I think we here at IMAO should continue to encourage reader discussion… not just to drive up hits to the site so we can charge more with advertisers… but because we want to know what you think.
Today’s issue: Did you think the end to Huckleberry Finn was just tacked on? I mean, the book was great and seemed to cover many important themes, but it’s like Twain just ran out of ideas when he got to the end. Actually, after finishing the book, I just wanted to punch Mark Twain in his big stupid mustache.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
The school I went to took out Huck Finn because it had a naughty word in it. So I read a bunch of Stephen King books instead. Sorry.
It was in the best tradition of the time. People say the same thing about Dickens (never read any) so I think it was appropriate. Plus, I seem to recall it fitting the allegory.
Also, building a raft was cool. Too bad it was the Mississipi and not the Amazon. Then they could have flung mango pits at monkeys. Stupid monkeys.
The irony being that I didn’t consciously tack that tacked on bit at the end.
Well, I thought that the alien abduction at the end was entirely appropriate.
Fear the ‘stache!
I doubt you’d be able to hit him. Mark Twain was the Great White Ninja of the 19th century.
I would like to see a version of Huck Finn starring Holden Caulfield instead of Huck Finn.
I doubt the raft would’ve ever been built. He would’ve just drank a lot and made fun of people.
I bought the version with the scooby doo ending.
I don’t read books; they’re too long. I would use Sparknotes, but it’s kind of long, too. I just get my friends to whisper to me “Kid — Huck — raft” right before the test, and make up the rest as I go along. My teacher sure didn’t like my made-up ending involving machine guns, jets, and the death of many monkeys, but I told her she wasn’t being freethinking enough. I had her there and forced her to give me an A.
. . . seriously, why are we discussing literature?
I hear there’s a new Hollywood production of Huck Finn (to be titled simply “Huck”), with Johnny Depp as Huck. It stays pretty true to the story, except that Huck and his sidekick (named Lars in the movie) are both gay, and are being pursued by an evil preacher who wants to kill them. Not to give away the ending, but the preacher is killed in the Hurricane (oh yeah, they added a hurricane near the end). That’s before the two become the youngest two individuals to ever fly on the space shuttle (thanks to the letter of recommendation from the African-American Congressman [played by Morgan Freeman] who befriended them).
Other than a few Hollywood tweaks it’s pretty much the same as the original book.
//Other than a few Hollywood tweaks it’s pretty much the same as the original book.//
I don’t think you’ll ever get a GOOD Hollywood version of that book, but Mark Twain wouldn’t have appreciated their interference anyhow.
His ending worked for me, as he was making a point of saying he was sick of writing that book. Seriously, how many people would have needed to be tarred, feathered and rode out on rails to have satisfied you? And Tom Sawyer gets shot…that has to account for something.
Actually Twain’s first ending had Tom’s Aunt Polly finally getting fed up with his antics and having him thrown into the pit of despair. The albino minion union protested and he got mad and just whipped out what we ended up with.
I never wanted to punch mark Twain in the mustache.
I like Shimauma’s take on why it ended the way it did. One of the things I love most about Mark Twain is that he unapologetically wrote about whatever the hell he wanted to. When reading Twain the journey is way better than the destination. I got the same impression from “The Innocents Abroad” and “Roughing It.” Writing fiction has become a “craft,” with rules of tempo and peaks and valleys of action and passivity. Twain came before that became “the way it’s done.” Have I used enough “quotation marks?”
Mark Twain is the greatest American humorist/writer/commentator ever. He is THE MAN. There will no punching of Mark Twain! Mark Twain’s misty ghost punches you! Chuck Norris fears the pinky toe of Mark Twain’s ghost.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe the whole thing turned out to be a dream, and Huck was really a middle manager from Hoboken.
Geez.
Is there any truth to the rumor that Disney is going to do an animated version named “Mickey Finn”?
I can’t remember for the life of me what happened to anyone at the end of Huck Finn. Do I really have to read the book again or was this just a topic filler and no one here actually remembers the ending either?
The Rational One: How dare you speak such blasphemy. We all know Frank J is the greatest american… well, no. Nevermind. Forget i mentioned it.
Speaking of ads, the pajamas media banner just had an ad for IMAO on it, that linked back to the imao homepage (through ads.doubleclick). Seems kinda pointless, no?
edgr,
Really? I didn’t know I had an ad. What did it say?
Don’t you guys get it!!?? Didn’t you see the symbolism in the “whitewashing” of the fences? The man got a minority to do all his dirty work.! The whitewashing was all the lies that had to be covered up! Shania Twain does not have a mustache however.
captamerica,
That’s a totally different novel by Mark Twain, goober.
Frank J., even as the greatest humorist and essayist of your generation, you need to admit that you are standing on the shoulders of giants. As you age, you will gain insight into your ‘stache envy, and be improved thereby.
Mark Twain is the greatest American writer. I actually like his ending to Huck Finn. It did however change from a serious work to a more comic one by the end.
I think it’s got more to do with the re-introduction of Tom Sawyer than anything else. Once Tom’s in the picture, Huck and Jim become his foils and comedy ensues.
John Bolton’s stache pees itself when it thinks of Mark Twain’s.
Frank, it wasn’t really an ad. It was on the left sidebar, a fair way down, where I’m getting a promo for “Iraq the Model”. Seems like a pajamas media cross-promotion thing. It said “Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated. Have you had your dose of IMAO today?” or something like that. White writing on a plain red background.