The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. This book can be found on the Sybervision Book List.
Although The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written first and is really the first book in the pair (with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), I'm sure I am like most people now-a-days having read Huckleberry Finn first. Mainly because it was required for school, but also because it is just considered a better book. The two books are not so reliant on each other that you even have to read Tom Sawyer. So, having finally delved into Tom Sawyer I was really disappointed by it, especially given how much of a hallmark Huckleberry Finn is in modern American culture. The book itself is good on it's own, but in the shadow of it's more successful sequel, it definitely pales in comparison. While Twain seemed to be trying to make a political satire with Huckleberry Finn, much of that is lacking in this story, causing the book to have a much more "for kids" feel about it. The gist of the story is mainly about Tom manipulating everyone to get what he wants done, then having some minor adventures around town. The most interesting parts of the story for me though were when some aspects this story reappear in Huckleberry Finn.
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