Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Cliffs Notes)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This audio Cliffs Notes on the Adventures of Huck Finn does its job very well. Any high school or college student that needs to study for a test or write a paper about Huck Finn will benefit from these CDs. I have already read the book, but these CDs reminded of several themes and characterizations that I had missed or forgotten. The chapter summaries are great reminders of the plot line. The instructions suggest listening to the CDs after reading the book. But Mark Twain uses 19th century Southern idioms that most of us would miss. These CDs contain a glossary at the end of each chapter summary, so I think the listener will get more out of the book by listening to the plot summary and glossary for each chapter before reading it. Using the audio format is especially useful for a commuter student who can use his driving time to listen to these CDs to plan a paper or review for a test.

The commentary makes clear why this book is considered by many to be the best novel ever written in America. Not only is it funny, but much of the black humor is actually severe criticism of Southern white culture and racism both before and after the Civil War.

I only have one thematic quarrel with the comments. The commenter seems to think that Huck's conscience is formed by his culture, but he then fails to explain why Huck rebels in order to do the right thing. It is easier to assume that we and Huck are born with an innate sense of right and wrong, which we Catholics would say is formed by Natural Law. But as we grow up, a society can pervert our innate conscience, so Huck comes to believe it is wrong to free a slave. But his innate conscience tells him to do the right thing, to help Jim escape slavery; even though his society says it is wrong.

I think this is probably best for people that need basic info. For the person that needs to write an indepth paper or do indepth research this is probably not the choice for you. It's a good basic tool for the beginner though.

The writing style of Mark Twain is hard to understand - especially for a German student in the US. so this book was a very good help!

I am a visual person. When it comes to Cliff Notes, I prefer to have a book in my hand, as I like to scan pages and find what I am looking for.

I decided to try out this new form of Cliff Notes on CD or MP3 files, I thought it would be an interesting new way to explore the Cliff Notes.

There are three CDs in the box for the Cliff Notes, and one CD that is the whole set in MP3 format easily transferred onto MP3 players.

The box is well laid out with all of the tracks listed and where to find them in what order. What I didn't like is that the CDs are not labeled as to which tracks are on which CDs. If you use the MP3 files, that is not an issue as they are all in one resource.

The voice reading the Cliff Notes are reminiscent of the introduction on the Audio Books for Lillian Jackson Braun's Cat books before the dramatic reading begins. The voice is not boring so the reading is not monotonous at all. I do realize, however, that Cliff Notes are difficult to read as they are just clipped parts of things and not a dramatic book in nature.

All in all I thought that this is an excellent alternative if you can not find the time to read the Cliff Notes and would like to listen to them in the car or on the go. I still prefer reading the book over this method, but realize that sometimes other methods are necessary in certain circumstances.

This is a good review of the book in summary form, as most Cliffs Notes are. I don't recommend using this as the only basis for a term paper or test but it is extremely helpful for review. It touches on the main points of the book and adds insight into the symbolism and characters. This is, of course, most useful for a commuter who can listen to the CD while driving to reinforce his/her knowledge of the book. Overall an excellent resource.

As an English teacher, I'm supposed to discourage students from using this, right? Not at all. I think that this type of commentary (and even SparkNotes) can provide readers focus and attention to understand and enjoy the text better.

This CliffsNotes CD is an excellent tool that I'll recommend to students this year. It begins with an excellent overview of the novel, its origins, and its problems before delving into the chapter commentaries. The work is clear enough for high school students yet challenging enough for adults as well. I enjoyed listening to this, even though I've read the novel many, many times in the past.

One added feature that is useful is that the pack comes with both the audio discs AND the mp3 disc. This disc makes it quick and easy to put on your iPod.

Huck will thank you for trying to understand him better!

I bought this because I wanted to familiarize myself with Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I didn't want to read the book. I listened to the audio edition, which is a great idea from CliffsNotes. For example, if your child is reading this book in class, then getting this audiobook to listen to on the way to school can be a great way to facilitate discussion about the book with your child.

This book makes it seem like Huckleberry Finn is a very easy read, but filled with a lot of subtle complexities. So, now I'm much more likely to read Huckleberry Finn in the future.

The condescending tone of the book was annoying, but bearable. This book gave me a lot of good information about Huck Finn.

Pros:
+Available on audiobook
+Gives a good overview of Huck Finn.
+Written in standard CliffsNotes format, so it's easily accessible

Cons:
-Very condescending tone. This book reminded me of some of my more annoying and arrogant college teachers.
-Spends way too much time warning you that you should read the actual book, which takes valuable time away from the analysis of the book
-Fails at the goal of giving you a much deeper understanding of the book, but succeeds at giving you a cursory understanding of the book
-Repeats itself on almost everything about 2-3 times, so you could really just read half of this book and get the full message.

When I ordered this product, I failed to realize that it would be a boring reading of the cliffnotes study guide, which would include a reading of all the unnecessary copyright information, etc. at the the beginning of each audio tract.

It is not as though the audio might not be helpful for someone who is spending hours a day driving and wants something interesting to listen to. However, listening to these CDs for hours in order to learn the same information that might have taken me 1/2 an hour to read in the text version of the CliffNotes (or SparkNotes) study guide makes listening to the audio CD version a waste of time. Besides, the readers of the text on the CDs are very boring.

So, unless you physically cannot read the text version of the study guide, I do not recommend that you purchase this Cliff Notes version.

I could not even make it past the biographical information on Mark Twain's life, which itself, was (1) quite basic - what any English student should already know, and (2) presented in a very boring manner (no dramatization - just like someone reading from a book, who does not enjoy reading).

Maybe, I had faulty expectations, and potential purchasers, especially those who might download these CDs to their ipod, might find this cliff notes series worthwhile. Clearly, I did not.

I picked up the "CliffNotes on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to see if it would give me some deeper insights into this classic that I had read several times since my introduction in high school. I was not disappointed. I had reread the book in preparation for the notes. I found that the CliffNotes helped me more fully appreciate themes in the book that I had only begun to suspect in my own reading, such as Jim's heroism and paternalism toward Huck, the contrast between the peaceful raft and the turbulent shore and Twain's criticism of his society. Whether you are an academic student looking for help with a class or a life-long learner seeking to delve more deeply into Huckleberry Finn, these CliffNotes are a helpful tool.

I ain't sure I agree with everything those Cliffs Notes people said in analyzin' my book 'bout me 'n Jim but that ain't no matter. There was things they stretched, but mainly they told the truth. I learned an awful lot 'bout life on that raft but I ain't sure I was thinking the things they said I was. Course, if I was taking a test 'bout that book an' answering educational kinda questions, I might need those Cliffs Notes people - they don't mean no harm by it.

Bein' on the river an' being with Jim taught me a lot, but not the kinda stuff them college perfessers are wantin' to know. They wanna say the raft on the river was a safe place whereas once we got off the river it warn't - and that warn't cuz there was something wrong with the riverbank country. It was probly just as nice as the river seppin' for the people - that's where the trouble always started. I told 'bout what non-common-sensical things them people did and how they fought each other over nuttin' an 'bout how easy they was to trick. Sometimes it was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race - but I was just lookin' at the bad part. They warn't so bad, but they warn't near as smart as Jim. He saw thru the stupid things the very smartest people did - like he saw right thru King Sollermun.

Me and Jim had a big argument `bout Sollermun `n now I see he was probly right - Like I wrote `bout Sollermun, "I tho't he WAS the wisest man, anyway; because the widow she told me so, her own self." Jim tole me, "I doan k'yer what de widder say, he WARN'T no wise man nuther. He had some er de dad-fetchedes' ways I ever see. Does you know 'bout dat chile dat he 'uz gwyne to chop in two?" "Yes, the widow told me all about it." "WELL, den! Warn' dat de beatenes' notion in deworl'? You jes' take en look at it a minute. Dah's de stump, dah -- dat's one er de women; heah's you-- dat's de yuther one; I's Sollermun; en dish yer dollar bill's de chile. Bofe un you claims it. What does I do? Does I shin aroun' mongs' de neighbors en fine out which un you de bill DO b'long to, en han' it over to de right one, all safe en soun', de way dat anybody dat had any gumption would? No; I take en whack de bill in TWO, en give half un it to you, en de yuther half to de yuther woman. Dat's de way Sollermun was gwyne to do wid de chile. Now I want to ast you: what's de use er dat half a bill? -- can't buy noth'n wid it. En what use is a half a chile? I wouldn' give a dern for a million un um."

"But I tell you you don't get the point."

"Blame de point! De 'spute warn't 'bout a half a chile, de 'spute was 'bout a whole chile; en de man dat think he kin settle a 'spute 'bout a whole chile wid a half a chile doan' know enough to come in out'n de rain. I reck'n I knows what I knows. En mine you, de real pint is down furder--it's down deeper. You take a man dat's got on'y one or two chillen; is dat man gwyne to be waseful o' chillen? No, he ain't; he can't 'ford it. He know how to value 'em. But you take a man dat's got 'bout five million chillen runnin' roun' de house, en it's diffunt. He as soon chop a chile in two as a cat. Dey's plenty mo'. A chile er two, mo' er less, warn't no consekens to Sollermun, dad fatch him!"

I argued with Jim `bout how he missed the point by a thousand mile - but now I ain't so sure.

I'm the same way 'bout Cliffs Notes. Lately I been laying off comfortable all day, smoking and fishing, no books nor study, and no Miss Watson peckin' at me all the time. If you gotta answer some questions from them perfessers, I think Jim would say to either talk to him directly, which ain't likely - or get yourself some Cliffs Notes. If you do that you can get yourself right back on that raft on the river a lot quicker.