Still loving Tom Sawyer 30 years later...

I am rereading Tom Sawyer with my daughter this month. I had forgotten how much I loved this book.

As a girl, I always wanted to be on an adventure and I remember reading about Tom Sawyer getting on his raft at midnight with Joe Harper and Huck Finn and the whole event felt magical.

Even rereading it as an adult am I taken away to this old world. There is a romantic sense I carry that has a lot to with a log raft and more stars than we'd ever see now.

After tonight's chapter, I googled Jackson's Island (the island Tom, Joe, & Huck land on) and learned it is still uninhabited and well, that made me happy as if it was not too late for someone's adventure to begin...

If you've ever been to Hannibal, Missouri, tell me what you thought and what you saw. I found this article about the area, but I'd love to hear more from anyone who has visited.


Twain's hometown marks centenary of his death - chicagotribune.com

Comments

  1. I haven't been to Hannibal. But I've been reading Tom Sawyer with my kids, too. I just love the chapter about memorizing Bible verses. I can't get through it without bursting into hysterical laughter. My kids think I'm crazy.

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  2. My family settled in that area.

    My husband and I drove down from Chicago in the early 90s to visit my Grandmother... it was right after the Mississippi flooded and there was quite a bit of devastation, but they managed. Hannibal is low-lying, so the residents know all about sandbags.

    The other time I went to Hannibal, I was 17 and went with my parents to a family reunion. We visited the Tom Sawyer caves (the real life inspiration behind those scenes with the robbers) and it was definitely a highlight of the trip.

    Tamara
    www.tamarasellman.com

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  3. When I was about 7 years old, my dad read Huckleberry Finn out loud to me -- usually a chapter or two at a time in the evening, on the evenings when there was time. He would stop and explain unusual words, or things the story mentioned that I might not be familiar with, etc.

    Once or twice we'd get caught up in other things, and we might go a week or so without reading from the book, but eventually we'd get back to it. We got through the entire book, him sitting in his chair, me on the arm of the chair, him reading it out loud.

    Some years later he read Tom Sawyer out loud to my sister and me. I enjoyed Tom Sawyer, though Huckleberry Finn left an indelible impression with me. My parents were both originally from Iowa (not quite Missouri, but next door to it), and the people in the book kept reminding me of my relatives in Iowa.

    I've had the notion many times, in the years since, to go back and read Huckleberry Finn myself, and have started it a couple of times, but each time have been interrupted by one thing or another and haven't gotten back to it. Really need to go and do it one of these days...

    (I've never been to Hannibal, Missouri.)

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