Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Signature Performance by Elijah Wood

By: Mark Twain
Narrated by: Elijah Wood
Series: Twain’s Tom and Huck, Book 2
Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 11-09-10
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Studios

I was looking for something to read that I hadn’t read or listened to when I found this version of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), narrated by Elijah Wood. I had read a lot of Twain’s works including “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” as well as many of Twain’s later works which were very different in tone and subject. Somehow, though, I had never read Huckleberry Finn. It just slipped through the cracks.

I had already downloaded a copy by a different narrator when I saw one, narrated by Elijah Wood. The reviews were excellent. Many thought is was the best reading of Twain’s work ever. And it was as good as the reviews said it was, a nearly perfect narration.

This one was “paid,” but with all the discounts I’d accumulated, it cost me $0.49. Even on a bad month I can usually afford half a dollar.

I had forgotten what a good author Twain (Clemens) was. It has been more than 50 years since I last read any of his books, though I remember them well. Twain was the first author who had a uniquely American “voice.” His writing was wildly popular, at least for the first half of his career. After his wife died, his writing got a lot darker, sadder and less popular.

Since I read his books originally, I’ve traveled long and far through many genres. I was also feeling uncomfortable about the language used in his books, but I should not have been. He wrote the way people talked then — and sadly, many still do. A couple of times, the author creates a character who stands up and says what Twain thought.

Suffice to say that this is a remarkable narration of a remarkable book. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” supposedly takes place decades before the Civil War, although Twain wrote the book about 50 years later during the mid-1880s. In many ways, this was the true beginning of American literature, fully breaking away from English literature.

Ernest Hemingway said that: “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” A hundred years after its author’s death, this classic remains surprisingly modern and relevant. Elijah Wood reads Huck’s adventure in what may be the closest interpretation to Twain’s original intent. His performance captures the “sound” of the language of those times, but also the confusion of adolescence and the discovery of an original moral center.

If you have never read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” read it only as a school project, or read it years ago — this is a really top-notch project from Audible. It is well worth the listening.

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Tags: Audible, audible.com, Book Review, Books, Marilyn Armstrong