All this Huck Finn business

On my new Kindle, I’ve been reading a lot of Mark Twain.  I bought the new autobiography that came out in August and it’s great (although very long—I will be reading it for a while) and have also recently read “The Innocents Abroad”.  I read quite of few of Mark Twain’s works in the past.  I don’t read fiction (or even autobiography) very often, so it’s been a real treat to not think about technology or self-improvement for a while.

We had to read Huckleberry Finn in high school.  It had the n-word.  We had to know that “that’s how people talked back then.”

There’s a big controversy over removing the word in newer editions of the book.  It is being held as political correctness gone amok.  I know the book is often banned because of that word.

But, to be honest, I don’t see the problem changing it.  That word is not what made the book a success.  If it makes it easier for the single black child in an all-white suburban classroom to get through his day, then great.

As a teenager, I also read the “Count of Monte Cristo” and I’m pretty sure the language of that book was changed too (out of sensitivity to the fact that I don’t speak French).  It was still a great book.