Bill Murray Reads Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn - Literary and Historical Significance of the Novel
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (or, in more recent editions,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) is a novel by
Mark Twain, first published in
England in December 1884 and in the
United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the
Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major
American literature to be written throughout in vernacular
English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "
Huck" Finn, a friend of
Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (
Tom Sawyer Abroad and
Tom Sawyer, Detective). It is a direct sequel to
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the
Mississippi River. Satirizing a
Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist about twenty years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing look at entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.
Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. It was criticized upon release because of its coarse language and became even more controversial in the
20th century because of its perceived use of racial stereotypes and because of its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger", despite strong arguments that the protagonist, and the tenor of the book, is anti-racist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn
William James "
Bill" Murray (born
September 21,
1950) is an
American actor and comedian. He first gained exposure on
Saturday Night Live in which he earned an
Emmy Award and later went on to star in comedy films, including
Caddyshack (
1980),
Ghostbusters (
1984) and
Groundhog Day (
1993).
Murray gained additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in
Lost in Translation (
2003), which earned him an
Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, the indie comedy-drama
Broken Flowers (
2005) and a series of films directed by
Wes Anderson, including
Rushmore (
1998),
The Royal Tenenbaums (
2001),
The Life Aquatic with
Steve Zissou (2004),
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and
Moonrise Kingdom (
2012).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Murray
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (
November 30, 1835 -- April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an
American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the
Great American Novel."
Twain grew up in
Hannibal, Missouri, which provided the setting for
Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. After an apprenticeship with a printer, he worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother
Orion's newspaper. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in
Nevada. He referred humorously to his singular lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the
Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. In 1865, his humorous story, "
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
Calaveras County" was published, based on a story he heard at
Angels Hotel in
Angels Camp California where he had spent some time as a miner.
The short story brought international attention, even being translated to classic
Greek. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and
European royalty.
Though Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he invested in ventures that lost a great deal of money, notably the
Paige Compositor, which failed because of its complexity and imprecision
. In the wake of these financial setbacks he filed for protection from his creditors via a bankruptcy filing, and with the help of
Henry Huttleston Rogers eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, though he had no responsibility to do this under the law.
Twain was born shortly after a visit by
Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it," too. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest
American humorist of his age," and
William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_twain