HUCKLEBERRY FINN

Thomas Becker is a nearly perfect choice to read HUCK FINN. He clearly enjoys dialect as much as Twain did, and captures every dialect, from British as done by an American, to black English, with equal ease. Becker is so subtle that he captures the distinction between the sounds made by a real and faking deaf mute, even though both are filtered through Huck's teenaged ear (and written down). He also captures the languid rhythm of the novel that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi. The only thing one might object to is the emotional balance he gives Huck Finn; though Huck is an anguished and eventually orphaned teenager, Becker's Huck never seems really upset. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB / MAR 03]