Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Hi Guys,
This month we will be reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I'll admit, I've only ever seen movie and TV adaptions of this so it'll either be very interesting or very disappointing to read the original.
I'll be using the the 2017 kindle edition for this review.

Schedule
Week 1: November 1st - November 7th: Chapter 1 - Chapter 11, pgs 7-72
Week 2: November 8th - November 14th: Chapter 11-21, pgs 73-160
Week 3: November 15th - November 21st: Chapter 21-31, pgs 161-242
Week 4: November 21st -end: Chapter 31 - End, pgs 243 -end.

Summary
Refusing to be civilized by Southern society or cowed by his drunken father’s lashings, young Huckleberry Finn decides he has only one option left: fake his own death and hop a raft down the Mississippi River. Instead of carrying him far from trouble, though, Huck’s raft delivers him to a place of moral uncertainty.

Mark Twain unwinds Huck’s harrowing journey to manhood with satirical wit, revealing the troubled history of the American South, where slavery held sway long after the Civil War ended. Huck’s relationship with runaway slave Jim forces him to confront his beliefs about friendship and freedom.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Wikipedia

**Please feel free to share your thoughts as you read.

**Please remember to mark your spoilers.

I was looking at some of the reading and study guides for inspiration for questions for this discussion but found that they just reminded me of being back at school. Therefore I think I will just discuss my feelings and insights as I read this book.

The biggest thing I'm having trouble with is the dialects being used. I don't know if anyone else finds this but I'm having to reread sections to work out the meanings. It feels a bit like reading Shakespeare.

I'm fortunate in that my father read "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" to me while I was in elementary school. You can read "Huckleberry Finn" w/o reading "Tom Sawyer" but the first book sets up the characters and situations, and it's written in third person and standard American English. The second book is written in first person, in Huck's voice. So if you're not used to hearing the Southern American speech, it's a language lesson. Maybe it'll help if you listen to some country music?

Lyn wrote: "I'm fortunate in that my father read "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" to me while I was in elementary school. You can read "Huckleberry Finn" w/o reading "Tom Sawyer" but the first book sets up ..."
Thanks Lyn, I've not read Tom Sawyer either and the only American accents I'd be use to are from TV and movies. I live in Ireland. I'm really struggling with Jim.

So still struggling with understanding Jim but aside from that I can't decide if Tom is a little rapscallion or a brat that needs some serious discipline. He's caused some serious trouble (including the death of almost an entire family). I don't think he thinks any of his decision through.