Huck Finn is an orphaned drifter who loves freedom more than respectability. He isn't above lying and stealing, but he faces a battle with his conscience when he meets up with a runaway slave named Jim, who provides him with his first experiences of love, acceptance, and a sense of responsibility.
The title character of this famous novel tells his own story in a straightforward narrative laced with shrewd, sharp comments on human nature. The boy's adventures along the Mississippi River provide a framework for a series of moral lessons, revelations of a corrupt society, and contrasts between innocence and hypocrisy.
One of the better unabridged recordings of Mark Twain's masterpiece is on par with others vis-ˆ-vis interpretation and excels in sheer beauty. In this impeccably quiet release, Tom Parker (aka Grover Gardner) contributes a resonant announcer's baritone, superb technique, musical expressiveness, and a fond, intelligent understanding. He is less a narrator here than a storyteller, one of the best this reviewer has heard, sounding as if he were speaking extemporaneously. Of the half-dozen recorded renditions I've auditioned, this is the one that best expresses the brilliance of Twain's rendering of dialect and a rural boy's sensibility. A judicious use of sound processing enhances his performance. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
