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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

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(1876)



Preface:



Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual -- he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture. The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story -- that is to say, thirty or forty years ago. Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.--Mark Twain, Hartford, 1876



To my Wife, This Book Is Affectionately Dedicated



This story is about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain lived.




I have read many funny stories but this is a special one yet. It inspires that impulsion to not stop reading until the very end. You will be wowed after getting through less than a quarter of the chapters. It greatly impressed me with the funny little jokes and actions that occur. These two boys Tom and Huck are so inglorious, they make me want to laugh out loud in the middle of prayer (do not wonder, I am a Muslim). They do things that would be too strange to your eyes if you had the chance to observe them in our normal life. I promise you are going to have a good time reading this and I wish you the best in your enjoyment and understanding of this fine novel.--Submitted by Islam Dafo Senior





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Recent Forum Posts on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Help!

Hello!!! I have always loved Mark Twain I read a little out of one of his books where he was describing a scene in life: "......." & this is what lead me to this site!!!!!!!! I need to know what book I got that "....." out of!!! It goes something like this: (I'm paraphrasing) "a perfectly timed schedule of morning ritual where the slightest mishap could throw off his whole day...." ie. two minutes to shave, etc.

Tom Sawyer help !

I'm new to this forum so im not sure if this is the right place to ask for help, sorry. Well i need help with this activity. I was gone for it, so i have to work alone on it. Please help me. Thank you. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr304/lalalaqwertyasdf/scan0001.jpg

need page number!

does anybody know the page number/chapter for the quote “Now he found out a new thing--namely, that to promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.”

the satires in the scene of Sunday School in Mark Twain's the adventure of Tom Sawyer

As a Chines student in the major of English, i'm really terrible in paper writing! here comes the literature paper on the topic of what i mentioned in the title, I would really appreciate it if you can give me some advice! 谢谢/Thank you/Danke!!!

Is Tom Sawyer still a top read?

An article from BBC's Magazine:...Tom Sawyer is an orphan who gets into scrapes with his friend Huckleberry Finn. In one adventure he is given up for dead and watches his own funeral, in another he witnesses a murder. It's a classic adventure tale about a loveable young rogue. But even fans of the book, written in 1876, admit that the language is a bit archaic. Then there's the book's setting - Mississippi at a time when the slave trade blighted the southern United States... MORE

Mark Twain in Tom Sawyer

Hey everyone so this is my first time and i just need anything and everything about my topic. I am trying to incorporate how Twain's use of "Southern life" affects the development of his characters, especially Tom Sawyer

Why is there so little discussion of this book?

Okay, it’s not Huckleberry Finn but it’s certainly worth reading and is no less profound than the later work. Is it because Twain is a terribly bad influence on young people? What does the following episode ‘teach’ us? ”Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the in- significant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged.” A few paragraphs later and Tom has not only managed to dupe all the fools into doing his work for him, he has also persuaded them to pay for the privilege. It begins wonderfully and gets better: “Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite, in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to swing it with -- and so on, and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles, part of a jews-harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass door- knob, a dog-collar -- but no dog -- the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash. He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while -- plenty of company -- and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn't run out of whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village. Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger- coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them considerable money; but if they were offered wages for the service, that would turn it into work and then they would resign.” Fantastic stuff! But hasn’t Tom also learned that conning the stupid is the way to success? This is hardly a good lesson for a young man to be learning or for Twain to be teaching. Thank God for satire and sense.

No Subject

Tom Sawyer is, without a doubt, my favourite book... The 1st time I read it, I was 8... some 15 years later, it still tops the list of my personal favourites... it has evrything... adventure, love, friendship, loyalty, freedom, duty... not to mention the sweet flavour of a true childhood lived in close contact with nature... it's perfect...
One might say that this book is not very realistic... my answer to that is pretty clear... a book is not supposed to be realistic... if you want to see reality, turn on the TV and watch the news on CNN or NBC... it might also be said that this book is not appealing to today's children and pre-teens... unfortunately, that seems to be the truth... nowadays, kids grow up in forests of steel and concrete, with no contact with nature... and instead the healthy street-fighting, baseball games and skinned knees, today's kids are more into videogames and MTV... where's the innocence and authenticy? Tom Sawyer knows the answer... if you wanna know, ask him! He represents the sacred values and freedon on which our great nation was built....

none

i tought that it was a very good book,besides the"n'' word. It was used alot. But he was just writing on the times. overall i enjoyed the book

Concern

I dont get why people are getting so worked up about the "n" word. I mean, Mark Twain didnt know that it was a bad book back then! This book is still a bestselling book and its over 100 years old!

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