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A review by emilyinherhead
James by Percival Everett
5.0
I’m so glad I finally picked this book up! Excessive hype can make me wary, but in this case I think it’s absolutely deserved.
James is, most simply, a retelling of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written from the perspective of Jim. It’s also a commentary on some ideas that are still quite relevant, from race as performance, to human beings’ relationship with nature, to reading and writing as resistance, to the moral question of meeting violence with violence. Everett is incredibly intelligent, and it shows. The biggest strength of the book, though, is the tone of his writing—it’s light and approachable and at times flat-out funny, balancing the heavy content perfectly.
James is, most simply, a retelling of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written from the perspective of Jim. It’s also a commentary on some ideas that are still quite relevant, from race as performance, to human beings’ relationship with nature, to reading and writing as resistance, to the moral question of meeting violence with violence. Everett is incredibly intelligent, and it shows. The biggest strength of the book, though, is the tone of his writing—it’s light and approachable and at times flat-out funny, balancing the heavy content perfectly.
TL;DR: don’t be scared off by the fact that this is a retelling of a classic, with a historical setting, that academics could probably write papers about. It’s smart, but it’s also a quick and enjoyable read, with an inviting warmth and a completely badass ending. And no, you don’t need to know anything about Huck Finn before you start. I loved every minute of this one. Highly, highly recommend.