The Annotated Huckleberry Finn (The Annotated Books)

I teach high school English and bought this book to help prepare myself to teach an honors course. I loved it!After reading the 100 plus page introduction (that is extremely interesting, unlike most intros) and the "annotation" I felt like I had been through a college course.It took me much longer to read than I thought, because I enjoyed spending so much time reading the annotation. The book is also larger than I expected. It is similar to a coffee table size book.After reading the annotation I have a fuller understanding of other Twain writing that the editor references (like Life on the Mississippi, or his collected letters and autobiographical pieces.) I also feel like I have read the original "manuscript" because there are so many references to what word or phrase was changed from the manuscript to the publication. It is full of old and new criticisms. I feel like the annotations are based solely on Twain's thoughts, which are not necessarily fact or truth. That is confusing sometimes, since I naturally expect an editor to present the truth, not just the truth according to Twain. This makes the annotations directed towards Christianity biased, in my opinion.If you only want the story, then this book is too much for you. If you want to study the book, this is an easy way to do it!

... with the depth of Michael Patrick Hearn's excellent scholarship.I haven't read Twain since college in the early-1970's, and I'm glad to be rediscovering him through the eyes of Michael Patrick Hearn's excellent and brilliant scholarship. Hearn's copious annotations bring the work to life for me in a way that makes me see the world through not only Huck's eyes, but Twain's, too. And what a world that was -- full of saints and sinners and hucksters and dukes and kings --- and slaves, too.The annotations brought out a dimension that I might have missed on my own reading of the story -- the moral struggle within Huck Finn as he helps free Jim, the slave --- and the humanity that he sees within Jim. All of this, of course, is a reflection of Twain's own humanity and his own views of slavery in the world in which he grew up and lived. It was a time of transition that spanned the hard-core slavery, then the Civil War, and finally the freeing of the slaves and afterward.Twain certainly grew up and lived in very interesting times, and his chronicle of those times in this and other writings is an enormously valuable and brilliant part of our true American literature. Twain -- and Huck -- are each one of a kind.Magnificent.The illustrations -- both original and others -- add a nice dimension, too.

The story itself is of course a classic, totally 5 stars. The annotations given with this edition is why I bought this book. Its detail and insight is more than any other edition I've ever read, you can imagine what Mark Twain was thinking as he wrote this book, most importantly the history of events circulating around the story. It gives a whole new meaning to the book. I highly recommend this edition if you've already read Huck Finn, and are a fan who wants more from such a timeless classic.This book is in my top 5 of all time favorite books.

Mark Twain is generally credited with having written 'The Great American Novel' in 'Huckleberry Finn.' Assuming you have never read it and don't know much about it, I would first observe that the telling of the story is 'of its time.' Racial attitudes were firmly rooted in slavery, although 'change was in the air' and the book is set in a 'Border States' area where abolitionist and pro-slavery majorities contested in close geographic proximity. Samuel Clemens was raised in a slave-holding family and reflects on his upbringing in this work (as Mark Twain.) The 'N' word is frequently used, both with and without malice, depending on which character is speaking. Twain writes movingly about man's desire for freedom as an individual and about the desire for freedom from 'highfaluting' social constraints. As such, the escaping Huck Finn and his companion, the freedom seeking Jim, share a common goal. As an icon of American Literature, this has to rate FIVE STARS.The appeal of the book, particularly its 'story' for the average contemporary reader will be somewhat less. We might find the humor to be a bit 'rough and rustic.' Readers in Twain's lifetime made a similar complaint. 'Coarse' things like death, murder, mutilation and the like are plainly spoken of by and/or in front of a boy who is not yet an adolescent. Some times the humor is a bit 'rough and ready.' Twain, himself, is a product of his early experiences near or on the American Frontier.Given that this is a major work in our literary history, what does an 'annotated edition' offer? The editor, Michael Patrick Hearn is generally cited as the foremost Twain scholar of his generation. He begins by offering a major body of information about Twain's life, his work as an author and lecturer, his trials and tribulations in bringing 'Huckleberry Finn' to the public, critical reaction to the work and so on. An 'appreciation' is offered of the work and its place in American Literature. This is only fitting and proper for this type of scholarly edition. It is done to my satisfaction and the result will be more than helpful to serious students of the book. A vast range of resources has been brought to bear in the annotations, including alternate texts of passages where they can be found in Twain's copious notes and draft manuscripts. Anyone who doubts that 'writing is work' will soon be disabused if they peruse these annotations, which appear close to the relevant passages in the text. Very generous attention is given to the illustrations provided with two major editions of the work, including other illustrations from Tom Sawyer. These illustrations were offered by two artists, one picked by Twain and the second one an artist Twain came to respect the more he looked at the work.So why 'only' four stars? Even with some interest in the book, I was almost overcome by the information added to the text of the novel. Some of the annotations seemed to be less essential than others and might have been excluded without 'harm.' Mr. Hearn has gone the extra mile to be 'comprehensive' in documenting comments on the novel and in providing explanations of vernacular words or bits of cultural background from the time.

I have several copies of this book. I bought this lavish one, and it is amazing, before the academics and their "communities" start burning books such as this, since they cannot fathom nuance or have a sense of humor.