Tom Sawyer, Detective

4 Responses to “Tom Sawyer, Detective”

1. Anonymous says:

   October 14, 2010 at 12:47 am

   It was just so awsome and my imagination is still bogiling from the solving of the mysteries like Jake Dunlap stealing the diamonds.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
2. Heather says:

   October 14, 2010 at 12:50 am

   I like this book, it’s very appealing. I don’t usually like to read but I loved this book because it was appealing. It kept you guessing at what was going to take place next, and I liked the way some of the words were spelled; it showed how they pronounced the words. If you like suspense, then I would recommend this book.
   Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
3. Wayne S. Walker says:

   October 14, 2010 at 3:27 am

   Most people are familiar with Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but did you know that there were a couple of additional sequels? One was Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), and the additional is this fleeting novel in which Tom Sawyer attempts to solve a mysterious murder, as narrated by Huck Finn. It is a satire of the immensely well loved detective novels of the time.
   
   Tom’s Uncle Silas, a preacher in Arkansas, is doing poorly because a rich national, Brace Dunlap, wants to marry Tom’s cousin Benny, and she said no, so Brace is trying to stir up distress for Silas, who hires Brace’s no account brother Jubiter to work for him in an attempt to smooth things out, although Silas and Jubiter are constantly arguing. Aunt Polly sends Tom and Huck on a steamboat down the Mississippi to help cheer Silas and his family tree up. On the boat, they meet Jake Dunlap, Jubiter’s long lost twin brother who had become a criminal and was assumed to have been killed many years before. He and two additional men have robbed a diamond store in St. Louis, and he has sneaked off with the diamonds, but the additional two men followed him on to the boat, so he is now trying to escape them. His plot is to go home to his brothers and pretend to be a deaf-mute.
   
   On the day Tom and Huck arrive, Jubiter Dunlap disappears. He later turns up dead, Uncle Silas is accused of killing him, and there is a examination. Will Tom be able to save his uncle from hanging? We did this as a family tree read aloud, and everyone loved it. In the “Dover Evergreen Classics” edition, the word “nig*er” is replaced by “Negro.” I had to do a small further editing because of some common euphemisms and a few instances of taking the Lord’s name in vain. There are also several references to tobacco and smoking. Otherwise, this is a fun book. In 1938, the tale was made into a movie directed by Louis King, with Billy Cook as Tom and Donald O’Connor as Huckleberry Finn.
   Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
4. Bill R. Moore says:

   October 14, 2010 at 4:37 am

   Mark Twain’s 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its 1884 follow-up The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are two of American literature’s most legendary works and the latter one of its most acclaimed. It may thus seem weird that this 1896 sequel – like Tom Sawyer Abroad, its 1894 predecessor – is now nearly obscure. The truth is that this is not entirely undeserved. Huck Finn is a masterpiece of world literature, and anyone expecting this to be anywhere near its level will be sorely disappointed. It lacks the more legendary work’s seriousness and ambitiousness, building it inevitably minor. But, it is reasonably appealing on its own minor terms; this means it is not fantastic literature or even pretending to be. But, like nearly everything else Twain wrote, it is eminently readable, very entertaining, and sometimes amusing. Fans of Twain’s lighter work will like it, and there is something for all to appreciate it. The book is notable for taking the series and its characters in surprising new directions, bringing in some rather dark events and building Tom an unlikely detective hero. Though not a fantastic literary work in additional respects, it performs surprisingly well in the latter area. Persons keen for more adventures from Tom, Huck, and Jim will certainly warm to it. Like the book that bears his name, this is narrated by Huck with all his delightfully provincial grammar and spelling; “prostitution” for “prosecution” in the court scene is my laugh aloud favorite. His naïveté and ignorance also come into play in skillfully unprecedented ways.

   Like most of Twain, this book can be read and loved on several levels. Most simply and obviously, it is a rollicking, picaresque adventure of the sort later classed as Young Adult or Juvenile. It is notably entertaining and reasonably humorous even in this limited sense. While far from politically right by current standards, it can easily be loved by the very young as well as persons of all ages who will take it on its own terms. In this sense it is very much like Tom Sawyer Abroad and, indeed, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, not least in returning to the latter’s rural South.

   It also differs significantly from Tom Sawyer Abroad in obvious ways. First and most clearly, as the title shows, it is a detective tale of the kind then wildly well loved; this was after all when Sherlock Holmes was a sensation. Persons who, like me, like such tales can appreciate it simply on this level. It is set up like a predictable one with a murder mystery and has exciting fundamentals such as a fake confession, a dramatic courtroom scene, a climactic discovery, etc. – and, of course, eventual justice. Seeing all this play out is exciting, and Twain milks it for all it is worth. Unlike most of his works, this is filled with literary devices conventionally used for entertainment value, especially in modern well loved fiction: foreshadowing, suspense, dramatic irony, etc. The revelation and ending are in particular highly wrought. Anyone who likes blazing tales of this sort, particularly detective ones, will delight in and appreciate this and find the book well worth reading for it alone.

   The discerning can see more, even if no one can see greatness. Though less savagely biting than later work, this is vintage Twain satire in many ways. Detective fiction itself is the target, but Twain’s burlesque is gentle; we feel he lightly pokes fun at something he himself enjoys – not least because his satire could be far more bitter. He has some fun at the expense of the genre’s conventions, using them in slightly exaggerated fashion to show how superficial they can sometimes be. What may seem exaggeration if read straight comes into play here: melodrama, implausibility, clichés, etc. This is where Huck’s naïveté and ignorance are vital. Many, perhaps even most, readers will be able to deduce some – or even all – of the ostensibly revelatory events, turning what would normally be suspense into dramatic irony. Persons who miss the satire may reflect of these as defects, but persons who see what Twain is doing will know they are intentional knocks at a) provincial Southern ignorance, and b) detective fiction conventions. Even simply moving from well loved detective settings – i.e., Victorian England – to Twain’s rural South makes the genre seem slightly ridiculous. But, that the book itself it can still be enjoyable with shows that the genre can as well. Indeed, Twain’s satire is so devious that many, perhaps especially detective fiction fans, will not even notice it – with whatever ambiguous result. As for persons who dislike the genre, they may well like the book significantly more – indeed, may reflect it a riot. Twain at any rate did not cut off his satirical take on the genre here, returning several years later with the tale “A Double-Barreled Detective Tale,” which drops Tom and Huck but really has Holmes(!) and is significantly more biting.

   Tom Sawyer, Detective is thus reasonably a weird book – a light-hearted satire that most will not get and that many will likely delight in for the very reasons Twain tries to mock. Its canonical status depends on how well one thinks he succeeds here. No one could place it with his fantastic work. It is reasonably fleeting – about one hundred pages – and can be read quickly and easily. That said, it will certainly delight fans of the linked tales and characters. The tale itself is better than Tom Sawyer Abroad, arguably even better than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; it has more plot than either, and characterization is strong. Conversely, there is significantly less humor, especially in the dialogue, except for persons unusually alive to the satire. All told, it is a worthy edition to the series and to Twain generally even if only hard-core fans, especially persons who treasure the linked works, should read it in the end. He hardly wrote anything not worth reading, but this should be one of the last stops. It is a pleasant read even if the fact that it has survived more than a century has more to do with Twain’s name and his better works than inherent quality. This is surprisingly enjoyable proof that he was ever-readable even when far from this best.

   Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5