The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I will preface that I’ve never read in school, so I don’t have any bias (good or bad). Because of that, I figured I should read it now. Even if you have read it as a kid, re-reading may give you a different perspective on the story and the characters.
Twain’s cast of side characters and the adventures that Huck and Jim go through are entertaining on its own, but on a deeper level the author highlight many dichotomies and conflicting moral stances in the antebellum south. Twain may be heavily influenced by transcendentalism. There are themes like corruption caused by society, the importance of the individual/nature, and children as a critique of society.
It’s easy to look at the past and see the obvious; I wonder what a modern day Huck would have to say traveling modern America and seeing our stance on things like industrial farming, immigration, and mass incarceration.
As always you can read the book for free here courtesy of Standard Ebooks!