We had some intense debates about whether not Jim, the runaway slave, is a liar. I mean, what kind of honest person cons a homeless boy out of his last coin for a conversation with a hairball from an Ox's stomach? You're missing out if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Read the book. Now.
I had read Huck Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (who's adventures precede Huck's) as a teenager. In college, I discovered some of Twain's short stories, his autobiographical Life on the Mississippi, and his caustic Letters to the Earth. I fell in love with the old gentleman's satire, and he became an American literary icon, etched in white, in my bookish heart.
Now I'm reading The Prince and the Pauper. I don't like it. Granted, it's some kind of "specially abridged for Puffin Classics" version, so I might be missing out on something. Or am I? Has anyone read this novel? Does anyone else find yourself bored and weighted by the Middle English dialogue? The characters' motives don't compel me to care about their story. They don't seem to have any dimensions to them. Don't get me wrong, Twain's a literary genius, and he obviously did his research and background checks for this novel.
Ah, I guess I'll trudge through it.
In Other News: Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux, another recent read, is quite good, but a little too simple. I just felt like there was something missing... still thinking about what it could be.
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