Version of "Huckleberry Finn" to Remove "N" Word

(CBS)  Mark Twain defined a classic as "a book which people praise and don't read." And for years, the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has fit that category, removed from school reading lists across the country for the use of the "n" word.

Publishers Weekly reports that Twain Scholar Alan Gribben has partnered with NewSouth Books to release a version of "Huckleberry Finn" that replaces the "n" word with "slave." It also removes the word "injun."

The idea of a politically-correct version came to Gribben, 69, when he would give public readings of the work and would sub in the word "slave." The slur appears in the book 219 times.

"This is not an effort to render Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn colorblind," Gribben told Publishers Weekly. "Race matters in these books. It's a matter of how you express that in the 21st century."

Gibben is the head of the English department at Auburn University in Montgomery, Ala., and said he knows the version will create controversy.

"I'm hoping that people will welcome this new option, but I suspect that textual purists will be horrified," he told Publisher's Weekly.

[EdwinH5]

I am reading the book "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" in my English class, and in my opinions I believe that by removing the "N" word from the original version would change the essence of the story that dates back to 1884 of its first version published, where this word was generalized to the color of the skin and slavery which today we all know is not used anymore and there is no slavery, and the book should be kept as its original version like something historical of the suffering and slavery of the colored race.

[EdwinH5]

I am reading the book "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" in my English class, and in my opinions I believe that by removing the "N" word from the original version would change the essence of the story that dates back to 1884 of its first version published, where this word was generalized to the color of the skin and slavery which today we all know is not used anymore and there is no slavery, and the book should be kept as its original version like something historical of the suffering and slavery of the colored race.

[EdwinH5]

I am reading the book "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" in my English class, and in my opinions I believe that by removing the "N" word from the original version would change the essence of the story that dates back to 1884 of its first version published, where this word was generalized to the color of the skin and slavery which today we all know is not used anymore and there is no slavery, and the book should be kept as its original version like something historical of the suffering and slavery of the colored race.

[Bigslamntee]

You know I'm 64 years old and I'm sick and tired of all this political correctness going on in this country. I'm going to make a concerted effort to take the George Carlin attitude and use every Nword, Fword, Sword, every day for the rest of my life and if anybody doesn't like it then they can Fword off!!

[koreyb]

This should not be allowed to happen, I would take offense to it, and looks like several thousand others probably would too. How can we change the future if we sanitize the past. It wasn't nice, It isn't pretty, but it is our history! There are alot of things in this world people find offensive, but really, how can we teach our children about our history if we gloss over all of the bad stuff. Those were the times, those are the things that people said and did, sanitizing it won't make it better. And a note to Mr. Gribben, As a scholar, shame on you you should know better! If you would like politically correct works, then write them yourself! These classics are untouchable, nothing you do is going to change the times of the day, you are offensive and you need to be sanitized.

[Noel54]

I have clear memories of high school (in Australia) in the late 1960s where one of the set English texts was "To Sir, with love", which was sprinkled with "f---ing" throughout the text... and is probably now available with that word printed in full (as with a great many books and movies now regarded as 'classics'), though it is still regarded as extremely offensive to a great many people! Where do we draw the line in offensiveness?

[corkie_lane]

How someone who professes to be an academic scholar can even suggest revision of a classic simply because the language is considered offensive today is troubling. The project has gotten him national press, but at what cost? History is to be used as a learning experience, not a tool for political correctness.

[myth1958]

If the book is left alone (and certainly, original versions abound) it is inappropriate reading material for young children. Schools pulled it from required reading lists because of the offensive language, so a generation has grown up without it and doesn't really know Mark Twain. It's six of one, a half dozen of the other. I read it in school 40 years ago and was unaware of the painful connotations for our fellow Black citizens at the time. Today, knowing better, I don't want my grandkids exposed to it in the original form until they're mature enough to understand.

[pipandzuzu]

This is why there are teachers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[p_syrus]

He's right. I'm horrified. Read the book the way it was written, not the way someone thinks it should have been written.

[rdixiesunrise61]

This is going over the top of insanity. It was the sign of the times back then, I think they just need to leave it alone. I think if they change it it will change the book way too much.

I don't care if it is for school children, I read it and don't call people the N word. It all depends on how the person was raised. I was not raised to call anybody ******, yes I wrote it. If you look it up the meaning is a person of color. It used to be an ignorant person, black or white, but not anymore. I looked it up when I was a kid because I kept hearing the word. Living down south you would hear it alot but mostly on tv. I miss that earlier meaning of the word. The way they have it now it is racist but before it was not.

From dictionary.com:

noun
1.Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.
a.a black person.
b.a member of any dark-skinned people.
2.Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.
3.a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.
Use ****** in a Sentence
See images of ******
Search ****** on the Web

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I found this on dictionary.com... (from WWTW) are they now going to change Gone With the Wind?

" 'You're a fool ******, and the worst day's work Pa ever did was to buy you,' said Scarlett slowly. ... There, she thought, I've said '******' and Mother wouldn't like that at all." [Margaret Mitchell, "Gone With the Wind," 1936]