My favourite read of the year, 30 Sep 2008
There are some writers who just create seamless prose that reads like it's always been there on the page and they just traced over the words. Well, for me, this was one of those books. I loved it from beginning to end. It tells the story of Lev, an "economic migrant" from the East, and his search for work, and life. It is probably a little too rose tinted to be real, and I doubt there are many migrants so lucky as Lev, but I so wanted him to succeed.

Ok it's a fairy tale but a life affirming one, 30 Sep 2008
In language serious, studied, courtly and old-fashioned RT takes us straight into the mind of our melancholy hero Lev - not Olev - cleverly written, carefully researched and up to the minute subject.
Through a haze of cigarettes, the smoking of each one has to be respectfully described, swigs of his darling vodka lisch, all vital to him despite the poverty of his circumstances. Christy and Rudi also sharing his crutches of nicotine and alcohol until they learn that they live more happily without them..

Auror, Glic, Yarbyl, Baryn, Jor are all unrecognised as actual place names so Lev comes from an unknown to us Eastern European country, of grey trade and grey money, arriving by bus and ferry to London. Journeying with the tidy figure of Lydia beside him.
Threading through the story the memory of Marina his lost loved wife, who was a strong mother, daughter in law, friend and colleague. Looking at London and Londoners through the eyes of a new comer with only his language structure to describe it. "Sucking on bottles like anxious babies"..

A clear and effective narrative - Rudi's voice is always in Lev's head, a powerful influence on him. Although later Lev overtakes Rudi and turns his life around for him. The homespun wisdom of Lev's family pushing through his thoughts. Homesickness constantly threatening to overwhelm him. Thoughts of Rudi and his Tschevi (almost a person) Lev's innocence, naivety and simplicity is appealing. Rudi's character is attractive and impressive. When he eventually becomes "The Face Of The Place' all seems right with the world.

Ina, the grim and difficult mother/grandmother/widow whose God is asleep never reacts quite as we'd hope and is like a belligerent donkey who will not be led. I felt she was an excellently drawn person, quite believable.

The themes of food and diet running through are interesting and touching. This chocolate `reminds me of sleep' says Ina grudgingly at the end in the restaurant at no. 43 Podorsky Street. Food horizons opening up with the experience of GKAshe, I remember the same when I worked in restaurant kitchens. Detailed descriptions of meals all so different, from hardboiled eggs, greasy grey goat meat kebabs onward all affected Lev and awoke his senses. Although I am amazed that Lev's taste buds actually worked after so much abuse from the tobacco and spirits. In fact Lev falls in love with food and cooking. Even in the uninspiring atmosphere of the nursing home kitchen. Food becomes his life even after the forty two years of not thinking about it. The kitchen suppers at GKAshe have a comforting reassuring feel, the crostini so delicious you can almost smell it.

As a poignant thoughtful touch RT includes characters from her other stories at least I recognised Ruby Constad from Letters to Sister Benedicta.

Truly felicitous meetings unfold through Lev's progress from his doomed home. His path is smoothed in a fairy tale way mostly by kind ladies and people who are pleased to repay the kindness of others to them. Lydia, Sulima at the first B+B, Ahmed the kebab man, hospitable Tom and Larissa (yoga aficionado). Christy Slane is far deeper and more of a character than he first appears and like all pantomime stories, his ends happily thankfully. Sophie, Sam the mad hatter, Vitas, the Ming's.

Throughout the tale we always understand what is being said to Lev but because of his limited English he only gets part of the conversations along the way especially with GKAshe (Gordon Ramsey) whose kitchen is run like an orchestra or an operating theatre. Christy talking away, his ex wife,snapping, Sophie the lover. It all gives the reader another view of our own language.

Through all of Lev's vast range of experiences you feel you are going through them al with him, they are so warmly and inclusively written. When he mucks things up in his only human way you cringe along with him and admire him for rising again to the next challenges.

So much of the story shows us how other people's voices, opinions and advice constantly ring in our heads - if we choose to let them. Also that the kindness of strangers really can turn your life around.
Lovely stuff!

Rose Tremain does it again, 23 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful novel. I always enjoy Rose Tremain, and The Road Home is certainly one of my favourites.
It's fabulously written, as ever, and Lev is a sympathetic hero, though she certainly doesn't hide his faults. His flashes of anger, culminating in the book's most brutal scene, are convincingly built up - and his treatment of long-suffering Lydia is pretty shoddy.
I agree that there's the odd stereotype among the characters, but I most certainly do not share the view that this story has a fairytale ending. It's highly ambiguous - is everyone really happy and how rosy is the future?
Because Rose Tremain's novels are all so different from each other, I was surprised - and charmed - to find her using a character from an earlier novel quite prominently. Ruby Constad, an old lady who Lev comes to know, is the heroine of Tremain's much earlier novel Letter to Sister Benedicta. The poor woman's life hasn't improved along the way, but I think her appearance here shows how much Tremain cares for her. And if you realise that, you can see she's far more than the convenient plot device she might, at first, appear.

A mirror through which to view a 'Green and pleasant land'., 14 Sep 2008
I enjoyed this book, which isn't surprising considering it was written by Rose Tremain. As usual the prose, construction, attention to detail, plot progression and pace were brilliant: I'm certain Rose Tremain could write a novel about a matchbox and it would be riveting and informative.
For me, Lev, the central character is in essence a mirror that Tremain holds up for us to see the England we'd maybe rather ignore or forget: the pretentious garbage of celebrity and affluence; the coldness and fickle allegiances of a morally bankrupt society; the pockets of loneliness and sadness that exist within families and institutions.
There are aspects of the book that didn't work for me. I felt Lev's character was a little one-dimensional and slightly underdeveloped. His outbursts of temper seemed incongruous and, somewhat irritatingly, his mastery of English seemed to be achieved at a phenomenal rate. I felt the ending was a little brief, not really tying together or enhancing what went before. However his work ethic, determination and pragmatism were an accurate reflection of the Eastern European workers I know.
Some of the characters in the story are memorable: the scarred, sensitive and lonely Christy; the life force that is Rudi; the driven GK Ashe. Others were less believable or bordered on parody: the farmer Midge was irritatingly underdeveloped and his cod rural speech and mannerisms annoying; I didn't find Sophie believable, a shame given her central role.
But, the negatives above can't detract from the overall quality of the book. I was held throughout Lev's odyssey and as I neared the end I actually longed for it all to turn out well for him. I finished with a feeling that my latent dislike of much of what is modern England had flowered into something approaching full blown disgust.
This book reminded me of the famous lines from Burns:

'Oh wad some power the Giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!'



Beautifully written but predictable tale, 02 Sep 2008
Fascinating to read so many rave reviews. I read this on a very long train journey and if I hadn't been stuck there would probably have abandoned it. Rose Tremain has a wonderful prose style and she organizes her plots really well with lots of development, but the novel didn't grip me at all. Characters were boring, situations obvious (mobile phone going off during concert, stereotypical rich/poor London, even more stereotypical run-down anonymous ex-eastern bloc country etc), the ending warm & cosy. Did nobody else find Lev deeply tedious? She is very good at doing her homework, so the top-class restaurant, police treatment of migrants, retirement home, and lots of other stuff were thoroughly credible. But I felt disappointed; maybe I'm just expecting too much.
Norman Housley

My favourite read of the year, 30 Sep 2008
There are some writers who just create seamless prose that reads like it's always been there on the page and they just traced over the words. Well, for me, this was one of those books. I loved it from beginning to end. It tells the story of Lev, an "economic migrant" from the East, and his search for work, and life. It is probably a little too rose tinted to be real, and I doubt there are many migrants so lucky as Lev, but I so wanted him to succeed.

Ok it's a fairy tale but a life affirming one, 30 Sep 2008
In language serious, studied, courtly and old-fashioned RT takes us straight into the mind of our melancholy hero Lev - not Olev - cleverly written, carefully researched and up to the minute subject.
Through a haze of cigarettes, the smoking of each one has to be respectfully described, swigs of his darling vodka lisch, all vital to him despite the poverty of his circumstances. Christy and Rudi also sharing his crutches of nicotine and alcohol until they learn that they live more happily without them..

Auror, Glic, Yarbyl, Baryn, Jor are all unrecognised as actual place names so Lev comes from an unknown to us Eastern European country, of grey trade and grey money, arriving by bus and ferry to London. Journeying with the tidy figure of Lydia beside him.
Threading through the story the memory of Marina his lost loved wife, who was a strong mother, daughter in law, friend and colleague. Looking at London and Londoners through the eyes of a new comer with only his language structure to describe it. "Sucking on bottles like anxious babies"..

A clear and effective narrative - Rudi's voice is always in Lev's head, a powerful influence on him. Although later Lev overtakes Rudi and turns his life around for him. The homespun wisdom of Lev's family pushing through his thoughts. Homesickness constantly threatening to overwhelm him. Thoughts of Rudi and his Tschevi (almost a person) Lev's innocence, naivety and simplicity is appealing. Rudi's character is attractive and impressive. When he eventually becomes "The Face Of The Place' all seems right with the world.

Ina, the grim and difficult mother/grandmother/widow whose God is asleep never reacts quite as we'd hope and is like a belligerent donkey who will not be led. I felt she was an excellently drawn person, quite believable.

The themes of food and diet running through are interesting and touching. This chocolate `reminds me of sleep' says Ina grudgingly at the end in the restaurant at no. 43 Podorsky Street. Food horizons opening up with the experience of GKAshe, I remember the same when I worked in restaurant kitchens. Detailed descriptions of meals all so different, from hardboiled eggs, greasy grey goat meat kebabs onward all affected Lev and awoke his senses. Although I am amazed that Lev's taste buds actually worked after so much abuse from the tobacco and spirits. In fact Lev falls in love with food and cooking. Even in the uninspiring atmosphere of the nursing home kitchen. Food becomes his life even after the forty two years of not thinking about it. The kitchen suppers at GKAshe have a comforting reassuring feel, the crostini so delicious you can almost smell it.

As a poignant thoughtful touch RT includes characters from her other stories at least I recognised Ruby Constad from Letters to Sister Benedicta.

Truly felicitous meetings unfold through Lev's progress from his doomed home. His path is smoothed in a fairy tale way mostly by kind ladies and people who are pleased to repay the kindness of others to them. Lydia, Sulima at the first B+B, Ahmed the kebab man, hospitable Tom and Larissa (yoga aficionado). Christy Slane is far deeper and more of a character than he first appears and like all pantomime stories, his ends happily thankfully. Sophie, Sam the mad hatter, Vitas, the Ming's.

Throughout the tale we always understand what is being said to Lev but because of his limited English he only gets part of the conversations along the way especially with GKAshe (Gordon Ramsey) whose kitchen is run like an orchestra or an operating theatre. Christy talking away, his ex wife,snapping, Sophie the lover. It all gives the reader another view of our own language.

Through all of Lev's vast range of experiences you feel you are going through them al with him, they are so warmly and inclusively written. When he mucks things up in his only human way you cringe along with him and admire him for rising again to the next challenges.

So much of the story shows us how other people's voices, opinions and advice constantly ring in our heads - if we choose to let them. Also that the kindness of strangers really can turn your life around.
Lovely stuff!

Rose Tremain does it again, 23 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful novel. I always enjoy Rose Tremain, and The Road Home is certainly one of my favourites.
It's fabulously written, as ever, and Lev is a sympathetic hero, though she certainly doesn't hide his faults. His flashes of anger, culminating in the book's most brutal scene, are convincingly built up - and his treatment of long-suffering Lydia is pretty shoddy.
I agree that there's the odd stereotype among the characters, but I most certainly do not share the view that this story has a fairytale ending. It's highly ambiguous - is everyone really happy and how rosy is the future?
Because Rose Tremain's novels are all so different from each other, I was surprised - and charmed - to find her using a character from an earlier novel quite prominently. Ruby Constad, an old lady who Lev comes to know, is the heroine of Tremain's much earlier novel Letter to Sister Benedicta. The poor woman's life hasn't improved along the way, but I think her appearance here shows how much Tremain cares for her. And if you realise that, you can see she's far more than the convenient plot device she might, at first, appear.

A mirror through which to view a 'Green and pleasant land'., 14 Sep 2008
I enjoyed this book, which isn't surprising considering it was written by Rose Tremain. As usual the prose, construction, attention to detail, plot progression and pace were brilliant: I'm certain Rose Tremain could write a novel about a matchbox and it would be riveting and informative.
For me, Lev, the central character is in essence a mirror that Tremain holds up for us to see the England we'd maybe rather ignore or forget: the pretentious garbage of celebrity and affluence; the coldness and fickle allegiances of a morally bankrupt society; the pockets of loneliness and sadness that exist within families and institutions.
There are aspects of the book that didn't work for me. I felt Lev's character was a little one-dimensional and slightly underdeveloped. His outbursts of temper seemed incongruous and, somewhat irritatingly, his mastery of English seemed to be achieved at a phenomenal rate. I felt the ending was a little brief, not really tying together or enhancing what went before. However his work ethic, determination and pragmatism were an accurate reflection of the Eastern European workers I know.
Some of the characters in the story are memorable: the scarred, sensitive and lonely Christy; the life force that is Rudi; the driven GK Ashe. Others were less believable or bordered on parody: the farmer Midge was irritatingly underdeveloped and his cod rural speech and mannerisms annoying; I didn't find Sophie believable, a shame given her central role.
But, the negatives above can't detract from the overall quality of the book. I was held throughout Lev's odyssey and as I neared the end I actually longed for it all to turn out well for him. I finished with a feeling that my latent dislike of much of what is modern England had flowered into something approaching full blown disgust.
This book reminded me of the famous lines from Burns:

'Oh wad some power the Giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!'



Beautifully written but predictable tale, 02 Sep 2008
Fascinating to read so many rave reviews. I read this on a very long train journey and if I hadn't been stuck there would probably have abandoned it. Rose Tremain has a wonderful prose style and she organizes her plots really well with lots of development, but the novel didn't grip me at all. Characters were boring, situations obvious (mobile phone going off during concert, stereotypical rich/poor London, even more stereotypical run-down anonymous ex-eastern bloc country etc), the ending warm & cosy. Did nobody else find Lev deeply tedious? She is very good at doing her homework, so the top-class restaurant, police treatment of migrants, retirement home, and lots of other stuff were thoroughly credible. But I felt disappointed; maybe I'm just expecting too much.
Norman Housley

Trash in glad rags, 22 Jun 2008
I do not understand the status of this novel. Firstly, it's racist, but we know that already. What really gets me is the weird language that one is expected to 'learn' in order to get the story. And lets be honest, it is a story for children with little subtle comment and no depth of character...everyone is 'Twain'! Do not waste your money....buy a Graham Greene novel instead.

An American classic that must be read by all (and never banned), 06 May 2007
If there's any book out there that needs no introduction (or review, to be honest), it's Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet here I am reviewing it, anyway. I must admit (not without a fair share of embarrassment) that I just now got around to reading this American classic for the first time. I never had to read it in school, and to some degree I felt pretty familiar with the novel even without having read it - that's just how popular and important Huckleberry Finn is to the social fabric of America.

Nowadays, with all the politically correct liberals having escaped their Berkeley zoo and run amuck all over the nation, many of our young people are told not to read this novel. In fact, legions of voices cry out for poor little Huck Finn, that beloved rascal of literature, to be banned from schools and libraries - for the crime of using the n-word, a word commonly used by both blacks and whites up and down the Mississippi during Huck's time (not to mention numerous hip-hop artists of today). Turning a blind eye to the fact that Twain made the slave Jim a noble, human, easy-going fellow with his heart always in the right place (unlike Huck's other companions), the literary fascists contend that this novel is poison to the minds of youngsters. One can only imagine the reaction Mark Twain would have to the hysteria his book incites in liberals today (although he would certainly not be surprised, as he had to fight censorship of this book from the date of its publication).

One of the great ironies of the "Ban Huck Finn" brouhaha is the fact that young people will surely find this novel much more entertaining than the vast majority of other literary classics they are asked to read. This is a very funny book, especially once "the duke and the dauphin" arrive on the scene and, later, when Tom Sawyer meticulously plans out Jim's rescue from captivity (no thanks to the captors, who didn't even try to make it as difficult as Tom says it should be). Young readers will also relate to and understand this book, a fact which should give rise to spirited discussion of it in class. Don't we want our kids to be excited about books and reading?

The more outrageous the hissy fits thrown by liberal critics over the "dangers" of Huck Finn, the more important it is for everyone, young and old alike, to go out and read Twain's novel. Whenever someone tells you not to read something, it's important that you go out there and read it - and discover whatever it is the book banning loonies don't want you to know. Prove to them that you are intelligent enough to know the difference between the social values of the past and present, fiction and reality, right and wrong, etc. Think for yourself. Read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The classic American text?, 13 Feb 2007
Some will argue it is the first and still the best American novel. I don't wish to dwell on this debate, only to review the novel from my personal view.

Huckleberry Finn as a character is an immensely human and lovable rogue. He is a far more complex character than Tom Sawyer, and the reader can relate much better to him throughout. His adventures with his black companion Jim are life-changing experiences, and the fact that he goes through them in childhood makes them ever so more poignant.

As a novel it is an enjoyable read, and a journey into a rich and varied landscape dotted with very real and unique characters. The plot is far deeper than a glance will tell, and Hucks relationship with his adult role models is just a start for delving deeper into the philosophy of this book.

Whichever level you read Huckleberry Finn at, it is enjoyable, funny and heart warming from beginning to end. The richness of the novel will consume even the most unimaginative reader, and if you can set aside the differences in social life of the 1860s, you will find a marvellous read. It should be read by all.

Illustrative of the world, 27 Feb 2006
Huckleberry Finn is illustrative of the world, not only in the cosmopolitan characters entering and leaving the story, but also in the way people react to it. One reaction is that it is a racist novel, mentioning the word nigger 121 times. The people who interpret the novel in this way seem only glance at the surface and delve no deeper. They probably do this in all other aspects of their life. The second type of person will look deeper, as though delving into the depths of the Mississippi River setting. They will see past the racism of Huckleberry Finn himself as Huck comments on the definite signs of humanity and equality in Jim. They will see the underlying message, of how he is the product of a terrible system and look into the other messages encountered in the journey of the book. To this type of person no other novel can be so fascinating, yet remain humorous all the while.

A masterpiece of American literature, 05 Dec 2005
Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is not only Twain's best work, but is considered by some, one of the greatest novels ever written. Episodic in form (as Twain warns, "persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot"), Huckleberry Finn is clearly, along with Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, one of the three most ambitious and artistically successful novels of America's 19th century.

But what is it about Huckleberry Finn that makes it stand out? Most young people reading it will declare that they thought Tom Sawyer was better, and for them, they would be right. It is a difficult novel to teach. The dialect is actually difficult for some inexperienced readers. The satire and ironies are often lost on some readers, and some minorities are offended by what they think is its racist tone. That, however, is an historical irony if ever there was one. Twain's intent was to belittle and make fun of the racist attitudes of most Americans. The very fact that Jim and Huck were able to achieve a fast friendship and to negotiate together the epic journey down the Mississippi with Jim often showing superior wisdom and a right smart common sense did not sit well with some prejudicial mind sets. Today what offends is the language, in particular the use of the "n" word.

But what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel is first and foremost the indelible character of the often self-effacing Huck Finn himself and his compelling, lyrical, and ever so beautifully observed narrative. There is only one other novel in American literature that can be considered in the same league as far as first person narratives go, and that is Nabokov's Lolita. Strange to say Humbert Humbert and Huck Finn have one thing in common, an uncommon ability to make their differing worlds extraordinarily vivid through painstakingly clever and absolutely authentic voices. Both Twain and Nabokov achieved this rare veracity because of their command of language, their sense of character, and their fine ear for the nuances of speech.

Sense of character is also what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel. The characters are so real they practically jump off the page. Even the minor characters are Shakespearean in their psychological verity. It is not exactly a co-incidence that the Duke of "Bilgewater" and the "King of France," those ornery rascals rescued by Huck and Jim, were experts in ersatz Shakespeare and various dodges. Twain knew people, and he knew them well. Too well, one might say, considering his low opinion of humankind.

The effective--even rhapsodic--use of dialect is another thing that makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel. Writing a novel in dialect is a difficult thing to do well. Many have tried it and many have failed. Most writers are well advised to limit their use of dialect to the speech of their characters. But Twain was a master of dialect of many sorts, and was able to have Huck Finn narrate the entire novel in his voice while at the same time employ the various dialects of the other characters. Nabokov--although I don't think he ever acknowledged this--was undoubtedly influenced by Twain's authentic use of dialect; but because his narrator was a transplanted European professor of literature, he had to narrate in standard English; indeed a most eloquent standard English. Yet, one notices that Nabokov through Humbert took some delight in reproducing Lolita's authentic speech, her mid-twentieth century, New England, urban teenaged dialect.

Finally, what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel is its humor. Twain was a master of all sorts of humor. (He was a great public speaker and story teller.) The language of the novel itself is replete with "malapropisms, puns, misquotations, understatement, exaggeration, incongruities, illiteracies, and absurd spellings," to quote from Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature, p. 259--most done for comedic effect. Additionally, the yarns themselves, the "stretchers," as Huck has it, are wondrous funny, and Huck's commonsensical take on life often contrasted humorously with what he actually saw and experienced.

Here's one of my favorite passages from the book to illustrate the master's humorous style. The ragged "King" is about to divulge "the secret of" his "being" to the supposed Duke of Bridgewater and to Huck and Jim. He says, doing the "Duke" one better:

"Bilgewater, I am the late Dauphin!"
Huck writes, "You bet you Jim and me stared, this time. Then the duke says:
'You are what?'
'Yes, my friend, it is too true--your eyes is lookin' at this very moment on the pore disappeared Dauphin, Looy the Seventeen, son of Looy the Sixteen and Marry Antonette.'
'You! At your age? No! You mean you're the late Charlemagne; you must be six or seven hundred years old, at the very least.'
'Trouble has done it, Bilgewater, trouble has done it; trouble has brung these gray hairs and this premature balditude. Yes, gentlemen, you see before you, in blue jeans and misery, the wanderin', exiled, trampled-on and sufferin' rightful King of France.'"

It is the sheer density of Twain's artistry that most impresses me. I wish I had room to quote the rest of the page as Huck goes on to describe how they "majestying" him so that it "done him heaps of good." There is so much on practically every page. I know of no other writer except Shakespeare who can reveal so much in so few words, and who could use words so creatively.

This is a great novel and anyone who cares about American literature has read it or will.

My favourite read of the year, 30 Sep 2008
There are some writers who just create seamless prose that reads like it's always been there on the page and they just traced over the words. Well, for me, this was one of those books. I loved it from beginning to end. It tells the story of Lev, an "economic migrant" from the East, and his search for work, and life. It is probably a little too rose tinted to be real, and I doubt there are many migrants so lucky as Lev, but I so wanted him to succeed.

Ok it's a fairy tale but a life affirming one, 30 Sep 2008
In language serious, studied, courtly and old-fashioned RT takes us straight into the mind of our melancholy hero Lev - not Olev - cleverly written, carefully researched and up to the minute subject.
Through a haze of cigarettes, the smoking of each one has to be respectfully described, swigs of his darling vodka lisch, all vital to him despite the poverty of his circumstances. Christy and Rudi also sharing his crutches of nicotine and alcohol until they learn that they live more happily without them..

Auror, Glic, Yarbyl, Baryn, Jor are all unrecognised as actual place names so Lev comes from an unknown to us Eastern European country, of grey trade and grey money, arriving by bus and ferry to London. Journeying with the tidy figure of Lydia beside him.
Threading through the story the memory of Marina his lost loved wife, who was a strong mother, daughter in law, friend and colleague. Looking at London and Londoners through the eyes of a new comer with only his language structure to describe it. "Sucking on bottles like anxious babies"..

A clear and effective narrative - Rudi's voice is always in Lev's head, a powerful influence on him. Although later Lev overtakes Rudi and turns his life around for him. The homespun wisdom of Lev's family pushing through his thoughts. Homesickness constantly threatening to overwhelm him. Thoughts of Rudi and his Tschevi (almost a person) Lev's innocence, naivety and simplicity is appealing. Rudi's character is attractive and impressive. When he eventually becomes "The Face Of The Place' all seems right with the world.

Ina, the grim and difficult mother/grandmother/widow whose God is asleep never reacts quite as we'd hope and is like a belligerent donkey who will not be led. I felt she was an excellently drawn person, quite believable.

The themes of food and diet running through are interesting and touching. This chocolate `reminds me of sleep' says Ina grudgingly at the end in the restaurant at no. 43 Podorsky Street. Food horizons opening up with the experience of GKAshe, I remember the same when I worked in restaurant kitchens. Detailed descriptions of meals all so different, from hardboiled eggs, greasy grey goat meat kebabs onward all affected Lev and awoke his senses. Although I am amazed that Lev's taste buds actually worked after so much abuse from the tobacco and spirits. In fact Lev falls in love with food and cooking. Even in the uninspiring atmosphere of the nursing home kitchen. Food becomes his life even after the forty two years of not thinking about it. The kitchen suppers at GKAshe have a comforting reassuring feel, the crostini so delicious you can almost smell it.

As a poignant thoughtful touch RT includes characters from her other stories at least I recognised Ruby Constad from Letters to Sister Benedicta.

Truly felicitous meetings unfold through Lev's progress from his doomed home. His path is smoothed in a fairy tale way mostly by kind ladies and people who are pleased to repay the kindness of others to them. Lydia, Sulima at the first B+B, Ahmed the kebab man, hospitable Tom and Larissa (yoga aficionado). Christy Slane is far deeper and more of a character than he first appears and like all pantomime stories, his ends happily thankfully. Sophie, Sam the mad hatter, Vitas, the Ming's.

Throughout the tale we always understand what is being said to Lev but because of his limited English he only gets part of the conversations along the way especially with GKAshe (Gordon Ramsey) whose kitchen is run like an orchestra or an operating theatre. Christy talking away, his ex wife,snapping, Sophie the lover. It all gives the reader another view of our own language.

Through all of Lev's vast range of experiences you feel you are going through them al with him, they are so warmly and inclusively written. When he mucks things up in his only human way you cringe along with him and admire him for rising again to the next challenges.

So much of the story shows us how other people's voices, opinions and advice constantly ring in our heads - if we choose to let them. Also that the kindness of strangers really can turn your life around.
Lovely stuff!

Rose Tremain does it again, 23 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful novel. I always enjoy Rose Tremain, and The Road Home is certainly one of my favourites.
It's fabulously written, as ever, and Lev is a sympathetic hero, though she certainly doesn't hide his faults. His flashes of anger, culminating in the book's most brutal scene, are convincingly built up - and his treatment of long-suffering Lydia is pretty shoddy.
I agree that there's the odd stereotype among the characters, but I most certainly do not share the view that this story has a fairytale ending. It's highly ambiguous - is everyone really happy and how rosy is the future?
Because Rose Tremain's novels are all so different from each other, I was surprised - and charmed - to find her using a character from an earlier novel quite prominently. Ruby Constad, an old lady who Lev comes to know, is the heroine of Tremain's much earlier novel Letter to Sister Benedicta. The poor woman's life hasn't improved along the way, but I think her appearance here shows how much Tremain cares for her. And if you realise that, you can see she's far more than the convenient plot device she might, at first, appear.

A mirror through which to view a 'Green and pleasant land'., 14 Sep 2008
I enjoyed this book, which isn't surprising considering it was written by Rose Tremain. As usual the prose, construction, attention to detail, plot progression and pace were brilliant: I'm certain Rose Tremain could write a novel about a matchbox and it would be riveting and informative.
For me, Lev, the central character is in essence a mirror that Tremain holds up for us to see the England we'd maybe rather ignore or forget: the pretentious garbage of celebrity and affluence; the coldness and fickle allegiances of a morally bankrupt society; the pockets of loneliness and sadness that exist within families and institutions.
There are aspects of the book that didn't work for me. I felt Lev's character was a little one-dimensional and slightly underdeveloped. His outbursts of temper seemed incongruous and, somewhat irritatingly, his mastery of English seemed to be achieved at a phenomenal rate. I felt the ending was a little brief, not really tying together or enhancing what went before. However his work ethic, determination and pragmatism were an accurate reflection of the Eastern European workers I know.
Some of the characters in the story are memorable: the scarred, sensitive and lonely Christy; the life force that is Rudi; the driven GK Ashe. Others were less believable or bordered on parody: the farmer Midge was irritatingly underdeveloped and his cod rural speech and mannerisms annoying; I didn't find Sophie believable, a shame given her central role.
But, the negatives above can't detract from the overall quality of the book. I was held throughout Lev's odyssey and as I neared the end I actually longed for it all to turn out well for him. I finished with a feeling that my latent dislike of much of what is modern England had flowered into something approaching full blown disgust.
This book reminded me of the famous lines from Burns:

'Oh wad some power the Giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!'



Beautifully written but predictable tale, 02 Sep 2008
Fascinating to read so many rave reviews. I read this on a very long train journey and if I hadn't been stuck there would probably have abandoned it. Rose Tremain has a wonderful prose style and she organizes her plots really well with lots of development, but the novel didn't grip me at all. Characters were boring, situations obvious (mobile phone going off during concert, stereotypical rich/poor London, even more stereotypical run-down anonymous ex-eastern bloc country etc), the ending warm & cosy. Did nobody else find Lev deeply tedious? She is very good at doing her homework, so the top-class restaurant, police treatment of migrants, retirement home, and lots of other stuff were thoroughly credible. But I felt disappointed; maybe I'm just expecting too much.
Norman Housley

Trash in glad rags, 22 Jun 2008
I do not understand the status of this novel. Firstly, it's racist, but we know that already. What really gets me is the weird language that one is expected to 'learn' in order to get the story. And lets be honest, it is a story for children with little subtle comment and no depth of character...everyone is 'Twain'! Do not waste your money....buy a Graham Greene novel instead.

An American classic that must be read by all (and never banned), 06 May 2007
If there's any book out there that needs no introduction (or review, to be honest), it's Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet here I am reviewing it, anyway. I must admit (not without a fair share of embarrassment) that I just now got around to reading this American classic for the first time. I never had to read it in school, and to some degree I felt pretty familiar with the novel even without having read it - that's just how popular and important Huckleberry Finn is to the social fabric of America.

Nowadays, with all the politically correct liberals having escaped their Berkeley zoo and run amuck all over the nation, many of our young people are told not to read this novel. In fact, legions of voices cry out for poor little Huck Finn, that beloved rascal of literature, to be banned from schools and libraries - for the crime of using the n-word, a word commonly used by both blacks and whites up and down the Mississippi during Huck's time (not to mention numerous hip-hop artists of today). Turning a blind eye to the fact that Twain made the slave Jim a noble, human, easy-going fellow with his heart always in the right place (unlike Huck's other companions), the literary fascists contend that this novel is poison to the minds of youngsters. One can only imagine the reaction Mark Twain would have to the hysteria his book incites in liberals today (although he would certainly not be surprised, as he had to fight censorship of this book from the date of its publication).

One of the great ironies of the "Ban Huck Finn" brouhaha is the fact that young people will surely find this novel much more entertaining than the vast majority of other literary classics they are asked to read. This is a very funny book, especially once "the duke and the dauphin" arrive on the scene and, later, when Tom Sawyer meticulously plans out Jim's rescue from captivity (no thanks to the captors, who didn't even try to make it as difficult as Tom says it should be). Young readers will also relate to and understand this book, a fact which should give rise to spirited discussion of it in class. Don't we want our kids to be excited about books and reading?

The more outrageous the hissy fits thrown by liberal critics over the "dangers" of Huck Finn, the more important it is for everyone, young and old alike, to go out and read Twain's novel. Whenever someone tells you not to read something, it's important that you go out there and read it - and discover whatever it is the book banning loonies don't want you to know. Prove to them that you are intelligent enough to know the difference between the social values of the past and present, fiction and reality, right and wrong, etc. Think for yourself. Read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The classic American text?, 13 Feb 2007
Some will argue it is the first and still the best American novel. I don't wish to dwell on this debate, only to review the novel from my personal view.

Huckleberry Finn as a character is an immensely human and lovable rogue. He is a far more complex character than Tom Sawyer, and the reader can relate much better to him throughout. His adventures with his black companion Jim are life-changing experiences, and the fact that he goes through them in childhood makes them ever so more poignant.

As a novel it is an enjoyable read, and a journey into a rich and varied landscape dotted with very real and unique characters. The plot is far deeper than a glance will tell, and Hucks relationship with his adult role models is just a start for delving deeper into the philosophy of this book.

Whichever level you read Huckleberry Finn at, it is enjoyable, funny and heart warming from beginning to end. The richness of the novel will consume even the most unimaginative reader, and if you can set aside the differences in social life of the 1860s, you will find a marvellous read. It should be read by all.

Illustrative of the world, 27 Feb 2006
Huckleberry Finn is illustrative of the world, not only in the cosmopolitan characters entering and leaving the story, but also in the way people react to it. One reaction is that it is a racist novel, mentioning the word nigger 121 times. The people who interpret the novel in this way seem only glance at the surface and delve no deeper. They probably do this in all other aspects of their life. The second type of person will look deeper, as though delving into the depths of the Mississippi River setting. They will see past the racism of Huckleberry Finn himself as Huck comments on the definite signs of humanity and equality in Jim. They will see the underlying message, of how he is the product of a terrible system and look into the other messages encountered in the journey of the book. To this type of person no other novel can be so fascinating, yet remain humorous all the while.

A masterpiece of American literature, 05 Dec 2005
Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is not only Twain's best work, but is considered by some, one of the greatest novels ever written. Episodic in form (as Twain warns, "persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot"), Huckleberry Finn is clearly, along with Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, one of the three most ambitious and artistically successful novels of America's 19th century.

But what is it about Huckleberry Finn that makes it stand out? Most young people reading it will declare that they thought Tom Sawyer was better, and for them, they would be right. It is a difficult novel to teach. The dialect is actually difficult for some inexperienced readers. The satire and ironies are often lost on some readers, and some minorities are offended by what they think is its racist tone. That, however, is an historical irony if ever there was one. Twain's intent was to belittle and make fun of the racist attitudes of most Americans. The very fact that Jim and Huck were able to achieve a fast friendship and to negotiate together the epic journey down the Mississippi with Jim often showing superior wisdom and a right smart common sense did not sit well with some prejudicial mind sets. Today what offends is the language, in particular the use of the "n" word.

But what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel is first and foremost the indelible character of the often self-effacing Huck Finn himself and his compelling, lyrical, and ever so beautifully observed narrative. There is only one other novel in American literature that can be considered in the same league as far as first person narratives go, and that is Nabokov's Lolita. Strange to say Humbert Humbert and Huck Finn have one thing in common, an uncommon ability to make their differing worlds extraordinarily vivid through painstakingly clever and absolutely authentic voices. Both Twain and Nabokov achieved this rare veracity because of their command of language, their sense of character, and their fine ear for the nuances of speech.

Sense of character is also what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel. The characters are so real they practically jump off the page. Even the minor characters are Shakespearean in their psychological verity. It is not exactly a co-incidence that the Duke of "Bilgewater" and the "King of France," those ornery rascals rescued by Huck and Jim, were experts in ersatz Shakespeare and various dodges. Twain knew people, and he knew them well. Too well, one might say, considering his low opinion of humankind.

The effective--even rhapsodic--use of dialect is another thing that makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel. Writing a novel in dialect is a difficult thing to do well. Many have tried it and many have failed. Most writers are well advised to limit their use of dialect to the speech of their characters. But Twain was a master of dialect of many sorts, and was able to have Huck Finn narrate the entire novel in his voice while at the same time employ the various dialects of the other characters. Nabokov--although I don't think he ever acknowledged this--was undoubtedly influenced by Twain's authentic use of dialect; but because his narrator was a transplanted European professor of literature, he had to narrate in standard English; indeed a most eloquent standard English. Yet, one notices that Nabokov through Humbert took some delight in reproducing Lolita's authentic speech, her mid-twentieth century, New England, urban teenaged dialect.

Finally, what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel is its humor. Twain was a master of all sorts of humor. (He was a great public speaker and story teller.) The language of the novel itself is replete with "malapropisms, puns, misquotations, understatement, exaggeration, incongruities, illiteracies, and absurd spellings," to quote from Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature, p. 259--most done for comedic effect. Additionally, the yarns themselves, the "stretchers," as Huck has it, are wondrous funny, and Huck's commonsensical take on life often contrasted humorously with what he actually saw and experienced.

Here's one of my favorite passages from the book to illustrate the master's humorous style. The ragged "King" is about to divulge "the secret of" his "being" to the supposed Duke of Bridgewater and to Huck and Jim. He says, doing the "Duke" one better:

"Bilgewater, I am the late Dauphin!"
Huck writes, "You bet you Jim and me stared, this time. Then the duke says:
'You are what?'
'Yes, my friend, it is too true--your eyes is lookin' at this very moment on the pore disappeared Dauphin, Looy the Seventeen, son of Looy the Sixteen and Marry Antonette.'
'You! At your age? No! You mean you're the late Charlemagne; you must be six or seven hundred years old, at the very least.'
'Trouble has done it, Bilgewater, trouble has done it; trouble has brung these gray hairs and this premature balditude. Yes, gentlemen, you see before you, in blue jeans and misery, the wanderin', exiled, trampled-on and sufferin' rightful King of France.'"

It is the sheer density of Twain's artistry that most impresses me. I wish I had room to quote the rest of the page as Huck goes on to describe how they "majestying" him so that it "done him heaps of good." There is so much on practically every page. I know of no other writer except Shakespeare who can reveal so much in so few words, and who could use words so creatively.

This is a great novel and anyone who cares about American literature has read it or will.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 09 Jul 2008
Hunter S. Thompson is by far THE most entertaining writer in modern literature, it has to be said. His engrossing affilliation with substances that he swore he hadn't been taking during the writing of the major part of this novel, make this most probably the funniest piece of literature available. His quick wit and complete topsy-turvy sense of humour is only the beginning. As he travels through the desert with his attorney to "find the dark side of the American dream", they well and trully find it when they agree that any trip such as the one their making can only be made armed with a stupendous arsenal of drugs. And this they do. They engage in a completely twisted reality that is there's alone, and their journey, so infallible to their minds, leaps from one thing to the next supporting complete hysteria and laugh-out-louds situations, and I can honestly tell you there isn't a moment in this book that isn't ruthlessly fun.

Thompson manages to bring across madness in a sweet, yet shocking form, and produces simile after simile, metaphor after metaphor of true brilliance. I wouldn't go so far as to call this book a comedy, that would suggest that Thompson is attempting to be funny. But the fact is, he IS funny, whether you want him to be or not. His discriptions of the events that took place are superb, giving you the absolute feeling that you were right in the back seat of their car with the hitchhiker himself, and even more. His emotions and the feelings of his attorney are all described and somehow justified in some twisted way, and you can't help but get pulled into the story.

Apart from being hilarious, and wildly enteraining, the book also shows an overture on the scary American dream that was large during the late sixties. The malignant culture is portrayed wonderfully, and described from the standpoint of someone who got involved himself, and he describes the whole thing from things he saw. Even after the book has finished you'll find yourself hearing Hunter S. Thompson speaking in your head describing your every move in the form of one of his writings, almost like he's part of your sub-concious. His power, delivery and intoxicatingly clever witted nature makes this book what it is: a masterpiece. No wonder it became a modern classic.

The first stage for many...., 22 Jun 2008
As with a lot of people in my generation, i have found that H.S.Thompson is a very entertaining author. The first of his books i read was this (saw the film first, and this had too follow) and i really liked it. It's funny, sadistic, manic and totally absorbing.
The story followed in this book, is that of Raul Duke and his Attorney on a trip to Las Vegas, the purpose is to cover a story - of a bike race. In getting the job, Raul and The Samoan gain access to a large sum of cash, an expensive convertible sports car and a whole range of other "perks". With this, they travel through the desert to the flagship ideal of the "American dream" - Las Vegas. A place where you can ascend from rags-to-riches, from zero-to-hero and back again with nothing but a dollar in your pocket to start you off. This fact is epitomized and almost chastised through-out the book. Raul and The Samoan never pay a penny for anything (all the money they had access to was the newspaper's) and act like true animals wherever they go - using an absolute truck loads of illicit substances that are easily available and almost always right under your nose! No mater how blatant they are, no-matter un-wholesome they become, they are still allowed to let rip all over the city... and do so, never fettered...
"he who makes a beast of himself takes away the pain of being a man" - H.S.Thompson
This book is not one about drug's, about being twisted. It is not a giggly stoner book that pokes a rebellious middle finger at society. It is, however a look at how our society perceives itself... How some people can become rich & powerful, loved & hated, feared & revered and how this very privilege of our society can poison a person and twist their views. Raul's use of drugs has been championed extensively, and of course he does share these traits with his author, but what many people don't realize is that Thompson was a serious writer and a bloody good one at that. Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, and the Other Fear and Loathing titles all follow Raul Duke and follow this ebb of social dissection, Gonzo was not about Raul and his "diet" it was about how no-matter where you look, the world is god-less, selfish and un-forgiving, the balance (as it were) is quite obviously on the side that will not control it-self and how this lack of control (from up high or deep down) is almost always taken for granted. In such a world, passion is a mere pacifier, truth is an illusion and sobriety is nothing to aspire to...

This book is brilliant, the writing is cunning and smart and the narrative enthralling. If you liked to be challenged, and if you're capable of looking below the surface, this book is for you

ENJOY!!!


Buy the ticket, take the ride, 16 Jun 2008
The greatest book about the illusion of the American dream ever written. One of my all time favourite books though some people will simply not get it, not understand it at all. This is a fantastic work of literature and if you have the right kind of mind set you will thoroughly enjoy it. His words are incisive and often profound and this is a perfect introduction to a great author.

As your attorney I advise you to read this book., 30 Dec 2007
I have read this one six or seven times and it still makes me laugh. Virtually every page has something on it to make you laugh out loud. The way he uses italics to emphasize the humour is just brilliant. This is a man at the top of his game. There is a lot of drug abuse and a lot of swearing, and some things I could not mention on a site such as this, but I assure you, good reader, that you should just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. For me, the funniest book ever.

fabulous!, 24 Dec 2007
i first read this after surfing round the internet and bought it on some recommendations from various online journals. I have now finished reading it for the fifth time.
the quotes are one of a kind, the detail into the drug trips are A-Class and you can almost feel that you are sat in the same room as Raoul Duke as he trips on various drugs.
God bless Hunter S Thompson for sticking it to the masses with this book.
RIP.

My favourite read of the year, 30 Sep 2008
There are some writers who just create seamless prose that reads like it's always been there on the page and they just traced over the words. Well, for me, this was one of those books. I loved it from beginning to end. It tells the story of Lev, an "economic migrant" from the East, and his search for work, and life. It is probably a little too rose tinted to be real, and I doubt there are many migrants so lucky as Lev, but I so wanted him to succeed.

Ok it's a fairy tale but a life affirming one, 30 Sep 2008
In language serious, studied, courtly and old-fashioned RT takes us straight into the mind of our melancholy hero Lev - not Olev - cleverly written, carefully researched and up to the minute subject.
Through a haze of cigarettes, the smoking of each one has to be respectfully described, swigs of his darling vodka lisch, all vital to him despite the poverty of his circumstances. Christy and Rudi also sharing his crutches of nicotine and alcohol until they learn that they live more happily without them..

Auror, Glic, Yarbyl, Baryn, Jor are all unrecognised as actual place names so Lev comes from an unknown to us Eastern European country, of grey trade and grey money, arriving by bus and ferry to London. Journeying with the tidy figure of Lydia beside him.
Threading through the story the memory of Marina his lost loved wife, who was a strong mother, daughter in law, friend and colleague. Looking at London and Londoners through the eyes of a new comer with only his language structure to describe it. "Sucking on bottles like anxious babies"..

A clear and effective narrative - Rudi's voice is always in Lev's head, a powerful influence on him. Although later Lev overtakes Rudi and turns his life around for him. The homespun wisdom of Lev's family pushing through his thoughts. Homesickness constantly threatening to overwhelm him. Thoughts of Rudi and his Tschevi (almost a person) Lev's innocence, naivety and simplicity is appealing. Rudi's character is attractive and impressive. When he eventually becomes "The Face Of The Place' all seems right with the world.

Ina, the grim and difficult mother/grandmother/widow whose God is asleep never reacts quite as we'd hope and is like a belligerent donkey who will not be led. I felt she was an excellently drawn person, quite believable.

The themes of food and diet running through are interesting and touching. This chocolate `reminds me of sleep' says Ina grudgingly at the end in the restaurant at no. 43 Podorsky Street. Food horizons opening up with the experience of GKAshe, I remember the same when I worked in restaurant kitchens. Detailed descriptions of meals all so different, from hardboiled eggs, greasy grey goat meat kebabs onward all affected Lev and awoke his senses. Although I am amazed that Lev's taste buds actually worked after so much abuse from the tobacco and spirits. In fact Lev falls in love with food and cooking. Even in the uninspiring atmosphere of the nursing home kitchen. Food becomes his life even after the forty two years of not thinking about it. The kitchen suppers at GKAshe have a comforting reassuring feel, the crostini so delicious you can almost smell it.

As a poignant thoughtful touch RT includes characters from her other stories at least I recognised Ruby Constad from Letters to Sister Benedicta.

Truly felicitous meetings unfold through Lev's progress from his doomed home. His path is smoothed in a fairy tale way mostly by kind ladies and people who are pleased to repay the kindness of others to them. Lydia, Sulima at the first B+B, Ahmed the kebab man, hospitable Tom and Larissa (yoga aficionado). Christy Slane is far deeper and more of a character than he first appears and like all pantomime stories, his ends happily thankfully. Sophie, Sam the mad hatter, Vitas, the Ming's.

Throughout the tale we always understand what is being said to Lev but because of his limited English he only gets part of the conversations along the way especially with GKAshe (Gordon Ramsey) whose kitchen is run like an orchestra or an operating theatre. Christy talking away, his ex wife,snapping, Sophie the lover. It all gives the reader another view of our own language.

Through all of Lev's vast range of experiences you feel you are going through them al with him, they are so warmly and inclusively written. When he mucks things up in his only human way you cringe along with him and admire him for rising again to the next challenges.

So much of the story shows us how other people's voices, opinions and advice constantly ring in our heads - if we choose to let them. Also that the kindness of strangers really can turn your life around.
Lovely stuff!

Rose Tremain does it again, 23 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful novel. I always enjoy Rose Tremain, and The Road Home is certainly one of my favourites.
It's fabulously written, as ever, and Lev is a sympathetic hero, though she certainly doesn't hide his faults. His flashes of anger, culminating in the book's most brutal scene, are convincingly built up - and his treatment of long-suffering Lydia is pretty shoddy.
I agree that there's the odd stereotype among the characters, but I most certainly do not share the view that this story has a fairytale ending. It's highly ambiguous - is everyone really happy and how rosy is the future?
Because Rose Tremain's novels are all so different from each other, I was surprised - and charmed - to find her using a character from an earlier novel quite prominently. Ruby Constad, an old lady who Lev comes to know, is the heroine of Tremain's much earlier novel Letter to Sister Benedicta. The poor woman's life hasn't improved along the way, but I think her appearance here shows how much Tremain cares for her. And if you realise that, you can see she's far more than the convenient plot device she might, at first, appear.

A mirror through which to view a 'Green and pleasant land'., 14 Sep 2008
I enjoyed this book, which isn't surprising considering it was written by Rose Tremain. As usual the prose, construction, attention to detail, plot progression and pace were brilliant: I'm certain Rose Tremain could write a novel about a matchbox and it would be riveting and informative.
For me, Lev, the central character is in essence a mirror that Tremain holds up for us to see the England we'd maybe rather ignore or forget: the pretentious garbage of celebrity and affluence; the coldness and fickle allegiances of a morally bankrupt society; the pockets of loneliness and sadness that exist within families and institutions.
There are aspects of the book that didn't work for me. I felt Lev's character was a little one-dimensional and slightly underdeveloped. His outbursts of temper seemed incongruous and, somewhat irritatingly, his mastery of English seemed to be achieved at a phenomenal rate. I felt the ending was a little brief, not really tying together or enhancing what went before. However his work ethic, determination and pragmatism were an accurate reflection of the Eastern European workers I know.
Some of the characters in the story are memorable: the scarred, sensitive and lonely Christy; the life force that is Rudi; the driven GK Ashe. Others were less believable or bordered on parody: the farmer Midge was irritatingly underdeveloped and his cod rural speech and mannerisms annoying; I didn't find Sophie believable, a shame given her central role.
But, the negatives above can't detract from the overall quality of the book. I was held throughout Lev's odyssey and as I neared the end I actually longed for it all to turn out well for him. I finished with a feeling that my latent dislike of much of what is modern England had flowered into something approaching full blown disgust.
This book reminded me of the famous lines from Burns:

'Oh wad some power the Giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!'



Beautifully written but predictable tale, 02 Sep 2008
Fascinating to read so many rave reviews. I read this on a very long train journey and if I hadn't been stuck there would probably have abandoned it. Rose Tremain has a wonderful prose style and she organizes her plots really well with lots of development, but the novel didn't grip me at all. Characters were boring, situations obvious (mobile phone going off during concert, stereotypical rich/poor London, even more stereotypical run-down anonymous ex-eastern bloc country etc), the ending warm & cosy. Did nobody else find Lev deeply tedious? She is very good at doing her homework, so the top-class restaurant, police treatment of migrants, retirement home, and lots of other stuff were thoroughly credible. But I felt disappointed; maybe I'm just expecting too much.
Norman Housley

Trash in glad rags, 22 Jun 2008
I do not understand the status of this novel. Firstly, it's racist, but we know that already. What really gets me is the weird language that one is expected to 'learn' in order to get the story. And lets be honest, it is a story for children with little subtle comment and no depth of character...everyone is 'Twain'! Do not waste your money....buy a Graham Greene novel instead.

An American classic that must be read by all (and never banned), 06 May 2007
If there's any book out there that needs no introduction (or review, to be honest), it's Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet here I am reviewing it, anyway. I must admit (not without a fair share of embarrassment) that I just now got around to reading this American classic for the first time. I never had to read it in school, and to some degree I felt pretty familiar with the novel even without having read it - that's just how popular and important Huckleberry Finn is to the social fabric of America.

Nowadays, with all the politically correct liberals having escaped their Berkeley zoo and run amuck all over the nation, many of our young people are told not to read this novel. In fact, legions of voices cry out for poor little Huck Finn, that beloved rascal of literature, to be banned from schools and libraries - for the crime of using the n-word, a word commonly used by both blacks and whites up and down the Mississippi during Huck's time (not to mention numerous hip-hop artists of today). Turning a blind eye to the fact that Twain made the slave Jim a noble, human, easy-going fellow with his heart always in the right place (unlike Huck's other companions), the literary fascists contend that this novel is poison to the minds of youngsters. One can only imagine the reaction Mark Twain would have to the hysteria his book incites in liberals today (although he would certainly not be surprised, as he had to fight censorship of this book from the date of its publication).

One of the great ironies of the "Ban Huck Finn" brouhaha is the fact that young people will surely find this novel much more entertaining than the vast majority of other literary classics they are asked to read. This is a very funny book, especially once "the duke and the dauphin" arrive on the scene and, later, when Tom Sawyer meticulously plans out Jim's rescue from captivity (no thanks to the captors, who didn't even try to make it as difficult as Tom says it should be). Young readers will also relate to and understand this book, a fact which should give rise to spirited discussion of it in class. Don't we want our kids to be excited about books and reading?

The more outrageous the hissy fits thrown by liberal critics over the "dangers" of Huck Finn, the more important it is for everyone, young and old alike, to go out and read Twain's novel. Whenever someone tells you not to read something, it's important that you go out there and read it - and discover whatever it is the book banning loonies don't want you to know. Prove to them that you are intelligent enough to know the difference between the social values of the past and present, fiction and reality, right and wrong, etc. Think for yourself. Read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The classic American text?, 13 Feb 2007
Some will argue it is the first and still the best American novel. I don't wish to dwell on this debate, only to review the novel from my personal view.

Huckleberry Finn as a character is an immensely human and lovable rogue. He is a far more complex character than Tom Sawyer, and the reader can relate much better to him throughout. His adventures with his black companion Jim are life-changing experiences, and the fact that he goes through them in childhood makes them ever so more poignant.

As a novel it is an enjoyable read, and a journey into a rich and varied landscape dotted with very real and unique characters. The plot is far deeper than a glance will tell, and Hucks relationship with his adult role models is just a start for delving deeper into the philosophy of this book.

Whichever level you read Huckleberry Finn at, it is enjoyable, funny and heart warming from beginning to end. The richness of the novel will consume even the most unimaginative reader, and if you can set aside the differences in social life of the 1860s, you will find a marvellous read. It should be read by all.

Illustrative of the world, 27 Feb 2006
Huckleberry Finn is illustrative of the world, not only in the cosmopolitan characters entering and leaving the story, but also in the way people react to it. One reaction is that it is a racist novel, mentioning the word nigger 121 times. The people who interpret the novel in this way seem only glance at the surface and delve no deeper. They probably do this in all other aspects of their life. The second type of person will look deeper, as though delving into the depths of the Mississippi River setting. They will see past the racism of Huckleberry Finn himself as Huck comments on the definite signs of humanity and equality in Jim. They will see the underlying message, of how he is the product of a terrible system and look into the other messages encountered in the journey of the book. To this type of person no other novel can be so fascinating, yet remain humorous all the while.

A masterpiece of American literature, 05 Dec 2005
Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is not only Twain's best work, but is considered by some, one of the greatest novels ever written. Episodic in form (as Twain warns, "persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot"), Huckleberry Finn is clearly, along with Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, one of the three most ambitious and artistically successful novels of America's 19th century.

But what is it about Huckleberry Finn that makes it stand out? Most young people reading it will declare that they thought Tom Sawyer was better, and for them, they would be right. It is a difficult novel to teach. The dialect is actually difficult for some inexperienced readers. The satire and ironies are often lost on some readers, and some minorities are offended by what they think is its racist tone. That, however, is an historical irony if ever there was one. Twain's intent was to belittle and make fun of the racist attitudes of most Americans. The very fact that Jim and Huck were able to achieve a fast friendship and to negotiate together the epic journey down the Mississippi with Jim often showing superior wisdom and a right smart common sense did not sit well with some prejudicial mind sets. Today what offends is the language, in particular the use of the "n" word.

But what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel is first and foremost the indelible character of the often self-effacing Huck Finn himself and his compelling, lyrical, and ever so beautifully observed narrative. There is only one other novel in American literature that can be considered in the same league as far as first person narratives go, and that is Nabokov's Lolita. Strange to say Humbert Humbert and Huck Finn have one thing in common, an uncommon ability to make their differing worlds extraordinarily vivid through painstakingly clever and absolutely authentic voices. Both Twain and Nabokov achieved this rare veracity because of their command of language, their sense of character, and their fine ear for the nuances of speech.

Sense of character is also what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel. The characters are so real they practically jump off the page. Even the minor characters are Shakespearean in their psychological verity. It is not exactly a co-incidence that the Duke of "Bilgewater" and the "King of France," those ornery rascals rescued by Huck and Jim, were experts in ersatz Shakespeare and various dodges. Twain knew people, and he knew them well. Too well, one might say, considering his low opinion of humankind.

The effective--even rhapsodic--use of dialect is another thing that makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel. Writing a novel in dialect is a difficult thing to do well. Many have tried it and many have failed. Most writers are well advised to limit their use of dialect to the speech of their characters. But Twain was a master of dialect of many sorts, and was able to have Huck Finn narrate the entire novel in his voice while at the same time employ the various dialects of the other characters. Nabokov--although I don't think he ever acknowledged this--was undoubtedly influenced by Twain's authentic use of dialect; but because his narrator was a transplanted European professor of literature, he had to narrate in standard English; indeed a most eloquent standard English. Yet, one notices that Nabokov through Humbert took some delight in reproducing Lolita's authentic speech, her mid-twentieth century, New England, urban teenaged dialect.

Finally, what makes Huckleberry Finn a great novel is its humor. Twain was a master of all sorts of humor. (He was a great public speaker and story teller.) The language of the novel itself is replete with "malapropisms, puns, misquotations, understatement, exaggeration, incongruities, illiteracies, and absurd spellings," to quote from Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature, p. 259--most done for comedic effect. Additionally, the yarns themselves, the "stretchers," as Huck has it, are wondrous funny, and Huck's commonsensical take on life often contrasted humorously with what he actually saw and experienced.

Here's one of my favorite passages from the book to illustrate the master's humorous style. The ragged "King" is about to divulge "the secret of" his "being" to the supposed Duke of Bridgewater and to Huck and Jim. He says, doing the "Duke" one better:

"Bilgewater, I am the late Dauphin!"
Huck writes, "You bet you Jim and me stared, this time. Then the duke says:
'You are what?'
'Yes, my friend, it is too true--your eyes is lookin' at this very moment on the pore disappeared Dauphin, Looy the Seventeen, son of Looy the Sixteen and Marry Antonette.'
'You! At your age? No! You mean you're the late Charlemagne; you must be six or seven hundred years old, at the very least.'
'Trouble has done it, Bilgewater, trouble has done it; trouble has brung these gray hairs and this premature balditude. Yes, gentlemen, you see before you, in blue jeans and misery, the wanderin', exiled, trampled-on and sufferin' rightful King of France.'"

It is the sheer density of Twain's artistry that most impresses me. I wish I had room to quote the rest of the page as Huck goes on to describe how they "majestying" him so that it "done him heaps of good." There is so much on practically every page. I know of no other writer except Shakespeare who can reveal so much in so few words, and who could use words so creatively.

This is a great novel and anyone who cares about American literature has read it or will.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 09 Jul 2008
Hunter S. Thompson is by far THE most entertaining writer in modern literature, it has to be said. His engrossing affilliation with substances that he swore he hadn't been taking during the writing of the major part of this novel, make this most probably the funniest piece of literature available. His quick wit and complete topsy-turvy sense of humour is only the beginning. As he travels through the desert with his attorney to "find the dark side of the American dream", they well and trully find it when they agree that any trip such as the one their making can only be made armed with a stupendous arsenal of drugs. And this they do. They engage in a completely twisted reality that is there's alone, and their journey, so infallible to their minds, leaps from one thing to the next supporting complete hysteria and laugh-out-louds situations, and I can honestly tell you there isn't a moment in this book that isn't ruthlessly fun.

Thompson manages to bring across madness in a sweet, yet shocking form, and produces simile after simile, metaphor after metaphor of true brilliance. I wouldn't go so far as to call this book a comedy, that would suggest that Thompson is attempting to be funny. But the fact is, he IS funny, whether you want him to be or not. His discriptions of the events that took place are superb, giving you the absolute feeling that you were right in the back seat of their car with the hitchhiker himself, and even more. His emotions and the feelings of his attorney are all described and somehow justified in some twisted way, and you can't help but get pulled into the story.

Apart from being hilarious, and wildly enteraining, the book also shows an overture on the scary American dream that was large during the late sixties. The malignant culture is portrayed wonderfully, and described from the standpoint of someone who got involved himself, and he describes the whole thing from things he saw. Even after the book has finished you'll find yourself hearing Hunter S. Thompson speaking in your head describing your every move in the form of one of his writings, almost like he's part of your sub-concious. His power, delivery and intoxicatingly clever witted nature makes this book what it is: a masterpiece. No wonder it became a modern classic.

The first stage for many...., 22 Jun 2008
As with a lot of people in my generation, i have found that H.S.Thompson is a very entertaining author. The first of his books i read was this (saw the film first, and this had too follow) and i really liked it. It's funny, sadistic, manic and totally absorbing.
The story followed in this book, is that of Raul Duke and his Attorney on a trip to Las Vegas, the purpose is to cover a story - of a bike race. In getting the job, Raul and The Samoan gain access to a large sum of cash, an expensive convertible sports car and a whole range of other "perks". With this, they travel through the desert to the flagship ideal of the "American dream" - Las Vegas. A place where you can ascend from rags-to-riches, from zero-to-hero and back again with nothing but a dollar in your pocket to start you off. This fact is epitomized and almost chastised through-out the book. Raul and The Samoan never pay a penny for anything (all the money they had access to was the newspaper's) and act like true animals wherever they go - using an absolute truck loads of illicit substances that are easily available and almost always right under your nose! No mater how blatant they are, no-matter un-wholesome they become, they are still allowed to let rip all over the city... and do so, never fettered...
"he who makes a beast of himself takes away the pain of being a man" - H.S.Thompson
This book is not one about drug's, about being twisted. It is not a giggly stoner book that pokes a rebellious middle finger at society. It is, however a look at how our society perceives itself... How some people can become rich & powerful, loved & hated, feared & revered and how this very privilege of our society can poison a person and twist their views. Raul's use of drugs has been championed extensively, and of course he does share these traits with his author, but what many people don't realize is that Thompson was a serious writer and a bloody good one at that. Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, and the Other Fear and Loathing titles all follow Raul Duke and follow this ebb of social dissection, Gonzo was not about Raul and his "diet" it was about how no-matter where you look, the world is god-less, selfish and un-forgiving, the balance (as it were) is quite obviously on the side that will not control it-self and how this lack of control (from up high or deep down) is almost always taken for granted. In such a world, passion is a mere pacifier, truth is an illusion and sobriety is nothing to aspire to...

This book is brilliant, the writing is cunning and smart and the narrative enthralling. If you liked to be challenged, and if you're capable of looking below the surface, this book is for you

ENJOY!!!


Buy the ticket, take the ride, 16 Jun 2008
The greatest book about the illusion of the American dream ever written. One of my all time favourite books though some people will simply not get it, not understand it at all. This is a fantastic work of literature and if you have the right kind of mind set you will thoroughly enjoy it. His words are incisive and often profound and this is a perfect introduction to a great author.

As your attorney I advise you to read this book., 30 Dec 2007
I have read this one six or seven times and it still makes me laugh. Virtually every page has something on it to make you laugh out loud. The way he uses italics to emphasize the humour is just brilliant. This is a man at the top of his game. There is a lot of drug abuse and a lot of swearing, and some things I could not mention on a site such as this, but I assure you, good reader, that you should just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. For me, the funniest book ever.

fabulous!, 24 Dec 2007
i first read this after surfing round the internet and bought it on some recommendations from various online journals. I have now finished reading it for the fifth time.
the quotes are one of a kind, the detail into the drug trips are A-Class and you can almost feel that you are sat in the same room as Raoul Duke as he trips on various drugs.
God bless Hunter S Thompson for sticking it to the masses with this book.
RIP.

Approaching the inevitable peripeteia, 04 Oct 2008
Why 'peripeteia'? It's appropriate to use this term here, Aristotle's word for the turning point that makes a drama a drama, a tragedy a tragedy. All the participants are scholars of the ancient classics - as I was myself - and all, like the characters of ancient tragedy, have their fatal flaw. It's when this fatal flaw does emerge that the action of the book and its eventual conclusion become clear. It's a slow, icy read, but all the better for that. The evil genius, the most flawed and the most capable, has his victim in his sights and calculates his next moves, one by one, openly in his diary - but written in Latin. These are privileged young men, but privilege, ability, is no protection from human flaw

my special book, 09 Sep 2008
I can put it thus: The secret history manages to read like a book many years older than it is. i was lucky enough to have read it when it was first issued and it has stayed with me in so many ways. i, too, recommend it to many, am unable to do it justice with my description, and instead leave the potential reader with the thought that to read it would be to their advantage.
Donna Tartt has written one other book since, to my knowledge. it wasn't a patch on this too be honest. that doesn't really matter for the SH will stand alone as a book of magnitude...a murder, believable characters, a lesson in greek history and, not least a bloody good way to spend a few hours.
a modern day classic, and one dear to my heart.

Wonderful, 11 Aug 2008
This book was recommended by the staff at my local Waterstones, and short on inspiration for something to read, I picked it up. My relatively low expectations had little to do with how much I loved this book.

It is at once, gripping, beautifully written, interesting, engaging while managing that most elusive of qualities.. It's a page turner. Try putting it down, I couldn't.

The perfect book? Maybe, I certainly can't fault it. It lacks nothing.



Did I read the same book??, 03 Jul 2008
I am baffled by the overwhelming number of positive reviews for this rather middle-of-the-road literary fiction... So much so that I ended up wondering if I read the same book as all the other reviewers who are absolutely raving about it! Sure, it is reasonably well written, the storytelling engaging if a little simplistic, and the characters are interesting (though somewhat caricature like and two-dimensional), but saying that it is THE book of all times - I mean, come on! Thanks, but no thanks.

Wonderful!, 30 Jun 2008
This book is truly gripping. I could hardly put it down! One of the best books I have ever read!

My favourite read of the year, 30 Sep 2008
There are some writers who just create seamless prose that reads like it's always been there on the page and they just traced over the words. Well, for me, this was one of those books. I loved it from beginning to end. It tells the story of Lev, an "economic migrant" from the East, and his search for work, and life. It is probably a little too rose tinted to be real, and I doubt there are many migrants so lucky as Lev, but I so wanted him to succeed.

Ok it's a fairy tale but a life affirming one, 30 Sep 2008
In language serious, studied, courtly and old-fashioned RT takes us straight into the mind of our melancholy hero Lev - not Olev - cleverly written, carefully researched and up to the minute subject.
Through a haze of cigarettes, the smoking of each one has to be respectfully described, swigs of his darling vodka lisch, all vital to him despite the poverty of his circumstances. Christy and Rudi also sharing his crutches of nicotine and alcohol until they learn that they live more happily without them..

Auror, Glic, Yarbyl, Baryn, Jor are all unrecognised as actual place names so Lev comes from an unknown to us Eastern European country, of grey trade and grey money, arriving by bus and ferry to London. Journeying with the tidy figure of Lydia beside him.
Threading through the story the memory of Marina his lost loved wife, who was a strong mother, daughter in law, friend and colleague. Looking at London and Londoners through the eyes of a new comer with only his language structure to describe it. "Sucking on bottles like anxious babies"..

A clear and effective narrative - Rudi's voice is always in Lev's head, a powerful influence on him. Although later Lev overtakes Rudi and turns his life around for him. The homespun wisdom of Lev's family pushing through his thoughts. Homesickness constantly threatening to overwhelm him. Thoughts of Rudi and his Tschevi (almost a person) Lev's innocence, naivety and simplicity is appealing. Rudi's character is attractive and impressive. When he eventually becomes "The Face Of The Place' all seems right with the world.

Ina, the grim and difficult mother/grandmother/widow whose God is asleep never reacts quite as we'd hope and is like a belligerent donkey who will not be led. I felt she was an excellently drawn person, quite believable.

The themes of food and diet running through are interesting and touching. This chocolate `reminds me of sleep' says Ina grudgingly at the end in the restaurant at no. 43 Podorsky Street. Food horizons opening up with the experience of GKAshe, I remember the same when I worked in restaurant kitchens. Detailed descriptions of meals all so different, from hardboiled eggs, greasy grey goat meat kebabs onward all affected Lev and awoke his senses. Although I am amazed that Lev's taste buds actually worked after so much abuse from the tobacco and spirits. In fact Lev falls in love with food and cooking. Even in the uninspiring atmosphere of the nursing home kitchen. Food becomes his life even after the forty two years of not thinking about it. The kitchen suppers at GKAshe have a comforting reassuring feel, the crostini so delicious you can almost smell it.

As a poignant thoughtful touch RT includes characters from her other stories at least I recognised Ruby Constad from Letters to Sister Benedicta.

Truly felicitous meetings unfold through Lev's progress from his doomed home. His path is smoothed in a fairy tale way mostly by kind ladies and people who are pleased to repay the kindness of others to them. Lydia, Sulima at the first B+B, Ahmed the kebab man, hospitable Tom and Larissa (yoga aficionado). Christy Slane is far deeper and more of a character than he first appears and like all pantomime stories, his ends happily thankfully. Sophie, Sam the mad hatter, Vitas, the Ming's.

Throughout the tale we always understand what is being said to Lev but because of his limited English he only gets part of the conversations along the way especially with GKAshe (Gordon Ramsey) whose kitchen is run like an orchestra or an operating theatre. Christy talking away, his ex wife,snapping, Sophie the lover. It all gives the reader another view of our own language.

Through all of Lev's vast range of experiences you feel you are going through them al with him, they are so warmly and inclusively written. When he mucks things up in his only human way you cringe along with him and admire him for rising again to the next challenges.

So much of the story shows us how other people's voices, opinions and advice constantly ring in our heads - if we choose to let them. Also that the kindness of strangers really can turn your life around.
Lovely stuff!

Rose Tremain does it again, 23 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful novel. I always enjoy Rose Tremain, and The Road Home is certainly one of my favourites.
It's fabulously written, as ever, and Lev is a sympathetic hero, though she certainly doesn't hide his faults. His flashes of anger, culminating in the book's most brutal scene, are convincingly built up - and his treatment of long-suffering Lydia is pretty shoddy.
I agree that there's the odd stereotype among the characters, but I most certainly do not share the view that this story has a fairytale ending. It's highly ambiguous - is everyone really happy and how rosy is the future?
Because Rose Tremain's novels are all so different from each other, I was surprised - and charmed - to find her using a character from an earlier novel quite prominently. Ruby Constad, an old lady who Lev comes to know, is the heroine of Tremain's much earlier novel Letter to Sister Benedicta. The poor woman's life hasn't improved along the way, but I think her appearance here shows how much Tremain cares for her. And if you realise that, you can see she's far more than the convenient plot device she might, at first, appear.

A mirror through which to view a 'Green and pleasant land'., 14 Sep 2008
I enjoyed this book, which isn't surprising considering it was written by Rose Tremain. As usual the prose, construction, attention to detail, plot progression and pace were brilliant: I'm certain Rose Tremain could write a novel about a matchbox and it would be riveting and informative.
For me, Lev, the central character is in essence a mirror that Tremain holds up for us to see the England we'd maybe rather ignore or forget: the pretentious garbage of celebrity and affluence; the coldness and fickle allegiances of a morally bankrupt society; the pockets of loneliness and sadness that exist within families and institutions.
There are aspects of the book that didn't work for me. I felt Lev's character was a little one-dimensional and slightly underdeveloped. His outbursts of temper seemed incongruous and, somewhat irritatingly, his mastery of English seemed to be achieved at a phenomenal rate. I felt the ending was a little brief, not really tying together or enhancing what went before. However his work ethic, determination and pragmatism were an accurate reflection of the Eastern European workers I know.
Some of the characters in the story are memorable: the scarred, sensitive and lonely Christy; the life force that is Rudi; the driven GK Ashe. Others were less believable or bordered on parody: the farmer Midge was irritatingly underdeveloped and his cod rural speech and mannerisms annoying; I didn't find Sophie believable, a shame given her central role.
But, the negatives above can't detract from the overall quality of the book. I was held throughout Lev's odyssey and as I neared the end I actually longed for it all to turn out well for him. I finished with a feeling that my latent dislike of much of what is modern England had flowered into something approaching full blown disgust.
This book reminded me of the famous lines from Burns:

'Oh wad some power the Giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!'



Beautifully written but predictable tale, 02 Sep 2008
Fascinating to read so many rave reviews. I read this on a very long train journey and if I hadn't been stuck there would probably have abandoned it. Rose Tremain has a wonderful prose style and she organizes her plots really well with lots of development, but the novel didn't grip me at all. Characters were boring, situations obvious (mobile phone going off during concert, stereotypical rich/poor London, even more stereotypical run-down anonymous ex-eastern bloc country etc), the ending warm & cosy. Did nobody else find Lev deeply tedious? She is very good at doing her homework, so the top-class restaurant, police treatment of migrants, retirement home, and lots of other stuff were thoroughly credible. But I felt disappointed; maybe I'm just expecting too much.
Norman Housley

Trash in glad rags, 22 Jun 2008
I do not understand the status of this novel. Firstly, it's racist, but we know that already. What really gets me is the weird language that one is expected to 'learn' in order to get the story. And lets be honest, it is a story for children with little subtle comment and no depth of character...everyone is 'Twain'! Do not waste your money....buy a Graham Greene novel instead.

An American classic that must be read by all (and never banned), 06 May 2007
If there's any book out there that needs no introduction (or review, to be honest), it's Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet here I am reviewing it, anyway. I must admit (not without a fair share of embarrassment) that I just now got around to reading this American classic for the first time. I never had to read it in school, and to some degree I felt pretty familiar with the novel even without having read it - that's just how popular and important Huckleberry Finn is to the social fabric of America.

Nowadays, with all the politically correct liberals having escaped their Berkeley zoo and run amuck all over the nation, many of our young people are told not to read this novel. In fact, legions of voices cry out for poor little Huck Finn, that beloved rascal of literature, to be banned from schools and libraries - for the crime of using the n-word, a word commonly used by both blacks and whites up and down the Mississippi during Huck's time (not to mention numerous hip-hop artists of today). Turning a blind eye to the fact that Twain made the slave Jim a noble, human, easy-going fellow with his heart always in the right place (unlike Huck's other companions), the literary fascists contend that this novel is poison to the minds of youngsters. One can only imagine the reaction Mark Twain would have to the hysteria his book incites in liberals today (although he would certainly not be surprised, as he had to fight censorship of this book from the date of its publication).

One of the great ironies of the "Ban Huck Finn" brouhaha is the fact that young people will surely find this novel much more entertaining than the vast majority of other literary classics they are asked to read. This is a very funny book, especially once "the duke and the dauphin" arrive on the scene and, later, when Tom Sawyer meticulously plans out Jim's rescue from captivity (no thanks to the captors, who didn't even try to make it as difficult as Tom says it should be). Young readers will also relate to and understand this book, a fact which should give rise to spirited discussion of it in class. Don't we want our kids to be excited about books and reading?

The more outrageous the hissy fits thrown by liberal critics over the "dangers" of Huck Finn, the more important it is for everyone, young and old alike, to go out and read Twain's novel. Whenever someone tells you not to read something, it's important that you go out there and read it - and discover whatever it is the book banning loonies don't want you to know. Prove to them that you are intelligent enough to know the difference between the social values of the past and present, fiction and reality, right and wrong, etc. Think for yourself. Read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The classic American text