#1 Tom Sawyer

In the words of Ned Ryerson in "Groundhog Day", "Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy!"

Let me begin by telling you that my goal isn't to give you a summary of these fictional novels I've read but to take you through my experience of reading them. 



Why did I ever write this dern book?

I am not a particularly fast reader so one method I use to read is by audio books (thank you very much Fort Wayne library).  I work at General Motors installing a small part of the Silverado and Sierra, 400 or so times a day.  By now I mostly let my muscle memory do the work while I dive into a new world described to me in these audio books.  Occasionally I have to check my footing before I take a step or I would have a funny story to tell medical of how I hurt myself.  If each week I post about a new book this doesn't mean I am like awesome or something but because 40 hours a week gives ample time to get through a book.  My selection of what novels I choose to read is purely up to the library's availability. I do notice I will have to do a lot of real reading since many of these books are not currently available in audio form yet.  Oh botha!!

One of the main reasons that I chose "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" first is it was my first "grownup" book I ever read.  I recall sitting in my room at the age of 12 while living in Dale City, Virginia when my mom asked me which book I would like us to start reading together besides my reliable Sweet Pickles books and other childhood favorites.  Deciding to challenge myself and to make my mom proud that she may have a genius in her midst, I chose to read Tom Sawyer.  Mom giving me that questioning look resigned to my request against her doubts and we chugged on.  I don't remember if we actually finished it or if I read a few pages and mom finished it herself. Kind of like when I told my parents that I wanted to make spaghetti for the first time, and then seeing that I got the gist of it moved onto something more challenging like climb a tree. See? I told you I have ADD.

I think it's about time I talk about the actual book, don't you?!  "Tom Sawyer" is about a 12 year old boy from a small town in Petersburg, Missouri who has an overactive imagination which leads him and his friends through many crazy and humorous adventures.  Hence the title of the novel.  Tom Sawyer is a kid if I have ever saw or read one before.  The adventures are mostly in his mind.  From the start of the book I was immersed into Tom's mind.  As the ringleader of his band of misfits, Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper, they created many adventures.  I would compare Tom to the country boy version of Peter Pan.  His imagination creates quests for him and his friends to take.  From pirates that don't steal from others because its wrong to stagecoach robbers.  One quest they undertook was to run away so that their families would feel sorry for what their parents did to them.  Everything I've read brings me back to my childhood where playing make-believe was an everyday game.  I put on my Davy Crockett coonskin hat and I'm off to battle whatever lays yonder.  I said yonder, how this book has corrupted me!! 

One memory befitting Tom Sawyer was the quest for my baby brother and I to go to McDonald's on our own.  I believe I was a few years old and my brother just became a skilled walker.  We found our way out of the house, my brother still in diapers and got pretty far before my family caught up to us.  Or the story of when my brother and I told our parents that we were going to run away at a very young age.  Well, mom and dad packed a laundry basket of our stuff and a bag maybe and set us and our stuff outside the front door.  They obviously called our bluff and we sat out there bawling our eyes out for what felt like an eternity and we never attempted that again.

Another part of "Tom Sawyer" that I found so entertaining was the ideas and concepts Tom and his friends had on life.  Their rules to live by.  For instance an excerpt from the book:"You only just tell a boy you won't ever have anybody but him, ever ever, ever, and then you kiss and that's all. Anybody can do it." Tom's describing to a girl what it means to be engaged. He also has many discussions with his friends befitting a chuckle.  Example.  "Aha! Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! Why, that ain't a-going to do any good. You got to go all by yourself, to the middle of the woods, where you know there's a spunk-water stump, and just as it's midnight you back up against the stump and jam your hand in and say:

    'Barley-corn, barley-corn, injun-meal shorts,
    Spunk-water, spunk-water, swaller these warts,'

and then walk away quick, eleven steps, with your eyes shut, and then turn around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody. Because if you speak the charm's busted."

I don't even know what spunk water is. 

Last of all, I enjoyed the way it was written. I suppose it is the 1800's southern speech.   I don't know if it's because my grandmother was brought up in Louisiana or the fact I lived there for 4 years but I didn't have a hard time understanding Mark Twain's writing at all.  While I was reading the book, I felt I needed some Bodacious BBQ and one of those Drive thru Daiquiris where they serve you an alcoholic beverage in a Styrofoam cup and put a piece of tape over the straw of your drink and this is considered an unopened container in Louisiana.  Crazy huh?? 

The one downside to "Tom Sawyer" is that its has its share of vulgarities to compete with Good Will Hunting.   Not so much the bad words we use today but what they used in Mark Twain's time if you catch my drift.  It was painful to hear but it went right along with the style of the age. All and all I would find it fun for all ages to read if you can just change those nasty works into "sandwiches" instead.  The novel is definitely worth reading just for a good chuckle about crazy antics.  So, in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."