Finn has ratings and reviews. is a deeply original tour de force that springs from Twain's classic novel but takes on a fully realized life of its own. Finn .
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Skin is an obsession with Finn, as it is for the rest of his country, and the tragedy of how he came to love and murder Huck's black mother is the spellbinding story that unravels in this novel. Yes, Huck is half black -- a daring invention, to be sure, but also a brilliant embodiment of the liminal spot in which he lives, that chaotic Missouri boundary between freedom and slavery.
Twain never suggested that Huck is a mulatto, but Finn cleverly explains the mystery of Huck's mother in perfect harmony with Twain's original. Clinch's real interest, though, is a deeply flawed, dangerous man who lurches for redemption between actions so vile he can't sleep. From the opening discovery of the murdered woman, the story moves backward and forward in alternating chapters that reflect Finn's tangled relationship with the past.
Night after night, deep in the woods, drinking with a blind moonshiner, Finn ruminates "upon the course of his life and the various hurtful influences upon it and how they have conspired to bring him to such a sad destination as this. His mother is a bitter, dissatisfied woman. His father, known to everyone as the Judge, is an unyielding, loveless man who projects an enervating aura of disapproval.
Disgusted with Finn's lack of interest in academics, the Judge consigns his son to a shack behind the barn, and there he might have spent the rest of his life, contentedly fishing and hunting and catching odd jobs, had he not come into possession of a young slave named Mary. This impossibly complicated relationship is the heart of the novel and a testament to Clinch's sensitivity, his willingness to trace the threads of passion no matter where they lead. Naturally, Finn thinks of Mary as his property; he keeps her locked in his shack and orders her to cook and clean for him and eventually sleep with him.
But he also appreciates her on a higher level that has no sanction in this racist society. Finn senses that "there is about her a grace and an ineffable sadness that conspire to retard her movements and make them thereby into something almost musical, transforming every act into a kind of prayer or languorous meditation. Despite "his shameful devotion," "his own untoward preferences in women," Finn eventually defends her with his life -- and even kills for her. When baby Huck comes along, the three of them, though desperately poor and completely outcast, seem genuinely content.
What Clinch has accomplished here is nothing short of breath-taking.
Finn's a bad man who isn't the least bit likable, which makes this novel even more remarkable in its humanity and even tenderness. The tone is just remote and scholarly enough to keep one a step away from Finn, but I could certainly smell him. High Mesmerising imagining of Pap Finn, Huck's drunken racist pig of a sire. The story of Huckleberry Finn's father, but no light-hearted jaunt down the Mississippi. Dark, but pure poetry to read. You hate Finn and you know he's going to die, but you root for him, nonetheless. A must read for anyone. Mar 21, Jonathan Maas rated it it was amazing.
A Tour-de-Force that is more than worthy of its literary heritage Finn by Jon Clinch was something of a reading project for me. My only question coming into Finn, was why would Clinch pick such an execrable character to make a book around? Why not Thatcher, or Douglas, or Jim or any of the other characters? Upon reading A Tour-de-Force that is more than worthy of its literary heritage Finn by Jon Clinch was something of a reading project for me.
Upon reading it, I understood immediately. Jon Clinch chose to tell Finn's tale to reveal the true horrors of the time Part of the zeitgeist around Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, is that they are both children's and adults' books. The child sees the adventure, the adult sees the adventure but also gets glimpses of what is going on in the antebellum South. But the adult just gets a glimpse. The tale is still told through a child's vantage point, and the two books are what they are. Clinch removes this entirely by telling the tale through Huckleberry Finn's father, the violent, mean, whiskey-drinking Finn.
And it gets worse from there Part of the reveal from this is that Finn is a real part of this world. This world is one to rival A Game of Thrones in its utter lack of compassion. Finn is mean, but there are a lot of mean people around. The most disquieting part comes when Finn meets a man who seems friendly, but then is revealed to be much meaner than Finn could ever be, and they do unspeakable things. The tale takes risks with Mark Twain's classic, but they make sense when you think about them No spoilers here, but lets just say Clinch infuses the tale with a few twists, and one real twist in particular.
Clinch lays so much groundwork that after the shock wears off, it all becomes part of the tale - it just fits in. This is a book that takes recovery time Like The North Water by Ian McGuire , this is a book that shows the true impact of a time, and doesn't hold any punches. You read it, and then perhaps three months later you have the energy to read another one like this again. But I recommend it to adult readers who want an intense book.
It's incredible - and I give it five stars. May 05, Dennis Fischman rated it really liked it Shelves: This is an ugly, appalling, frightening, cathartic, loving, and beautifully written interpretation of the backstory of Huckleberry Finn. Jun 28, Jim rated it it was amazing. When I was in the seventh grade, St. Tom and Alfred come to blows over her affections and on opening night, Tom tackled me and pinned me to the stage. On the second night, I punched Tom Sawyer in the face, and it was on. Alfred When I was in the seventh grade, St.
Alfred is not supposed to know how to throw an uppercut and Tom was pretty irate. On the third and final night of the run, Tom Sawyer and I stole the show with a full-on Jerry Springer-style battle royal. Technically, Tom won, but only because I let him, and only because I had to. At the heart of the novel is the unsolved mystery that Twain left behind for his readers to mull over: How did Pap come to be shot in a room filled with weird paraphernalia? There's something magnificently voyeuristic about Finn's crimes happening in plain sight of anyone who happens to be taking the air on an upper deck of a riverboat as it chugs up the Mississippi.
Ultimately, however, Finn repudiates this way of knowing the world and is revealed to be very much his father's son — to the peril of everyone he comes into contact with, and none more so than Huckleberry, the most cherished outsider in American letters. Excerpted from a review published in February at The Elegant Variation: Feb 23, Nicole rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: People who like their fiction revisionist and gritty. I tend to read 'literary fiction,' but I don't particularly aim for books with a lot of darkness - but this book is pitch black.
No heroes, no light, no redemption.
What an incredible book. It has been a really, really long time since I felt truly sad when a book was over, but when I turned over the last page of Finn I was actually bummed out for a minute because it was over. The author stays within the time frame created by Twain, but creates a backstory for minor characters that a Outstanding.
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The author stays within the time frame created by Twain, but creates a backstory for minor characters that adds depth to the familiar story. I can't stress enough how terrific this book was! Mar 30, Lou rated it really liked it Shelves: The main protagonist is Finn the father of Huck, a bad man in every sense. He's racist, shellfish and violent. He does take to loving a black woman while at the same time looks down on and has a hatred towards black people.
February 2007
There will be sides of him that you will read of where he expresses he wants to repent and do good he does have some humble ways by way of his fishing he is regularly out on the mudflats with a cane pole and a blackened corncob pipe. The language used fits in with the Mark Twain era as well as the quite frequented use of the 'N' word instead of black purposely in keeping with the characters true behavior. I felt uncomfortable and uneasy when in repeated occasions i read of the racism that a few characters displayed in here, in the end the author has used this in keeping with the racial tension of that time and the fictional character Finn was which will have you disliking Finn.
There is some light and hope and that is with the young brave Huck and his mother. A time of attentive reading this will be and not a fast paced read as the story is a character study of Finn, Huck's pa, and the history behind the Huck character taken from that classic novel of bygone years. A great tale that will stir up all kinds of feelings and a sense of place and time. This footloose and misbegotten child, with his fortunate pale skin and his experimental corncob pipe, with his intimacy with slave lore and his confounded gift for looking ragged even in clothing freshly pressed by none other than a white woman or so they say, this child can surely be no positive influence on their young, no positive influence at all.
By denying him they make him irresistible, and like a sturdy weed he thrives upon their neglect. There is about her a grace and an ineffable sadness that conspire to retard her movements and make them thereby into something almost musical, transforming every act into a kind of prayer or languorous meditation.
She seems always to be preparing-not merely his supper or a bucket of washwater or some other common thing, but herself, for that part of her life which is yet to come. He would readily pledge to reform and swear upon a goddamn bible if they required it. And yet to be truthful with himself he recognises these ideas for the pipedreams that they are, since regardless of such other faults as he may have he is not entirely lacking in self-awareness. Jan 12, Chris Matsagas rated it liked it. I'm kind of into these books that give an alternative view of a popular world if done well, and having just finished Mark Twain's story it seemed like as good a time to give it a shot as any, so I picked up the book.
At first it reminded me a lot of The Road, which I had also just read. Gone is the first-person speaking style of Huck Finn, replaced by a I had this book recommended to me by a friend when I told them that I was reading "The Adventures of Huck Finn" by Mark Twain for the first time. Gone is the first-person speaking style of Huck Finn, replaced by a third-person narrator with an eloquent vocabulary, which is occasionally interrupted by very minimalistic dialogue.
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Events and phrases tend to repeat themselves over and over, until they almost become variations on a theme. This might become tiresome to some readers, and about halfway through I started feeling like the story was kind of a low-rent version of something Cormac McCarthy would write. But at some point in-between that thought and my finishing the book, the whole thing clicked for me.
He's playing in someone else's universe, but Jon Clinch has crafted a very solid story that he can call his own, about America's history of violence, about the conflict of Nature and Law that dwells within us, the ideas of "good" and "evil" that we inherit from our parents, and about just how hard it is for anyone in this world to find peace within ourselves.
An early passage about "The Judge," Pap Finn's father, is the book in a nutshell; if you like that, you'll like the book. If not, well, keep reading anyway. It took a while for me to change my mind. Although I would probably recommend the book to anyone, I can't guarantee you'll like it if you liked Huck Finn, maybe especially if you liked Huck Finn. The book is studiously faithful to the events of Mark Twain's novel, and in fact seeing how the plot works toward several of those events was part of the fun of reading it for me, but it also puts its own interpretation on several characters that's a little controversial.
For one, "Pap" Finn who remains nameless even in Clinch's novel is the prodigal son of a wealthy judge, and the brother of a wealthy lawyer. Secondly, Huck Finn is revealed to be a quarter black. Both of these have thematic significance in Clinch's story, and I ultimately think that the author honors the spirit of Mark Twain's characters, but if you're a big fan of his classic and what you see is what you get, you might understandably be upset. Other characters from Huck Finn make appearances here one of which, I was happy to see, was one of the carpetbaggers, who turned up in a brief cameo; whether it was the duke or the king I can't remember now , though none of them are significantly altered.
Also be prepared for some pretty unflinching depictions of violence. Although I found some very black humor in Finn's trying to dig a bullet out of a man's shoulder and killing him by mistake, most of the violent acts in the book, detailed thoroughly and pitilessly, can make the story seem troubling or bleak. Dec 19, Eric rated it it was amazing Shelves: Every time I read and I've read it many times , the scene where Huck and Jim find Pap Finn's body in the floating house mystifies me.
What's the deal with those masks? The scribblings on the wall? How did the house come to be floating in the middle of the river? I always wanted to know what happened to Pap Finn. So, apparently, did Jon Clinch. Clinch reproduces part of the aforementioned scene at the beginning of the book. Then he tells you Pap Finn's story. Pap is the son of a Every time I read and I've read it many times , the scene where Huck and Jim find Pap Finn's body in the floating house mystifies me.
Pap is the son of a venal, vindictive circuit judge who has disowned him because of his alcoholism and his relationship with a black woman. Finn survives in his hovel by the river by putting out lines for catfish and trading his catches for necessaries and whiskey. In the leaner times, Finn gets cheap corn liquor from a blind hermit bootlegger in the woods.
Finn is a screw-up, an abuser of women, a thief, and a murderer. We watch his life dissolve in this dark novel, which takes place in between the beats of Mark Twain's most famous novel. This story fits in seamlessly, like one of the stories in Pulp Fiction to the others.
The only difference is the darker tone. Twain's novel, for the most part, is written in a comic style. But it would be off-mark to say "Huckleberry Finn" doesn't have its own darkness remember the conclusion of the feud plotline? It would also be off-mark to say that "Finn" is an adult novel, whereas "Huckleberry Finn" is for kids. Probably the most controversial aspect of this book is the revelation that Huck is half black, a "mulatto", in the parlance of the day.
I was skeptical, because Huck's narration in Twain's book seems to leave no room for such an interpretation.
Jon Clinch
I kept saying, "Yeah, but Eventually my "yeah buts" were put to rest, and I was willing to accept Clinch's interpretation as a valid one, if not "the" valid one. Jun 28, Matthew rated it it was ok. Using Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a blueprint, particularly the scene where Jim and Huck discover Pap Finn's body, Jon Clinch elaborates on the life of Huck's alcoholic and abusive father, giving him a whole novel to himself. While some scenes from Huckleberry Finn are touched upon again as when Finn kidnaps - or frees, depending on your attitude - Huck from the Widow Douglas's house , and while Clinch populates this world with an interesting supporting cast notably: Fin Using Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a blueprint, particularly the scene where Jim and Huck discover Pap Finn's body, Jon Clinch elaborates on the life of Huck's alcoholic and abusive father, giving him a whole novel to himself.
Clinch nails the atmosphere - dark, muggy, violent - but his Biblical style gets tired and seems like an impersonation of such better writers as Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy even Clinch's Judge shares a name and many traits with the domineering and timeless Judge of McCarthy's Blood Meridian. This derivative style could possibly be forgiven if the story or characters had enough weight to support it, but there is little narrative push, and the characters, though interesting, fail to come alive. There's a "twist" involving Huck's parentage, which, in his self-congratulatory author's note at the end, Clinch believes even Twain himself would have admired, and the novel does provide a darker glimpse at life on the Mississippi back then than Huck's childhood perspective did.
But reading it just made me want to re-read the original and better Huckleberry Finn. Yes, Finn is ambitious in its goals, but hopefully for his next book, Clinch won't reach so far past his abilities. Jul 03, Tom rated it really liked it. A very innovative and captivating approach to the Huck Finn prequel. The author's imagination is well outside the box in the telling of Pap Finn's life and relationships. A dark novel that meshes perfectly with the much lighter Huckleberry Finn. Congratulations on a great first novel!
Sep 02, Ruth rated it it was amazing. The best book I read last year. Dec 17, [riley] rated it it was amazing. Weeks later and I still can't get the images out of my head. Finn was a mesmerizing read that I recommend to any Mark Twain fan. May 11, Veronica rated it it was amazing Shelves: When he does appear, he is the embodiment of evil, being the violent alcoholic father who beats Huck, kidnaps him and locks him up in a secluded cabin in the woods.
Huck escapes and hides out in a nearby island where he encounters the slave Jim. It is also here that Huck and Jim find a house floating on the river, washed away by the flood. Inside, they discover the body of a man who has been shot in the back. By the last chapter, we learn that the dead man is Pap Finn. And from this meager and cryptic material, Jon Clinch develops a compelling story on how Finn became the vile, depraved drunk that he was and how he met his mysterious, violent end. The old characters are there: It is this relationship that produces the bi-racial Huck which repulses the Judge to no end for he is profoundly racist.
This is a trait that is deeply ingrained in Finn as well and that which predictably causes him the most torment. Finn is one of the most memorable and complex anti-heroes I have ever come across. It is disturbingly fascinating to watch him on the road to self-destruction. He is mean and repugnant, yet there are moments of poignancy with Mary and Huck that has you hoping for his redemption.
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These moments, however, are fleeting because he is primarily cut from the same cloth as his father. In the end, his demise will have you pondering who or what was responsible for the madness in his life. This is the debut novel of Jon Clinch who is, without question, a brilliant writer who had the audacity to spin a gripping story off a great classic. Not really, the story can stand alone. You may, however, find yourself reaching for the Twain classic sooner than you think. What struck me most about this book is the way the author is able to bring a character to life with very few words , he can use a simple smell and it easily conjures up a picture of a character in your head.
The fact that Finn refers to his father merely as The Judge and The Laundress, for example, I think shows how Finn is de-humanising them — perhaps because he wants to distance himself from these people, perhaps by giving them no real name, just a title, he can distance himself from the violence he shows them The Laundress in particular or because he simply thinks that in his eyes they are not worthy.
For example when he begins his friendship with The Laundress — is he merely being sadistic and bathing in his own glory of the destruction he has caused her or is he in some warped way trying to make amends? I think he gets himself into such a state because he wants someone to look after him and he has given up on trying to make his father proud so now the only attention he can get is by screwing up which results in them being face to face in the courtroom.
A very good read, an insight into slavery, shame and brutality all seen through the eyes of one family. No, it was more the utter self-centeredness of the character that sometimes left me with my jaw hanging open. It took me awhile to warm up to the reader, but after an hour or so I knew I had to keep listening and after awhile I found his characterizations to be quite well-done. Aug 16, Cheri rated it it was amazing Shelves: Clinch's Finn is about as useless a man as ever was born, dark and disturbed upon more occasions than not, and yet even with all of the capacity for evil in him, Clinch manages to show you enough to allow the occasional pang of sympathy for him.
As ugly and mean as Finn can be, his father is a sorry excuse for a father and without Finn's alcohol-fueled excuse for being that way. Clinch excels, as usual, in delving into the depths of the dark and disturbed characters. It may be occasionally a sto Clinch's Finn is about as useless a man as ever was born, dark and disturbed upon more occasions than not, and yet even with all of the capacity for evil in him, Clinch manages to show you enough to allow the occasional pang of sympathy for him.
It may be occasionally a stomach-turning, gut-wrenching read, but Clinch's characters are so real and honest and imperfect which is part of what makes his work so compelling. Apr 04, Tara Rock rated it it was amazing. This was not a quick read for me. Many times I had to reread passages in order to capture the intent. This story will linger with me as I am already incorporating some of the language into my daily conversations; "I know it.
There were moments when I felt a brief compassion for Finn, but they immediately vanished. I really enjoyed this exceptional book. May 10, Wendy K rated it really liked it. I really enjoyed reading this book, but it wasn't without certain drawbacks. I'll start with the negatives, and then discuss why I ultimately thought it was a really good book. This book has some serious issues, mainly that certain elements seem directly lifted from the writing of Cormac McCarthy, specifically Blood Meridian. Clinch's choice to have an imposing, authoritative figure called the Judge is just too close to seem coincidental.
He should've just given that character a different name; i I really enjoyed reading this book, but it wasn't without certain drawbacks. He should've just given that character a different name; it just seemed too unoriginal. Interestingly, the character in Finn of the preacher has even more qualities of the judge of Blood Meridian mainly his large, bald, baby-like appearance, tendency to hold forth on philosophical topics at great length, driven by sick, predatory desires.
That being said, I'll also say that Blood Meridian is one of my favorite books of all time. The dark tone and elevated language is just so McCarthy, and so is the almost comically grotesque ultra-violence. Is it bad to steal these things from another writer? Is it such a crime in itself? For this book, I'm going to say no, mainly because it suits the material so well. It really just takes some of the best elements of Cormac McCarthy and runs with it, using it to explore this whole other great narrative.
And beyond that one problem I had with the Judge character, I could almost see it as inspiration as much as imitation.
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And really, the story of Finn himself is fascinating and that is the heart of this book. The story of this low-life, bigoted wretch who sinks as low as you could possibly imagine Part of what makes the character so interesting is the fact that while he is totally abhorrent, he does have a few redeeming qualities that make him so conflicted, that I couldn't wait to see how his choices would play out over the course of the story.
He has his own personal code, and watching him do battle with his own demons is a pretty fascinating character study. Derivative as it may be, Finn is also a really informative and fascinating study of race and class in American history. For someone like me who has overlooked some great American classics, this book has been both an entertaining read and a great bridge to some books that I've needed to get around to reading for a long time. So glad I read this one so the others could be opened up.
Apr 16, Joseph rated it liked it Recommends it for: All those who enjoy the challenge of reading important fiction. Recommended to Joseph by: A friend on goodreads. Did I like it? Is Clinch a talented writer? Why then only 3 stars.? I think it has something to do with the fact Clinch"appropriated" the main character from Twain's classic,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain's classic is too fine a book to be triffled with.
I agree with Trilling and a lot of others , who point out there are few books one can love as well or as long as Huckleberry Finn. Read it as a child, and laugh out loud at the initiat Did I like it? Read it as a child, and laugh out loud at the initiation rites ot Tom's short-lived club. Does "to ransom" really mean "to kill," so that at some point the members must"ransom to death"all ot their captives? Read it a bit later and thrill at the adventure of it all. A young boy, just like yourself,moving down the Mississippi with a Black Man!
If you are a scholar, you can do worse than spend a life-time making a the case for HF as the "Great American Novel,"; young and brash and imperfect, just like the country it represents, but growing and expanding nonetheless, and moving confidently West. It's no accident that by the end of the book, Huck has decided to "light out for the territories. That's tantamount to cheating or starting out with a stacked deck.
We're already predisdosed to be interested in Pap,simply because Twain has drawn such a unique character and set up so many twist and turns for Pap to navigate.