Referring to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?? H. L. Mencken noted that his discovery of this classic American novel was "he most stupendous event of my whole life"; Ernest Hemingway declared that "all modern American literature stems from this one book??"while T. S. Eliot called Huck "one of the permanent symbolic figures of fiction?? not unworthy to take a place with Ulysses?? Faust?? Don Quixote?? Don Juan?? Hamlet."he novel's preeminence derives from its wonderfully imaginative re-creation of boyhood adventures along the Mississippi River?? its inspired characterization?? the author's remarkable ear for dialogue?? and the book's understated development of serious underlying themes: "ural" man versus "civilized" society?? the evils of slavery?? the innate value and dignity of human beings?? and other topics. Most of all?? Huck