A worthwhile journey with Huck -- "The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn" Book Review

by: Uel Ceballos

I first saw “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” in animation when I was 7 or 8 years old. That was back in 90’s when such animated TV program was being aired every morning. I followed Huck’s adventure on television together with other animations like “Little Women”, “Princess Sarah”, “Remy”, and a lot of other more. “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” was one of my favorites; I do really love Huck, his character and his passion for adventure. I would love to see that same animation again but I just didn’t know where to find it. Being young then, I only saw the story as simply the fun escapade of a young boy who traveled his way on a raft and met a lot of different persons along his journey. Until now that picture of Huck with his straw hat covering his face while he was lying in all comfort to the branch of a tree is still marked vividly on my memory. Huck’s adventure is something that I will never ever outgrow.

I never fully understand the deeper message of its story until I finally read its novel written by Mark Twain. This classic literature is something that is worth a million times of reading because of its significant themes, cool delivery, and amusing conversations. When I started reading on the first few pages I began to wonder that something might be wrong with my copy because the words and sentences seemed odd and wrong (English language is not my mother tongue thus I’m only familiar with the standard version) until I realized that the book is written all throughout in vernacular English and that never diminish my enjoyment of the novel. This new language experience had in fact amazed me that along my reading I was finally getting used to it as if I’d been there in that same place once and I’m all too familiar with their native way of speaking.

The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn was a sequel to Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Tom Sawyer. The Adventure of Huck told the story of Huck’s exciting journey as he escaped his alcoholic father by faking his own death (this part was really amazing, the way that Huck made it appeared like he was murdered by a trespasser on their cabin). While moving his way on the river through the canoe that he happened to find, he reunited with Jim who was a runaway slave. Another good thing that you would love about Huck is his good heart, though he was white and Jim was black and there were lots of instances that Huck thought bad of himself for keeping a runaway slave, still Huck never surrender Jim because he knew that all Jim wanted is just to be free. Jim was not a bad guy and Huck knew that very well as Jim also stood as his guardian along their voyage. Their friendship grew deeper and as you follow along their journey you would be entertained by their witty debates and arguments.

As a child, one will see this novel as a fun and exciting story of a quest that is equipped with moral lessons about friendship, adventure, and worthwhile childhood. Reading it as a grown up is another thing, because one will definitely see this book of Mark Twain as a parody of the American moral system back in the 19^th century wherein Huck was caught up in his era’s social climate. One of the major themes that were being explored in the novel was the issue of slavery which was interconnected with racism. In here one would find out how things were for black people like Jim during that era in the America and probably in other parts of the world; how the blacks were treated inhumanely, being traded and seen as unintelligent and unimportant. This novel had garnered numbers of criticisms, accusing Mark Twain for being racist because he used in here the word “nigger”, had made fun of Jim’s superstitions and beliefs, and made Jim followed passively to whatever Huck and Tom (Tom Sawyer appeared in the latter part of the story to help Huck on his plans) wanted him to do even though the things were obviously ridiculous and nonsense. In my opinion, I didn’t see Mark Twain that way, I believed he was just reflecting the real scenarios through this novel of his – he used “nigger” because that was the way then that most white people addressed the black, and he made Jim followed to Huck and Tom because the black people then knows better than to go against any white folks even though those white people are their closest friends. Meaning, Mark Twain just wrote the book as exactly as what he thought the society was looked like. 

Another theme issue that was being explored here is the feud between families and clans that still exists nowadays in a modern way. This is one of the most sensitive issues that are quite unfit for a young to see or read about. There was a part in the story wherein Huck had lived with a very rich but generous family but this family was in feud with another family for already a long period of time. The rest of what happened is left for you to read and find out but that was really one piece of the story that made me feel so heavy and depressed for Huck’s part. Lots of things come along Huck and Jim’s journey including the “Duke” and “King” who had made Huck’s adventure more thrilling. I came to love not only Huck here but Jim as well for his good intentions and sincere care for Huckleberry Finn.

The novel with its heavy social issues is indeed unhealthy for young minds to read – colloquial words, violence, harsh social environment – but the story of Huck minus those heavy issues is quite perfect to encourage the youth to explore life and get themselves out in the box! 

Another thing that also amazed me about this book is the way that Mark Twain used a young character and exposed him to various social issues that are all beyond his young mind to fully comprehend. In spite of this, Mark Twain found his way to resolve Huck’s supposedly-for-adults conflicts by using the boy’s pure and innocent conscience and that’s really the most admirable part in the story. Such plot technique which was somehow similar to Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird set the awkward situation of using young characters in a story and have them directly experience and feel the impact of weighty social issues – some may see this as quite harsh for a literary publication but let’s not forget the fact that such events are what really happen in reality, there’s no use denying it even in literature.

For this novel that is full of controversy but still gaining more respect and fame as years go by, I’ll drink on it with perfect 10 Cups of Latte! Cheers to Huckleberry Finn!!!

Meet The Great Gatsby by: Uel Ceballos

I was amazed to meet Gatsby here – I mean the way F. Scott Fitzgerald presented him in the book; Jay Gatsby was quite intriguing. He was the sort of a mysterious man with deep sense of attachment to his past, driven passionately by his loyal love to Daisy Buchanan, and firmly determined to get things according to his plans.

The Great Gatsby was one of the greatest classic novels that you would treasure for a lifetime. This was not your kind of inspirational book, of which you could count on to uplift your spirit and develop your morality, but this was the type of novel that would serve as your window to human’s weaknesses and would leave you significant thoughts to ponder about.

photo courtesy of wikipedia

Jay Gatsby was an emotionally bothered individual -- toughened by difficult experiences in life, he lived with full dedication to fulfill his dreams and revive the relationship that he and Daisy had five years ago. And Daisy, oh Daisy was such a sweet siren who got me confused if she was really the fragile type or the wise one who played around with the irresistible effect she had with anyone. But one thing for sure, Daisy was the one who value status and money more than anything else otherwise Jay Gatsby wouldn’t strive really hard to level his self to the gaudy, fancy life that Daisy loved.

Looking at the story through the point of view of Nick Carraway also gave me the impression of seeing Nick as F. Scott himself. Nick was the cousin of Daisy here who happened to become Gatsby’s closest friend. You would be looking to the entire story through Nick’s spectacles, who shared the reader a shallow depiction of his self saved for the opinions and feelings he had towards the whole Gatsby-Daisy thing.

F. Scott Fitzgerald had given us a story that would leave us empathizing due to its ill-fated ending – nor affirming or refuting its possible existence. I, myself, was left drifting on thoughts of believing and denying. Denying to the sense that I don’t want such thing to happen in my case; believing because this was apparently the sort of reality and not just one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s surreal ideas.

I wouldn’t mind reading this novel for several times. The author had written here substantial phrases that I wouldn’t mind re-reading and re-digesting on my mind. For this wonderful literary piece I will give it a rate of 8 cups of latte. 

Hope you guys can find time to read this one. The novel was followed by several film adaptations bearing the same title The Great Gatsby, the most recent was this 2013 film starred by Leonardo Di Caprio and Tobey Maguire. 

OF BRIDGES AND LOVE. A closer look at The Bridges of Madison County (novel). By Love Esios

Before Nicholas Sparks made his way onto being a best-seller author of romantic novels, there was this classic book that I will never ever replace on top of my romance/fiction list. Published a few years after another classic Love In The Time of Cholera, Robert James Waller's narration of a true-to-life love story The Bridges of Madison County captured something in my heart. Set in the 1960's, it is a story about an affair between Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson that started on

Cover of the book pulled from wikipedia.org

e humid afternoon in the gravel roads of Madison County, Iowa.

Okay, I know that an affair is quite a sensitive topic for some of you, but the intention of Waller when he wrote this love story is clear: whatever the circumstances are, love has a way of finding you in the most unfamiliar places and with the most unlikely person. The two main characters in the novel truly found love not in a hopeless place, but in the most hopeless of all situations. Robert considers himself as a nomad, a born artist, a person with a unique perspective of the world. Francesca seems to be content on how steady her life is; a marriage to a man who was kind to her and who gave her two kids. But she didn't realize how much she was missing until she met him. I see these two characters as lost souls, wandering around, accepting what life offers them, not wanting for more... until they found each other, like they have found their safe haven.

Waller is truly a gifted storyteller. He has a way with words, carefully laying out every detail until all the pieces have fallen into its place. The way he narrated it was kind of intimate for me, like he's telling me the story in person. There were some parts in the story that had slow pacing, though. Other parts like the love scene were narrated in a not so intimate way, not really focusing on the details but rather capturing how the two characters felt while making love. Nevertheless, this is one classic story you wouldn't like to miss!

Call me a hopeless romantic (I know I am) for falling in-love with this book or perhaps an immoral (I think I'm not) for encouraging such affair that might affect other people's perspective about the book. If you think like the latter after reading the book, it simply means you weren't able to grasp the real essence of this story.

So if you feel like you are lost in love, or think that you might not find love at all, then this book is for you. For this genre, I'd give this book 7 out of 10 cups of latte! :)

"Words have physical feeling, not just meaning, he remembered thinking when he was young."
- Bridges of Madison County

A MUST-READ FOR CHRISTMAS SEASON! by Uel Ceballos

Photo from Wikipedia

Since we’re just months away now from Christmas time, I suddenly feel like reading something that is Christmas-inspired, and that brings me to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. While I skim through the first pages of the book it gives me the impression that the story seems unfit for the children; because C.D has a note there calling it a Ghostly Little Book. Well, you don't think the children are fond of  ghosts until I remember Casper and how I  love him when I'm a little girl.

A Christmas Carol starts with a dimmed and gloomy atmosphere, narrating about Marley being dead. So how do I take that? A Christmas story beginning with someone’s death -- well, it almost provokes me to drop the idea of reading the rest of the book. But then out of curiosity and C.D’s popularity I just decide to proceed with my reading. At the end of the story, I’m just so grateful that I finish it. The story and its lessons are priceless; and its significance to the world is definitely timeless.

The story is perfectly fit for people of all ages, from the young ones to the old ones. A Christmas Carol is the story of bitter and fed-up Scrooge, whose encounter with the Ghosts of the Christmas from the past, present and future transform him into a much better person.

Whenever the spirit of Christmas is coming into the danger of dying away from your heart,  this book will ignite the sparks that will blaze your heart into life again! A must-read for everyone especially for those who are eventually drowning deep down the life’s depression, sadness and despair, A Christmas Carol will restore you back to that hopeful and buoyant person you're once before.

Hope you guys find time to read this classic literature and as C.D says it, may the ghosts of Christmas haunt you pleasantly!