Huckleberry Finn

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing
before. There has been nothing as good since." Ernest Hemingway

T.S. Eliot said of Twain's genius, "He was one of those writers, of whom there are not a great many in any literature, who have discovered a new way of writing, valid not only for themselves but for others." Twain's groundbreaking picaresque novel changed the landscape of American literature forever. Written in vernacular English, it captured for the first time the authentic rhythms and beauty of American speech. Filled with humor and satire, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn explores themes of race and identity, wilderness and civilization, freedom and slavery, and morality and conscience. Twain's novel was controversial when it was first published in America in 1885 and remains so today. We will explore the various reasons Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been banned over the years and what that says about our shifting understanding of the novel, ourselves, and America. Join us as we read and discuss this classic work of American literature.