The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
First published 1876 · English · 231 pages
- Novels
- Young adult
- Philosophy
Tom Sawyer is a mischievous boy growing up in the small Mississippi town of St. Petersburg, modelled on Twain's own Hannibal. Living with his strict Aunt Polly, he plays truant, dodges chores, falls for a new girl at school and dreams of pirates and robbers. With his friend Huck Finn he gets drawn into a frightening adventure that goes far beyond a child's games.
The book is a humorous, affectionate portrait of boyhood in the mid-nineteenth century, mixing comedy with real danger. It became one of the best-loved American novels and set the stage for Huckleberry Finn.
Quotes
He was not the Model Boy of the village. He knew the model boy very well though—and loathed him.
all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to
If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.
“Answer the gentleman, Thomas—don’t be afraid.”Tom still hung fire.“Now I know you’ll tell me,” said the lady. “The names of the first two disciples were—”“David and Goliah!”Let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene.