The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in a small town along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the town of "St Petersburg", inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain grew up. When a murder is made how far will they go. A... read more
Here is a light-hearted excursion into boyhood, a nostalgic return to the simple, rural Missouri world of Tom Sawyer and his friends Huck Finn, Becky and Aunt Polly. It is a dreamlike world of summertime and hooky, pranks and punishments, villains and desperate adventure, seen through the eyes... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
“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 obtain.”
“Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”Tom Sawyer
“Yes, they had forced him to it at last: he would lead a life of crime. There was no choice.”Tom Sawyer
“It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods. Not a leaf stirred; not a sound obtruded upon Nature's meditation. Beaded dewdrops stood upon the leaves and grasses. A white layer of ashes covered the fire, and a thin blue breath of smoke rose straight into the air.”
“One day, Tom was in the act of dosing the crack when his aunt's yellow cat came along, purring, eyeing the teaspoon avariciously, and begging for a taste. Tom said, "Don't ask for it unless you want it, Peter." But Peter signified that he did want it. "You better make sure." Peter was sure. "Now you've asked for it, and I'll give it to you, because there ain't anything mean about me, but if you find you don't like it, you mustn't blame anybody but your own self." Peter was agreeable, so Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the pain-killer. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air, and then delivered a war-whoop and set off round and round the room, banging against furniture, upsetting flower pots, and making general havoc. Next he rose on his find feet and pranced around, in a frenzy of enjoyment, with his head over his shoulder, and his voice declaring his unappeasable happiness. Then he went tearing around the house again spreading chaos and destruction in his path.”Narrator
“Men's misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises”- Narrator
(back to main contents)Highlighted by 36 Kindle customers
THE COMPLETE NOVEL: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after 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 attain.Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
Let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene.Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
THERE comes a time in every rightly-constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
their compositions with a sermon; and you will find that the sermon of the most frivolous and the least religious girl in the school is always the longest and the most relentlessly pious. But enough of this. Homely truth is unpalatable.Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush.Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
He was not the Model Boy of the village. He knew the model boy very well though—and loathed him.Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
1. Tom Plays, Fights, and hides
2. The Glorious Whitewasher
3. Busy at War and Love
4. Showing Off in Sunday School
5. The Pinch Bug and His Prey
6. Tom Meets Becky
7. Tick-running and a Heartbreak
8. A Pirate Bold to Be
9. Tragedy in the Graveyard
10. Dire Prophecy of the Howling Dog
11. Conscience Racks Tom
12. The Cat and the Painkiller
13. The Pirate Crew Set Sail
14. Happy Camp of the Freebooters
15. Tom's Stealthy Visit Home
16. First Pipes -- I've Lost my Knife
17. Pirates at Their Own Funeral
18. Tom Reveals his Dream Secret
19. The Cruelty of "I Didn't Think"
20. Tom Takes Becky's Punishment
21. Eloquence-- and the Master's Gilded Dome
22. Huck Finn Quotes Scripture
23. The Salvation of Muff Potter
24. Splendid Days and Fearsome Nights
25. Seeking the Buried Treasure
26. Real Robbers Seize the Box of Gold
27. Trembling on the Trail
28. In the Lair of Injun Joe
29. Hucks Saves the Widow
30. Tom and Becky in the Cave
31. Found and Lost Again
32. Turn Out! They're Found!
33. The Fate of Injun Joe
34. Floods of Gold
35. Respectable Huck Joins the Gang
Conclusion
Followed by Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
This book can be very hard for young kids to understand, if you want your kids to enjoy the book more wait untill high school.
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