Title:

James

Author:

Percival Everett

Category:

Literature

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

December 23, 2024

ames appeared on almost every "best books of 2024" list. The inside cover flap promises a book that is "both harrowing and ferociously funny". (The cover of James states that Percival Everett was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, though not for this work, but for Telephone, which came out in 2021. I decided to give James a try. I read Huckleberry Finn back in high school, almost 40 years ago, and do not remember much about it. However, familiarity with that book is not required when reading this one.

There actually are funny parts in James - I write this with some amazement, because most books that promise to be humorous are usually leadenly unfunny. But this is not a funny story; James contains a whole lot more harrowing material than laughter. The premise in this retelling is that the slaves are actually highly articulate, fully capable of reading, writing and understanding the densest material. Jim sneaks into the library at night to read books. When white folks are around, the slaves feign ignorance and talk in the "yessir, massa" speak. But when they are by themselves, the blacks speak with perfect English using proper grammar and extensive vocabularies. In this book, Jim occasionally forgets himself and speaks like an educated white man in front of Huck, which leaves Huck confused and bewildered.

Jim is the slave of Miss Watson. He learns that she is planning to sell him, which would permanently split him from his wife and daughter. Not sure of what to do, Jim runs off and hides out in a cave on an island in the Mississippi river. While he is hiding there, Huck also shows up on the island - Huck is hiding out from his violent father. This complicates Jim's situation - if Huck is missing, and Jim is also, then the white folks are going to assume that Jim ran off because he killed Huck. Ultimately, Huck and Jim conclude that the best option for them to elude the search parties is to escape down the Mississippi River. Which is what they do.

Traveling down the Mississippi is perilous. If Jim is spotted, he could be treated as a runaway slave. Or his captor might simply sell Jim into slavery. This book offers a chilling portrayal at how miserable the lot of the slaves was - they could be beaten, raped, mutilated or even murdered and no one would bat an eye. Families could be permanently separated at the whim of their owner. The whites reacted violently to any black man who pretended to be their equal. The theft of a pencil could result in a slave being soundly whipped.

Huck and Jim meet an assortment of scoundrels, madmen and self-righteous hucksters along the river. These various episodes make up the harrowing adventure tale. The story is always interesting, and Jim (who wishes to be called James, hence the title of the book) and Huck face numerous obstacles. The pace does not flag; Jim is a man on the run so he is always in danger of discovery and capture. The hardback book is 303 pages; it is a quick read. I wonder if I should read some of Everett's other books since this one was so interesting.