Along with Blake and Dickens, Mark Twain is considered one of the nineteenth century's greatest chroniclers of childhood. These two novels reveal different aspects of his genius: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a much-loved story about the sheer pleasure of being young; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book Hemingway said was the source of all the American fiction that followed it, is both a hilarious account of an incorrigible truant and a tremendous parable of innocence in conflict with the fallen adult world. The main characters, who are perhaps more widely known than even their author, are both similar to and different from each other, revealing in their thoughts and adventures a wide range of childhood emotions and experiences that have touched readers of all ages.