Book Review: James by Percival Everett

About:

James by Percival Everett is the reimagining of the story of Huck Finn’s runaway adventure, from the viewpoint of the enslaved person Jim. Mr. Everett is a published author and educator at the University of Southern California.

• 320 pages
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385550367

My rat­ing for James — 5
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More Books by Percival Everett*

Thoughts:

I haven’t read Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn in a long time, but I do remember the highlights, and that I enjoyed the story. in James, Percival Everett retells the story from the viewpoint of Jim, the enslaved person who is running away after he was sold.

I found the story to be exciting, and very thought-provoking, contrary to the marketing which promised me a tremendously funny book. Frankly, I liked it much more for bringing up points of view I didn’t think of while entertaining at the same time.

The fact that Mr. Everett stayed true to Twain’s story, characters, and style while creating a different work is a feat all by itself. I think that humanizing Jim, the enslaved hero of the book, actually shows the inhumanity that he faces better than just describing atrocities.

I do have to read the original again at some point, but I have a feeling that as an adult James might be just as meaningful. I’m glad that Jim got his voice, a clear, proud, and strong one at that.

Around the middle of the book, the author changes course from the Twain narrative. There are twists and turns, new characters, and a revenge scene that would make Quentin Tarantino proud.

This is a remarkable novel, that shows self-awareness and irony, sometimes in the same scene. I have read several of my favorite books as an adult (Treasure Island for instance), and discovered that there’s a whole new novel in them when reading with a perspective of a few decades behind you. This novel, an intelligent and fascinating retelling, is one of them.

Synopsis:

When Jim hears he’s going to be sold to a man in New Orleans, he decides to escape. He does separate from his wife and daughter for the time being, but he has to be careful since 1840s Missouri is no place for an escaped slave.

Huck Finn, meanwhile, fakes his own death to get away from his abusive father. The two embark on an adventure down the Mighty Mississippi hoping to reach free states.

Buy James from Amazon.com*
More Books by Percival Everett*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account