LibriVox recording of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (version 02). Read by Mark F. Smith.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates an entertaining adventure of Middle America in the 1800's - afloat on a raft on the Mississippi River. Huck escapes his civilized life when he arranges his own "murder" and turns back into the backwoods, downriver yokel he started as, and in the process springing a slave, Jim, from bondage.

Huck and Jim experience life as a series of tableaus as the river sweeps them through small towns on their way South. At each stop, Huck engages his talent for mixing fact with bald-faced lies to endlessly get himself out of situations... and of course, putting him into others!

Much has been written about the statement Twain is making about slavery in this book, but it's really secondary to the story. The facts of how black people were treated in this period give Huck and Jim their license for life on the run. Modern listeners will be intrigued by the unencumbered life of the pair; they make do with coffee, fish from the river, and little else (but of course, when they do need something extra, they don't mind helping themselves to it without recourse to money!)

Huck and Jim have run-ins with desperados and family feuds and even manage to get run down by a steamboat. The adventures ratchet up when they are joined on the raft by a self-proclaimed "duke" and a "king" - shysters both, who spend their time in figuring how to fleece the public in the little river towns. And when Jim is captured and threatened with being sent back into slavery, Huck enlists his old buddy Tom Sawyer in a frenzied, desperate, and terribly funny rescue.

I had to clip a lot of laughing from this recording at Twain's sly, catch-'em-when-they're-not-looking humor, but you can feel free to enjoy some good belly laughs at this crew of lovable rapscallions! (Summary by Mark)

For more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader please visit LibriVox.org.

M4B audiobook of complete book


This audio is part of the collection: The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection
It also belongs to collections: Audio Books & Poetry; Community Audio

Artist/Composer: Mark Twain
Date: 2007-07-12
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; literature; audiobooks; twain; adventure; satire; finn; humor

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Individual Files

Write a review
Downloaded 705,131 times Reviews
Average Rating:

Reviewer: librivoxbooks - - December 12, 2012
Subject: Mark F. Smith's solo recordings
Quote: Wish this guy would narrate LOTS MORE here.

Mark is one of the most prolific LibriVox readers. You can find all his solo recordings (currently 71) here.

Reviewer: Max Reiner - - December 12, 2012
Subject: Huckleberry Finn Reader is a PRO!
Tis so refreshing to hear a professional read a book on archive. There are so many amateurs reading, many of which are holding the mic so it makes noise or popping the mic. Wish this guy would narrate LOTS MORE here.

Reviewer: guehla - - December 11, 2011
Subject: Thank you
This recording is very well done. The reader is clearly enjoying himself, and it's infectious. Very entertaining indeed . (Also, thumbs down to the guy that posted the nasty comment below)

Reviewer: Chapter&Verse - - May 1, 2010
Subject: A Good Listen!
I agree with the first review. The second is off-base. (The same person wrote a similar comment on the other recording of Huck Finn).
Well worth listening to - the soft Southern voices employed by the reader were very effective in transporting me to a raft on the Mississippi.
And call me old-fashioned, but since most of the characters are male, I wanted a male voice reading.

Reviewer: beanz22 - - December 10, 2008
Subject: AHAHAHAHAH WOW!
you the reader sounds like the old pedifile from family guy..
ridiculous.

Reviewer: Calabash - - September 12, 2007
Subject: Entertaining Reading!
Similar to other projects I have listened to by this reader, "Huck Finn" uses unique voices for each of the major characters. This makes it easy to follow who is speaking, and it gives each character his own "feel". The reading is very conversational and animated. Enjoyed it!