The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

March 17, 2008
Considered the first great American novel, part of Finn's charm is the wisdom and sobering social criticism deftly lurking amongst the seemingly innocent observations of the uneducated Huck and the even-less-educated escaped slave, Jim. William Dufris's voice, unpretentious and disarming, like the book's main characters, seems the perfect armature on which to hang this literary strategy. Although he does an expert job with the entire cast, Dufris's delivery of Jim's dialogue is his crowning achievement. Out of context, Dufris's Jim might sound mocking and racist, due to his expert delivery of Twain's regional vernacular. Ignorance and intelligence, however, are not mutually exclusive, and taken as a whole, Jim's mind and heart come shining through, allowing the listener to reflect on their own assumptions. Tantor Media includes the entire text as a digital e-book on the final CD, a wise and thoughtful move in a market with swift and changing currents.

Twain's classic of American realism is given a serviceable narration by Garrick Hagon, who voices the many personalities and dialects clearly. What is missing is the sense of wonder the boy-narrator experiences from lying on a raft and looking at the sky, from noticing the beauties of the majestic river and its traffic, and especially (in Chapter 31) from his soul-shaking battle with his conscience, one of the great passages of world literature. Pace is another casualty. Hagon maintains a mostly consistent pace, which fails at times to capitalize on some of the dramatic moments. In sum, this is a respectful reading of a famously disrespectful book, so this unabridged recording is welcome but not definitive. G.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

July 7, 2008
Considered the first great American novel, part of Finn's charm is the wisdom and sobering social criticism deftly lurking amongst the seemingly innocent observations of the uneducated Huck and the even-less-educated escaped slave, Jim. William Dufris's voice, unpretentious and disarming, like the book's main characters, seems the perfect armature on which to hang this literary strategy. Although he does an expert job with the entire cast, Dufris's delivery of Jim's dialogue is his crowning achievement. Out of context, Dufris's Jim might sound mocking and racist, due to his expert delivery of Twain's regional vernacular. Ignorance and intelligence, however, are not mutually exclusive, and taken as a whole, Jim's mind and heart come shining through, allowing the listener to reflect on their own assumptions. Tantor Media includes the entire text as a digital e-book on the final CD, a wise and thoughtful move in a market with swift and changing currents.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.