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Title: James
Author: Percival Everett
Genre: Historical Fiction
Category: Recommended Reads |
〰First Line〰
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Those little bastards were hiding out there in the tall grass. The moon was not quite full, but bright and it was behind him, so I could see them as plain as day though it was deep night.
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Synopsis: (From Amazon)
[James is a retelling of the Mark Twain classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.]
When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New
Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away
until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death
to escape his violent father. As all readers/listeners of American
literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by
raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable
promise of the Free States and beyond.
Brimming with the
electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a
literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates
Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is
destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of
twenty-first century American literature.
〰First Thoughts〰
A friend of mine from church told me about this book. One of the books on my summer reading list is the original story by Mark Twain, which I haven't read since the early 90s. My intention is to read both; Twain's for the refresher and as part of my "Summer of Virtuous Literature," and Everett's to see how he handles the story.
I've heard lots of good things about the book, so this should be fun.
Book completed 10/3/25
Rating: ✮✮✮✮ stars
Conclusion (NOTE: May contain spoilers): What a ride! To get the full effect of the story, I purposefully did not research the author or novel other than a trusted friend's recommendation and the synopsis above. Since it came so highly recommended, I assumed that Everett would honor Twain's original story while making it his own. However, I had no idea how much he would do both.
James loosely follows the story of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn up until Jim and Huck are separated. After that, each has adventures of his own until they reunite later in the story. As my friend stated, Everett wrote Jim's story in a way that Mark Twain could not. Mark Twain used satire and a child's crisis of conscience to prove his point about slavery. Everett employed some humor, but mostly irony, plot twists, and graphic descriptions to pull the reader into the story and feel Jim's anguish. Rather than the "step and fetchit" character of Twain's Jim (part of the satire), the only thing that makes James a slave in this book is his color. He is well-read and articulate and has to navigate the dichotomy of true intelligence versus having to exhibit false naivety for self preservation.
The last third of the book was the most intense. After seeing and experiencing one atrocity too many, James snaps. While seeking freedom at all costs, he becomes a vigilante of sorts. By the end of the story, he's nothing like the placid Jim of Twain's novel.
James gave me so many things to think about. The sad irony of his time with the minstrel show was painful. The fact that he's safe so long as he is the caricature of a black man, but most likely would be executed if it is discovered that in reality he is a black man was heartbreaking.
This particular quote from the book haunts me:
[Voltaire] "That
is what equality is, Jim. It's the capacity for becoming equal. The
same way a black man in Martinique can learn French, and so become
French. He can also acquire the skills of equality and so become
equal."
[Jim] "I hate you" (Part one, Chapter six).
I can't go into detail here, but the notion of "skills of equality" so mirrors my own thoughts about my own situation. Also, the author's inclusion of historical data about the song Dixie was a bit of a damper on a former fight song from college. I'm not sure what to do with it now.
On a side note, I read the audio version of the book. The narrator did an excellent job with the juxtaposition of Jim's diction. If you like audiobooks, I'd highly recommend this one.
Like I said before if a story doesn't somehow affect me emotionally, it wasn't a very good one. This story was so good that I was worn out after I finished it and needed to decompress.
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