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A review by nclcaitlin
James by Percival Everett
3.75
Uncomfortable, funny, eye-opening.
The retelling you didn’t know you needed.
The retelling you need to read.
In mid-19th century Missouri, Jim is a slave owned who hears a rumour that he is to be sold to a man in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter. He decides to flee to Jackson Island where he can formulate a plan without danger of being spotted and recognised as a runaway slave.
Meanwhile, Huckleberry Finn has staged his own murder in order to escape his drunken, abusive father. From there, the pair find themselves heading downriver, trying to stay hidden from the rest of the world, and plotting how to free Jim’s family and having many other adventures
Everett gives a much-needed voice to Jim, making him the main character in a tale where he has spent years as little more than an object. Everett handles the issues of race, slavery, and politics with ingenuity. Shock mined with humour and a shrewdness that Jim provides readers behind the scenes.
The children said together, “And the better they feel, the safer we are.” “February, translate that.” “Da mo’ betta dey feels, da mo’ safer we be.” “Nice.
One of my favourite parts was at the start which sets the tone for the story. Jim delivers a “language lesson” but twists it on its head. Indeed, the way the slaves speak in the presence of white people (“Lawdy, missums!”) disappears completely when they’re alone, as they revert back to proper English. Seemingly, this inferiority protects them as well as proving to sheds light on Jim’s intelligence and perceptiveness.
At that moment the power of reading made itself clear and real to me. If I could see the words then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn't even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding the out of comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and, therefore, completely subversive.
I think I have only ever read the first few chapters of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when I was much younger. However, I don’t think it is required to read before reading this.
There are a few short time jumps and obvious scenes that happen outside of the main narrative that seems to expect you already know about or hint towards.
It will definitely add to the experience and make the satire all the more enjoyable and mind-bending.
I definitely recommend the audiobook because the narrator did a phenomenal job at all the voices and giving personality to the characters just through intonation.
The retelling you didn’t know you needed.
The retelling you need to read.
In mid-19th century Missouri, Jim is a slave owned who hears a rumour that he is to be sold to a man in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter. He decides to flee to Jackson Island where he can formulate a plan without danger of being spotted and recognised as a runaway slave.
Meanwhile, Huckleberry Finn has staged his own murder in order to escape his drunken, abusive father. From there, the pair find themselves heading downriver, trying to stay hidden from the rest of the world, and plotting how to free Jim’s family and having many other adventures
Everett gives a much-needed voice to Jim, making him the main character in a tale where he has spent years as little more than an object. Everett handles the issues of race, slavery, and politics with ingenuity. Shock mined with humour and a shrewdness that Jim provides readers behind the scenes.
The children said together, “And the better they feel, the safer we are.” “February, translate that.” “Da mo’ betta dey feels, da mo’ safer we be.” “Nice.
One of my favourite parts was at the start which sets the tone for the story. Jim delivers a “language lesson” but twists it on its head. Indeed, the way the slaves speak in the presence of white people (“Lawdy, missums!”) disappears completely when they’re alone, as they revert back to proper English. Seemingly, this inferiority protects them as well as proving to sheds light on Jim’s intelligence and perceptiveness.
At that moment the power of reading made itself clear and real to me. If I could see the words then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn't even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding the out of comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and, therefore, completely subversive.
I think I have only ever read the first few chapters of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when I was much younger. However, I don’t think it is required to read before reading this.
There are a few short time jumps and obvious scenes that happen outside of the main narrative that seems to expect you already know about or hint towards.
It will definitely add to the experience and make the satire all the more enjoyable and mind-bending.
I definitely recommend the audiobook because the narrator did a phenomenal job at all the voices and giving personality to the characters just through intonation.