappointment that I haven't gotten my money back as I did not receive what I purchased.