Friday, March 28, 2008

Book #24: Finn: A Novel


Title: Finn: A Novel
Author: Jon Clinch

A novel chronicling the life of Pap Finn (yep, Huck's dad), from his early adulthood until Jim finds him dead in his shack on the river.

Although I loved the idea for this book (just as I loved Ahab's Wife and lots of other novels which tell the other side of a fictional story), Pap Finn was such a tormented, terrible, totally repugnant fellow that it made for really hard reading at times. I won't give away the twist that Clinch puts on the story, although it shouldn't be too hard to figure out from the early chapters, that explain some of the language in Twain's story. I recommend the novel to those who love the original, don't mind some very salty language, and who don't have a hard time dealing with murder (and quite a bit of it). Overall, I felt like Pap Finn deserved what he got.

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