I’d had never read Huck Finn, I mean, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain. (There is no “The,” apparently.)
So, about a month ago, I started listening to the well-rated audio book, narrated beautifully by actor Elijah Wood, during my long commutes between Everett and Edmonds.
Then, lo and behold, or bye and bye, as Huck would say, I hear that “Mark Twain scholar Alan Gribbons, an Auburn University Professor, decided to make a change to the classic novel through publishing company NewSouth.”
“In February a version of the classic novel will replace the “N”-word with the word ‘slave,'” according to this story.
“It enables us to set this inflammatory racial epithet aside and begin to address the greatness of Twain’s works,” Gribbons told CBS News.
Well, what do you think of that?
My take is this: If Huck Finn is The Great American Novel, which some scholars and booksellers claim it to be, then it should not be changed.
If it is such a thing, it is, according to one source, “a novel that is distinguished in both craft and theme as being the most accurate representative of the zeitgeist (spirit of the times) in the United States at the time of its writing. It is presumed to be written by an American author who is knowledgeable about the state, culture, and perspective of the common American citizen. In historical terms, it is sometimes equated as being the American response to the national epic.”
Altering the dialect or words would make it less of a moment in time, less of an accurate representation of the spirit of the times, right?
Should the N-word be removed from “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”?
Vote below.
What book do you think is truly The Great American Novel?
Vote even further below.
Should the N-word be removed from “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”?Market Research
Which book is truly The Great American Novel?customer surveys
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
